Jim’s 10 VW Love Affairs (Rated G)
1963
Beetle – (My 1st VW) – When I first met my wife in 1967 she was
driving a shiny blue bug. Little did I know what I was getting into. After we
drove it through 13 Minnesota winters it still ran great but the back fenders
were falling off, the back bumper and most of the floor was gone. So I
administered some anesthesia (a 12-pack) and got out the saw. I finished a
couple months later with some aluminum, stainless steel and marine plywood. I
drove it four more years till my neighbor bought it. It still runs. My wife
never forgave me.
1971
Beetle – I had Little Red for about 9 years. My daughter learned to drive it
when she was 12 (not many cops in the North woods). I gave it to her when she
got her drivers license.
1972
Beetle – This baby blue honey had A/C and only 43,000 miles when I bought it
from a lady in Ashville, N.C. I sold it back to her 3 years later. She
worships it.
1973
Super Beetle – Love that dashboard! Almost like a real car. I did a near pan
off restoration and spent two years making it perfect. Once when I was driving
up 441 west of Fort Lauderdale I ran into a flooded intersection and floated
about 20 feet across. It was stolen out of my driveway and found later near
Loxahatchee, stripped.
2001
Beetle – When I downloaded the picture of the “Concept One” onto my computer
back in 1994, I almost fell out of my chair. Seven years later I got one. It
has been total bliss ever since. Just plain eye-candy.
1980
Cabrio – “The girl’s car”. That’s what I heard time and time again the five
years I owned it. Car & Driver magazine said the only better made convertible
top belongs to a Rolls-Royce. It never leaked, even during hurricane season. I
sold it to a young lady at Show ‘n Shine after getting a second place trophy.
1972
Bus – I bought it almost new when I got out of college. We drove it from
Fairbanks to Mexico City and a lot of points east and west. This picture was
taken somewhere in Colorado. We sold it later to get a car with a heater when
our daughter was born.
1970
Campmobile – I bought it from the original owner in Fort Lauderdale. It came
with the original factory tent. A few years later my daughter and her husband
adopted it, put a new motor in it, and drove around the country following the
Grateful Dead. Right now it is resting peacefully next to their garage having
just returned from the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
1976
Bus – I got this one for $700… full of construction trash. The A/C was ice-cold
and it went down the road at a good clip. But it wasn’t a Westphalia and I had
a wedding to pay for so I sold it for a tidy sum at the 1998 Volks Folks Reunion
in Titusville.
1970
Westphalia – It was five different colors on the outside and glow-in–the–dark
paint all over the inside when I bought it. Now it’s my pride and joy. It’s a
combination of a year of my labor and later Bruce’s expertise and guidance. I’m
going to keep this one.
As I plan my final return to
Florida, I have the peace of mind to know I have many good friends down there to
spend my quality VW time with. Plus I already have my retirement home – MY
WESTY!
Jim Hartman (member in absentia)
1963
Beetle – (My 1st VW) – When I first met my wife in 1967 she was
driving a shiny blue bug. Little did I know what I was getting into. After we
drove it through 13 Minnesota winters it still ran great but the back fenders
were falling off, the back bumper and most of the floor was gone. So I
administered some anesthesia (a 12-pack) and got out the saw. I finished a
couple months later with some aluminum, stainless steel and marine plywood. I
drove it four more years till my neighbor bought it. It still runs. My wife
never forgave me.
