My VW Life

I found a couple of jobs, played a lot and finally came to a point where I knew I needed to get something a little more reliable than a 'hot wired Double Cab and a 6 volt Beetle that I had to rely on my friends to help me push start in the snow after work every night. 

Enter my first water cooled VW. A 1991 Passat Wagon.

This was fun while it lasted but once again a drunk driver spoiled my ride.

This time I was the one doing 60 mph on a rural highway and he decided to make a left turn as I was entering the intersection.

This one kept me in physical therapy for a year. Thank you to 'crumple zones' or it could have been a lot worse.

I bought both a 1973 Westfalia that I turned quickly and a 1994 Arctic white Passat Wagon right off the showroom floor. My first brand new car ever.

I cannot locate any pictures yet.

Another Karmann Ghia Convertible was always in the back of my mind, but this time I wanted to be specific about it. I had to have a 1969 and a half model year. (the only half model year where you could get both the bullet turn signals and a glass rear window)

After following a couple of Ghias down the highway to stop the owner and try to offer a reasonable price that didn't interest anyone, I chanced upon an ad in the Little Nickel want ads: "Rare 1969 Automatic Transmission Karmann Ghia Convertible. Needs new tranny. $1,500". After calling around and pricing new transmissions, I called the guy but the car had already sold. I was bummed. It was my year and an Auto Stick to boot and at a STEAL of a price!

About six months later I ran across an ad in the Seattle Times: "Rare 1969 Automatic Transmission Karmann Ghia Convertible". It had to be the same car. What were the chances? Turned out it was... with a fixed tranny. Not new, just an adjustment to the vacuum chamber. Realizing this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that wouldn't fall in my lap again, I paid a bit more than the $1,500 but still a reasonable price for my dream car.

Can you believe the first guy only wanted $1,500?  Dumbass.

In fact, after owning the car for less than a year, I found a note on the windshield saying "I used to own this car. Will you sell it back to me?"...No.

If he could only see it today...and maybe he has and doesn't know it. See the transformation HERE 

I bought a 1991 NIssan Pathfinder for my commuter car.

I also bought a 1980 Yamaha Maxim 650 with only 1100 miles on it to kick around on.

Somewhere in here I bought a guy out of his lease on a 1997 Jetta.

Sold this for a quick profit and bought a 1999 Cabrio.

Moved back to Washington and today the family consists of:

The 1957 Beeltle - (since sold)
The 1969.5 Karmann Ghia Convertible
A 1997 Honda Shadow Spirit
A 2004 Toureg V8 with air suspension - special ordered it. I waited 20 years for a Volkswagen SUV, why not another 6 months.