What got you interested in VW's?

[bill]

Grew up in Hinckley, Ohio (yes, where the buzzards come back every March). Two of the town idiots, Pete and Satch, stole a bunch of VW's in the mid-sixties and chopped them up to make dune buggies. In conversation with them one day, we were told that the insurance companies had settled with all the victims, and all the bugs in the back field were free game. A bunch of us dug them out of the mud, towed them to a friends barn where we tore the bodies off and got them running. For two years we chased each other around the farm fields in our town. Had always wanted one since.

[harleyh77]

Back in high school a buddy and his dad took me up north to ride the trails and climb hills. When I got home I bought a rail. They promised help to get it going but it didn't happen and I lost my storage space so I sold it. At about that time my grandpa bought a tub buggy to take hunting. It never ran well but he was able to enjoy it a little. After he passed away from cancer my grandma gave it to me. I have made it my own but I think my grandpa would like. My grandma cried becauese she thought it was junk.

[bone]

after my back surgury in 2006 i put my quad on craigslist, a 94 warrior 350, a guy offered to trade me the sand shark i have now even up for the quad. changed the gas, cleaned the carb and been hooked since..

btw.. i had less than $400 into the quad ;D

[mikegatch]

I moved in with my grandparents several years ago to help take care of my grandmother. While I was living there I started helping my grandfather work in the barn and I found myself surrounded by aircooled Volkswagen parts and cars. I discovered quickly that I was mechanically inclined and endeavored to bring one of these tired german husks back to life. We discussed which would be the best candidate and decided on a 73 standard that allegedly only needed an exhaust replaced. This of course was the remedy 12 years before my curiosity and ambition made the object a car again. It sat lifeless for over a decade and now this 20 year old kid was obsessing over hearing it run.

It sat tucked away in a corner beside several other hopeful steel heaps. Of course it was reluctant to be moved after sitting for so long. I believe this is the point I grew to dread brake work. On a 90 degree day I took to removing the drums from a sedentary bug. Of course my grandfather had a tool made from some chains and an old window weight. And...of course it had no effect on this drum determined to hold the bug just out of my reach. I hammered on that drum for 3 hours...sweat pouring into my eyes...and them it popped off. At that point I knew I could fix anything that car had wrong with it in the future.

My grandfather worked in the mill and had 5 kids. He accumulated countless bugs and parts out of necessity. He was obligated to keep 5 bugs on the road for his children and he went through a lot of parts cars. Someone would roll one and he'd pick it up for cheap, pull the engine and trans then strip it out and scrap what was unusable. My bug, "the red one" was a california car. Then it was my aunt's college car while she was in medical school down in Indianapolis. After that, my grandfather drove it briefly for real estate.

Then, as I said...it sat for over a decade and I brought it back to life. I have been all over with this bug and I love it. I drove it to Kentucky to go on a backpacking trip with the aunt who used to own it. I then drove a new car more than I ever had before on that trip. a 2000 civic. It was a manual, that's about all I liked about it. I wanted her to drive it after all the work I had done to it, but before I got to her house it developed an intake leak due to a bad gasket. She always said it was unreliable and it was as if the car wanted her to be able to say she told me so. Well, she died on that trip and I had to drive the civic from Colorado back to Chicago and I never did get to prove her wrong, but I inherited a 71 Karmann Ghia that is quite rough. I'm hoping to restore that over the next few years.

I've also been trying to repair my mother's super vert. Everyone in the family had a vw that they loved and I am just a new generation of that. I have been through a lot with my bug and it has always gotten me home. Life is an adventure and I don't think I'd rather be behind any other wheel while I navigated my way through it.

[vintagevwnut]

My mom had a '70s bug in the mid '90s, it was rough and she never got to drive it as the title was never found. I realy wanted to help her fix it up. It was sold before the title was ever found. I never got a chance to work on it. But the seed was planted to want to work on a aircooled bug.

[dansam]

Dad got a betamax in the 80's (too cool man) and had one movie Herbie musta watched it a million times. Got my first bug at 13 and never looked back. The looks draw you in and the mechanicals/engineering keep you in forever.