The VW crowd - is it just me or

[ultralite]

Do we seem to renew and replenish our ranks with younger and more diverse folks? I took my son to a British car show today in the Atlanta area. Practically no one struck up a conversation with us and my son seemed to be about the only kid there at times. I have a friend who has an old Mini that he takes to these shows and he says "I'd love to see some kids fix up some of these, it's nothing but fat guys with beards". (he's an older gentleman btw, but lean)

When we went to No Dough this year, the demographics never stuck out to me bc thinking back, it seemed a large cross section. I go to all kinds of car shows. The VW shows seem to always have (sorry to use the cliche) diversity.

Why do you think that is? (if you agree)

I had to get a picture of a race car:

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Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[CoastalAirCooledVW]

I agree. The relative ease to find a VW and own one probably leads to more new people getting into the hobby. I am fairly new to VWs and I have met many different kind of VW people and no two are alike
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1966 Velvet Green Standard

[babysnakes]

The VW crowd is different. We used to have a classic car get-to-gether in Ft. Lauderdale every weekend. The VW crowd would get together and mingle/talk shit, very diverse group. The American muscle/classic would basically stand by their ride and keep to their badassed selves. Something about the VW is cute/special/cool in some way that it attracts the younger crowd. I get WAAAYYY more comments on the bus than the 'vert. Buses have a place in many peoples heart even if they never owned one. Everyone knows someone who used to own one. Hope to see you at No Dough next year.

[Red Fau Veh]

I like the diversity, but the worst vw owners are the cheapskates. I can't stand folks that think they should be able to build a vw for a few hundred dollars, and get upset when a replacement part cost 15 dollars instead of 3 bucks etc. There are just bunches of these cheapskates around here, sorry that I can't sell them a great running used bug engine for 175 dollars.
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[ultralite]

[udidwht]

[madmike]

I use to 'Show' a lot, kind of backed off this season
a few yrs ago I had a solid Original 64 bug(sold it to VW headquarters payed my house off ) when they where in Michigan Nice Mustang was parked next to me and after about half way through the show the owner of the Stang came over and said something about how all the spectators had to say/talk/storys to me about the bug He was pissed nobody talked to him about his Stang I told him"It ain't nothing but a ford',, we became friends and I see him at the shows once in a while,LOL
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'Black Ice'Drag Buggy 'Turbo'
Rail Buggy 1915 turbo
76 Drag/Street bug 2180cc 'Turbo' 11:85 @113 mph"If I go any faster I'll burn up the Hamster" ,gets 28 mpg. also 10/09/22 11.90 @115 mph
"If I'm ever on Life Support,UNPLUG Me, Then Plug me back In see if that Works"

[Krautski]

There are a lot of young people in the VW crowd, they just tend toward watercooleds over aircooled.
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BUS FOR SALE

[GeorgeO.]

I belong to Herr-Kuld car association and we get together every other Friday and people begin to gather to look at some vw classics. They ask questions and I guess the side benefit is drawing in a younger crowd. I had one kid 10 years old who was looking at my Westy and gave him some advice. I said to him "Ask your Dad to help you find one, fix it up, and use it to go to College" and I could see that smile on his face like a light bulb came on. For the younger generations, we should leave our mark. Slow is a good thing, and might be the best of things.

[tootype2crazy]

The ACVW, especially the bus, speaks to the counter-culture and mad tinkerers. It always has and always will. Age makes no difference imho. They are also very happy, non-intimidating looking vehicles so that is why they attract normal, everyday people. They just like they are smiling all the time where as the american muscle is very cool, but intimidating looking.
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air-cooled or nothing for me
1978 Sunroof Deluxe Bus (daily driver)
1978 Transporter (mom's, making into a camper)
1970 Single Cab 2.1 turbo/EFI 6 Rib, 78 front beam, vanagon backing plates on rear (project)
2001 GTI VR6 (wife's)

[Kirk]

THe diverse population of people driving these is one of the things I love the most about being a classic VW enthusist. However, there are plenty "old fat guys" or trailer queen snobs that own VWs these days and make the show circuit. I just typically prefer to hang out with the guys in the camp ground making stew in their bus VS the guys making sure the chrome is polished.
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MAKE FORUMS GREAT AGAIN

Bear
Fasty
Super

[79SuperVert]

I went to an all-makes car show today in Seaside Heights and what struck me about the crowd was how many women came to look at my Beetle. They were not as interested in most of the other cars. So the VW crowd is not just more age-diverse but also more gender-diverse.
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Central Jersey VW Society

Wanted: Art Collins VW (Savannah, Georgia) items - license plate surrounds and other items. Also ivory "AM", "FM" and "SW" buttons for a US Blaupunkt Frankfurt.

[*Darren]

ACVWs are still cheap when compared to most euro & American iron - add in more plentiful & cheaper parts (compared to imports at least) and VWs are a good entry level vehicle for anyone wanting an older/vintage ride. Other issues I think spurring people into owning a acvw - coming from a VW family and as mentioned the whole counter-culture type aspect. Oh one more thing - most cars around when sub 30's were growing up were trash - but there were still acvws rolling well into the 90s.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[docmirror]

Oh boy, if you wanna see a bunch of old farts with beer bellies go to a gen aviation fly-in some Sat. I swear, no one is under 50, and that's sad.

The VWs used to be the bargain play. Now, I just paid a bunch for some rebuild parts for my engine, and nothing is made in US, Germany, or Slovakia. It's all Brazil, Mexico, and China. You can't even get some parts for air cooled from US or Germany anymore.

Body and paint, is body and paint on anything. But the trim stuff for VWs is stupid expensive for what you're getting. Also, my wife puts me on a budget, and once I spend XXXX for aviation parts, there isn't much left over for VW parts and work.

Hehe, I just read that, guess I've got first world problems.

http://first-world-problems.com/

Excuse me, I have to go get another beer, and work on my belly.
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Doc

[*Darren]

[my59]

All differences between makes and prices aside, the local FLAPS guys have observed that my son and I are one of the very few dad/son teams they get in their store getting supplies and ordering parts.

So how many dads are getting their kids into cars?

I tend to thing that with the computerization of cars, the younger crowd plays with chipable horsepower, while older guys play the nuts and bolts of it.

At shows, if a kid wants to get in the bus and check it out, I totally welcome it and tell the parent its ok. Car shows that are all look and no touch suck for younger kids.
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my59: Well son, my grandfather died before I got to drive it, so does that answer your question?
our79: sunroof bus w/camper interior and 2.0 FI
Other:'12 Jetta, '77 Benz 300D, and a 74 MG Midget.

[Glenn]

[2weel]

[hitest]

It's simple- often in Hot Rod circles- it's the car that makes the owner cool. In VWs- it's the owner who makes the car cool.
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