**HOW DID YOU GET INTO VW\'s?**

OK so how did you all get hooked on VW's tell tell....
the time when I did was when I was on morton Island zippin up the front beach in my suzuki seara when this BAJA flew pass me(I was doin 80k's)so I went down to the hard stuff,put me 4x into 2 wheel drive to catch the dubbie....yeah FAT CHANCE!! so within a month I had bought my frist VW (baja) and that was it.
so thanks to the dude who burnt me on the beach that day,you changed my life:thumb
ROB

Well, I like most people was in the habit of buying a younger car each time I could afford it, only to be dissapointed at how fast they are dissintergrating, everything has been made with the idea that it only has to last a few years then get crushed, and they are rusting and snapping and cracking way before their time and I got the shits with it.
I was on a round about of buying new cars because they wouldnt last.
So I got to thinking "what did I want next?"
I work as a Prop maker for film and came up with a Delorean, yes a Delorean, thats what I want, its stainless steel {cant rust} and I can customize it to look just like the one from Back to the Future, But I couldnt quite afford it, even though I found one for $9800 US, and then theres the whole try and source parts for one when you want to use the car as a daily driver.
I was offered a 69 model beetle for free
while on that train of thought, and then I thought about Herbie the love bug, obviously a beetle is a quality car or they wouldnt be around still, and much easier to get parts for, thats it I thought, I love Herbie, ever since I saw Montecarlo at the driveinn as a 7 year old, there was a Herbie replica at the drive inn and I was too young to know it wasnt the same car I was watching on the screen and couldnt understand why nobody else was as excited as me.
Suddennling I couldn't understand why I hadnt decided to make Herbie earlier.
It was the obvious choice for me, When I drive into the studios it really helps people to know who I am and what I do, because if someone says Get tony onto the job, "tony who?" Tony with the Herbie car, Oh that Tony yeah righto I know who he is.
So I started my search, I needed to find a good example of the right model, Details detail details, I know some people are happy to have numbers and stripes on anything and call it Herbie, I've ever seen the numbers and stripes on a Ford Probe, making it" The Love Probe ", so I finnally found a good example with a minimum amount of rust, in hindsight I might have done even better if I had the patience to wait.
When I bought Herbie he had Fibreglass flared guards etc and I was so Unfamiliar with VWs at that point that I didnt even realise the difference till after I bought him.
So I set to and did everything myself, Paint, decals seats carpet all that stuff, I even did the hood lining 3 times before I admitted defeat and got it done Professionally, although I regret that as the I could have matched the end result myself and kept the money, Anyhow, I got Herbie half made and went to California for 2 months to see my Brother, while there I started to notice how VW orientated California is and decided to go to a few shows, thats where I got hooked on splitties, I saw how cool they could be.
So when I got home I went hunting for one. bought that, and was so happy about it too.
So I finnished Herbie and put him on the road, because till that point I was a member of a few different VW clubs and was getting right into it and had 2 reasonably well saught VWs and yet had never even driven one anywhere.
which I found quite amusing.
Once Herbie hit the road, that was it, I knew that I was hooked, and now when you look at my driveway you might think its an unhealthy obsession.

Justturned 18, Went to work one day, and BAM! STYLIN was staring me in the face! Paris' car just blew me away! There was no other car I wanted! That was now 9 years ago! I still like that car, even though Im not really a fan of post 67's.

N!

i watched like endless summer or something and saw how sweet the kombi's looked loaded up witha heap of boards and mates and i just had to get 1 :bounce

it's in the blood. (4th generation scarily enough, only 3rd from my mothers side).

that and they are easy to fix and look so damn cool. i really wanted a camper but couldn't afford it. so i went out and brought a beetle.

as with herbie, i should have had more patience, paid a bit too much for a car with a bit too much rust in it, but hey i wanted a project, i guess i got one. but in the short week and a half i have owned herbert, well i now know what i am looking for when i buy my convertable (or is it cabriolet?)

i took him for a test drive and went, this car is just too cool. of course never having driven one it took me 3 minutes or so to get out of the park (damn reverse).

well im 3rd genaration i have photos of when i was 4 with bugs in them as long as i can remember siting as a young kid behind the back seat and grew with them i had my first car at 9 a 63ish bug my second at i14teen a 68 wich was my brothers first car in 1988 then i got my first regod vw when i was 15 i worked 22hours a week 2 by her from the car yard for $ 2600 and just sold it cople of months ago (sad now) but i need a new love so i got my manx and il find a nother something soon i have photos of most of all this il try and get the scand 2 show u :thumb😀

Addicted from an early age, went to my first formula Vee race when I was 2 weeks old. Practically grown up at race tracks and have been around VW ever since. 😀

I moved up to Brisbane from Sydney just over 3 years ago. When I lived in Sydney I caught a train to work so we only had the one car which the Mrs mainly drove.

However with the move to Brisbane we needed a second car as I needed to drive to work. I love old cars and thought this was my oportunity to get a cool older car.

I was checking out old Valiants and Falcons but none of them really got me exited. I've always been a bit of Kombi fan and spotted a twincab ute in the trading post. I went and checked it out and I thought I gotta get myself one of these. This one was a bit pricey so I didn't buy it, but set out to find myself one.

A couple of weeks later I located a 72 Twincab ute that was in my price range. I checked it out, fell in love and brought it.

Being desperate and not having much experience with VW's I should'nt have jumped in so quickly. It had quite a few problems that I was'nt aware of and cost me quite alot of $$$$$ to get it passed for a roadworthy.

Anyway she's a real gem now and I am now a fully certified VW nut😀

I always liked kombis since i was about 9 or 10, and couldnt afford a real one so started to collect toy models of them. Its not much of a collection only about 5 but still they kept me interested.

When the day came to purchase my own car, i decided on a kombi. Helped along by some of mates, u had kombis, including Pyro, it made the decision much easier.

Ive had my bus now for about 8 months now and still loving it!!!!

:thumb:thumb

Genetics......My grandmothers brother (fathers side) got one of the first 6 beetles to arrive in Australia. she also bought one several years later. My grandfather bought one of the first fastbacks in OZ after also having owned a beetle. My father bought one new when he killed his morris in 1964 and has always owned VWs up until 1996. When I bought my first car in 1985 it just happened to be a Fastback - 1968 model. My younger sisters first car was a fatsi wagen. Sadly I'm the only one in the family to still have the disease but little sis recons she will get a Beetle again in a couple of years!!!! As they say....once you've been bit.........:bounce

my first vw was back in 79. the old man bought me a 63 beetle for my first car with money from my weekend job. drove it for 2 to 3 years .and discovered that when i was bashing around (like you do when your young ) through water. would stall it . so decided to baja it for the total sum of 3oo dollars ( full kit ) then finaly gave into the v8 rage that started back then. now have bought a vw for my daughter ...but as i restore it ,i find that it going to be very hard to share it
:cry:cry

hmmm. I was born and bred a true blue Holden man, all my family had holdens, hotted up ones usually... and then Mr Odd One Out [me] had to go and ruin everything for them.
After frequenting the summernats throughout my teens I had seen just about every possible variation of a fricken torana and a monaro, and was just bored to death of them. [plus i had a 10 year collection of street machines so that didnt help]....

I decided i wanted a car no one else I knew had seen, let alone owned, and for some strange reason it had to be a wagon [i think it was the griswald's 'family truckster' that did it to me]... that coupled with a lift home one day in a bay window meant I was on the road to vw-ness.

started looking at cars and fell for the first T3 i saw. and bought it. and lovingly restored it... the rest is history.

... my family are still waiting for me to wise up and buy a V8. sigh.

I can thank Peter Korsche on the Central Coast for giving me the bug [sorry].

I drove passed one of his shops in the early 80's a drove in and had a chat one day. I had a Triumph Dolomite in those days. Peter showed me the light via some early Hot VW's and VW Trends and the rest his history.

He then moved premises in the mid 80's, with Saturday mornings being the prime get together time of the Central Coast dubbers, from which the Central Coast VW Club was formed. It's now defunct, but I hear Peter is looking at forming another club....AVOCA....Aircooled Volkswagen Owners Club of Australia. Cool name huh?

Great times, great rides, great monthly meetings, great mates....:beer:beer:beer:beer:party

Squiz....

Funnily enough, I never used to like VWs. I can still remember having 5 white, early sixties Beetles hanging around the back of the carport when I was a kid - two were daily drivers, one was a 'spare' goer, the fourth was semi stripped and the fifth sat up the back and we used it as a cubby. Vivid memories of swinging on the steering wheel, pretending I was driving. Nevertheless, I thought they were a piece of $hit. Memories of being crammed into the 'dickie seat' in summer didn't help generate any fondness.

I really hadn't had much experience with VWs until about 9 years ago. I did have a mate in Year 12 who drove a red Baja with 15" F100 rims on VW centres, but the stories of his misfortunes (including the dreaded swingaxle tuck-&-roll, and an engine fire) didn't help me to appreciate VWs at all.

As a teenager, I was right into cars... I bought magazines; mainly Modern Motor or Wheelswith the occasional Street Machine or Fast Fours and Rotaries thrown in. I was also really into drawing cars. I found a kit I liked the look of in a magazine and went about drawing my own version, modified to suit my tastes: a ute with a mid-mounted V8. (See attached picture)

Eventually I found myself paying off a late-model car which was depreciating as fast as I was paying for it. My wife and I were doing foster-care at the time, and had anything up to five fosterkids, as well as Heather's youngest daughter, in the house at any one time. I was looking for an eight-seater, with a budget of about $2000.

Now the sub-$2000 market didn't offer much in 1994 - lots of early model Japanese vans, full of rust, cheap build quality, with brakes and handling unsuitable for a passenger vehicle. I finally decided on a kombi, even though I knew very little (well, nothing at all) about them.

We decided to go for a drive past the local car yards and see what was around. The very first yard I found had an as-traded '76 2L FI microbus. I test drove it and liked it so much I bought it there and then.

I spent about $400 getting it Road-worthy and maybe another $300 on repairs to the fuel-injection system and tuning, then drove it hard for the next 8 years. I took it along four-wheel-drive tracks, through mud, over ruts, and even got it airborne several times. I used it to move house, tow car-trailers, cart firewood and to go camping. It did everything I asked of it, and I loved it.

Needless to say, our next vehicle was a VW too, a '70 fastback. 😀:thumb

Hmmm. Lot's of good stories.

Mine is simply that after selling my notebook computer for twice what it was worth, I saw a beach buggy sitting on the side of the road on my way home, it was for sale for a little less than I now had in hand. I had a look, got convinced that it was time to indulge in a lifelong secret interest in buggies, and at the same time was convinced I wasn't going to touch that buggy even if the guy paid me to take it.

Within a few weeks I had a Supa Sport body, a truck load of parts, a good 63 Beetle as a donor and a workshop in town.

Now I'm moving up to another beach buggy (V6 auto) and we're toying with the idea of a Beetle convertible and a 23 window Deluxe for around town.

One of Jimoen's famous lines... "It's alright, once you're in".:bounce

im 3rd generation (dad had 1 and grandpa had 3!) even though dad was adamant that i wouldnt ever own a beetle! ive loved them since i was a little girl cos they are cute and loud and looked fun!

plus there was the time our family was driving back from sydney and we were behind a gorgeous sky blue convertible bug that had the same dog as our dog in it, the dog looked pretty happy! the bug also looked pretty happy!

ok ok domes turn

well my dad works at j&f motors vw specialist and the work sell vw's aswell and my t3 was for sale there and no one baught it so my dad asked for it and the boss sed take it for nothing and i like it so i kept it thats how i got into vw's plus my uncle hadda k-g vert when i was like 6 or 7
soooo yeahh i loved them since then

dom!!!😀

I happened across an issue of VW Trends in about 1990, saw a Cal Look Fastback & had to have one! Bought my first Type 3 in 91, sold it a couple of years later (because I thought I needed air con!) waited 10 years & bought the 65 Square. I spent 10 years wishing I hadn't sold the Fasty!! But I'm back!

My love for them started when i was oh about 12 years young back in the cold dark north of England ! (Who by the way are gonna win tomorrow!!!)
I used to ride past a housae that had a baja in the garden ! That was it for me was hooked ! Pestered my parts at 12 for one but they said nope! so i saved my paper round money and bought one and made this !!



Had it till after i moved here it has gone to a good home now !!
Had it for 15 years.
Then whilst travelling to and fro Oz last year picked up this



and mrs's kombi and an oval in resto.

Still don't have a baja which first started me off down this road.

man some great stories here and probably a bloody lot more.better that the usual shit "I lov ford cause #@*$ holdens suck mate" or what ever!
keep em coming:thumb

My addiction started when I was a paper boy at the local news agent, (in the mid 70's), I started reading Hot VW's magazine.

Then when the time came to get my 1st car in '79, Dad found a $1400.00 '70 model Beetle that had just been traded at the local Toyota dealer, I parted with my hard earned savings and the rest is history.

I haven't owned anything else but VW's since then.

OK, im 3rd generation, but that has nothign to do with the reasoning. i had never even seen the interior of a VW, much less ridden in one, and i had only seen one photo of my fathers before i bought mine. i wanted a car that was practical, would look right at home by the beach, and could take me on a year long journey around aus. oh yeah, and i had next to nothign to spend. the 70s jap campers were ugly and horribly fitted out for someone over 6foot tall, the Bedfords were bombs, Id even considered fitting out an old sandman or stationwagen, then i had a good look at a few kombis and never looked back.

all started bout 6 months ago and i am alreddy hooked my dad bought a kombi as a present and luved eva since

first one at 14 years old, $50 fire trail stormer😀 1200cc of pure grunt..

I saw this great VW in a service station around 10 years ago and fell in love with it. I knew nothing about them at all. That was when I was a poor bloke and wanted it soooo bad. It had Vintage Vee dub stickers on it. Soon after I bought a 62 beetle with NO rust and couldn't believe a car that old could have no rust. A couple of years later my brother's girlfriend wrote it off.
This year that first beetle I saw 10 years ago was at the nationals and it was for sale! I thought to myself I gotta have this, so I took it for a drive, got the money out with a CREDIT CARD, and now I'm the proud owner of the first VW I fell in love with...

well, i guess I can start off by saying, i'm one of those weird girls who are into cars (vw's, sports cars, car racing, the works)
Been into cars ever since I was little, but always had a love for VW's.
The kombi I own now was sitting in the carpark of a local pub for about six months before I got it. I used to drive past it everyday and say to myself, "Man I want that car!!"
So one day I bit the bullet and put a note on the bonnet saying, hey gorgeous kombi I wanna buy you, do u think ur owner would part with you? (not verbatim of course :P) and the rest, as they say, is history! 😀 :bounce
But I love my kombi and would only ever think of parting with this one, if I got another better VW!!

Looks like owning VW's is hereditary, there's quite a few of us who are 3rd generation owners, I'm another.
Dad and grandad both owned Beetles and Splittys, I've always loved them, and so has my Wife, thats why I married her!
I did stray from the fold for a while, and had a couple of 64 EH Holdens, did them both up one was stolen, and the other was sold.
MY wife Just had to have a Beetle, all our kids were brought home in that car from the hospital. I had her for about 10-12 years and bought a Kombi, I had a bit of temporary madness and sold the Beetle:cry, I still have the Kombi, and I now have a 66 Beetle I'm getting back on the road.
And my kids all want a Beetle as well, so we are going for 4 generations, in our family.
Rob....

Well, we've always had kid's and a motorbike, but when child number four came along and my hubby wanted a new bike I put my foot down and insisted we needed a car first.

A couple of mornings later he turns up with a $1500 kombi and off he goes to buy a $20 000 motorbike :o

First look inside and I burst into tears.....absolute disaster.

Now, after having sold it to buy another kombi with less rust , I found myself sitting inside crying once again. But this time trying to come to terms with the fact that it had gone too far rust wise and it needed to be sold. It wasn't just a car, but had become a family member.

As much as I love air-conditioning I don't think that I could ever part with my VW

Hey RobnJo,
Sounds like you struck a chord here,
fastest moving thread thats not a word game, Good work....

It seems every one has a story they want to tell but only here can they find someone who is interested.
Sorry about my novel of a post, a bit like Grandpa Simpson and the checkout at the supermarket,
"interesting story about this coin......... 1942 I believe, it was a tuesday, got up to make my breakfast, set the toaster to 2, {medium brown} and then..............................................."

Cheers Tony

Great Stories.
Mine started in the 70's; the Kombi was and still is the perfect surf wagon. My XL Falcon didn't cut it anymore so I scored this great '66 splitty panelvan that was nicely camperized with the 'ol double bed in back, kept it for about 10 years: wish I still had it!
Andy

I had always admired kombis from afar coz as a young girl all i wanted to do was surf & kombis just seemed part of the culture.When i was 21 i headed o.s & ended up in this awesome little surf town in England called Newquay.Not long after we arrived a convoy of Kombis entered the main street,there must have been at least 50 of them all different models & colours.I still get a tingle up my spine whenever i think of that moment as i was just awestruck & knew that i would have to own one.I then headed to southern California & spent a couple of years in Huntington beach admiring all the cool buses there.One of my american friends decided to head back to oz with me & so we flew into qld & bought ourselves a '71 kombi & hit every beach from Noosa to Melbourne.
It was a dream come true & from the first time i drove it & got a wave from a fellow kombi driver i new i'd never own anything else.I now drive a '75 but am restoring my absolute love,my '67 splitty & can only imagine how stoked i'll be when i finally get to cruise in her.😀😀😀

Hey Dodge, im one of those weird girls too (into the cars, cricket and more cars). Recently tried to get it lowered and they didnt know how to do it. I was telling them what to do. 😠
I was born into an all ford family, typically V8's, therefore was forced into the car scene. Dad was restoring an FX holden to be a show car(it was his first car), so with my two brothers, we helped dad out. Well as much as i could as a seven year old.

Bought my first car at age 20 and by this stage i was into the jap cars(rebel in the family cause all the others had new V8's). Couldn't afford the new beetle so I bought a new top of the range 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer and i hotted it up to the max. All the girls in the streets were envious and all the boys wanted to go out with me. Hehehe.

In 2001 i was driving to work in the rain and a guy came around a corner on my side and i didnt move fast enough. Had a head-on and the car was gonna cost $16500 to repair it, so it was ritten off.🙁 . And for your info, yes i did get hurt. Airbags f***ing hurt but i would have been dead with out them.

What to buy next was a big issue. Had to look ultra cool and had to suit me. I remember back on my 18th b'day, mum and dad gave me a toy model of a new beetle and said this is the closest you'll get to owning one. Yeah right, look at me now. I finally got one and love it to death. It's even gotten me into the oldies and especially split kombis. Dad now tells me that he owned two kombis in his days. It had to be fate.
BTW i got four airbags to blow me apart now hehehe.

My wife (back then girlfriend) got her first kombi 9 years ago because she was a bit of a hippie and she got me hooked on them also.
I was the one who swayed her away from the hippie look. 😀

hey thanks tony,but like I said these aren't your every day car stories THESE ARE V.W STORIES!!:thumb

not long ago i hated dubs, a friend of mine was telling me that she wanted a beetle, and wanted to do a home conversion to make it convertable, and i bagged her out. then i started checking out beetles on the net and started to fall for them, if that wasnt enough i decided to look at one, take it for a test drive, and the moment i took that car for a ride i thought, yes, i want a beetle. it was one of the best drives id ever had, although it wasnt the bug for me, so we kept searching until my brother told me his friends father was moving and wanted to sell his bug. so we arranged to take a look, and the moment that car pulled up to my house i was in love, we then waited a long agonising week to have another look, make sure everything was in order, and then another loooong week to buy her, but the day i jumped in her, and drove her home was the best feeling, its too bad i had to wait another 2 months until i could get my Ps.

i still love her, ive cracked her exhaust, fixed it, carbies and timing have been out (sure nothing too big but i still worry for my baby) but after watching tcm tonight, the moment i got to her i gave her a kiss. if only i could take her into the cinema with me

I blame John langford, Dean Lowrey,Daryl Vitone,Volkommen art,Jim Gow,Aldo.For all having a ride that influenced me in this Crazy passion.

hey kustomkool the pic you have in your sig,is that yours ,have you got a full pic to show?looks very tricky:thumb

well usually, i opend the door, put my left leg in (depends on which side of the car i'm getting in from though) then i put my arse on the seat, followed by bringing my right leg in, and then i usually reach out and shut the door.

that's how i get into VW's!!!!

zac:P

*mental note*zac_smits is a smartass.lol
so how do you get into girls?

When I was in primary school my best friends dad has a white beetler, early 60s model and ever since he took us for a ride in it I loved beetles. Unfortunately he chopped the top off and stuck a big fat whale tail on it and painted it maroon. About 10 years later one of the boys who lived down the road from me ended up owning it and that re-ignited my love of beetles. I was always into cars as well cos my dads into sprts cars etc. He was always doing some resto or another and has just finished hi Triumph GT6 Mk II that he bought just before I was born!

Well, if you want to get technical - I married into them!
My father-in-law had a 63 1300 beetle and when my wife was old enough to get her licence she bought a 65 1200 beetle. She then traded in her beetle on a 71 TLE fastie which is what she had when we met. I loved that car, but after getting married and kids on the way we traded it on a Kingswood. Not long after we were married her Dad then traded his beetle in on a 70 TL Fastie, which he gave to us 3 years ago to use as a second car. He didn't have the heart to get rid of it and new we would love it. So now we come to our 73 Fastie which we have restored as the rust in Dads car was far too bad to even contemplate restoring. So now we have gone full circle and returned to VW's never to deviate again!

robnjo wrote:*mental note*zac_smits is a smartass.lol
so how do you get into girls?

i don't think that one is suitable to explain here

zac😀
plus...we all do it different ways neway :P

For me it started where i was born.... in Papua New Guinea. My father is Dutch and came over and settled in Brisbane many many years ago where he was introduced to my now mother.

The left civilization and headed up to the Forests of PNG where we lived very happily for a long time...... here was my first encounter with the Kombi.... how exciting...... I have a couple of pictures in the phot album of the bus. Ill have to dig them out.

Living in such a backwards country you had to learn to do everything yourself... so off i would go following dad down to the shed and working on the bus.....

When I was sent to boarding school i always had a thing for VW's... it was sort of hard to get out and about as it was a private girls school no one shared the passion so it died a little until i meet up with this wonderful man........ which showed me the light again what VW's had to offer....

We started out to Dubs by the Pub in 2002 in a falcon and we passed a car yard going through town and seen a beautiful little orange 1974 bug convertable ...... so after dubs on the sunday that was it had to have her Monday she was sitting in the carport. We then started to get into the club scean where we picked up our Type 3 Squear Back as we had a camping trip to Summerset dam and had no room in the Beetle for all the crap soooo off we went in her.l........ We ended up selling the Beetle about 8 months later. Where then i bought my Yellow 2000 model Beetle....

We then have made some more purchases and well the family has become rather large now.......

And.... to top it all off i now work for Keema, which a couple of years ago was the first VW dealership in Brisbane....... Isnt it strange.... some of the people i work with have been with the company for over 30 years and started with an apprenticeship on VW's

I have attached some pictures...... of the early days ..... hope you enjoy them.....

Picture 1 with the man sitting down is Mr Ivy who started Keema Volkswagen

Picture 2 man on the left is Mr Kabel (partners with Mr Ivy) then Mrs Kabel then Mr Ivy and his wife and Mr Kabels Son....

Picture 3

Picture 4 is the First location at Stones Corner on the round about of Logan and Old Cleveland Road

here are the pics it was all to big

some more....


Picture 1 - Workshop at Stones Corner

Picture 2 - Show room at Stones Corner

Picture 3 - Moorooka car yard

seen one fell in love you all know the story

Here are the pics

Sorry for so many posts but it wound not let me download so much stuff.... the pics are not clear but if you would like a closer look let me know and i will email them through

Cheers

Moniek

P.S. one of my bosses actually is the first Mr Kabel's Grandson that now has Grandchildren of his own........

Awesome story Moniek! Great pics too.

I was introduced into the art of car restoration by my dad who has had a string of Chevs in the past. Currently a Corvair convertible so we have some mutual admiration for air cooled engines!!

An old Polish fellow lived across the road from us as we were growing up, he had bought a 1963 Beetle new (coincidentally from the Stones Corner car yard in the above pics) and handed it onto our family when he was too old to drive. My brother drove it during uni, then handed it onto me for my uni days...I hung onto it and restored it before sadly selling it last year to move on to a new project!

Like my dad and many others, I bet some day I will regret not hanging onto my first car...can't keep everything though!

Alan

awesome pics Mrs M....love the workshop photo:thumb
I also remember when I did my trade as a car spark this lady always brought her kg in to us to tune and I said to her when she goes to sell it I'll buy it and she said jump in line.....that was 20 yrs ago.

Here's a new twist to the Q,,,

I needed somewhere to live for 6months or so,,,,,

Was working in Thredbo and wanted somewhere to sleep at night,, so I looked around and found an old 73bay Kombi,, no motor, nothing inside but the front two seats!!! Bought her for $200 from a wreckers,,
Anyway got her towed up a couple of hundred Kms to Thredbo where I parked her in the carpark behind a mates house. Man It was cold,, first night in the van was around -15c,, my drink bottle froze solid and there was ice around 5cm long hanging off the ceiling!! Managed to find some bits to put inside her and when the season finished got her registered and drove 1500km on the maiden voyage,,, man wonder what happened to her?
Anyone knows give me a yell,, white 73 2lt Auto Kombi with crappy red/yellow/green/black spraypainted on the front!! Had a fridge, bed and the usual stuff.

Just about to get my next Kombi rego-ed up and ready for another treck,,,,

wonder where she got to..
:cry
Dave

i was hooked when a lady who used to live down the end of my street offered me her old 71 super bug for FREE ...an offer which i of course could not refuse......she even bought me a brand new battery so i could drive the beast up to my place and i have been in love with betsy ever since.......of course it isnt in prime condition...but now that i have finished school and have more hours at work i can afford to get the resto off the ground properly

My Dad bought me one when i was 16. Cost 100 (uk) and was a 1300 bug. Took all the chrome off , lowered the front and took the bumpers off. Also had a zoom tube , go on! Had it for 3 years and from there it's never stopped. had 5 bugs , a buggy , a Ghia , a split bus and now living in Oz a 67 bug. The best times i've had have been VW related!!

Dan

when i was about 11 or 12 i used to play squash with two guys who both had beetles. used to race each other to and from the squash courts when we played and were always a lot of fun. loved their cars and the things that could be done with them. One guy was fixing his up and was into early model porsche's as well,and the other loved his beetle the way it was. Sort of went off them as the years went on but thought about getting one as my first car... couldn't find one in good condition without paying a fortune for them so (stupidly) decided on a Torana as my first car. BIG mistake.. it was a piece of you know what and although i loved the V8 i hated the car. Next came a 1981 VC Commodore SLE 4.2L V8.... not a bad car but wanted more.... by this stage my gf had her dream car - 1968 beetle semi-automatic.... i got rid of the commodore and gf got a 1986 KC laser so i had the beetle.... various other cars over the years including VSII Commodore, VTII SS Commodore, Mazda Astina SP20, and now drive a Subaru Forrester XT, but have a 1965 beetle (thanx Nathan) under the pergola ( Sorry Trace... lol) awaiting the funds and the ideas of what to do in order to rebuild it and then it will be a case of who's going to drive it lol.

OK, better have my turn (I'll try to keep it short:P ),

I, like so many others, am a third generation V-dubber. My grandparents (Dad side) had a couple of Kombis that they used to use to to carry food/suppies from town to their ski lodge in Falls Creek. They were early Splitties (from what I can gather) as my Grandfather always tells me how he used to drive them up the mountain so hard that they used to seize the motors, then, once they had cooled down, they would re-start and keep going :o (don't try this at home kids!).
My Grandparents on my Mums side owned (actually still own!!) a '68 bug which my Grandmothers brother purchased from the factory in Germany before shipping it back to Australia. (this is the nicest VW I have ever driven - feels like a new car still!)
My parents owned a number of cars, but the ones that I can remember are a black '65 bug with a red interior (bought new in '65 and sold when we moved to Queensland in '79 🙁 ), a dark green two door 411L - purchased from a car yard in 1970, damaged (whilst being demoed by the local dealership), Dad repaired it and used it daily until 1996 (still owns it - still registered), and finally what is now my brothers '65 Westfalia Camper - also used on almost a daily basis until the early 90's (This one has an interesting story to go along with it too - but too long for this post...).

So as you can see, there was no real choice for me! I started with a '74 L bug, then went up market to a '79 Audi 100 5E (bad move!), then a '63 bug, a '65 Baja, and a '72 Twin Cab Kombi. The only one of these cars I don't still own in the '74L.

Rest assured that this will not be the end of the list....

R

I'm loving these stories :thumb
::warning:: Mines a long one tho 😉

I was born into a biker and bent 8 world. However, not long after I was born Mum and Dad needed another car and my Uncle wanted to start racing. Turned out one of my Uncle's teachers had a beetle that they needed out of their yard.
So after making excuses not to get it, they decided to go for it after all.
On the way home with it they bought a workshop manual and ripped into it. My Dad's mate took time off his drag-rod project to do the welding, our coffee tables were littered with "Dune buggies and hot VW's", "VW trends", etc, etc, etc...
And everyone around us seemed to get addicted. Parts were made from scratch and other marque parts adapted to put the bug on the track and keep it on the road. The next few years involved collecting as many wrecked and tired bugs as possible for parts.
Then one day it was decided to build a buggy. A shell was cut up. Again everyone around us took time off their projects and spent a full day cutting, welding, stripping and re-building. Then shopping around off-road wreckers and accessory shops for whatever could be useful. The end result was 4 different offset rims, tractor and truck tires, no bonnet and a washing machine panel on the front to stop the sides of the front cut flapping about. Not long after this time my Uncle had gotten into Formula Vee's to cut his open wheeler teeth on and there was a sprint at calder that did'nt coincide with a FV event. Basically it was similar to group 5 event now (whatever car passes can go out on the track) but it was to start off in a grid and be a proper race. So it was decided to run the buggy, with my Uncle driving (since he was licensed to do full grid events). They dragged it out from the back of the yard, spent $0 to get it running again. Cleaned up the points, found as good set of leads as they could (pretty much see the VW engines never die thread). Checked the brakes. Bolted up some FV wheels and tires, lowered it to mm's of scraping, put it on a trailer and headed for calder bright and early on the sunday morning.
It somehow passed scruitineering (no windows, welded shut passenger door, home made cage and so on) and was put on the track with a lotus, XU-1, sports sedan cortina and a few other unlikely oponents. Once out on the track it was pretty much left for dead. They came around the back of calder and into the series of s bends and corners. All cars formed a single file formation and braked nice, evenly and steadily. Then out of nowhere a beetle shot up the inside of the small grid and around the outside of the lotus. However as soon as this had happened the hit they straight and the more powerful cars were gone. I think what was even cooler and more fun than the accidental good handling charateristics of the car was the fact that my Uncle was putting his head down and looking through the empty speedo hole (no bonnet BTW) when going down the straight, to cut down wind resistance. LOL
A few minutes later the rain set in and resulted in the buggie spinning on its axis at the bottom of the long straight and being pretty much undriveable (no wieght). The next weekend it went to the tip. And a year of so later our original beetle (still in it's grey primer) was traded in on a used Honda for ease of transporting us kids.
Fast forward to me becoming a teenager: My Dad was'nt doing much with cars anymore, my Uncle was developing race and performance cars for a living and I was causing heaps of trouble and my transport interests were influenced by many quick thoroughbreds that I'd been exposed to through my family and thier friends. My grandmother passed away and it was decided to sell her house. So it was like a big reunion to clear it out, throw stuff out and/or decide who gets what. In this proccess I was given the job of cleaning out under the house and dragging out all our old VW parts. I guess you could say it sparked some really good memories and my interest in VW's was now born in full flight. So Dad and I loaded them up and took them home. Not long after that, one of my Mum's co-workers mentioned to her one night that they had a car they did'nt want. So we followed it up, to find out it was a '67 beetle. And the rest is history!
I think I'll always own a beetle. I currently don't (got a W114 Mercedes), granted. But am looking for that next project.

my parents were to career orientated to take me on holidays so i used to go with my best mate to his uncles workshop "max ralph automotives "Now Andrew dodd Automotives" we used to muck around in the country buggys, ice cream van splittys etc and a couple of vw trends mags later "GONNNNNE"

its in my blood, everybody in my family has had at least 3 vw's😀

I caught the "bug" from my brother-in-law who was restoring his '69 beetle.:jesus

😀 I'll blame my perdantic father, he bought a brand new 76 flipper blue passat wagon, his first and only new car.
It took us everywhere and since then have progressively owned just about all types of veedubs only missing a couple of classics, karmann ghias and splitties remain elusive. However I'm still young there is still plenty of room in the back yard, I have also sucessfully brain washed wife, children, nephews and sister(kombi karma)... but there are still minds to play with and bend to the volksy way.😀

Always wanted a beetle...bought Bel...and sorta got caught up in it all, as you do😉😎:thumb

Well I am a third generation as far as i know. And at the moment i am driving a VW Golf Diesel which my grandfather once owned, he has passed on now unfortunate cos he was passionate about cars. He was Germanite and had all sorts or things in his yard when he was still in Germany. Like Beetles and Kombis and Beemer bikes. He moved to Australia in '63 with a light blue Kombi splitty that i believe is still being run by my uncle in West Aus. My father came over with the family and he bought a Type 3 wagon, and to this date its the only car he has bought new. Grandfather bought the Golf as a retirement car, ended up going to my dad, he has since past it on to me. It will end up going to my younger brother as the P plate car. In the future i want to rebuild a Beetle, but got to finish me uni degree i think, money is hard to come by at the moment. And i have much to learn about em. Volkswagen is in the blood.
Cruzin in a Golf

Heh heh.... I used to own an 88 magna wagon, which was handy for lugging drums around, and I believed there was nothing more to motoring than getting from a to b. At that point my ex-wife and I needed a second car for her. I saw a Mk1 2dr silver golf for sale and checked it over. It had tri spoke alloys which fortunately were nicked before I bought it and a twin light grille. It seemed to run ok, so we bought it. After replacing the wheels, I drove it for the first time and I was instantly transformed. It was like a connection had been made.... I dont want to sound naff, but it was spiritual... I ended up driving the Golf and the ex drove the Magna. Haha
From there, I have only driven dubs with various tuned mk1s and my current ride, the Mk2 UK spec GTI. My girlfriend has now owned three dubs, a mk1 we built for her, a mk2 Jetta, and a Vento. She is not a fan of other cars cos after driving the dubs, all else in the price range feels a bit dodgy...

I had to sell my 250cc twin cylinder superkart due to no competition down here in Tassie.

The most logical class for me to look at was Formula Vee. Lightweight, easy to work on and economical to run. Powered by a 1200 40Hp kraut of course!

My biggest gripe is that the vee weighs 480Kg with me sitting in it with about 44 Hp at the wheels.
My F/E superkart weighs 225 kilos with me in it and runs about 90 Hp at the wheels. Do the maths!
The superkarts are so brutal with that much berries and such a small package and tries to loosen your fillings out of your head, so the vee is a real departure from what I have been used to for so long!
I do miss leaning into turn 1 at Eastern Creek with the datalogger showing 215 KPH at wide open throttle in the 250.

The Vee is like a limo compared with its suspension!! yay!

My first car was an old historic Elfin F-Vee.
A beautiful old thing and I still have it. Difficult to get right in the setup but still very good on its day.

My car now is the Kestrel KC/3-1 F-Vee you see to the left.
This thing is one of the most unusual looking F-Vees in Oz and is one of a production run of 12 with only 4 now left log booked and still running in the country. They were all built around 1988 to 1990 in South Australia by a clever dude named Geoff Mobbs, who incidentally, built Elfin sports cars and chassis and for a time built Lotus race cars in England.

It is a delightful 'Vee to drive and looks far better in the flesh than the pix suggests.

I am currently setting it up with a turbocharged twin port 1600 as a clubday and hillclimb toy!
The complete engine/transmission/suspension is only held in by 3 bolts so the whole package can be removed in about 15 minutes to make for quick changes between the race and play setups.
Im using a spare turbo off my wifes Nissan Pulsar ET turbo and pulling thru an 45mm SU.
This thing should move along quite well. I am aiming for about 110 Hp at the wheels.

I am also converting both ends of the car to disk brakes off a type 3.

There is little wrong with the drum brake clobber on such a light chasis so this conversion is only being done purely for the right "look" and it opens up a whole world of different wheels. I reckon race cars look righ with disk brakes thats all!!!

Thats it.
L8tr dudes
E

My love affair with VW's began when I was sweet sixteen (which was only a couple of years ago ! 😉. I got my leaners permit. At the time my dad owned this big monster Mazda van thingy, I couldn't get the hang of the coloumn shft thingy and it was too big, so he was on the hunt to buy me a cheap car. Then I saw it a 1968 Royal Blue Semi Auto Beetle advertised in the paper for $1500. The next day she was mine. I called her Gertie and learnt to drive her. When I got my licence Gertie and I travelled to uni together. Sometimes though Gertie would be naughty and not want to go to uni so poor me would wait at the side of the road until she was in a better mood. Gertie and I had lots of fun together until I finished my degree and got my first real job. I needed something less tempremental so I traded Gertie for a Ford Laser (which I later killed on the freeway ...... lasers and utes don't mix well !!!!!!!!!). I then started my passion with buying new cars, over the years I bought a few lasers, a Mazda and a WRX but nothing gave me the enjoyment of Gertie. UNTIL ..... At the motor show I saw it .... a new beetle cabriolet ..... she was beautiful and I had to have one ..... so last october I proudly became the mummy of a blue cabriolet which I call Veronica and the love affair continues !

:sandrine