Love hearing stories on how people got into VWs.how did you get hooked on the greatest car that ever was...Share it with us.

When i was born, i was brought home from the hospital in a bay. Then my uncle had a cool black beetle with hotwires when i was a lil boy. It just developed. I must say, now im of age an early type 3 square is now my weapon of choice.
Steven

well mum and dad had one, dad worked at volkswagon and it was the only car that would carry 6 kids, then my first boyfriend had a kombi, so i got a kombi and we wanted to alope and live in our vans 4 eva and eva............. it didnt last.......... hes still my best kombi mate though. then my 5th boyfriend bought me a splitty for my birthday cos i regretted selling my first one so much .............. that didnt last either!!! i stand by my van, cos my van stands by me!!

Opened the door and climbed in!!! :P:P:P


Seriously, I'd been looking at a few VW magazines (when they were produced in Australia) and needed an 8 seater to cart foster-kids around in. I had a choice between a $2000 rusty, poor handling and under-braked jap-crap van, or a 76 2 litre fuel-injected microbus. :thumb:thumb:thumb

THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT

no,i painted a couple,then a friend had 1 for years,then i got a cheapy done it up,
they just seem to keep turning up in my drive way............
]cheers:beer:beer

[Edited on 3-6-2003 by wrecker67]

i think the money devil made me do it

Ok....I'll give this a go....

It would be about 1985, and I'd just put my Triumph Dolomite into a ditch - I was 21.

Living on the Central Coast, chop top conversions where the rage [but not mine], and I met a moustach wearing bloke by the name of Peter Korsche [someof you on here would know him].

Anyway - Peter got talking VW's to me, and I had happened to stumble upon a 70 Notch - and I was hooked. Of course numerous VW Magazines got me hooked further, as did my friendship with Peter as I joined the Central Coast VW Club.

I cal'd my Notch, and got thinking other projects. I then found a 66 Ghia for a project after selling the Notch, and drove the Ghia as it was until rego was up. I then took the Ghia off the road and bought a 60 Kombi as my daily driver whilst I worked out the best look for my Ghia. The Central Coast guys around those days [late 80's] where great. We used to hang around Peter's workshop, look at all the old mags, and talk VW's with Peter, Mark "Kunzie" Kunze, Bob "it's a buzz" Barwise, Glen "spike" Shipway....the list goes on. We had a great time together and went on many great Central Coast Cruise with the club.

After getting the Ghia on the road [yep - cal'd it again], I then drove it around for a few years. Madness of marriage and a mortgage forced me to sell the Ghia, and be VW less for a while - but it wasn't long. Around '95 I found a 65 metal sunroof as a daily driver, and had this up until '99 whereby divorce saw me part company with the car - and the mid life crisis came early. I jumped into an FTO for a while, then a WRX as I was striving for more power. However, sanity prevailed - the WRX made way last year for a '76 Cab - which I still have.

I love it to bits, but a new marriage and space for soon to be 3 kids means I'm putting a question mark over the Cab. Hmmm.....I saw two nice [one early, one late] squarebacks the other day.....the journey continues.....

The big hook for me in the VW circles is the people and friends I've made. It's great seeing old faces from shows of the 80's still around today...we're all a little older, and a little wider - and wiser. The pinacle for me without a doubt has to be Nambucca. It's a pity that it is no longer yearly - but that just makes it more special. I haven't been for 10 years at least - and this year I am looking forward to more than anything.

I still see Peter, and saw Spike after over 12 years only last week. We spoke as if we'd seen each other the week before.

Gee I'm a sop.....



Squiz....

I wanted something cheap, a little different , and was easy to maintain and also wanted a sleeper. Dad had on in the eraly 70's so i got one. and due to the fact i ahve short arms, long legs and a tall body, its one of the few cars i fit into. And its great for blowing of ppl who think vw's are slow!!!!

you really should paint such a pretty picture of yourself.. he he:o

thanks :P

iam just weird like my car :alien

i was born with it in my blood. my dad has been in to volksys for 35 years , racing them and is a mechanic on them. how did you get into them damo?

Well a step up from a Fiat 600 to a 61 1/2 beetle was a major transformation back in 1968 as a couple of mates had powerhouse(and I use the term loosely) 1500 beetles with 14x6s , GT stripes and Lukey extractor systems. Made just the right noise and sounded as if they went fast. Enough to convince me that was my type of car. Since then stopped counting more than 15 years ago after I had owned and disposed of over 100 vws. Have had more than that again since those times but don't count anymore(think alzheimers is kicking in, come to think of it how many have I got today!!!!)volma1:jesus

hi greg, have you got any karman ghias u dont want? is that how u spell it, i know i dont deserve one if i cant spell it!

After seeing "THE INCH PINCHER" and "STUTTBEE" I saw the potential having been around the punk scene I hated the cliche bay standing on its tippy toes with some feathers and bird bones hanging of the rear veiw mirror but after seeing the jap and u.s.a and europe restocustoms, oldschools etc i knew this is where its at my first up front and schoolin on VW coolin was seeing Sprintstars ghia and The volkommen boys rides at the first Jamboree,Also German folks and edubs website and OLDESKOOL site gave me some insperation.Ive always been around cars but Im hooked on dubs 4ever...Thats why I started THE OILDRIPPERS to bring the KOOL NEWSCHOOL TOGETHER>>>>>:thumb

My grandfather was cleaning out his shed when I was 16. And at the back was a "spare" 1961 volkswagen beetle that he bought of a lady that had cancer and could no longer drive it. It only had 50000 original miles on it, anyway after sitting there for years and years my grandfather decided to fill it up with fuel and put a battery in it and try to kick it over and it started!!!!! He asked me if I wanted it for my birthday - to which I replied "DO I EVER!!!" Then proceeded to do it up for 2 years.....:bounce

Getting lazy, but no only have the 59 and 61 ghias Rach, no spare ones sorry. volma1

When I was very young my parents had a white Beetle. I remember being able to lay in the parcel area over the motor looking up at the stars through the back window at night. I can still remember laying there listening to the engine working it way through its gears. Then it got tee boned (probably would've still been OK for a buggy) and was written off.

The my mum and dad then got a yellow super bug. This car lasted for a few years. When the family grew too large my dad traded it for a small station wagon.

I then forgot about VWs as these two were gone before I was six. Then about 17 years later my dad won the Manx. His only regret about this was that he didn't win it sooner. Since I was the only family member interested in it we negotiated a price and it was mine. Now my only regret is that I didn't build one sooner, like when I was an apprentice or something.

This little car has tought me alot about VWs (not the boby work of course), but I now have alot of respect for the German engineers that created it. The cars of today are just not built the same way, and they are not built to last.

For quite some time we were a one car family. I drove the car (non-VW) to work during the day as my wife had a work from home job. Then the big retrenchment axe came down one day and no more work from home for my wife.

After a few months of trying to juggle public transport, work hours, swapping the car around, dropping off and picking up our two girls, it became pretty obvious that one car just wasn't going to cut it anymore. This was around the time of a VW show at Penrith Panthers early last year. We went out to have a look because a friend at work had a Bug in the show and we made a day of it.

Wandering around the carpark and looking at the Kombis put an idea in my head that this might be the way to go. Easy to get the kids/prams/miscellaneous baby stuff in and out of a vehicle and the prices were very very good compared to 2nd hand people movers that we had been skimming over in the classifieds.

Went home and stewed on it and perused the online Trading Post for the next day or so. My wife actually spotted the one we have now and it read pretty good. I was still a bit hesitant but she pushed me to go see it. I did so the next day and was very impressed with what I saw and the price being asked. The previous owner had done an exceptional job in its maintenance and restoration.

Took some digi photos and went home and showed the better half. By that time I was much more keen on the idea and thought it would be great to have the camper as a 2nd car. Went back next day for a test drive and I thought, god am I ever going to be able to drive one of these properly. I had beads of sweat from nerves taking it on the test run through the steep and winding back streets of Greenwich, especially having never driven any VW before. I was still determined though that it could be mastered so once again went home to discuss with the Minister of Finance. She said we should go for it and that's how we ended up with KOM123.

I have since done alot more to the camper and intend on taking a visit to the previous owner as he was pleased it was sold to someone who was going to look after it and not thrash it around the countryside.

Well that's our story, hope it wasn't too boring

The first car I have memory of is a 62 split panel and my mum telling me to hold on tight to the handle on the dash as I could'nt see over it,this was my dad's V.W. shop car and you can't escape the dubs if you know what I mean.

love your work damian - love your work

with me - my father had a '64 on it's roof in our backyard, a '57 oval at the side of the house (the engine that i posted a week ago 'how i caught the (oval) bug' came from it) and an early 911 in the garage.
my first car was a '54 followed by a '57/8, '64, '65, '66, '63, '71, '67, my current '67 Fasty a '69 Fasty (with a 12a rotary) and as well as my current, a '66 Fasty shell (which is my current project).
And between my '54 and '66 i helped restore a '62 Karmann for my brother.

[Edited on 3-6-2003 by vw_carrera]

Bought my first Beetle, a 64, for $300 to get to work after my EK holden died then bought a kombi, a 1974, 1800cc in 1978. fitted it out and travelled the coast from the Goldy ( where i lived) to Sydney (where my girlfriend, now my wife, lived) a few times. then travelled overseas, came home and bought a 1976, 2 litre, fuel injected kombi, wow bloody thing flew. Needed a kombi to get my 4 kids around. had a few 4 x 4s and then my sons were old enough to drive so they have a kombi each and i thought, bugger it, iv,e always wanted a splitty, so i bought an old one and restored it. now my youngest son wants a splitty and we are in the process of resoring another one. lots of work ahead. cheers, fish:bounce

Well mine started while delivering newspapers at the tender age of 13.
6 days a week i would deliver to a house which had a red baja in the driveway.
And an oval in the garage.
Started pestering my parents till i got my first one 3 years later just before started learning to drive. Still got it some 13 years later. Although it remains in the UK.
Just got my 56, 68 bugs and the 76 kombi here now on the coast.
BUt garden still has room for more so the fleet might grow !!!!!!

Always loved vw's bought a '63 for $300 before I had my license built it up into a baja eventually fitted an 1835 and that was it i was definately hooked kept it for a few years.

Then I did a silly thing and went thru the V8 stage thank god that didn't last long. stayed out of the scene except for an old barn door 11 of us owned " the booze bus" every 11th weekend you were the designated driver and it was your job to hose it out, you get the picture.

Then I bought a '67 from a car yard that was in fantastic condition spent lots of money resto/custom till some f#$%head stole it and I never saw it again.

Then about 2 years ago I bought a '68 for a resto to do with my 3 boys. Pulled the body off and cried at the extent of the rust.

Well lets just say I gained some valuable parts before the tilt tray arrived.

But now I have my '69 which will never leave my side and the great thing is my boys all love vw's(one even likes notch's do you believe that?..........joke).

The boys from Volkomenn told me never to admit this, But It was Paris' Blue BEAST that got me into dubs! Most Melbourne, and a few sydney guys will know the car! Blue, Fuchs, Big motor turboed! WICKED!!!

N!

i first decided to get a kombi when i was watching old surf documentarys and saw them from that point onwards i feel in love with them big small round or tall

I loved beetles since i cant remember, Then when it came around to the time where i was learning to drive i kept telling my parents i would get a beetle for my first car, my parents were mortified! (though i later found out my dad had 1, and my grandad had 3 ovals!!! as grandpa was a civil engineer in the middle east and they are perfect for driving around in the desert)

lo and behold i got my license and my parents started looking for a car for me... volvos, mitzis, holdens...anything! but i refused them all (even the cushy turbo volvo!) because i was adamant that i would have nothing but a beetle, and here is the clincher, nothing but a RED beetle.

Needless to say that i drove around in other peoples cars for 6 years, until my dad got talking to some friends of his, who as it had turned out used to have a beetle, and they convinced him that just because its old doesnt mean its a piece of shit, which made dad think about how his old bug and his dads many older bugs were pretty good actually...and so the hunt for the perfect beetle began. we looked at a few, but they were mostly too expensive and too rusty, and didnt feel "right", so the hunt got called off for a few months until i stumbled upon an ad in the trading post that sounded pretty nice, and was only up the road from my parents place, so i asked my dad to go have a look for it and tell me what he thought. He rang me that night at work (id been living, studying and working in the city for 4 years, mostly night shifts and needed something to get myself home in!) and basically told me that if i was going to get a beetle, this was the one. YAY! went up that weekend, had a look and took it home 3 days before my 23rd birthday!!! Thus began my love affair with cherry the '69 carrera bug, and the waving, beeping and smiles that go with it.

This story just proves that if you persist, you usually end up with more than you wanted in the first place!

My first car (when at uni) was a T3 fastback. It was a matter of timing, I needed a car, it was within my price range, in very good nick and cute. I regret getting rid of it, I had to choose between it and a trip to Germany to see meine Grossvater. Family won. Reading all the posts I realise it now how precious it was.
Currently, the idea of getting a beetle came from doing the Variety Bash. They are big on themes and entertainment. the 'Ladybug' idea was suggested and the rest is history.
I still miss my fastback

I didnt have much choice, my dads been collecting VWs since he was 15 so I have been around them all my life, I cant remember a time in my life were there wasn't at least 1 VW in the drive and at the moment we've got around 70.

Im a third generation VW owner, my grand father owned a splitty, my dad had Beetles, I owned a 65 beetle, now I own a 77 Kombi, there will always be a VW in my driveway, hopefully I will be adding another pre 67 beetle soon!
Rob......