In the Blood
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:16 pm
Volkswagen in the Blood.
I come from a long line of Volkswagen..sorry can't exactly say I was conceived in one - but I am sure you catch my gist.
My grandfather and his wife and 6 children embarked on a massive journey in 1961 travelling with all their posessions including a '59 Kombi from Stuttgart, West Germany to Hobart, Australia. They travelled for months by sea to Perth before driving across the Nullabor (LHD Kombi btw) and then across to Tasmania by ship again!
My father grew up around Volkswagen's. Apart from the '59 Kombi (which is still own by my uncle and is arguably one of the oldest originals "alive" in Australia), the family had a Type2 pick up, and then when my dad got his first wheels he bought a '59 Beetle. He later gave it to his younger sister as her first car and he bought a Type 3 Squareback brand new in 1973 costing him A$4300 (about a years teaching wage) at the time. He still had this when little me came along. He then acquired a Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GLD when my grandparents died. This car I grew up with! And it was this car that gave me an interest in Volkswagen and my German heritage. I learnt to drive in the little GLD and drove it as my first car as did my elder sister before me.
But I wanted to go back to my roots. My cousins was driving a Type 3 Square and I just knew I had to get myself my own aircooled vw. I looked around but gave up due to cost until a few months before I was getting married and we did not have wedding car. I could not resist the idea of using an old Beetle to arrive on the special day. So I went a looking.
I come from a long line of Volkswagen..sorry can't exactly say I was conceived in one - but I am sure you catch my gist.
My grandfather and his wife and 6 children embarked on a massive journey in 1961 travelling with all their posessions including a '59 Kombi from Stuttgart, West Germany to Hobart, Australia. They travelled for months by sea to Perth before driving across the Nullabor (LHD Kombi btw) and then across to Tasmania by ship again!
My father grew up around Volkswagen's. Apart from the '59 Kombi (which is still own by my uncle and is arguably one of the oldest originals "alive" in Australia), the family had a Type2 pick up, and then when my dad got his first wheels he bought a '59 Beetle. He later gave it to his younger sister as her first car and he bought a Type 3 Squareback brand new in 1973 costing him A$4300 (about a years teaching wage) at the time. He still had this when little me came along. He then acquired a Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GLD when my grandparents died. This car I grew up with! And it was this car that gave me an interest in Volkswagen and my German heritage. I learnt to drive in the little GLD and drove it as my first car as did my elder sister before me.
But I wanted to go back to my roots. My cousins was driving a Type 3 Square and I just knew I had to get myself my own aircooled vw. I looked around but gave up due to cost until a few months before I was getting married and we did not have wedding car. I could not resist the idea of using an old Beetle to arrive on the special day. So I went a looking.
