Blood Type VW: Adam Simpson’s Lifetime on Four Cylinders Ep20

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Music.

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All right. Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries. What if your blood ran through

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with gasoline and your heartbeat to the rhythm of an air-cooled engine?

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Adam Simpson doesn't just love Volkswagens. They are him.

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Since the age of three, he has lived, breathed, and bled Beatles.

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We'll hear a little joke on that too.

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Today, he joins me to share his story that spans 37 years,

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30 vws and an

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entire family transformed by a single obsession ladies

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and gentlemen welcome to the podcast mr adam simpson

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what's up man how's it

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going it's going good brother it's going good i get to hang out with you for

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the next hour so life is good we get we get to talk doves for sure i i never

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get tired of that right on before we dive into this thing today i know this

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is going to be a great episode. I do want to shout out my sponsors.

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First up, Volksmania Magazine, the flyest VW magazine on the face of the planet.

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US subscribers, if you haven't checked them out, please do. Volksmania.com.

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Use Dublife, like the name of the podcast, Dublife 1010 at checkout to get 10% off your subscription.

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Also, this episode is sponsored by salty dub salty

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dub.com all right back to you my man

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back to you this is what this this podcast is all about you

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so back to you reading through your stuff

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you know i was you don't really ever hear that

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somebody you know gets a volkswagen when they're three you

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know so this this is cool so you're what's your

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actual earliest vw memory because

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i know we don't really remember stuff at three but i

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mean maybe you do right my earliest memory it's very

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spotty but i do remember at three years old it's actually

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getting that car yeah i have very spotty vague

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memories but i do remember bits and pieces of

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that i remember we're the guy had a few volkswagen sitting around his house

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and i remember pointing at that one and saying i want that one my grandmother's

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trying to get me to look at another one and i just i want that one and i remember

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seeing the tow truck pull it away and then i remember it being in our driveway

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and it had no front seats in it.

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And I remember standing up where the front seat should be.

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And my eyes are level with like the top of the dash.

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I can barely see over the bottom of the windshield. I'm holding the steering

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wheel and both doors are open.

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And it's very vague, but I do remember that.

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Wow, man. That's a killer, killer memory.

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Tell me about your aunt's beetle. What do you exactly remember about your aunt's beetle?

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Is it actual true memories or is it just kind of flashes? Like I don't remember

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anything about her beetle.

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You know, everything I know everything I've heard is secondhand.

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So, cause it was, it was gone before there, it, it being gone was the reason I got the 59. Yeah.

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Okay. So, I mean, I can tell you the secondhand stories I have of how that happened.

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I'd love to hear how your grandparents ended up buying you this, right?

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This has got to be the coolest story ever. Because like I said,

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most people don't get a V-dub at three.

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That's very true. It's one of my favorite questions when I had that car on the

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road was people would ask, you know, how long have you had it?

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And I'd tell them and they said, how old are you? And then was it like your dad's car?

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No, it's always been mine. but my aunt my

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grandfather bought my aunt a beetle she was a teenager you know

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and she wasn't into them it was just the 80s they were cheap cars

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you know she was a 16 year old so and they

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my family said that for whatever reason my mother and i lived with

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my grandparents and her brother and sister at the time when i was very young

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and they said that just for whatever reason they don't know why i just took

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to that car and would always want to ride in it i sort of pointing out other

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beetles on the road and then when she she had she wrecked the car on her way

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to school one morning and then it sat beside our driveway for a while.

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And I would, they said I would stand up in my bed and point out the window at it.

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And I was about two and a half and we got some snow, which is not common in Alabama.

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So my mom and my grandfather took me outside, bundled me up,

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took me outside to see the snow.

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And my grandfather says, I was just begging to be, you know,

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put down, didn't want to be held. So he put me down and I made a beeline to that beetle.

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And there's actually a photo my mother has where she called my name and I turned

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my head and she snapped a photo and I'm running and you can see the beetle and

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very faintly in the background.

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And she said, she's told me, she said, that's what you were doing.

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You were running to that car.

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Wow. And after that, they would let me play in the car and came home one day and it was gone.

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My grandfather had sold it and I was not happy.

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I pitched a fit and being the only grandchild at that point,

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I was totally spoiled by my grandparents.

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So they decided they would buy me just an old junker beetle to play in.

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And we lived out in the country. So having an old junk car sitting in the yard

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was, you know, almost a requirement.

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Uh, so that's, that's how that began. So he found this person that lived close

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by who had, you know, Volkswagen sitting around and,

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There I had my Beetle and brought it home. He put a couple of five-gallon buckets

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in there as seats, so I had literal bucket seats.

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I would sit in that car and drive everywhere in the world without ever leaving the backyard.

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Yeah, man. The imagination of a kid. So that was you. You picked that one out, right? I did, yeah.

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What was it about this 59 that made you just say that this is the one?

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I don't know. I'd have to go back to being three years old. I say it with some

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VW intuition because they've told me from what they can remember that the other

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Beetles there were later models.

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Okay. And so I picked the 59 and I picked the one that's a Euro car.

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Not that I knew what Euro car Simba 4s were, but that's the one I ended up picking.

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And my grandfather paid $60 for this car. Oh my goodness.

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That's why it got to be a record of. Yeah. This was 1988. So. Yeah.

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So how does that memory feel now though? So as an adult, you know,

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looking back now, literally an entire lifetime around having this, this same car.

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It's, it's pretty wild because, you know, of course you change,

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everything changes from age three to, you know, age, I'm almost 40 now and everything changes.

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Your entire life changes in so many ways, but that's the one constant thing.

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It was always there, man. And, you know, whether I ended up,

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you know, even when my mother and I, we moved out, I became the oldest of three brothers.

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It was still at my grandparents' house, you know, waiting for an imaginary adventure.

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And then when I got older, I got it running and actually drove it.

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So it's, it's, it's pretty wild.

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It's pretty awesome. I was, I was so eager to have this conversation when I

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started reading through some of the details.

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So your passion for vws now has

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spread to your dad and your youngest brother

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right yes tell me about that well

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even though like no one in my family after my aunt had a had a beetle i had

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a distant relative a great aunt in chattanooga who drove one and i rode in that

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one when i was a kid but other than that i you know i would just see them on

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the road and i was always trying to get everyone to buy a volkswagen you know

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a little you know a little elementary school kid trying of commits everyone they need a Volkswagen.

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And when I was nine years old, my dad decided he would buy a Beetle.

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He was all, he's a, he's a car guy, but he was always, you know,

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V8, Ford, no replacement for displacement, that kind of guy.

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And he wanted a, he decided he'd get something that was, you know,

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decent on gas because everything he had was a V8 and he was driving a pretty

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good distance to work. So he bought the 73 Beetle.

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And I remember him saying, I was right before I turned 10 years old.

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And I remember him saying that I would, he would, he would drive it for a few

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years. Then once I got to high school, I could drive it.

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Well, by the time I was in high school, he had three Volkswagens and I wasn't getting any of them.

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So he ended up liking them a little bit more than he thought. Yeah. He's on.

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Yeah. And then my brother, my youngest brother, he's 10 years younger than me.

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Okay. And he was always like my little sidekick. You know, he always wanted to do whatever I did.

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So when I was working on Volkswagens, he wanted to come out there and help me.

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And I would take him with me to little events, little cruise-ins we'd have when

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I was 16, 17 years old. And he's six, seven years old.

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And then when he got a little bit older, I told him how to drive a stick.

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He was 12 in the 64 bus I had at the time.

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So it just solidified that for him. And he now has two water cools, but he also has a 62 bus.

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Yeah, I spread it to everyone, basically.

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Yeah, it sounds like it. Have you ever thought about maybe who wouldn't be in

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your life if VW didn't exist?

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Because when I was writing these questions for you, I actually put myself in this question.

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And I was like, man, who wouldn't be around me? And I started going down my

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list and I was like, damn!

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Some really cool people that wouldn't be a part of my life if it wasn't for

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VW. So talk to me about that.

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I think the shorter list would be who would be in my life if it weren't for

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Volkswagens. because like, I mean, my,

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My best friends I met because of VWs, either at a show or through a club we

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used to be in or something like that.

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And then I have so many friends that I know that maybe they're friends of those

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people that I met because of Volkswagens.

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I call them VW adjacent, and then maybe they're in the cars,

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but not necessarily Volkswagens.

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My best friend is like a brother to me. I mean, and I've gotten two jobs because

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of Volkswagens, because of friends through the VW scene that put in a word for

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me, and that's how I got the job, the job I have currently. That's how I got that job.

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So I don't even know. It's been, you know, it's been, I didn't know a life before it.

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So I can tell you when I was a kid, when I was probably in the third grade and

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you have to do your spelling words and you have to write a sentence on each

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spelling word, my teacher limited me to only writing one sentence about Volkswagens

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because I would find a way to make every word,

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to write a sentence about VWs and I was limited to just one about VWs because

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it didn't matter what the word was, I would try to make it about VWs.

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So this was, this was, was, was cool. When I saw it, you said that your grandmother

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at one point said that your blood cells must be shaped like beetles and buses.

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That was funny, man. She said, they're zipping through my veins like highways.

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That is so awesome. So back to this teacher, your kindergarten teacher,

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she ran into you recently, right? And asked you if you're still into VWs.

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Yeah, I was in my twenties when she, when I ran into her probably early to mid twenties.

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And yeah, you know, it was, I recognized her. She recognized me and we're talking.

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She, you know, how are you doing and everything? And they said,

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do you still like Volkswagens?

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And I pointed outside, I was at the job where I was working at the time and

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I pointed outside and I was like, well, does that answer your question?

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Cause actually my 59 beetle was sitting outside. I'd driven it to work that day.

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And I told her something and she, this was, she said, this was really touching

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when it was the end of my first grade year.

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And she came up to me. It's one of those very vivid memories.

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I was at the water fountain and she came up to me and said, the library was

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discarding a bunch of books.

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And she found this one and thought I would like it. And it's this kind of kid

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book about BWs. It's from the seventies, pretty old and tattered.

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And I still have that book to this day. And I told her, I said,

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I still have that. She's like, you, that's insane. And I was like,

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no, I still have that book. I really do.

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And then when, you know, we found each other on social media and I sent her

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a picture and I was like, see, I told you, I still have this book.

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It's taped together and tattered, but I do. I still have it.

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That is absolutely awesome, man.

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And then to have somebody recognize, you know, and then now,

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It's now it's really cool. You know, back when you were growing up,

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you know, it wasn't the coolest thing yet to have a Volkswagen,

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you know, now it's super cool to have one. Right.

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Right. I mean, there were no other kids in elementary school who were obsessed

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with Volkswagens. It was just me. Yeah.

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I can appreciate it. I'm so grateful to my family for not, for not discouraging it.

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You know, they, they were just like, okay, this kid likes VWs.

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We'll just, we'll just go with it. You know, even though it wasn't the norm.

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Okay. I mean, I was into all your normal kid stuff.

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You know i played video games i watched the cartoons everyone else watched everything

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but i dig into arguments at school that the ninja turtle van was in fact a volkswagen.

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I guess that could be a funny memory from when i was a kid i remember getting into

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arguments with that because i had i remember the sticker

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on the and it had the engine it was a air cool volkswagen engine i know it

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was and i'm awesome i posted

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on facebook a while back there was some something from

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the ninja turtles where it was like a comic book and then the comic original comic

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book it was it was more blatant that it was a vw and i

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was like to all my elementary school friends you argue with me i was right

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it's a vw that's great

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i want to talk about your your show you got

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a show you've been a part of since 2005 yes

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tell me about it well i was in a club that started when i was a teenager and

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we started doing a show and we did it a different location for the first few

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years and in 2005 one of my good friends one of those very close friends of

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mine that i met because of uw's he took over the show and wanted to move it

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to this park at tannahill,

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and it was kind of there was a little bit of some tension with other people didn't

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want to move it but i stuck by my friend and i helped him out and it was myself

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and him and a couple other guys that we planned it to revamp it at this new

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location with a new date and everything so i was pretty i was instrumental in

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that from the beginning what's the name what's the name of this show The show

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is the Tannehill Volksjam.

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Volksjam. Okay. Yes. So you probably heard of Bugjam.

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We've got Bugjam down here. I've been there a few times. Yes.

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Okay. Yeah. Good, good stuff.

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So you took over running the show in what, 2011?

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Yes, that's correct. And what did you bring to the table? What changed from 2011 to now?

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The club sort of started to fracture.

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And some of us left around 2009 to 2010.

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My core group, we were not involved. And then in 2011, we got word that they'd canceled it.

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So we took it upon ourselves to go and uncancel it.

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So we went to the park, we pulled together some of our own money and had a couple

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of sponsors and we just put on a, you know, much very simple because we did

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it in just a couple of months.

00:14:52.230 --> 00:14:56.590
And, but we, we kept it alive and kind of slightly changed the name because

00:14:56.590 --> 00:14:57.890
it was called Bud Blast back then.

00:14:58.030 --> 00:15:00.750
We slightly changed the name and we kept it going.

00:15:01.030 --> 00:15:04.910
And I, I wasn't even, I didn't even try to be the head of the show,

00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:07.790
but everyone started coming to me and asking me questions and asking me what

00:15:07.790 --> 00:15:10.370
to do. And I was like, well, if you guys want me to be in charge,

00:15:10.530 --> 00:15:11.850
fine, I'll be in charge, whatever.

00:15:12.030 --> 00:15:14.490
I'll be the one in charge. So, and then it's grown from then.

00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:18.470
We changed the name just a distance from the original in 2014,

00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:21.850
changed it to Bulk's Jam, but it's always been the fourth Saturday in August.

00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:24.850
As far as the changes that I've made since I've been the head of it,

00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:26.990
it's been, it's more of just a hangout.

00:15:27.170 --> 00:15:29.250
It's a very casual kind of thing.

00:15:29.650 --> 00:15:33.510
All the trophies are handmade. They're either made by a friend of mine and actually

00:15:33.510 --> 00:15:35.950
my mom and dad helped make a lot of the trophies as well.

00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:41.610
Oh, cool, man. Um, we have, it's just a real, just a real low key hangout.

00:15:41.750 --> 00:15:44.890
It's become an event where we have a camp out the whole weekend as well.

00:15:45.230 --> 00:15:49.090
I started doing a Friday night cruise to a little barbecue stand down the road

00:15:49.090 --> 00:15:52.910
for the people who were there and camp out and come, come the night before as it's grown.

00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:56.570
I tried to just, I mean, I tried to keep it the way it was in the beginning.

00:15:56.770 --> 00:16:00.850
Just a, just a simple laid back hangout for Volkswagen people.

00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:07.330
How do you keep your Volkswagen people entertained at an event like this?

00:16:07.410 --> 00:16:08.710
Is it truly just chilling?

00:16:09.030 --> 00:16:13.990
Do you provide activities or anything to keep people busy? That's actually something

00:16:13.990 --> 00:16:15.490
I've thought of doing lately.

00:16:15.770 --> 00:16:18.310
I've been kind of thinking about that, if there's some sort of games we could

00:16:18.310 --> 00:16:19.170
do or something like that.

00:16:19.410 --> 00:16:22.690
My friend Todd, the one that moved it to Tannehill originally,

00:16:22.890 --> 00:16:26.430
he's the DJ. And he was a professional DJ on the radio for many years.

00:16:26.490 --> 00:16:30.030
And he keeps people entertained. He does all this sort of trivia stuff with

00:16:30.030 --> 00:16:31.970
both VWs and with music he plays.

00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:35.030
And you can, you get there, if you get the trivia right, you know,

00:16:35.110 --> 00:16:37.290
get there the first, you win a prize or something like that.

00:16:37.370 --> 00:16:39.710
So he's very entertaining on the...

00:16:40.010 --> 00:16:43.130
On the microphone for sure. So that's, that's a big part of it.

00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:45.870
And then the park itself is a really cool venue.

00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:49.370
It's a very historic place. There's all kinds of old buildings and old iron works there.

00:16:49.550 --> 00:16:52.530
So if you get more looking at Volkswagen, there's a lot of things you can do

00:16:52.530 --> 00:16:55.690
just at the park itself. But I have been thinking that that's something I may

00:16:55.690 --> 00:16:59.730
add is, I don't know, maybe some sort of games for people to play or just something

00:16:59.730 --> 00:17:01.450
like that just during the day.

00:17:01.570 --> 00:17:04.210
Putting together an event, you know, I've put together events too.

00:17:04.330 --> 00:17:07.730
I know, you know, It can have, it can come with some stresses.

00:17:08.690 --> 00:17:12.670
Oh, yeah. What's one of the most stressful things that's happened behind the

00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:14.810
scenes that you really kind of keep to yourself?

00:17:15.350 --> 00:17:22.870
One year, I went to pick up all the shirts, and I'd had someone else do the

00:17:22.870 --> 00:17:28.430
order, and they were about $1,000 more than I thought they were going to be. Oh, man. Yeah.

00:17:28.810 --> 00:17:32.910
That's a lot of money, bro. I was like, this is just a few people doing this.

00:17:32.910 --> 00:17:36.870
It's not some, you know, a lot of sponsors event. Like I don't, I can't do this.

00:17:37.010 --> 00:17:41.450
So we worked out something with the, with the printers and they put their logo

00:17:41.450 --> 00:17:44.030
on it and put a discount, like they were a sponsor and everything.

00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:47.070
But that was probably the most stressful thing. Cause it was just a few days before.

00:17:47.330 --> 00:17:50.690
And I'm like, if I don't have shirts, people are going to go crazy.

00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:54.370
So that was the most stressful thing that's probably ever happened.

00:17:54.750 --> 00:17:58.370
Okay. How about life lessons? What's some of the, what's some of the biggest

00:17:58.370 --> 00:18:01.810
life lessons you've learned? You've been involved since what? 2011.

00:18:02.490 --> 00:18:05.510
That's a long time that's enough time to really you

00:18:05.510 --> 00:18:08.170
know factor some things what would you say for some of

00:18:08.170 --> 00:18:11.990
your biggest lessons learned by running vw events you

00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:16.570
no matter what you do you're never going to make everyone happy yeah there's

00:18:16.570 --> 00:18:20.790
always going to be someone that that's not happy and you just you can't let

00:18:20.790 --> 00:18:24.110
that bother you when the majority of people say they're having a good time and

00:18:24.110 --> 00:18:28.810
they love it don't pay attention to the the couple of people who they're not happy.

00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:32.890
That's good advice And I think Depending

00:18:32.890 --> 00:18:35.950
on a personality type It's almost common

00:18:35.950 --> 00:18:43.310
for somebody To take that one complaint And harp on it Forever And I value what

00:18:43.310 --> 00:18:49.210
you said Don't take that one The 1% we call it Of the population Don't take

00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:53.730
the 1% and act on it Worry about what the 99% said,

00:18:54.387 --> 00:18:58.747
I'm always open to new ideas or constructive criticism for sure.

00:18:59.187 --> 00:19:02.887
People have given great ideas that I've done and have worked out great.

00:19:03.087 --> 00:19:06.627
The Friday Night Dinner Cruise is one thing that was suggested by one of the

00:19:06.627 --> 00:19:07.727
guys that comes up from New Orleans.

00:19:08.047 --> 00:19:10.587
That was a great idea, and it's been a big success.

00:19:11.167 --> 00:19:15.367
It's just the person that I should have won a trophy, and I didn't.

00:19:16.967 --> 00:19:23.207
Any emotional or funny or even completely wild moments at a show that have stuck with you over time?

00:19:23.207 --> 00:19:26.007
Well emotional i i can

00:19:26.007 --> 00:19:29.407
definitely think of that one in 2019 one of

00:19:29.407 --> 00:19:32.247
the guys the core guys that helped put on the show someone

00:19:32.247 --> 00:19:35.427
i'd known so i was a teenager i passed away suddenly a few

00:19:35.427 --> 00:19:38.587
months ago and that year

00:19:38.587 --> 00:19:41.667
we dedicated the show to him my friend

00:19:41.667 --> 00:19:44.607
brad who does amazing artwork he did the artwork

00:19:44.607 --> 00:19:47.567
was of of that guy's name was jim was in his vw

00:19:47.567 --> 00:19:50.307
thing pulling into the campground that was

00:19:50.307 --> 00:19:53.167
the shirt that year we had i had a collage of photos of

00:19:53.167 --> 00:19:55.827
him at vw shows over the years because his mother and his sisters were going to

00:19:55.827 --> 00:19:58.887
show up and some other family members i started i he years

00:19:58.887 --> 00:20:01.707
ago i remember sitting after the show and talking about

00:20:01.707 --> 00:20:04.447
a certain car that didn't win anything and i was like that was my favorite

00:20:04.447 --> 00:20:07.227
car here it should have won something i was like i should just make an

00:20:07.227 --> 00:20:09.927
award that just this is adam likes this car so it deserves an

00:20:09.927 --> 00:20:12.847
award and he joked he said well you should do it you're the

00:20:12.847 --> 00:20:15.687
head honcho you're the head guy you can do whatever you want so

00:20:15.687 --> 00:20:18.447
after he passed away i thought you know what i'm gonna do it

00:20:18.447 --> 00:20:21.227
and i'm it's gonna be an honor of him and he always would come up

00:20:21.227 --> 00:20:23.907
to cars and say that's a

00:20:23.907 --> 00:20:26.727
sweet little ride and the way he said it was was very funny so i call

00:20:26.727 --> 00:20:30.727
it the sweet little ride award and it's just a car that i really like for no

00:20:30.727 --> 00:20:34.147
reason other than just it's the one i like yeah you don't have to give a reason

00:20:34.147 --> 00:20:37.947
you're the man yeah exactly i was like i just like this car i think it's really

00:20:37.947 --> 00:20:41.527
cool sometimes i'll you know i'll tell people why like you know i i love original

00:20:41.527 --> 00:20:43.907
cars so i gave it one year to a car that was just very.

00:20:44.602 --> 00:20:48.162
Worn but everything was totally original on it anyway yeah

00:20:48.162 --> 00:20:51.282
that's cool yeah but having to that

00:20:51.282 --> 00:20:54.402
especially that year talking about him and explaining

00:20:54.402 --> 00:20:57.262
the the what the award was and

00:20:57.262 --> 00:21:00.242
why we were giving it out and i barely made

00:21:00.242 --> 00:21:02.962
it through that i choked up multiple times and every year i try to

00:21:02.962 --> 00:21:05.822
explain it's gotten easier you know that was

00:21:05.822 --> 00:21:08.522
in 2019 so it's gotten

00:21:08.522 --> 00:21:11.162
easier but it's i still get a little choked up when i

00:21:11.162 --> 00:21:13.042
explain because i have to explain that award every year because there's new

00:21:13.042 --> 00:21:14.082
people they don't know what

00:21:14.082 --> 00:21:16.822
it is so I try to explain it and that was that's probably

00:21:16.822 --> 00:21:20.142
the most emotional moment I've had at the show was

00:21:20.142 --> 00:21:23.602
that because and every year I see I catch myself looking

00:21:23.602 --> 00:21:26.422
for him to pull in and you know kind of hits you every year that you know

00:21:26.422 --> 00:21:29.622
he's not gonna be there oh man yeah that's rough

00:21:29.622 --> 00:21:32.402
man I've lost some friends myself you know throughout my

00:21:32.402 --> 00:21:35.262
childhood and and into my age now

00:21:35.262 --> 00:21:38.662
you know we're I'm 47 bro it's like they're dropping

00:21:38.662 --> 00:21:42.102
all around me it's like wow it's yeah

00:21:42.102 --> 00:21:45.162
and some of them suddenly as well you mentioned brad and

00:21:45.162 --> 00:21:48.102
you said he does good artwork shout him out real quick so the listeners.

00:21:48.102 --> 00:21:50.862
Can find him is he on instagram or anywhere

00:21:50.862 --> 00:21:53.822
yes he's on instagram he's brad carroll he goes

00:21:53.822 --> 00:21:56.562
by it's deaf bug i believe it's deaf bug

00:21:56.562 --> 00:21:59.902
32 he does amazing artwork he's done

00:21:59.902 --> 00:22:02.702
a few other shows there in the south some of their like

00:22:02.702 --> 00:22:07.282
shirt artwork and everything but he does other not just vw artwork he's a vw

00:22:07.282 --> 00:22:10.782
guy but he does you know does other automotive artwork and he's done other i've

00:22:10.782 --> 00:22:14.642
seen paintings he's done that were really great and i told him for years he

00:22:14.642 --> 00:22:19.142
should try to sell this stuff and a few years back he actually tried to he did

00:22:19.142 --> 00:22:21.382
it at our show and he came up to me and he's like.

00:22:21.862 --> 00:22:24.682
Everything's sold people bought all my stuff i'm like i've been telling you

00:22:24.682 --> 00:22:27.522
that we're not just you know we're not

00:22:27.522 --> 00:22:30.382
just blowing smoke up we're serious you're really good

00:22:30.382 --> 00:22:33.362
so he's finally understanding he comes every year

00:22:33.362 --> 00:22:36.162
and sets up and sells now oh yeah he oh he

00:22:36.162 --> 00:22:39.482
definitely will he's been every year in sales and i mean and people look

00:22:39.482 --> 00:22:42.502
forward to his artwork because it's always it's unique

00:22:42.502 --> 00:22:45.222
it's his own style i don't even tell him what to do i

00:22:45.222 --> 00:22:49.442
just go you know whatever you want his artwork's always amazing so and people

00:22:49.442 --> 00:22:52.162
look forward to the shirts because they're unique it's a it's a they're unique

00:22:52.162 --> 00:22:57.442
uh unique design so yeah man that's that that that's absolutely awesome let's

00:22:57.442 --> 00:23:03.682
touch on the scene in alabama what what makes the scene in alabama unique compared to,

00:23:04.402 --> 00:23:06.562
other Volkswagen scenes around the country?

00:23:06.782 --> 00:23:10.722
I think people, I'd say they're pretty dedicated because there's not as many

00:23:10.722 --> 00:23:13.862
of us, of course, as there would be in the West Coast or even in Florida.

00:23:14.042 --> 00:23:16.102
I see, you know, you've got to have a show. I have a cruise in in Florida.

00:23:16.142 --> 00:23:19.282
There might be 50 cars there. You have a cruise in here and there might be 10. Okay.

00:23:19.742 --> 00:23:24.802
But I think that people are, they're very enthusiastic and I'd say very dedicated.

00:23:25.222 --> 00:23:28.122
Sometimes it can be difficult to get people together. It's kind of like herding

00:23:28.122 --> 00:23:30.502
cats, but they all show up for the show every year.

00:23:31.351 --> 00:23:36.331
And I don't know if anything makes it unique. I think it's the camaraderies.

00:23:36.471 --> 00:23:38.991
I feel the same camaraderie I do when I go to other places.

00:23:39.691 --> 00:23:42.831
Right on. And I think that's kind of something that's just, you know,

00:23:42.911 --> 00:23:45.891
maybe the fabric of our community.

00:23:45.931 --> 00:23:48.831
You know, it's kind of the same regardless of where you're at.

00:23:49.091 --> 00:23:53.571
You know, people that are willing to help each other, you know, that type of stuff.

00:23:53.711 --> 00:23:59.011
The vibe that the Volkswagen culture kind of ensues. It's a wonderful thing.

00:23:59.031 --> 00:24:01.051
And it's one of the reasons why I do this podcast.

00:24:01.351 --> 00:24:06.811
I like meeting guys like you. I like hearing stories about guys that have been

00:24:06.811 --> 00:24:10.511
a part of, been in love of Volkswagens since they were little tiny kids.

00:24:10.731 --> 00:24:14.991
I mean, that's just, that's so cool, man. I've got a five-year-old right now

00:24:14.991 --> 00:24:18.391
that obviously I've had him, his own wife.

00:24:18.731 --> 00:24:23.451
But when he was three, he started really liking my dubs in the driveway and

00:24:23.451 --> 00:24:26.951
taking pictures with him. And he likes to play all in them and stand.

00:24:27.071 --> 00:24:30.711
I hope one day he has stories like that. You know, that's, you know,

00:24:30.791 --> 00:24:34.331
that, that would make, nothing would make me feel better than to these,

00:24:34.451 --> 00:24:36.251
these kids to have some stories.

00:24:36.571 --> 00:24:42.531
I almost had one story recently. My 16 year old son went, take his driver's license test.

00:24:42.691 --> 00:24:47.091
And he goes, dad, I think I want to take the test in the Ghia because it's a

00:24:47.091 --> 00:24:50.571
auto clutch and it's super easy to drive. It's my wife's, it's a 71.

00:24:50.791 --> 00:24:54.791
It's beautiful car, all original 46,000 miles, beautiful car.

00:24:55.611 --> 00:25:00.491
So I said, okay, let's do it. In my back, I'm going, yeah, I got one.

00:25:00.491 --> 00:25:03.831
He's going to have memories for life of taking his test in this car, right?

00:25:04.231 --> 00:25:08.431
We go get in it and the freaking horn don't work. And one of the first requirements

00:25:08.431 --> 00:25:12.671
for Florida is you got to have a horn that's functional. I'm like, man.

00:25:13.331 --> 00:25:19.111
So yeah, he went and took it in his mom's Audi and yeah, there went that memory.

00:25:20.411 --> 00:25:23.871
But I got a couple other boys coming up and I'll make sure I try to get them

00:25:23.871 --> 00:25:27.271
to test in one of the dubs for sure. So they can have that memory.

00:25:27.811 --> 00:25:31.671
All right. So going back to you and talking about being a kid,

00:25:31.871 --> 00:25:34.551
you learned to read at the age of three, right?

00:25:34.631 --> 00:25:39.051
You credit that a lot to old VW Trends magazines and auto traders.

00:25:39.231 --> 00:25:41.711
What were those early days like? Do you remember at all?

00:25:42.343 --> 00:25:46.443
Somewhat my grandfather was always the kind of buying and trading type of guy

00:25:46.443 --> 00:25:49.523
so he would get those auto traders and i would sit on his lap while he looked

00:25:49.523 --> 00:25:51.503
at them and i was just i mean

00:25:51.923 --> 00:25:54.683
volkswagens are the main thing but cars in general i love

00:25:54.683 --> 00:25:58.303
too so and i love learning about different cars they my family told me i would

00:25:58.303 --> 00:26:01.563
point out i knew what each car was on the road from reading auto traders and

00:26:01.563 --> 00:26:04.923
then reading the back what the badges were on the cars and they said the car

00:26:04.923 --> 00:26:07.943
go by now that's a honda court you know that's a you know that's a that's a

00:26:07.943 --> 00:26:12.223
ford taurus whatever and And my earliest actual memories of having a VW magazine

00:26:12.223 --> 00:26:13.403
are probably about four years old.

00:26:14.423 --> 00:26:19.163
I remember actually laying in the backseat of that 59 and reading the VW magazine.

00:26:19.403 --> 00:26:22.503
I know I bought a box of most of the early magazines I had didn't survive.

00:26:22.643 --> 00:26:25.643
You know, you give a four-year-old a magazine, it's not going to last long. Oh, God, no.

00:26:26.463 --> 00:26:29.783
Yeah. But I bought a box of old magazines.

00:26:30.463 --> 00:26:33.663
It's probably been, well, 15 years ago now.

00:26:33.923 --> 00:26:36.703
And I just picked one up when I had free time and flipped through it.

00:26:36.743 --> 00:26:41.203
And there was one that I flipped through and it hit me. I go, I remember this issue.

00:26:41.443 --> 00:26:43.363
I remember this car. I remember it.

00:26:44.343 --> 00:26:49.243
And I look at the date and the magazine was July 89, which was a month before I turned four.

00:26:49.803 --> 00:26:52.663
So you do remember that's cool.

00:26:54.023 --> 00:26:56.903
I didn't remember until I flipped through that magazine. I'm like,

00:26:57.003 --> 00:26:59.323
wait a minute. I know this. I remember this.

00:26:59.703 --> 00:27:06.043
And I, so I was a month from turning four. I was at least that age when I was getting the magazines.

00:27:06.303 --> 00:27:09.383
So I've always been a car guy myself and something that you said,

00:27:09.563 --> 00:27:12.243
you know, it kind of resonated. So there's two things I want to say.

00:27:12.363 --> 00:27:14.203
One's funny, one's serious.

00:27:14.403 --> 00:27:16.603
The first one's funny, auto traders.

00:27:16.883 --> 00:27:21.743
I used to collect them and I learned a lot about cars from auto traders, especially value.

00:27:22.103 --> 00:27:25.523
But one of the funniest things I used to do is I'd sit around with my buddies,

00:27:25.723 --> 00:27:29.843
I'd pick up the phone, I'd dial star six, seven, and I would call people that

00:27:29.843 --> 00:27:32.323
had cars in the auto trader a year ago.

00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:39.599
And I'd say, yeah, I'm calling about the 89 Mustang five liter you guys got in the auto trader.

00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.559
And they'd go, 80, 89. What?

00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:48.699
The one I sold a year ago? I'm like, oh, no, I don't think you sold it.

00:27:48.819 --> 00:27:50.219
It's sitting here in a new auto trader.

00:27:50.579 --> 00:27:54.399
So we used to get a kick out of that. And then the second thing that was serious

00:27:54.399 --> 00:27:58.139
was I did the same thing that you did off of kind of learning,

00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:00.919
but I did it off of the eBay app.

00:28:00.919 --> 00:28:07.459
So back in the day, eBay used to have a eBay motors, like a separate app just for cars.

00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:11.139
And you could go through, like if I wanted to go through and learn all about

00:28:11.139 --> 00:28:14.919
Ford F-350s, I'd go in and I'd scroll through every picture.

00:28:15.159 --> 00:28:19.499
I'd read every description and I'd learn about suspension and right.

00:28:19.619 --> 00:28:23.079
I'd learn about the mods that they were doing and the exhaust and the intakes

00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:25.019
and the, I would just learn everything.

00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:30.779
So by the time I'm, you know, 16, 17, I got hired at Jiffy Lube and I was,

00:28:30.899 --> 00:28:34.619
you know, just going to change oil and vacuum out cars and just be like this

00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:36.699
little, you know, courtesy tech or whatever they call them.

00:28:36.879 --> 00:28:40.299
And I remember as the cars used to pull in, when I first got hired,

00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:44.739
I was 16, I was young, the cars were pulling on the drive and I could name every

00:28:44.739 --> 00:28:46.759
car and tell you about what year it was.

00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:52.399
And the manager back then, you see me, dude, how the fuck do you know every car that comes in here?

00:28:52.439 --> 00:28:55.559
Like, what's wrong with you? I'm like, nothing.

00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:00.059
I thought everybody knew all the cars. No, nobody knows the cars. Right.

00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:05.239
I'm like, oh, okay. So, yeah, I knew I was into something, you know, way back then as well.

00:29:05.379 --> 00:29:09.319
But, okay, so fast forward now to this. I want to talk about this because we're

00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:12.759
sitting here talking about magazines, VW magazines at that.

00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:17.179
Now you're writing for VW Trends. Yeah.

00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:24.199
I've had two articles published in the magazine so far, and I'm working on a couple other ones.

00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:28.899
I went to shows in North Carolina a few weeks ago and I'm working on those two.

00:29:29.979 --> 00:29:35.319
So just a freelance thing on the side, but yeah. What kind of stories do you

00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:37.139
want to tell in the magazine?

00:29:37.419 --> 00:29:39.959
Are you covering shows and that type of stuff?

00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:43.119
That's what I've done so far. I've covered the show in Chattanooga,

00:29:43.199 --> 00:29:45.299
Tennessee and I covered the show in Pensacola, Florida.

00:29:45.699 --> 00:29:50.379
I like that I'm in the magazines, of course, and I understand why everything's

00:29:50.379 --> 00:29:51.179
centered on the West Coast.

00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:54.819
That's the big scene you know that's where everything is but

00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:58.639
there's so much content in in the southeast that

00:29:58.639 --> 00:30:01.319
i think is very underrepresented so a that's what i

00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:03.959
want to shine a light on is just the the shows and some of

00:30:03.959 --> 00:30:08.919
the cars that are here that they never publish because they're not on the west

00:30:08.919 --> 00:30:12.319
coast yeah man i have there's a little bit of serendipity i have to say about

00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:16.299
the vw trends thing i had the first article i had published was in it's it's

00:30:16.299 --> 00:30:19.819
a quarterly magazine now when it was brought back it's quarterly yeah and the

00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:22.019
first one was in the summer 2023 issue.

00:30:22.639 --> 00:30:24.619
And I have a photo of me,

00:30:25.365 --> 00:30:29.705
holding in one hand i have a yellow beetle toy in the other hand i have a vw

00:30:29.705 --> 00:30:35.025
trends magazine and it's the july 93 issue wait i have that picture i think

00:30:35.025 --> 00:30:35.705
you have that picture yeah.

00:30:37.405 --> 00:30:43.005
Legitimately 30 years apart i'm holding one magazine 30 years later i'm in it

00:30:43.005 --> 00:30:47.845
i have an article in it so it's pretty wild so cool man you got i have i have

00:30:47.845 --> 00:30:51.505
to thank dan led better for giving me a shot because i don't have any formal

00:30:51.505 --> 00:30:53.685
you know journalism training or anything like that.

00:30:53.805 --> 00:30:56.905
It was just, I was like, you know, I'm a decent photographer. I have a nice camera.

00:30:57.345 --> 00:31:01.745
I was pretty good writer in school. And he's like, well, just see what you can do.

00:31:01.965 --> 00:31:06.625
And you know, he said it was good. So, and I was open to do more.

00:31:06.925 --> 00:31:13.605
I value that. I feel that I got privileged to, in a similar scenario the last

00:31:13.605 --> 00:31:14.845
year, you know, I started this

00:31:14.845 --> 00:31:19.645
podcast just in January and right around that time I had reached out to.

00:31:20.925 --> 00:31:24.965
Several magazines, you know, just asking about advertising, you know,

00:31:25.065 --> 00:31:26.565
what's it cost type thing.

00:31:26.685 --> 00:31:29.325
And, you know, what, what kind of numbers can I expect?

00:31:29.525 --> 00:31:32.325
You know, just the typical stuff, if you're going to pay for an ad somewhere.

00:31:33.205 --> 00:31:38.125
And Paul Cave at Volksmania responded back to me and he was like,

00:31:38.205 --> 00:31:41.685
you know what, you're not going to advertise in Volksmania.

00:31:41.965 --> 00:31:45.665
Instead, you're going to be a part of the team. We're going to bring you in,

00:31:45.785 --> 00:31:47.605
we're going to cover the podcast.

00:31:47.805 --> 00:31:51.145
And, you You know, so yeah, man, he, he open arms.

00:31:51.445 --> 00:31:56.365
And again, these guys, you know, they're classic culture.

00:31:56.965 --> 00:32:00.745
That's what dubbers do. We have each other's backs and you know,

00:32:00.885 --> 00:32:04.705
that, that's just the, it, it fits. It fits. It's just perfect.

00:32:04.985 --> 00:32:08.085
So tell me about your 63 bus. What's the whole backstory?

00:32:08.625 --> 00:32:12.045
What have you done to it? How long have you had it? All that good stuff.

00:32:12.445 --> 00:32:16.665
I bought it in November of 2011 and it was one of the few air car Volkswagens

00:32:16.665 --> 00:32:18.285
I bought already running and driving.

00:32:18.865 --> 00:32:22.985
What'd you pay for? 10 grand. Ooh, you got a good one.

00:32:23.465 --> 00:32:28.425
It was, I sold, I had two other split buses that I'd sold and I wanted to get

00:32:28.425 --> 00:32:32.165
one that was pretty nice and I, for a change when it was already running.

00:32:33.065 --> 00:32:36.745
And I was actually, I'd taken some money with me. I went to bully brigade down

00:32:36.745 --> 00:32:38.205
in Tampa, which I know you're familiar with that.

00:32:38.465 --> 00:32:41.485
That's this one. That's this bus. That's this one. Yeah. That was behind you. Yeah.

00:32:41.685 --> 00:32:46.025
Yeah. Cool. I went to bully brigade and I thought it would be so cool if I bought

00:32:46.025 --> 00:32:47.185
a bus down there and drove it back.

00:32:47.845 --> 00:32:51.785
But there was nothing down there that i liked and i'm at bully brigade i get

00:32:51.785 --> 00:32:57.005
an alert on my phone that the samba a new ad for split bus that was posted and

00:32:57.005 --> 00:33:01.285
it was in huntsville alabama and i'm like and i look at it i want it's the funny

00:33:01.285 --> 00:33:04.325
thing i wanted an original paint small hatch walkthrough,

00:33:05.345 --> 00:33:10.285
bus this was a 63 walkthrough original paint bus it's in huntsville alabama

00:33:10.285 --> 00:33:11.525
when i'm in tampa florida.

00:33:13.985 --> 00:33:19.125
And it was in my price range i'm like why why so i emailed the guy he had no

00:33:19.125 --> 00:33:21.825
phone number on the ad i emailed him nine minutes after the ad was posted,

00:33:22.566 --> 00:33:25.366
And we're leaving Believe Brigade. I get a message back from him.

00:33:25.406 --> 00:33:29.126
He said, well, someone from Memphis is coming tomorrow. And I'm like, I was so bummed out.

00:33:29.806 --> 00:33:33.786
And a friend that I was with, he said, oh, you know, don't get too bummed out.

00:33:33.866 --> 00:33:35.386
You know, that guy might back out. You never know.

00:33:35.966 --> 00:33:41.166
So I told the guy and the guy said, you have second dibs. You're the second person to contact me.

00:33:41.286 --> 00:33:44.626
So we went to Bug Gym the next day. We're on the way home. We decided we're

00:33:44.626 --> 00:33:47.446
just going to drive all the way back to Birmingham Sunday night.

00:33:48.106 --> 00:33:51.106
And I get another email and the guy says, well, the guy from Memphis backed

00:33:51.106 --> 00:33:55.226
out. You get second dibs. I was like, here's my number. Call me now. Call me right now.

00:33:55.846 --> 00:33:58.826
And I called him. Run my way home, baby. Yeah, I'm like, run my way home. We're getting in.

00:33:58.946 --> 00:34:02.066
And I told him, I was like, we'd already taken off the next day on Monday anyway,

00:34:02.166 --> 00:34:03.986
because we thought we might stay another day. So I'm like, I'm good.

00:34:04.066 --> 00:34:04.826
I got the whole day clear.

00:34:05.026 --> 00:34:08.426
So he called me and I told him, like, I'm very serious. When can I beat your

00:34:08.426 --> 00:34:10.666
house? He said, I'll be home at five. I was like, I'll beat your house at five.

00:34:11.686 --> 00:34:16.346
And so my dad and actually the friend that was with us down there at Believe Brigade, we drove up.

00:34:17.086 --> 00:34:19.326
And this guy lives in a pretty nice neighborhood in Huntsville.

00:34:19.326 --> 00:34:23.206
We pull up and I'm at the time, I guess I'm what, 20, 26.

00:34:23.846 --> 00:34:28.406
I'm wearing some greasy jeans and like a shop jacket. My dad's got like this

00:34:28.406 --> 00:34:32.346
long goatee, did tattoos on his arms. Our buddy Jake was with us. He's like a,

00:34:33.018 --> 00:34:35.938
Talks like a hillbilly. I'm sure this guy was like, I'm sure this,

00:34:35.938 --> 00:34:38.858
this guy in this nice neighbor was like, these people are not going to buy this

00:34:38.858 --> 00:34:40.018
bus. They don't have any money.

00:34:41.018 --> 00:34:43.898
And you know, I was at the time I was 26. I think I was just still working.

00:34:43.958 --> 00:34:46.038
I was working part-time. I didn't have a lot of money, but I just,

00:34:46.058 --> 00:34:47.338
I had money from selling those buses.

00:34:48.058 --> 00:34:51.038
And I drove the bus around. I was like, I have to have it. I want this.

00:34:51.098 --> 00:34:54.178
I'm not hesitating. I'm not going to haggle with them. Yeah. It's worth the money.

00:34:54.458 --> 00:34:57.038
I told the guys like, I'm not going to haggle with you. I'll take it.

00:34:57.098 --> 00:34:59.398
And he said, he said, well, I can hold it for you. I said, no,

00:34:59.458 --> 00:35:01.958
I was going to drive it home tonight. And he goes, well, how are you going to pay?

00:35:02.178 --> 00:35:04.958
And I whipped 10 grand out of my pocket and I said, cash.

00:35:05.218 --> 00:35:08.198
And he just kind of like stumbles away. And okay.

00:35:08.718 --> 00:35:11.538
And I went over to my dad and I said, you know, I'm probably not going to get

00:35:11.538 --> 00:35:14.538
another moment like this for a long time. So I'm going to try to remember every

00:35:14.538 --> 00:35:18.298
second of how this feels to pull this wad of cash out of my pocket.

00:35:20.558 --> 00:35:24.078
Or to ever buy a 63 bus for 10 grand. That's true.

00:35:24.598 --> 00:35:28.238
At the time, I remember thinking I can't believe I'm paying 10 grand for a bus.

00:35:28.238 --> 00:35:31.918
But you know little did i know right and

00:35:31.918 --> 00:35:35.258
then an investment it definitely was so i

00:35:35.258 --> 00:35:39.378
bought the bus we're driving at home that night we get about halfway there it

00:35:39.378 --> 00:35:43.638
it dies on the way home i first thought it was out of gas ended up being a fuel

00:35:43.638 --> 00:35:48.418
pump sitting on the side of the road it starts to rain my friend goes to get

00:35:48.418 --> 00:35:51.258
a fuel pump first he goes to get gas and he goes to get a fuel pump we're sitting

00:35:51.258 --> 00:35:54.058
my dad and i're sitting there with the flashers on the side of the road in the rain,

00:35:54.878 --> 00:35:57.718
he gets back by the time he gets back we put a fuel pump on it

00:35:57.718 --> 00:36:00.498
the batteries went dead or you know it's just too low because having

00:36:00.498 --> 00:36:03.598
the flashers on so long and so we

00:36:03.598 --> 00:36:06.858
got the jumper cables looked up to my friend's truck and i remember i was just

00:36:06.858 --> 00:36:10.478
i hit my point i was like i'm done i'm just tired i'm sick of this i'm ready

00:36:10.478 --> 00:36:14.038
to be home and my dad's in there trying to start it i'm at the back of the bus

00:36:14.038 --> 00:36:18.598
and my buddy jake he pats the back pats the back bumper and he says come on

00:36:18.598 --> 00:36:21.078
betsy you can do it. And I just stopped and said, Betsy?

00:36:21.378 --> 00:36:24.838
Where did that come from? He just goes, I call all old cars Betsy's.

00:36:26.174 --> 00:36:29.134
And that's the bus's name now. I would joke when I get in and come on,

00:36:29.234 --> 00:36:31.014
Betsy, you can do it. I'd impersonate my friend.

00:36:31.354 --> 00:36:33.774
And someone asked me after a while, is that your bus's name?

00:36:33.834 --> 00:36:35.034
I'm like, yes, that's its name.

00:36:35.194 --> 00:36:40.554
So I always impersonate him. And I say, that's my old gal, Betsy. She's a good old gal.

00:36:40.674 --> 00:36:44.954
Because that guy always called cars old gals. He was always pulling some old

00:36:44.954 --> 00:36:47.374
gal out of a field or these old gals in a garage.

00:36:47.574 --> 00:36:49.734
So he's from a small town in Alabama.

00:36:51.494 --> 00:36:54.634
What have you done to this thing over time? it was

00:36:54.634 --> 00:36:58.674
already lowered when i got it but since i've since i've had it you know since

00:36:58.674 --> 00:37:03.674
2011 i've put three different engines in it i've converted the rear to wolfgang

00:37:03.674 --> 00:37:08.514
irs i've put the front disc from typey motorsports on it that's probably about

00:37:08.514 --> 00:37:12.534
all the mechanical work i've done or changes i've done to it of course maintaining

00:37:12.534 --> 00:37:14.594
it and you know a few different engines that were in it,

00:37:15.514 --> 00:37:20.834
when i bought it blew up on my brother on his way to his prom oh damn yeah that's

00:37:20.834 --> 00:37:24.214
a story yeah How about inside interior?

00:37:24.634 --> 00:37:28.654
It's all the original interior. Is it? With the middle seat in it.

00:37:28.894 --> 00:37:31.534
It's got a full width middle seat, even though it's a walkthrough.

00:37:31.914 --> 00:37:35.194
Okay. And the flipper part was missing off of the middle seat.

00:37:35.714 --> 00:37:41.114
So I actually, it's not correct, but it works. I made one out of the back of a front seat.

00:37:42.334 --> 00:37:46.414
I took the back of a bus front seat and I cut it and welded it together and

00:37:46.414 --> 00:37:50.214
kind of got the shape right and welded a little bracket onto it.

00:37:50.314 --> 00:37:53.774
So it flips forward. So that it doesn't match, but it functions.

00:37:54.821 --> 00:37:58.421
You're building a 73 Baja project right now?

00:37:59.061 --> 00:38:02.301
Yeah. My little brother and I talked about building a Baja for a while,

00:38:02.321 --> 00:38:05.541
and it's actually the 73 Beetle that my dad bought back in 95.

00:38:06.141 --> 00:38:09.881
Oh, my goodness, man. You guys do, like, the coolest stuff.

00:38:10.821 --> 00:38:15.261
Which is actually the first Volkswagen I ever drove on my own. It's that 73.

00:38:15.521 --> 00:38:17.481
And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to resurrect it. It had been sitting

00:38:17.481 --> 00:38:20.721
for, like, 20 years, and it's pretty beat up as it was.

00:38:21.121 --> 00:38:24.241
And basically everything that was beat up on the car, you cut off to make a

00:38:24.241 --> 00:38:26.821
Baja. So we just came up with that idea.

00:38:26.981 --> 00:38:30.801
We've made it into a Baja and I've, I've had an engine for it and I've got to

00:38:30.801 --> 00:38:33.961
get a transmission for it. And we just got, we have to get the time to work on it basically.

00:38:34.201 --> 00:38:39.061
So talking about that, talking about working on it, what's it like balancing

00:38:39.061 --> 00:38:43.801
a lot of these old school builds with your new school builds,

00:38:44.021 --> 00:38:48.221
which is you have your daily drivers at GTI, right? Yes. A 2010 GTI.

00:38:49.241 --> 00:38:52.261
So what's that like? The old school versus the new school?

00:38:52.801 --> 00:38:55.721
Well i admittedly i'm pretty dumbfounded by

00:38:55.721 --> 00:38:58.481
the new school stuff my my best friend he's kind

00:38:58.481 --> 00:39:01.221
of the opposite of me he's more into water cools and has

00:39:01.221 --> 00:39:04.541
had some air cools as well okay so anytime something's

00:39:04.541 --> 00:39:07.201
wrong with that car i usually go to him and i go do you know what's wrong with it

00:39:07.201 --> 00:39:09.821
and he'll he'll explain it to me and he'll

00:39:09.821 --> 00:39:12.521
see my eyes glaze over and he'll go okay let me put this in like

00:39:12.521 --> 00:39:17.381
1965 car term so you understand what's wrong with your car and he'll relate

00:39:17.381 --> 00:39:22.801
it to a carburetor in points i go okay now i get it yeah so i i like the gti

00:39:22.801 --> 00:39:26.521
i like the water cools i've had a few of them i don't have the passion for them

00:39:26.521 --> 00:39:29.881
i do the air cools they're more of just a car that i like,

00:39:30.481 --> 00:39:34.721
i do think though that the having the gti makes me appreciate the air cools

00:39:34.721 --> 00:39:38.641
and having the air cools actually appreciate the gti when i drive my like i

00:39:38.641 --> 00:39:43.101
drive my bus for a while and i get back in the gti i go oh gosh i love the fact

00:39:43.101 --> 00:39:47.241
that this thing has well air conditioning and i can do 80 on the highway and

00:39:47.241 --> 00:39:49.441
it's quiet and, and, you know, it's just smooth.

00:39:49.541 --> 00:39:52.941
It's easy, even though it is still a manual, I'm a manual purist, but.

00:39:53.886 --> 00:39:56.426
But then if I drive the GTI for a while and I get back in my bus.

00:39:57.166 --> 00:39:59.906
I'm like, oh, God, I love this thing. You can hear it, everything.

00:40:00.126 --> 00:40:02.306
It's so mechanical. It's direct. Feel the road.

00:40:02.826 --> 00:40:06.446
It's not just, the bus isn't just routine. It makes it, I think,

00:40:06.466 --> 00:40:10.406
a little more special because I have the contrast of having something modern as well.

00:40:10.606 --> 00:40:14.906
That's a really good point. Yeah, that really is. And that happens to me, too.

00:40:15.306 --> 00:40:18.386
I jump in. I've got a 74 thing and a 71 Ghia.

00:40:18.626 --> 00:40:23.066
And sometimes I'll jump in both of them for different reasons.

00:40:23.066 --> 00:40:27.226
Like the Ghia, I'll be like, damn, this thing is so smooth, you know,

00:40:27.426 --> 00:40:30.746
because it's all stock, 46,000 miles original.

00:40:31.366 --> 00:40:38.726
It's literally just a peach and it just, it's so quiet and so insulated and so nice and tight.

00:40:39.126 --> 00:40:42.386
I just like, I'm like, damn, you know, this is really what it's all about.

00:40:42.566 --> 00:40:45.046
Well then sometimes I'll get in my thing and I'll be like, dude,

00:40:45.266 --> 00:40:47.746
you can drop the top. I can lower my windshield.

00:40:47.986 --> 00:40:50.746
You know, there is nothing, no feeling unless you're driving a

00:40:50.746 --> 00:40:53.826
motorcycle is like that right unless

00:40:53.826 --> 00:40:57.086
you're on a weight runner or in a boat or you know on a motorcycle that's

00:40:57.086 --> 00:40:59.946
about it i can relate because my bus has safaris so you

00:40:59.946 --> 00:41:02.906
ever know safaris and just the winds in your face that's right that's

00:41:02.906 --> 00:41:05.746
right i know it's what's funny too is i if i

00:41:05.746 --> 00:41:09.526
drive the bus for a while like i went to north carolina a few weeks ago and

00:41:09.526 --> 00:41:13.706
i drove the bus it's probably about a thousand miles round trip so i was gone

00:41:13.706 --> 00:41:18.106
for four or five days and much of that was driving and i come back home and

00:41:18.106 --> 00:41:23.486
i get in my gti and i feel like i'm going to take off It feels like a spaceship and it's not even,

00:41:23.506 --> 00:41:25.466
you know, in the context of just, you know,

00:41:25.806 --> 00:41:30.986
modern cars, it's not even that fast, but compared, I've always compared to a 1600 bus. Right.

00:41:31.466 --> 00:41:34.866
It's extremely fast. Yeah. And I also feel, cause you know, in the bus,

00:41:34.926 --> 00:41:37.386
everyone's staring at me, they're waving, they're taking pictures.

00:41:37.886 --> 00:41:40.646
The GTI, I feel like I'm undercover cause I'm just, I just blend in.

00:41:40.786 --> 00:41:42.926
It's just another gray hatchback that's on the road.

00:41:43.126 --> 00:41:47.526
So that's another thing too, is I, if I don't, if I don't, if I don't drive the bus for a while.

00:41:48.376 --> 00:41:51.216
It strikes me when people, you know, it's like, oh my gosh, people are staring

00:41:51.216 --> 00:41:53.296
at me. They're taking pictures. They're waving. You know, I kind of,

00:41:53.636 --> 00:41:56.196
that's something you have to get used to again as well. Yeah.

00:41:56.676 --> 00:42:00.656
Everywhere you go, they smile, they take pictures. They want to sit in them.

00:42:01.216 --> 00:42:06.316
You know, they all attach memories from their childhood or their school years or something.

00:42:06.416 --> 00:42:09.876
And you always get to hear those stories. How cool is that?

00:42:10.156 --> 00:42:13.556
Very cool. And my mom, my mom said that I could never go anywhere without her

00:42:13.556 --> 00:42:14.496
knowing when I was in high school.

00:42:14.596 --> 00:42:17.716
Cause I had a, I drove a 71 beetle in high school and she always knew where

00:42:17.716 --> 00:42:20.296
I was. Cause someone would say, oh, I saw Adam's beetle, you know,

00:42:20.376 --> 00:42:22.396
at this part of town, I saw Adam's beetle over here. I mean,

00:42:22.476 --> 00:42:24.176
I couldn't hide, you know.

00:42:24.616 --> 00:42:26.976
I had a 72 in high school standard.

00:42:27.516 --> 00:42:32.076
That's what I had. Yeah. Yeah. It did have an auto clutch, but after the second

00:42:32.076 --> 00:42:35.516
year I drove it, I kind of ragged it, you know, I was really hard on it.

00:42:36.296 --> 00:42:40.856
They, they couldn't find parts for that, that transmission or the suction or

00:42:40.856 --> 00:42:42.756
the vacuum of it way back in the day.

00:42:43.016 --> 00:42:45.856
So I had a four speed put in it. And then, you know, then I,

00:42:45.996 --> 00:42:49.396
then I thought it was even faster. I'm like, whoa, you know,

00:42:49.536 --> 00:42:57.476
this thing, Paul's ass, you know, a 1600 and it was slow, slow unlimited time, unlimited budget.

00:42:57.676 --> 00:43:02.096
What's your dream VW build? Barn door sunroof standard micro bus.

00:43:02.356 --> 00:43:04.576
Man, you had that just ready. Wait. Yeah.

00:43:05.076 --> 00:43:08.236
The second will be a head Mueller. That's the ultimate beetle in my opinion.

00:43:08.556 --> 00:43:13.016
Yeah. Yeah. I'd have to agree. A couple other folks have come on and they've, they've said that too.

00:43:13.356 --> 00:43:15.536
Awesome car for sure. Absolutely.

00:43:15.936 --> 00:43:20.836
All right. I got some rapid fire style questions. These are straight off the cuff.

00:43:21.016 --> 00:43:23.736
Don't think about it too much. If a story comes out of one of them,

00:43:23.776 --> 00:43:25.676
though, let's let it fly.

00:43:25.856 --> 00:43:31.296
But I'll ask you these questions, make it quick answers, and let's have some fun. Ready?

00:43:31.856 --> 00:43:35.016
All right. All right. Air-cooled or water-cooled? Air-cooled.

00:43:36.216 --> 00:43:41.616
Most overrated VW of all time? I don't know if I can pick the most overrated VW of all time.

00:43:42.076 --> 00:43:48.816
How about underrated? What's the most underrated VW of all time? I would say type 3s.

00:43:49.655 --> 00:43:54.835
I've had a type threes and I think they're super neat cars and just the design of them.

00:43:54.975 --> 00:43:57.395
I think they're really cool looking cars in the design, the two trunks,

00:43:57.595 --> 00:44:00.135
especially squarebacks. That was my favorite one I had was a squareback.

00:44:01.035 --> 00:44:04.235
And I don't get why they're not more popular. I mean, I get they're not the

00:44:04.235 --> 00:44:06.935
icon, but they're just such neat little cars. I really like them.

00:44:07.755 --> 00:44:12.215
That's yeah, that's cool. And I agree with you. I think that a lot of the old

00:44:12.215 --> 00:44:18.255
models or the old lines, they don't get a lot of sexiness or attention.

00:44:18.255 --> 00:44:24.355
But dude, they're still really cool, very well engineered air-cooled cars, you know?

00:44:24.635 --> 00:44:27.815
So, and, and dude, I love the style. Like I love gears.

00:44:28.135 --> 00:44:32.035
I love things, you know, I love Volkswagens.

00:44:32.495 --> 00:44:35.655
So understand you've had 30 of them over time though, right?

00:44:35.835 --> 00:44:39.195
Or, or close to close to it. That counts water cools as well.

00:44:39.375 --> 00:44:40.315
Mostly air cools, but yeah.

00:44:40.755 --> 00:44:44.935
What's one of the weirdest things you've ever found in a VW that you bought?

00:44:45.075 --> 00:44:48.115
I bought a Baywindow middle seat, a full width Baywindow middle seat.

00:44:48.735 --> 00:44:51.815
Out of a junkyard it was sitting in the back of a van again i paid 50 bucks for it,

00:44:52.295 --> 00:44:58.295
and i was with my dad yeah that's why i jumped on it and we were we were in

00:44:58.295 --> 00:45:01.155
a ford explorer at the time so we folded the rear seats down and slid it in

00:45:01.155 --> 00:45:05.675
the back and my dad and i were driving home and i feel something hit my head

00:45:05.675 --> 00:45:07.995
we had the windows down i thought it was a piece of fabric,

00:45:08.515 --> 00:45:13.035
i shake my head it was a mouse it fell off my head and

00:45:13.035 --> 00:45:15.955
into the seat and i went from sitting on the seat to

00:45:15.955 --> 00:45:18.895
sitting on the dashboard and i'm not still nice but i

00:45:18.895 --> 00:45:21.655
mean it was just so startling yeah i gets mad

00:45:21.655 --> 00:45:24.495
at me for screaming i'm like there's a freaking mouse in the car

00:45:24.495 --> 00:45:29.175
we're driving on the road oh my god yeah it hit you in the head that that explains

00:45:29.175 --> 00:45:33.495
why there was one section of the seat that had a big hole in it the rest of

00:45:33.495 --> 00:45:36.275
the upholstery was nice i just i didn't think anything of it oh that's why there

00:45:36.275 --> 00:45:40.415
was a rat living in it or a mouse it wasn't a big rat it was a mouse but still

00:45:40.415 --> 00:45:44.155
and we stopped to eat on the way home we still couldn't find the mouse it hit in the car.

00:45:44.255 --> 00:45:46.915
We stopped to eat and then we're, it was still, it's still in the car.

00:45:47.055 --> 00:45:50.175
We drive home and then the mouse jumps from the, under the seat on my dad's

00:45:50.175 --> 00:45:51.575
leg and then back into the seat.

00:45:52.338 --> 00:45:55.658
And he gets mad at me for screaming, but I'm like, he screamed too.

00:45:55.758 --> 00:45:58.858
He still says he doesn't, but I jumped on his leg when he was driving.

00:46:00.258 --> 00:46:02.478
That is absolutely solid. What

00:46:02.478 --> 00:46:07.198
a cool story. And probably a memory that you'll hold with you forever.

00:46:07.758 --> 00:46:11.618
Oh yeah, for sure. I probably would like to forget that, but I can't.

00:46:11.638 --> 00:46:13.878
But still, what a cool, cool memory.

00:46:14.338 --> 00:46:16.938
All right, you're Mount Rushmore of VW Legends.

00:46:17.978 --> 00:46:22.378
Who's going to make the cut? Oh, I'm going to have to go historical. Okay.

00:46:22.838 --> 00:46:26.358
I think you have to have Ferdinand Porsche, of course. I would say Ivan Hurst,

00:46:26.498 --> 00:46:30.058
because the Brits had to save it, and Heinz Nordhoff.

00:46:31.078 --> 00:46:36.218
These are great answers. Ben Pond, because he created the bus within the original sketch.

00:46:36.998 --> 00:46:40.538
Man. And I love my buses. Yeah, great answers.

00:46:40.858 --> 00:46:47.198
What tool should you always carry in the glove box of one of your dubs? Fire extinguisher.

00:46:48.458 --> 00:46:55.998
Amen. Amen. Man, somebody says jumper cables, others say a jump box, fire extinguisher.

00:46:56.198 --> 00:46:58.278
That's a pretty important one.

00:46:58.518 --> 00:47:02.078
Some have also said a 10 millimeter socket. Yeah.

00:47:02.858 --> 00:47:07.098
All right. If a kid today finds an old rusty beetle in their backyard,

00:47:07.098 --> 00:47:12.218
what advice would you give them if they don't have any experience with VWs and

00:47:12.218 --> 00:47:13.398
all? Don't be afraid of it.

00:47:13.518 --> 00:47:15.978
Don't be afraid to break stuff because you're going to. That's how you learn.

00:47:16.158 --> 00:47:19.298
I know a lot of people, they'll ask me for advice and they'll help me and they

00:47:19.298 --> 00:47:22.098
think I don't make any mistakes, which I still make mistakes, of course.

00:47:22.258 --> 00:47:27.898
But if they saw that first, the first VW that I built from one that wasn't running,

00:47:27.998 --> 00:47:32.638
which was my first split bus that I had, I broke so many things learning the hard way.

00:47:32.958 --> 00:47:36.298
But, you know, I've told my brother, helping him work on his,

00:47:36.418 --> 00:47:39.398
I'm like, you know how I know how to do it this way is because I did it the

00:47:39.398 --> 00:47:43.438
wrong way and messed this part up. And I've broken brand new parts that I paid

00:47:43.438 --> 00:47:46.118
money for. And don't be afraid. Don't get discouraged.

00:47:46.438 --> 00:47:48.358
Don't be afraid of that because that's how you learn.

00:47:49.106 --> 00:47:54.426
Yeah, that's good advice. So on that advice tip, if you're, if somebody's listening

00:47:54.426 --> 00:48:00.266
to this podcast episode that maybe wants to A, get into the scene, but more importantly,

00:48:00.546 --> 00:48:05.386
maybe structure their own VW event because, you know, that's not easy.

00:48:05.386 --> 00:48:09.966
And I know that because I do events, but if they want to structure a VW event

00:48:09.966 --> 00:48:13.666
and have it be successful, what advice would you give that person?

00:48:13.826 --> 00:48:17.266
I would say start off very simple. Don't try to overdo it the first time.

00:48:17.626 --> 00:48:21.366
Just pick a good venue. I will do a few awards if you do any.

00:48:21.706 --> 00:48:24.306
Don't try to do too much too soon.

00:48:24.666 --> 00:48:28.806
Kind of let it grow organically. Most big shows started out small, including mine.

00:48:29.266 --> 00:48:35.906
Any shout outs that you want to give people, events, anything like that in your area?

00:48:36.126 --> 00:48:39.286
One person you just had on, which was Chris White of Riverbank Customs.

00:48:39.806 --> 00:48:41.806
Super cool guy. Yeah, man.

00:48:42.806 --> 00:48:48.506
He's not too far from me. And he is like the latest VW cheerleader for the area

00:48:48.506 --> 00:48:52.046
because he's so good at rallying the troops to get people together to do events

00:48:52.046 --> 00:48:54.306
and do cruises and things like that.

00:48:54.446 --> 00:48:58.046
He's great at that. And he's helped me tremendously in that. He's hilarious.

00:48:58.386 --> 00:49:02.566
He's funny as hell. He's a great storyteller. I had such a good time with him, man. Yeah.

00:49:02.946 --> 00:49:06.206
And he's been texting me, you know, during the day. I look down,

00:49:06.326 --> 00:49:08.906
I see a text from him. I'm like, man, this guy, I love this guy.

00:49:09.046 --> 00:49:12.966
He's awesome. I'm glad we were able to connect. And that was,

00:49:13.046 --> 00:49:18.906
you know, the bug jam, you know, connection with Randy is, is kind of how that happened.

00:49:19.046 --> 00:49:21.706
He had listened to that, that episode and got excited.

00:49:22.186 --> 00:49:27.106
I'm glad because, you know, again, I built this podcast for you guys,

00:49:27.306 --> 00:49:32.146
you know, for guys like you guys like Chris, you know, you guys are, are, are awesome, man.

00:49:32.146 --> 00:49:36.126
So after everything, brother, after the shows, after the builds,

00:49:36.446 --> 00:49:41.006
after the blood cells shaped like beetles, what do you think that VW Life has

00:49:41.006 --> 00:49:43.606
taught you most about life itself?

00:49:43.886 --> 00:49:46.546
Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

00:49:47.366 --> 00:49:50.586
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:49:50.886 --> 00:49:54.646
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:49:54.646 --> 00:49:58.506
the people in the dub that drive their dreams. If you loved today's episode,

00:49:58.766 --> 00:50:02.826
don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button so you never miss an adventure.

00:50:03.226 --> 00:50:07.786
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dove life? Awesome.

00:50:08.146 --> 00:50:13.126
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:50:13.126 --> 00:50:14.886
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:50:15.206 --> 00:50:20.666
Dove Life Diaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:50:20.666 --> 00:50:25.406
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you. This is Joe Person.

00:50:25.606 --> 00:50:29.686
I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride. We'll be right back.

00:50:29.680 --> 00:51:25.559
Music.