Sept. 6, 2025

The Freccia Brothers Garage' Fight to Save a VW Legacy Guin Freccia Ep30

The Freccia Brothers Garage' Fight to Save a VW Legacy Guin Freccia Ep30
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The Freccia Brothers Garage' Fight to Save a VW Legacy Guin Freccia Ep30

Guinevere Freccia of Freccia Brothers Garage opens up about her family’s 103-year Volkswagen legacy—from the early Greenwich dealerships to restoring Beetles, buses, and squarebacks while fostering a tight-knit VW community that feels more like family than customers.

This episode dives into the shop’s current eviction fight, the nonprofit and community efforts underway to save the original location, and how the VW world can come together to help keep this historic garage alive. Now more than ever, the VW family is needed to protect a piece of our shared heritage.

💛 To support the Freccia family’s legacy, you can contribute here: GoFundMe link
📧 To connect with Guinevere directly: www.volksmania.com and use code dublife10 for 10% off.

Special thanks to Chris White and the team at Riverbank Customs for supporting this episode. Check out their builds and stories on YouTube, socials, and at www.riverbankcustoms.com.

 

 

 

 

00:45 - Welcome to Dub Life Diaries

02:31 - The Caretaker of Volkswagens

03:06 - Early Memories with VWs

04:21 - The Freesha Brothers Garage

05:52 - The Legacy of Family Business

08:02 - Growing Up in the VW Culture

11:48 - Lessons in Family and Freedom

12:45 - Rebellion Against VW

14:09 - Pioneering a Niche Business

17:40 - Building a Community

19:36 - Giving Back to the Community

21:36 - Facing Eviction

27:16 - The Fight for the Legacy

33:58 - Resilience Through Challenges

43:24 - The Freesha Brothers Legacy

44:31 - Future Plans and Aspirations

WEBVTT

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Music.

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Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries. Today's guest is keeping a century of Volkswagen's soul alive.

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From one of the first dealerships in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1922 to generations

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of Beatles, buses, and squarebacks to now fighting for the survival of her family's legacy.

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She's not just restoring cars, she's restoring history. And I love this.

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The caretaker of Volkswagens.

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Herself, Guinevere Freesha. welcome to Dub Life Diaries.

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Hi, Joe. Thanks so much for having me on. I really appreciate this. Oh, you are so welcome.

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I'm excited for the community to listen to your story and hopefully support

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you all the way through lifetime.

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I can't wait to hear about your lifetime inside Volkswagens.

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I'm so excited for this episode. Before we get started, real quick,

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let me dive in and give some gratitude to my sponsors.

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You guys know Volksmania Magazine supports the podcast. check these guys out,

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volksmania.com. Use Dublife10.

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That's D-U-B-L-I-F-E, the number one zero at checkout.

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Those are US subscribers only, but you'll get 10% off your subscription.

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I feel Volksmania is one of the

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flyest VW magazines on the face of the planet. So check those guys out.

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Also today, big shout out to my buddy, Chris White, Riverbank Customs.

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This dude is all about the VW community.

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Check out their YouTube, Riverbank Customs. And if you're in the Southeast,

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and you do shows in the Southeast, they're going to be at the Sasquatchee Valley

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VW Rally on September 20th. That's in Dunlap, Tennessee.

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Again, the Sasquatchee Valley,

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VW Rally. Hopefully I said that right. Okay. That's probably been my first name.

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Right. Right. Right. We're going to go with Gwen from now on though.

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Okay. Sounds good. All right. So, so, so back to you, back to you.

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Talk to me a little bit before we get going. Where, where'd the nickname,

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the caretaker of Volkswagens come from?

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I mean, when people come in, it's like the car's a part of their family.

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They, a lot of people call us like, Oh, I'm making a doctor's appointment for the car.

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So it's just, You know, we're here to help them through life and get them back

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on the road and hear the stories of why you brought them in.

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And I'm not the mechanic.

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That's definitely my husband and my dad, but I do care for them.

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And I do call their parents and I just make sure they're okay.

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That's awesome. So going back to your earliest memories with VWs,

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take me back to all the way at the very beginning.

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Like, what was your very first VW moments that you remember?

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But one of the first ones I remember is my dad.

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We live very close to the shop, like five minutes away. And he would drive this

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little blue convertible beetle home. And he'd always pull over right at the

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end of our street. And he'd let me sit on his lap and steer the car home.

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And that was always just like the best part of the day.

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And you left after a good day at the shop. And you were going home with dad.

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And the car was just chirping.

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And it was good times. But I also remember before we went home,

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I did have to sweep the floor.

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And there's customers to this day that say, you know, I remember you being like

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a little toddler or five years old and you're pushing this broom and it's taller

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than you. But it still comes up to this day.

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Oh, that's so cool. And for a business that's been around as long as this one has, I'm sure.

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Right. Your dad probably even has memories like that from his childhood. Yeah.

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Oh, for sure. He's been here every single day since he was 10 years old.

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This is his life. It's passion. It's what he loves to do.

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So tell us about the Freesha Brothers Garage in the early days.

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Like, what did it mean to Greenwich, Connecticut to have a shop open as early as the 1920s?

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Yeah. So we were, we always say we were here first in Greenwich on Route 1.

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What did it, what did it mean to be open? Well, like to the legacy of the family,

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like I know Volkswagens weren't really here till the 1940s, right?

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Oh yeah, no, no, no. We did a, we did an article with The Drive and it's titled

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like 98 years old, keeping Volkswagens alive.

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And people are like, you know, Volkswagens aren't that old and you're,

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you're completely correct. So my family came here from Italy with nothing.

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I'm fifth generation. I remember the original Frisha Brothers,

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and they started the garage with their sister, Emily, who was,

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you know, way beyond her time being a woman business owner.

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It was pride. It was family.

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It was, you know, they came over here with nothing, and they were making a life

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for generations to come. And it was, you did your work right.

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You did it once and you built a business. But we did start painting horse-drawn

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carriages, painting signs, monogramming stuff. Because like you said,

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Volkswagens weren't around.

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I mean, cars, cars were barely around. I looked it up and we seemed to be one

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of the oldest operating, continuously operating dealerships in America.

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But I've heard old stories of the elders.

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They'd all be sitting out front and Route 1 was a dirt road and a car would

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break down and they'd run out to the dirt road and they'd all push it back into

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the shop and start working on it.

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Cool, cool, cool stories. Cool things to even really like envision.

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You know as as the early days yeah cars were new so let's touch on malcolm prey

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was across the street tell me highlight what malcolm prey was for the listeners,

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So Malcolm Prey was from Greenwich. He did not graduate high school,

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was not good at schoolwork, but very smart man, very entrepreneurial,

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went into the service, and then he opened the dealership.

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And he opened a bunch of different ones, but Volkswagen was right across the

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street from us. We're like both on a corner.

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And at that time, Volkswagens were daily drivers.

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So my dad tell stories of we're right out in front

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of the crosswalk and you would just see all different colorful beetles

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at the intersection and that's what would fill the

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street up so people would need daily repairs and

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that is definitely I think what I mean it is what planted the seed for me to

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later jump off of that and create a niche business you don't really don't like

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you were saying a second ago you normally don't talk to somebody anybody that

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has this type of history in one thing.

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It's really kind of cool to envision this myself and go all the way back to the 1940s, 1950s.

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It's just so awesome. This was a Volkswagen dealership. They did Volkswagen and Porsche.

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They did Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche. Yeah.

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We just stuck with the Volkswagens. They're the simplest cars to work on.

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That's what people were driving as daily drivers and,

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So we became known as doing their repairs. Eventually, you know,

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10, 15, 20 years later, people loved the cars so much.

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They wanted restoration. So we were doing restorations.

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And, you know, they just kept coming to us over time. Talk to me about the family

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dynamic growing up as a fourth, fourth generation, fifth generation. Fifth generation.

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So in a fifth generation VW family, do you have like, like, talk to me about

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growing up in a, in, in multi-generations of Volkswagen.

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Were they important to your dad and your brothers?

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And is that, is it, or is it, yeah, paint that picture for me.

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Well, growing up in the family business, like I never questioned what I could do.

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My, my great, great aunt was part of the original business. So I was like,

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oh, you know, a woman can run the business.

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This isn't a big deal as long as you have the guys to help you do the heavy

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lifting or, or whatever.

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Like I never questioned it. And then Volkswagens, yeah, we always had Volkswagens.

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And again, one of my earlier memories is Herbie the Love Bug in my house.

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He was like Santa Claus. Like he was a hero.

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Oh, that's so cool. He was real. I loved him. And I remember coming to the shop

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one day. I must have been less than 10.

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And there was three Herbies parked out front. And I just, it blew my mind.

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I was like, what do you mean there's more than one? And, like, it's true.

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But, no, like, always watching her be at home, going to car shows.

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There's always a big car show on Father's Day. We wake up at the crack of dawn, drive up to that.

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We've all, at one point or another, my siblings have driven vintage Volkswagens.

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There was a bunch of us, so my mom drove a Volkswagen bus.

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And we all just, like, packed in. And if we needed more room,

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my dad would tailgate in the square back.

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And I remember, you know, that was before cell phones. So we had like walkie-talkies

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and we'd drive all the way up to Massachusetts.

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But, you know, they're just, they're happy cars. And we liked working on them. We like driving them.

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And I've, you know, I've recently keep seeing this quote that comes up on Instagram.

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And it's like, to be your true authentic self, like that's the best way to brand

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yourself. And you've got to do what you love.

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And if you love driving these Volkswagens, and we did, we were really able to pull it off.

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Yeah, that's so awesome. It really is. And I agree with you, too, in that slogan.

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Because that's like the...

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Maybe even like a cornerstone statement for today's society, right?

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Because that's really kind of what it is. It's a very mixed kind of thing these days.

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And yeah, it's like acceptance to everyone and everywhere. Yeah, cool, cool, cool.

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So sitting on dad's lap, steering the blue beetle, what did those moments as

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a young girl teach you about family, about cars, about even freedom?

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I mean, family was everything ever since I was little.

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We all took care of each other. We've all lived in town.

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It just, everyone, the original Frisha brothers, my grandfather,

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my father, they just had this calm sense to them. And I always wanted that.

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You know, they had their gardening.

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They didn't have to drive hours to get to work. They got to spend time with their family.

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The biggest thing for me was, oh, I get to have a rescue dog. I can take care of a dog.

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And in Greenwich, that's not what people want. They want the Maserati. They want the Rolex.

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They want the sparkly stuff.

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But that wasn't for me.

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I wanted just to be happy, to be calm, to spend time with my family, to help however I could.

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And yeah, it's definitely always been family around here. And like so many times,

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like I remember just breaking down in town and, you know, dad comes to rescue you.

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Granddad comes to rescue you. Whoever is closest within like the 10 minutes comes and saves you.

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Cause you know, these little cars are always going to have quirks and hiccups, but. Yes.

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Yes. We, we know that. Well, I smile when you say that. Cause I'm like,

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yeah, I just, I just had to use AAA just, you know, a couple of weeks ago.

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Yeah. Something happened. I mean, we're in the middle of all these dealerships

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and you see every single kind of car get towed in every single day.

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So, but every car you have, there's always going to be a hiccup.

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Now you're in a cabriolet right now doing this interview, aren't you?

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I am. This is my daily driver.

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In your life. I mean, have you ever rebelled against VW and gone a separate

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direction or has kind of the culture always been a part of your blood and that's

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even what you drive still on on the daily?

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I when I was 15, I very much rebelled about it. That was before I figured it out. Like I didn't.

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I didn't want, you know, I didn't, I didn't want to stand out in a bright orange carmangia.

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I couldn't, like maybe if I had a, if I was given a bug for my birthday,

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that would have been a little different.

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Like I said, Herbie, people know the bug, but I call it Tropicana orange.

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When I did my last podcast, they asked me, well, what's, what's the real pink code?

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I was like, oh my God, I've never even thought of it. It is signal orange,

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but a signal orange carmangia in high school, I was like, no way. Like, I am going to walk.

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Like, I will not drive that car. I had to learn to drive stick.

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It was, like, extremely frustrating.

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I didn't want to drive all my siblings around, so I kind of,

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like, didn't drive for a little while.

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Just, I was scared to have, like, a lot of people in the car,

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but eventually I got my license at 18, and I did drive a blue Cabriolet.

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So I'm back in the same car I started in. I had a few different cars in between,

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but this is my go-to car. Why are cool Volkswagens?

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They're the easiest car to work on. And like, why did I pivot towards that way?

00:14:02.218 --> 00:14:09.598
In 2014 or so, I think you said you saw the need for your dad to specialize in something, right?

00:14:09.798 --> 00:14:15.778
Yeah, I had come home from college in 2012. I went to the Art Institute of Boston

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for Photography, and I was working at a creative agency learning about private label and branding.

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Oh, awesome. I said, yeah, I was like, we're known for Volkswagens.

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It's the majority of the work we do, and we do excellent work,

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and people come from all over.

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And then I'm watching you guys, you know

00:14:37.238 --> 00:14:40.138
struggle with the Toyota or the

00:14:40.138 --> 00:14:43.218
Honda or whatever and the new electrical systems and

00:14:43.218 --> 00:14:45.958
you need multiple computers I'm like let's just

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use the big scary internet and go boutique I said people are forgetting this

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skill it's a lost art like now you just you plug in the computer it tells you

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how to fix the car you take apart you take apart a bajillion pieces just to do one little thing,

00:15:03.598 --> 00:15:05.778
but no, I saw a need for it.

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I saw, you know, the internet, the internet is still evolving.

00:15:09.918 --> 00:15:15.338
It's ever evolving, but I was allowed to create just a static web page with

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the picture of our shop, our address, our phone number.

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And cause we'd always been word of mouth by then we had a rotary phone, but again,

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like ingenuity changing with the times, you

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just have to be able to adjust and keep going forward but we do keep the nostalgia

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around i do my dad's one request was he still likes to do bills with the carbon

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coffee so you'll get a little slip when you leave here but yeah you know that's

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part of the magic you can't no it is yeah.

00:15:45.367 --> 00:15:51.507
It's the paper, you know, people still like to leave with that and put it in

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their glove box or take it home and store it, right?

00:15:54.747 --> 00:15:58.527
The whole paperless stuff, it's cool, it's a vibe, but yeah,

00:15:58.747 --> 00:16:05.387
so is, you know, the old trusty carbon copy, you know, white goes to you or

00:16:05.387 --> 00:16:07.547
yellow goes to you, white goes to customer.

00:16:07.807 --> 00:16:10.867
Yeah, that's awesome. And people keep them.

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We've seen cars, you know, shuffled around Connecticut, passed on through family

00:16:15.887 --> 00:16:20.567
members, and they have those receipts for decades. They stay with it.

00:16:20.667 --> 00:16:26.207
And like I said, the car is coming for its checkup and they want them taken care of.

00:16:26.307 --> 00:16:29.647
And it's like a little medical history. It is though, really.

00:16:30.007 --> 00:16:34.127
And you know, these days you buy them, you know, 50 years old and some of them

00:16:34.127 --> 00:16:35.667
say comes with paperwork.

00:16:36.527 --> 00:16:41.587
And then you, you know, you think that it might be a title and something else. No, no, no.

00:16:41.767 --> 00:16:44.567
It's the receipts for the last 50 years.

00:16:45.467 --> 00:16:48.487
So yeah, you're right. People do keep them. People do keep them.

00:16:48.487 --> 00:16:52.367
And, you know, some of them come with their trophies and their show books.

00:16:52.367 --> 00:16:55.647
And if they were in weddings, there's wedding albums.

00:16:55.967 --> 00:17:01.087
But, I mean, when eBay first started, we saw eBay scams like you wouldn't believe.

00:17:01.167 --> 00:17:05.327
There'd be a picture of a red car on eBay. A green car would show up.

00:17:05.827 --> 00:17:12.947
And people are still buying cars sight unseen. And it's crazy. It keeps us busy.

00:17:13.127 --> 00:17:19.647
Repairs are mostly what we do. We do do restorations, but repairs keep us busy.

00:17:19.907 --> 00:17:25.907
And during COVID, we definitely saw an uptick again of people buying cars online.

00:17:26.527 --> 00:17:32.427
Yeah, yeah. Well, COVID had a boom, you know, in automotive of every range every year.

00:17:32.567 --> 00:17:36.067
There was this huge boom. It's starting to cool off a little bit right now.

00:17:36.207 --> 00:17:39.947
I think, you know, classic VWs are actually down the market, right?

00:17:40.007 --> 00:17:45.107
It's a great buyer's market, which good stuff. But I want to talk about the

00:17:45.107 --> 00:17:50.327
community that you guys grew, you know, around 2014, you, you know,

00:17:50.447 --> 00:17:54.967
may have changed the vision and started to, you know, do some stuff online.

00:17:55.207 --> 00:17:59.687
What type of community grew at that point in your area around the garage?

00:18:00.087 --> 00:18:04.407
Definitely, we were able to get in touch with more Volkswagen people,

00:18:04.607 --> 00:18:09.467
you know, people were excited to use Facebook, Facebook is still big reach for us.

00:18:09.807 --> 00:18:12.187
And then That's where I found you. Yeah.

00:18:13.287 --> 00:18:18.667
We're, you know, a big white building on Route 1 and people know us.

00:18:19.278 --> 00:18:23.258
They always say, oh, you have the colorful little beetles. And I said,

00:18:23.358 --> 00:18:28.878
you know, why don't we start, you know, using our exposure for good as well.

00:18:29.038 --> 00:18:33.878
A couple of years ago, after my grandfather passed away, we did a toy drive

00:18:33.878 --> 00:18:37.498
for a little kid because my grandfather passed away from cancer.

00:18:37.718 --> 00:18:41.858
This little boy had cancer and I never met him.

00:18:42.018 --> 00:18:46.798
I don't know him. It was like a friend of a friend in town. and I said,

00:18:47.198 --> 00:18:51.658
I want to mail him and his brother one of those Power Wheels Volkswagens.

00:18:51.958 --> 00:18:57.118
And they said, why are you doing this? I said, because I have the exposure and I want to help.

00:18:57.798 --> 00:19:02.498
And I'm sure his little brother, you know, kind of feels left out sometimes.

00:19:02.498 --> 00:19:04.298
And I just want to pay it forward.

00:19:04.918 --> 00:19:09.578
And after that, we did Christmas fundraisers or toy collections every year.

00:19:09.578 --> 00:19:14.738
We've partnered with Greenwich Police, Kids in Crisis, Food Bank of Lower Fairfield

00:19:14.738 --> 00:19:17.178
County. Oh, man. You guys are awesome.

00:19:17.598 --> 00:19:25.898
Yeah. Our 100th year, which was 2022, we set a goal to collect over 1,000 toys, and we did.

00:19:26.278 --> 00:19:32.478
I did find out, I think the year or so before that, that a lot of these kids are in foster care.

00:19:32.618 --> 00:19:36.118
They only get one toy. They're shuffled around a lot.

00:19:36.118 --> 00:19:39.158
So we do ask for like a teddy bear or

00:19:39.158 --> 00:19:42.038
a toy truck because i think it's something that can go from home

00:19:42.038 --> 00:19:44.878
to home and they can play with

00:19:44.878 --> 00:19:47.978
it's timeless it's classic it's not like you

00:19:47.978 --> 00:19:51.618
know you're giving them a puzzle they're losing the pieces so teddy bears and

00:19:51.618 --> 00:19:56.878
trucks work really well and people saw that and then you know they asked can

00:19:56.878 --> 00:20:01.378
we help with easter baskets so we've helped with easter baskets we've done breast

00:20:01.378 --> 00:20:06.438
cancer fundraisers where we've turned our logo pink and done that's that community.

00:20:07.878 --> 00:20:13.138
Yeah. It's just, we do a lot of promotions for Lucky Dog Refuge and Stanford.

00:20:13.878 --> 00:20:17.618
Just, I feel like if you can help someone like what you're doing today,

00:20:17.818 --> 00:20:21.778
if you have the means to help someone take that little bit of time out of their,

00:20:21.898 --> 00:20:23.978
your day and you, you are going to change life.

00:20:24.538 --> 00:20:29.038
Yeah. That's good energy. I appreciate that. And I, I live that I act that.

00:20:29.438 --> 00:20:36.118
So I'm so no vibing with what you just said. If you can do something, man, do something.

00:20:36.398 --> 00:20:38.838
Yeah. Don't just sit back. Don't just sit there.

00:20:39.318 --> 00:20:44.238
We've driven up to Newburgh, Connecticut, and there's a private school because,

00:20:44.418 --> 00:20:47.538
I mean, that's one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States.

00:20:47.678 --> 00:20:51.758
These kids are in school six days a week, 11 months out of the year,

00:20:51.858 --> 00:20:54.658
I believe, to help mold them and grow them.

00:20:54.838 --> 00:20:58.238
And we go up and we do, I think it's called cars throughout the decade.

00:20:58.558 --> 00:21:03.918
But some of these kids, they've never sat in a car. They've only been on a city bus or a school bus and.

00:21:04.560 --> 00:21:09.240
Just to give them inspiration to say, maybe one day I want to be a mechanic

00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:13.920
or, you know, one day I want to photograph cars or detail cars or something

00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.420
like you just have to plant that seed, set that spark. So great. So great.

00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:24.760
So touching on the shop, not to not not to switch gears, because I could talk about kids for forever.

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:30.520
I've got five kids, a bunch of reptiles. I collect animals and pets and Volkswagens

00:21:30.520 --> 00:21:32.360
and my wife collects kids.

00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:36.200
Yeah, that tracks. That seems to be how it is.

00:21:36.520 --> 00:21:40.100
Yeah, yeah. But back to the shop, though, I wanted to ask you this question.

00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:45.420
What's one of the rarest VWs that you've ever had in the shop?

00:21:45.540 --> 00:21:49.300
Because, gosh, you've had a long time, many, many years, many,

00:21:49.380 --> 00:21:52.020
many generations of exposure.

00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.680
I want to hear about one of the weirdest or rarest cars you've ever had.

00:21:56.100 --> 00:22:01.860
Okay, so we're waiting to bring it in right now, but my friend owns two of them.

00:22:01.860 --> 00:22:04.420
They're called the SP2 from Brazil.

00:22:04.840 --> 00:22:08.640
Yeah. I know what the SP2 is, the coupe little race car looking thing,

00:22:08.740 --> 00:22:11.880
right? They look like something like the Jetsons would drive. Yeah.

00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:15.680
Really cool. She has a yellow one and an orange one.

00:22:15.860 --> 00:22:22.540
I believe at the time she had two out of 11 in the U.S. I know they were kind

00:22:22.540 --> 00:22:26.600
of trying to like clarify the number, but there's not a lot of them here.

00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.300
Yeah. I know they're rare for sure.

00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:31.140
Yeah. And it was really cool to see two of them.

00:22:31.860 --> 00:22:35.000
In the same place, but she had one of them.

00:22:35.320 --> 00:22:41.400
I knew a guy that was selling cars in the city and he's like,

00:22:41.460 --> 00:22:44.640
oh, I just happened to get this SP2.

00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:48.740
If I was going to go to this Volkswagen event or that Volkswagen event this

00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:50.100
weekend, which one would you recommend?

00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:54.400
So I told him, go to the one at the Malcolm Prey Achievement Center.

00:22:54.680 --> 00:23:00.880
And before I got there, he's like, I sold the car. So, definitely a cool experience.

00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:07.000
Yeah. Those are cool cars, too. Yeah. Never seen one in person myself.

00:23:08.080 --> 00:23:12.340
You'll have to. I know you will. We'll manifest it for you. It'll come your way.

00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:17.340
I like that. I like that. So touching on the shop again, how did you blend old

00:23:17.340 --> 00:23:21.920
school garage culture with storytelling and then an online presence?

00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:23.280
Like what was the strategy?

00:23:23.800 --> 00:23:28.320
I think it really just happened naturally. Being a photographer,

00:23:28.840 --> 00:23:33.140
going to art school, Instagram was very new then.

00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:37.400
And then just the stories Volkswagen's had themselves.

00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.400
Everyone's always told me like make a coffee table

00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.100
book photograph your customers which that's a

00:23:43.100 --> 00:23:50.000
wish list i actually got photographed to be in a coffee table book by a woman

00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:55.860
she came all the way out from i believe she's in oregon but traveled cross-country

00:23:55.860 --> 00:23:59.340
makes the list of people and she's like you were one of the first people on

00:23:59.340 --> 00:24:02.980
my list i wanted in this book and like And every time people say that,

00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:07.120
I'm just so shocked at how far away the shop is known.

00:24:07.360 --> 00:24:10.520
I think between my creative background and just the stories,

00:24:10.840 --> 00:24:15.000
like even your YouTube, you know, Volkswagen people are storied people.

00:24:15.640 --> 00:24:20.340
Big time, big time. It was just blending everything together. Yeah.

00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:26.940
And even for like the success of this podcast, the only reason is because of

00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:31.860
the Volkswagen community and the ability of the, you know,

00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.580
scratch my back, I'll scratch yours type thing, even all the way down to the

00:24:35.580 --> 00:24:37.620
Volksmania magazine connection for me.

00:24:37.620 --> 00:24:43.360
I reached out to them to do advertising to ask them, hey, I've got a VW podcast.

00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:47.040
I want to see how much it costs to be, you know, maybe on a quarter page or

00:24:47.040 --> 00:24:48.900
something. And hopefully I'll get some exposure.

00:24:49.320 --> 00:24:52.440
And Paul Cave was like, nah, how about this?

00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:55.780
I'll sponsor you and we'll give you a feature and you can write up,

00:24:55.940 --> 00:24:58.420
you know, a couple episodes, every issue. I'm like...

00:25:00.158 --> 00:25:03.098
But I'm not a writer. He's like, yeah, you are. You're fine. Yeah.

00:25:03.398 --> 00:25:08.538
You'll do it. Always. You always have to ask. You never know if it's a no or

00:25:08.538 --> 00:25:11.218
a yes until you put yourself out there. And that's with anything.

00:25:11.578 --> 00:25:15.338
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But again, the community it's, it's, it's so awesome.

00:25:15.538 --> 00:25:21.378
So speaking of the community itself, what does Volkswagen mean beyond the car

00:25:21.378 --> 00:25:23.698
to you? It's just, it's happiness.

00:25:24.098 --> 00:25:31.178
I mean, we thought COVID was going to destroy us, and we have never been busy here.

00:25:31.338 --> 00:25:36.498
We had so many cars in, and we tried to change up the display out front of the

00:25:36.498 --> 00:25:39.258
shop. So one day we had them in like a rainbow order.

00:25:39.518 --> 00:25:43.798
One day we had like all the greens and blues out. One day we had like all the

00:25:43.798 --> 00:25:50.918
orange buses. And it's just a signifier of happy and joy and freedom.

00:25:51.238 --> 00:25:57.418
And like in most Volkswagens, you can always fit a bunch of people in the car.

00:25:57.578 --> 00:25:59.738
So it's about friendship, adventures.

00:26:00.218 --> 00:26:03.598
Like it's just, you're just having a good time. Yeah.

00:26:03.798 --> 00:26:08.398
And a lot of folks say that their car looks happy when they look back at it,

00:26:08.498 --> 00:26:11.678
you know, and you, you look at them sometimes and it does, they look like they're

00:26:11.678 --> 00:26:15.818
smiling or, you know, you got the, the dented bumper on some of these older

00:26:15.818 --> 00:26:17.838
buses that might be a little off or something.

00:26:17.998 --> 00:26:22.498
It looked, it looks kind of like a crooked smile. Yeah, we actually have one

00:26:22.498 --> 00:26:25.318
Volkswagen bus and the girl painted a big,

00:26:25.318 --> 00:26:30.618
it's a blue bus and she painted a big toothy grin on the front and like made

00:26:30.618 --> 00:26:35.538
this big like plush tongue and it's a really cute smiling bus.

00:26:35.718 --> 00:26:39.398
But we actually have stickers that say Freesha Brothers made you smile.

00:26:39.798 --> 00:26:43.418
So I'll have to mail some of those to you. Yeah, hook me up.

00:26:43.538 --> 00:26:45.498
I'll swag it out for sure. Sure.

00:26:46.458 --> 00:26:52.478
So I'm going to switch gears now and we're going to go to the other side of this conversation.

00:26:52.858 --> 00:26:56.418
But again, one of the reasons why I wanted to reach out to you was to hopefully

00:26:56.418 --> 00:26:57.738
try to help you out. Yeah.

00:26:58.556 --> 00:27:02.896
Take us back to the moment now. We're a thriving business, in business,

00:27:02.996 --> 00:27:07.236
103 years, you know, a ton of loyal customers. I feel like there might even

00:27:07.236 --> 00:27:11.996
be nationwide, maybe even world reach for your brand.

00:27:12.396 --> 00:27:16.416
And then suddenly an eviction happens. Yeah.

00:27:16.916 --> 00:27:22.096
Talk to us. Tell the listeners what's, tell us the story in case they didn't

00:27:22.096 --> 00:27:27.196
see it on Facebook or in case, you know, they're just hearing about it now for the first time.

00:27:27.636 --> 00:27:33.876
What happened? So, 103 years old, and Freesha Brothers is in trouble.

00:27:34.336 --> 00:27:40.856
Our story is now out. We are being evicted, and I'm ready to tell the truth.

00:27:41.136 --> 00:27:47.136
We've been in court since 2021, fighting to keep the shop—fighting to keep the

00:27:47.136 --> 00:27:54.116
business at the shop's location, 246 West Putnam Avenue, as it's always been here since 1922.

00:27:54.116 --> 00:28:01.736
My grandfather passed away in 2018, and three out of four of the beneficiaries

00:28:01.736 --> 00:28:08.776
who are all family are asking that the Freesha Brothers continues to go on in its location.

00:28:08.776 --> 00:28:13.056
But like we just said, we were served in eviction three weeks ago.

00:28:13.056 --> 00:28:15.636
We had a little bit more time here.

00:28:15.816 --> 00:28:19.496
We're packing our most valuable equipment, our most valuable tools.

00:28:19.576 --> 00:28:23.916
We will carry on the business elsewhere, but we do need help.

00:28:24.116 --> 00:28:31.976
Our asking goal is $250,000 to secure a new space, a new shop, garage, bay.

00:28:32.196 --> 00:28:38.036
But my biggest wish is that the internet does its magic, does its thing,

00:28:38.056 --> 00:28:43.756
and this story goes viral and I'm able to secure back the original location.

00:28:44.356 --> 00:28:48.096
Oh, how awesome would that be? That would be amazing.

00:28:48.416 --> 00:28:51.356
I mean, for everyone who always says they have a Volkswagen story,

00:28:51.356 --> 00:28:57.256
If this just went viral, they threw down a couple bucks, like, I think we could do it.

00:28:58.007 --> 00:29:00.967
I think you can too. And I, and I think that's one of the reasons why I wanted

00:29:00.967 --> 00:29:05.367
to connect, you know, I would love to do, to be able to do something.

00:29:05.547 --> 00:29:09.127
So I read your story and I, and it just, it touched me instantly.

00:29:09.647 --> 00:29:13.867
And I see you sitting at the back of a, an old, you know, an old beetle in the picture.

00:29:14.007 --> 00:29:17.147
And I'm like, hold on, like, I got to do something about this.

00:29:17.267 --> 00:29:19.007
I have this, this platform.

00:29:19.607 --> 00:29:22.607
So I reached right out to you and you spotted right away.

00:29:22.727 --> 00:29:26.127
That was so awesome. I feel those types of things are actually meant to be as

00:29:26.127 --> 00:29:31.167
well because, well, you're not the first person that I've ever connected with online.

00:29:31.487 --> 00:29:36.127
You know, I try if I see a cool car or I see a cool story about somebody's,

00:29:36.167 --> 00:29:40.887
you know, classic VW somewhere, I'll comment, say, hey, my name is Joe.

00:29:41.027 --> 00:29:44.727
And, you know, I'm the host of a podcast and I try to just put my website and

00:29:44.727 --> 00:29:47.867
hopefully they'll go look because there is validity behind it.

00:29:48.027 --> 00:29:53.087
I do care, you know, about people, but, you know, they don't always get back to me.

00:29:53.947 --> 00:29:59.167
So probably treat it like spam. And that's okay. You didn't.

00:29:59.607 --> 00:30:06.307
But I really hope that this can help surge and the community can stand up for

00:30:06.307 --> 00:30:09.787
you guys in your family business. It's like, wow.

00:30:10.407 --> 00:30:15.787
Again, I've never interviewed somebody that's had a family business five generations

00:30:15.787 --> 00:30:18.087
that's been in business for over a century.

00:30:18.747 --> 00:30:23.587
Yeah. I mean, I promised my dad I would do whatever I could.

00:30:23.727 --> 00:30:28.667
To try and save the shop. And I knew I had to go public and tell the truth and

00:30:28.667 --> 00:30:33.187
speak the facts and try and save the shop.

00:30:33.347 --> 00:30:38.687
Yeah. Without getting in trouble, can you elaborate a little bit?

00:30:38.847 --> 00:30:39.827
You're saying tell the truth.

00:30:40.027 --> 00:30:42.527
What do you mean? What happened there?

00:30:42.907 --> 00:30:48.727
I didn't want people to think the business was failing or that we missed rent.

00:30:48.927 --> 00:30:56.567
None of that is true. We're purely just being forced out, I can say I don't know.

00:30:57.800 --> 00:31:02.600
I don't know. I can't confirm or deny what's going to be done with the property.

00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:05.920
I can say that this does not need to be done financially.

00:31:06.300 --> 00:31:09.720
This is not what my grandfather wanted. He wanted the business,

00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.300
the legacy to go on in this location.

00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:17.020
Like I said, three out of four of the beneficiaries agree. And that's why we're

00:31:17.020 --> 00:31:20.320
trying to get the news out, save the shop. Yeah.

00:31:20.820 --> 00:31:23.840
Yeah. And I couldn't do it to my customers.

00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:27.860
We've been there for the happiest times in their lives, the saddest times.

00:31:28.020 --> 00:31:29.200
And I wasn't just disappearing.

00:31:29.620 --> 00:31:32.400
Like people are coming by today saying, we'll see you later.

00:31:32.560 --> 00:31:35.060
We'll see you later. Let us know where the next location is.

00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:37.700
So the community is rallying behind us.

00:31:37.820 --> 00:31:43.060
And even, you know, people like you are reaching out. You got support from previous customers.

00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:49.500
There's obviously support from the VW community, which is a segue through me.

00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:51.520
Hopefully, a lot more will stand up.

00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:58.340
I was on the, what is it, GoFundMe page when I first saw you a few days back,

00:31:58.340 --> 00:32:01.820
and I clicked on that link, and it looks like you guys have raised some money already.

00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:06.640
Yeah, we've raised some funds. It's definitely helping, but I mean.

00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:10.300
We got to raise more. We got to raise more. We got to raise more.

00:32:10.300 --> 00:32:16.780
And you said past customers, current customers. I have people emailing me that

00:32:16.780 --> 00:32:19.040
aren't even customers yet, and they're ready to come in.

00:32:19.140 --> 00:32:22.420
And these are the messages that are keeping me going right now.

00:32:22.900 --> 00:32:27.100
Yeah, right. Sure. They give you inspiration. They give you hope.

00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:33.400
But I want to ask you, over this battle, because it kind of feels like that's

00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:39.380
what it's been for you for years, even through potential slander and everything else that's come up.

00:32:39.380 --> 00:32:44.980
What lessons have you taken away about family, about business,

00:32:45.300 --> 00:32:47.620
maybe even about resilience from this experience?

00:32:48.744 --> 00:32:52.224
Family, your chosen family is going to show up for you.

00:32:52.744 --> 00:32:57.404
Like family doesn't always mean blood. It means the people who are out here

00:32:57.404 --> 00:33:00.324
loading dumpsters with you in the heat.

00:33:00.564 --> 00:33:04.324
The, you know, the people that are dropping off pizzas for you.

00:33:04.624 --> 00:33:08.284
The people that are out here getting dirty with you, crying with you.

00:33:08.584 --> 00:33:14.224
I mean, these were vulnerable moments and the family showed up and a lot of

00:33:14.224 --> 00:33:16.744
it has been clients, customers.

00:33:17.504 --> 00:33:20.544
My two aunts have driven down here from Massachusetts to

00:33:20.544 --> 00:33:23.684
try and save us every guy my

00:33:23.684 --> 00:33:28.064
husband has grown up with in town like they have other small businesses and

00:33:28.064 --> 00:33:33.364
you know we would come to their aid if they needed that and that's right well

00:33:33.364 --> 00:33:37.604
I think there's you know light at the end of the tunnel because the Volkswagen

00:33:37.604 --> 00:33:43.404
community this is what we do we stick together you know and so I I hope there's,

00:33:43.464 --> 00:33:46.044
you know, a positive outcome there,

00:33:46.224 --> 00:33:51.064
but I still want to even touch on, like, if the physical garage is gone,

00:33:51.304 --> 00:33:55.864
you know, and you go somewhere else and open up shop, like, you're obviously

00:33:55.864 --> 00:33:58.464
going to keep the legacy and the story alive, right?

00:33:58.944 --> 00:34:03.524
Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, people know this building because of its charm.

00:34:04.124 --> 00:34:09.064
And, you know, it's a hundred and three years old. So it does have that old

00:34:09.064 --> 00:34:11.064
world charm, that old world look.

00:34:11.484 --> 00:34:15.704
I'm a little scared of a new storefront, but I think it might just have to be

00:34:15.704 --> 00:34:18.004
like, we take it a step further.

00:34:18.324 --> 00:34:21.544
We, you know, we work on the reels, we work on the storytelling,

00:34:21.564 --> 00:34:23.264
maybe a YouTube channel.

00:34:23.484 --> 00:34:27.564
Like this isn't going to be the first crisis Freesha Brothers has gone through

00:34:27.564 --> 00:34:32.844
we've been here since 1922 we have we have the great depression yeah everything

00:34:32.844 --> 00:34:36.404
like we'll stick together and we'll make it through and we always do.

00:34:37.123 --> 00:34:40.743
And how can the VW community help you most?

00:34:40.963 --> 00:34:46.023
The GoFundMe page? The GoFundMe page, for sure. We definitely need funds.

00:34:46.403 --> 00:34:52.283
I know times are tough, but if you could share and, you know, even $5 is helping.

00:34:52.683 --> 00:34:59.803
So, you know, share, share, share. I'll put a link to the GoFundMe in the show notes.

00:34:59.983 --> 00:35:04.203
So anybody that hears this will be able to access that for sure.

00:35:04.203 --> 00:35:09.523
I think we can shift gears and stop talking about that right now.

00:35:09.643 --> 00:35:15.403
Let's go back to maybe some of the positive angles of the culture and some of

00:35:15.403 --> 00:35:17.683
your memories as you came up.

00:35:17.963 --> 00:35:21.843
And then I've got some rapid fire questions that we'll get into here in the next few weeks.

00:35:22.283 --> 00:35:26.623
Some quick, fast response. What makes the VW culture different,

00:35:26.623 --> 00:35:28.803
in your opinion, from other car scenes?

00:35:29.043 --> 00:35:32.483
I think because anyone can drive it. someone

00:35:32.483 --> 00:35:36.443
learning to drive someone that has

00:35:36.443 --> 00:35:40.143
bought the car since new and is still driving it maybe

00:35:40.143 --> 00:35:43.463
someone that doesn't have a lot of money because they fixed it up themselves

00:35:43.463 --> 00:35:49.043
maybe a millionaire because it was just a favorite car and they had to have

00:35:49.043 --> 00:35:55.023
it but it definitely brings people together if you had to explain why volkswagons

00:35:55.023 --> 00:35:59.143
matter to somebody who might not understand this culture,

00:35:59.423 --> 00:36:02.783
what would you say? I say, let's go for a ride together.

00:36:04.623 --> 00:36:09.603
That's a good answer. Let's go for a ride and you're going to hear stories and

00:36:09.603 --> 00:36:11.943
you're going to hear the chirp of that engine.

00:36:12.343 --> 00:36:14.843
You're going to have that feeling. You're going to smell the seats.

00:36:14.863 --> 00:36:18.943
Yeah, you're going to smell the seats. You're going to digitally detox.

00:36:19.243 --> 00:36:22.763
We're just going to cruise backcountry and that's what I would tell them.

00:36:22.983 --> 00:36:26.683
I mean, I'm sold on that. They matter for

00:36:26.683 --> 00:36:29.643
that reason all right let's get into some rapid fire you

00:36:29.643 --> 00:36:32.683
ready yeah first vw you ever drove solo

00:36:32.683 --> 00:36:36.043
carmen guia what year you remember seven

00:36:36.043 --> 00:36:39.923
73 maybe okay that's

00:36:39.923 --> 00:36:43.023
okay yeah sounds good

00:36:43.023 --> 00:36:46.383
i think the last was 74 last year

00:36:46.383 --> 00:36:49.443
74 anyway uh favorite vw model

00:36:49.443 --> 00:36:52.843
of all time i like the beetle you

00:36:52.843 --> 00:36:55.883
like the beetle yeah classic as it gets yeah

00:36:55.883 --> 00:36:59.083
worst breakdown story oh this is

00:36:59.083 --> 00:37:02.563
bad my it was actually

00:37:02.563 --> 00:37:06.463
my water-cooled cabriolet and my

00:37:06.463 --> 00:37:11.583
brakes gave out in rhode island and my brother had to come up from greenwich

00:37:11.583 --> 00:37:16.923
and pick me up and drive me home and we had to flatbed the car home and i always

00:37:16.923 --> 00:37:21.743
just remember my dad being like well why didn't you take your friend's newer

00:37:21.743 --> 00:37:25.623
car and i was like well We want it to be in the convertible. Like, come on.

00:37:26.403 --> 00:37:31.683
Hello. I'm a Volkswagen gal. That still talks about at family dinner. So.

00:37:33.003 --> 00:37:34.803
You guys restore too, right?

00:37:35.539 --> 00:37:39.579
We do restore, but primarily we're just so busy with repairs.

00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:43.139
We stick to that, but we do restore.

00:37:43.459 --> 00:37:49.919
Do you have a dream restoration project? I'd like to do some sort of electric

00:37:49.919 --> 00:37:53.959
restoration when technology gets there.

00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:59.659
The harnessing is there. The batteries are just very expensive.

00:38:00.319 --> 00:38:05.959
Yeah, and I was going to say, I've even had some guys on the podcast that do

00:38:05.959 --> 00:38:10.539
this out in Seattle, the East Vans. Oh, yeah, yeah. I've seen their page.

00:38:10.839 --> 00:38:14.979
Yeah, they do these electric conversions, and they do them very well.

00:38:15.179 --> 00:38:21.419
And he explained a little bit on there talking about them, but I think that's a cool angle.

00:38:21.839 --> 00:38:24.899
You know, I talked to a few other guests that I've been on in the past too,

00:38:25.059 --> 00:38:29.599
and I've said in my stance is, you know, there's always two sides, right?

00:38:29.739 --> 00:38:34.079
There's keep them, you know, gas and air cooled and, you know,

00:38:34.279 --> 00:38:37.339
et cetera, or, you know, no, let's, let's convert them.

00:38:37.479 --> 00:38:39.959
And a lot of the newer conversions, electric conversions are,

00:38:39.979 --> 00:38:42.539
they're driven by younger, you know, the younger generation.

00:38:42.699 --> 00:38:46.599
And what I say a lot is I don't care how they get into these cars.

00:38:46.779 --> 00:38:48.059
I'm just glad they're getting into them.

00:38:48.979 --> 00:38:53.279
You know, if, if, if it's going to be an electric car and it's still a 50 year

00:38:53.279 --> 00:38:56.759
old core, you know, like I'm, I'm okay.

00:38:57.419 --> 00:39:02.059
Whatever gets you cruising and get you, you know, falling in love with these cars. So interesting.

00:39:02.879 --> 00:39:07.759
We definitely get a lot of questions. about the electrical conversion for people

00:39:07.759 --> 00:39:09.719
that don't know how to drive stick.

00:39:10.459 --> 00:39:15.079
So if they want to branch off and make their own little Volkswagen branch,

00:39:15.279 --> 00:39:19.519
like I'm happy, but I just, I hope we can get there with the technology one day.

00:39:19.779 --> 00:39:22.499
Yeah, cool. I think it's on its way. It's coming. It's coming.

00:39:23.479 --> 00:39:27.579
All right, if your Beetle, if a Beetle, not your Beetle, if a Beetle could talk,

00:39:27.739 --> 00:39:30.199
what's one of the first things it would say? Drive me.

00:39:31.299 --> 00:39:35.959
Okay. All right. Fair enough. How about this one? Biggest. No,

00:39:36.059 --> 00:39:39.039
and or no salt. No salt. No salt.

00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:42.579
No salt. So we don't rust, right? Mm hmm.

00:39:43.335 --> 00:39:47.815
What's one of the biggest misconceptions about Volkswagens? That they're hard to work on.

00:39:48.035 --> 00:39:52.715
A lot of previous past guests have said something along the same lines,

00:39:52.815 --> 00:39:55.615
and they say, just get out there and start.

00:39:55.835 --> 00:39:59.595
Just start working on it. You'll see it's not that difficult.

00:39:59.995 --> 00:40:05.555
You know, I got a bad back, and a guy like me, I'm not really down on the ground

00:40:05.555 --> 00:40:07.335
and really that mechanical.

00:40:08.115 --> 00:40:12.795
I'm happy to pay somebody else. However, I'm smart enough with these cars to

00:40:12.795 --> 00:40:19.715
be pretty dangerous, you know, so and so I kind of agree. They are they are pretty easy.

00:40:19.915 --> 00:40:24.895
Doesn't mean I have the time or even, you know, at times the the the want to

00:40:24.895 --> 00:40:26.635
do it myself just because I.

00:40:26.815 --> 00:40:31.235
Yeah, but we'll have we'll have cars come with their receipt books and they'll

00:40:31.235 --> 00:40:35.255
say we were at, you know, three, four regular mechanics.

00:40:35.255 --> 00:40:38.075
It's still running like crap like we can't fix

00:40:38.075 --> 00:40:40.915
it the guys go out there they take a

00:40:40.915 --> 00:40:44.055
look see back on the road what a

00:40:44.055 --> 00:40:46.975
great feeling too and and i love this feeling

00:40:46.975 --> 00:40:49.655
here when you pick it up and you drive it

00:40:49.655 --> 00:40:52.495
again and and they come back and they tell you

00:40:52.495 --> 00:40:55.715
it's never driven this good we get

00:40:55.715 --> 00:40:58.775
thank you notes we get cookies like people really

00:40:58.775 --> 00:41:01.495
appreciate it and i and also like i said

00:41:01.495 --> 00:41:04.715
before people are still buying cars off ebay we won't

00:41:04.715 --> 00:41:07.615
even talk to them and they'll show up here with like their little

00:41:07.615 --> 00:41:10.635
love letter on the seat please take care

00:41:10.635 --> 00:41:13.555
of her this is her name fix this so

00:41:13.555 --> 00:41:16.415
a lot of them are coming in with letters we fix them up

00:41:16.415 --> 00:41:19.335
and then we get the thank you the handwritten thank you letter which

00:41:19.335 --> 00:41:22.735
is always nice wow that's so cool man so

00:41:22.735 --> 00:41:25.715
we're on some people's christmas card list which is pretty cool

00:41:25.715 --> 00:41:28.695
like you you you don't think you're gonna change someone's

00:41:28.695 --> 00:41:31.455
world enough and then you end up on their christmas card list and

00:41:31.455 --> 00:41:34.215
it's cool that's something else that you.

00:41:34.215 --> 00:41:37.455
Guys are known for across town right don't you guys have christmas cards

00:41:37.455 --> 00:41:40.615
yeah so my dad always did

00:41:40.615 --> 00:41:46.475
themed christmas cards and a bunch of them had the volkswagen bus he had a vintage

00:41:46.475 --> 00:41:52.235
wrecker pickup truck but he definitely was ahead of his time like you know everyone

00:41:52.235 --> 00:41:56.915
does like all the themed instagram posts now he he was staging christmas cards

00:41:56.915 --> 00:41:59.895
before it was the thing to do Yeah. So, so cool.

00:42:00.135 --> 00:42:03.895
I love that type of success for.

00:42:04.215 --> 00:42:07.175
You know, a company slash a brand like this,

00:42:07.395 --> 00:42:13.875
you know, to just naturally like episode two, I believe I had a Scarlett Nolan

00:42:13.875 --> 00:42:21.235
on who is like the, the president of a truly Nolan and her father,

00:42:21.575 --> 00:42:25.595
you know, started truly Nolan of pest control. They're all over the world now.

00:42:26.255 --> 00:42:31.015
And, and, you know, they have, they were known for their yellow Volkswagen beetle,

00:42:31.235 --> 00:42:35.455
you know, all the way up into the new beetle. But it was like.

00:42:36.188 --> 00:42:42.848
He was obviously ahead of his time as well, but nobody really knew that that

00:42:42.848 --> 00:42:49.228
yellow car with the mouse ears was going to become this world icon, and it did.

00:42:49.428 --> 00:42:54.908
And it created a couple hundred million dollar enterprise as truly Nolan,

00:42:55.148 --> 00:42:57.988
hell, probably even more, but still just so cool.

00:42:57.988 --> 00:43:03.488
So off of, you know, just being, I'm not going to say that's the only way it

00:43:03.488 --> 00:43:05.708
was successful is being in the right place at the right time.

00:43:06.368 --> 00:43:09.428
But it does, you know, being ahead of your time and taking that risk,

00:43:09.568 --> 00:43:11.628
that's really what it always, you know, equates to.

00:43:11.768 --> 00:43:16.788
And I love to see when people are successful because of that for taking a risk. Yeah, for sure.

00:43:17.188 --> 00:43:23.808
Yeah. So good, good stuff. All right. One word to describe the Freesha Brothers legacy.

00:43:24.208 --> 00:43:28.108
Love. I watched four generations before me take care of each other,

00:43:28.408 --> 00:43:31.548
teach each other, mentor each other.

00:43:32.208 --> 00:43:35.848
And that's why I believe this place will go on. That's why I'm out here doing

00:43:35.848 --> 00:43:37.688
this for my family, for my father.

00:43:38.448 --> 00:43:41.608
Yeah. And thank you for that, for putting yourself out there and responding

00:43:41.608 --> 00:43:45.288
to me and coming on here and being willing to rattle your comfort zone.

00:43:45.648 --> 00:43:49.748
You know, I appreciate it for sure. Hopefully the community does as well.

00:43:50.048 --> 00:43:54.468
Outside of all the stuff that you're doing, what's next for you?

00:43:54.608 --> 00:44:02.028
Outside of trying to wrangle in, you know, this shop, like what are the plans? What's next for you?

00:44:02.268 --> 00:44:08.408
Well, we're going to get the shop to a safe place and then I'm just going to,

00:44:08.408 --> 00:44:11.328
you know, continue on with my automotive career.

00:44:11.688 --> 00:44:16.208
Like I said, I started sweeping the floors after my grandfather passed away.

00:44:16.468 --> 00:44:23.068
I started showing and then I was actually asked most recently to become a apprentice

00:44:23.068 --> 00:44:28.508
judge. So any way I can keep the culture alive and have fun,

00:44:29.108 --> 00:44:30.348
I'm looking forward to it.

00:44:31.047 --> 00:44:36.407
Even being on this podcast, YouTube channel, that's a big step.

00:44:37.667 --> 00:44:40.767
Yeah, it's awesome. And I'm absolutely happy to have you.

00:44:40.947 --> 00:44:45.807
So tell the listeners, where can they find you? Where can they follow your story?

00:44:46.027 --> 00:44:50.427
Shout out from the rooftops right now. How online, how can people find you?

00:44:50.547 --> 00:44:55.567
Give them all the way down to, you know, the spelling. You can find me on Instagram

00:44:55.567 --> 00:45:04.287
at Freesha Brothers, F-R-E-C-C-I-A-B-R-O-T-H-E-R-S.

00:45:04.567 --> 00:45:11.587
That's on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook at, again, Freesha Brothers, same spelling.

00:45:11.947 --> 00:45:18.467
And then you can follow my personal Instagram, which is Sweet Guinevere. That's a title of a song.

00:45:19.467 --> 00:45:29.767
S-W-E-E-T-G-U-I-N-E-V-E-R-E. And I'm always open to talk with people,

00:45:30.167 --> 00:45:32.387
chat with people, happy to connect.

00:45:32.627 --> 00:45:35.827
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:45:36.087 --> 00:45:39.887
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:45:39.887 --> 00:45:41.947
the people in the dub that drive their dreams.

00:45:42.187 --> 00:45:46.767
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:45:46.767 --> 00:45:48.087
so you never miss an adventure.

00:45:48.367 --> 00:45:53.047
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dove life? Awesome.

00:45:53.347 --> 00:45:58.387
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:45:58.387 --> 00:46:00.147
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:46:00.387 --> 00:46:05.927
Dove Life Diaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:46:05.927 --> 00:46:10.647
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you. This is Joe Person.

00:46:10.847 --> 00:46:12.987
I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the.

00:46:13.680 --> 00:47:10.740
Music.