Oct. 18, 2025

Volkswagen Barbie & A Garage Full Of Rolling Art - Barbie Cecil Ep36

Volkswagen Barbie & A Garage Full Of Rolling Art - Barbie Cecil Ep36
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Volkswagen Barbie & A Garage Full Of Rolling Art - Barbie Cecil Ep36

In this episode of DubLife Diaries, Barbie Cecil — aka Volkswagen Barbie — shares her journey from childhood slug-bug memories to building a garage full of customized Volkswagens. She talks about acquiring and restoring Phoebe, Farrah, Fiona, and a kit-built beast named Felix, the challenges of mechanical work and body restoration, and how the VW community shaped her outlook.

Barbie also discusses road trips, club shows, practical upgrades, and offers encouragement for others to learn hands-on skills while embracing the welcoming VW culture.

 

Sponsors and Shout Outs : 

• VolksMania Magazine → www.volksmania.com • Use code dublife10 for 10% off.

• Chris White & Riverbank Customs → Watch their builds on YouTube: Riverbank Customs.

• Salty Dub — From the beach to the bay, tearing up the scene with VW swag + epic events → www.saltydub.com • Use code dublife10 (merch only) for 10% off.

🎧 Love this episode? Please follow/subscribe, rate 5⭐️, and share with your VW crew—it helps us keep the stories rolling.

 

00:38 - Welcome to Dub Life Diaries

03:07 - Growing Up in West Texas

05:27 - Discovering the Volkswagen Lifestyle

06:54 - Gaining Mechanical Knowledge

08:22 - The Joy of the Volkswagen Community

08:31 - Heartbreak in Miami

11:42 - Bringing Home the Dream Bus

12:46 - Upgrading and Modifying Phoebe

16:10 - The Story of Farrah

20:36 - Introducing Fiona, the Beetle

25:14 - The Challenge of Fiona’s Restoration

27:11 - Mark’s Perspective on Volkswagens

27:57 - The Stealth Beetle Kit Car

31:11 - Embracing the Volkswagen Barbie Nickname

32:43 - The Culture of the Volkswagen Community

40:43 - Advice for Future VW Owners

42:31 - Follow Volkswagen Barbie’s Journey

WEBVTT

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To learn more about this class-leading VW magazine.

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Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries. Today's guest is somebody who took a childhood

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dream, a very wild imagination, and turned it into a garage full of rolling

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art. She's built. She's restored.

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She's customized Volkswagens that all have names. They all got personality.

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They all got stories of their own. From Phoebe, the split window bus, to Fiona, I don't know.

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To Farrah, and now to Felix. I feel like I'm stuck on the Fs,

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which is the Stealth V8 Beetle kit car that is still in a crate.

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She embodies what it means to live the Volkswagen lifestyle.

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She's part dreamer, part builder, and a really awesome part storyteller.

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And today we're going to dive into her world.

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This is the Volkswagen Barbie herself. Barbie Cecil, welcome to Dub Life Diaries.

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Hey, Zubber, Volkswagen Birdie here, and it's a pleasure to be on Double Life Diaries today.

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Well, before we get going, I do want to give a shout out to my sponsors.

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First up, Volxmania Magazine.

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I feel like these guys are the flyest VW magazine on the face of the planet.

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I say that for various reasons.

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I think the biggest reason, though, is just like our community.

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They're awesome people.

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Paul Cave is just a super awesome guy.

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The magazine is super quality. the pages, the color, the font,

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everything about it, but the people are what make it so special.

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Volksmania.com Use Dublife10 at checkout. You'll get 10% off your subscription.

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That is US subscribers only.

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Also, shout out to Salty Dub from the beach to the bay.

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Salty Dub is tearing up the VW scene with some epic events, some never done before type stuff.

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Awesome swag and you can check those guys out at saltydub.com.

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Again, Dub Life 10. It will work, but only for merch. It does not work for discounts on events.

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

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Chris is out of Pell City, Alabama. Super stand-up guy.

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All about the VW scene. He's so awesome. He supports the podcast,

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so go give him a like, a follow, support him, Riverbank Customs on YouTube.

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Miss Volkswagen Barbie, back to you. Yes. Great to be here.

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So, you know, thank you for taking the time. I see you're all about the scene.

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You're in it. You got a shop. You got all kinds of stuff cracking.

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I love it. Thank you for taking the time to do this podcast.

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Let's talk about you. Let's talk about how you arrived at what you're doing

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and your energy. It's just so awesome.

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So growing up in West Texas, what first pulled you toward Volkswagens or the

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scene when really you weren't around them as a young person, correct?

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Absolutely not. I never knew anybody that had a Volkswagen.

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I'd never physically been inside of a Volkswagen or gone for a ride in a Volkswagen.

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I might have seen a few on the roads. I wish I had a really epic,

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cool story to share with you on how my love began.

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And I have dug deep in my soul. And the only thing I can come up with,

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ironically, was I'm one of six kids. So I came from a big family.

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When we saw beetles or buses on the road on family road trips,

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that was the only time I was allowed to punch them and not get in trouble.

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And I think that's honestly what spurred my love of Volkswagens.

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Do you think the slug bug game kind of tied into the, you know,

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the mischievous energy, you know, that kind of helps shape the Volkswagen journey?

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Oh, absolutely. You know, growing up watching shows, especially California-based

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shows where people were living their best life in Volkswagens,

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where my brain landed and stuff.

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That's so awesome. Now, I know the bus has stood out to you over time.

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And what do you think the bus stood out so much for from childhood on to today?

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What was the attraction to the bus? Yeah.

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Well, one, I have to say I'm a splitty fanatic.

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Don't get me wrong. I love all my Volkswagens, but something iconic about that

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split front end of that bus, it just captivates my heart.

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I mean, there's no other way to put it. I love them all, but there's just something iconic about it.

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And as a kid growing up with so many siblings, a lot of my daydreams were about

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getting away, having my own space. And to me, a bus embodied all of that. It would get me away.

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It would give me a place to sleep, a place to hang out.

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And so in my brain, it was the perfect solution to my crazy family life.

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Right on. You started to get into the Volkswagen lifestyle.

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Did your friends and your family at the time, did they think that later in life

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now you're going to start chasing this dream?

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Did you catch any pushback? or any, you know?

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I wouldn't say any pushback. The Volkswagens kind of came into my life late

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enough that honestly, by the time you're 40, you're pretty much everybody knows who you are.

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And honestly, it did not surprise any of my friends or family members.

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I think I surprised a few that didn't expect me to actually take off my fingernails

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and get in the nitty gritty of it. I kind of surprised myself on that.

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When I first started with Phoebe, I had no mechanical experience whatsoever.

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And my husband did. However, he never worked on air-cooled engines.

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So it was a whole new beast.

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So a lot of Phoebe I did have to hire out.

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And I had a couple of guys come over and help me and,

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poke your engine in, change your suspension out and all of that.

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And I guess there's a little bit of shame in not fixing your own stuff that

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I started to feel. And I got tired of asking people and people move on.

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You find a great mechanic and then the next thing you know, they've moved on.

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Yeah. And I got to the point that I wanted to become reliable on myself only.

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I want to get my business, I want to know them inside and out and be able to

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take them to Canada on a solo trip if I choose to.

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That was my ultimate goal. And I'm glad that I didn't mess with Phoebe,

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that I hired a lot of that out because it did let me start gaining knowledge.

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And it eventually pushed me to the point that

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I enjoy wrenching on

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my girls now and solving their problems yeah i love that and i and your videos

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are so much fun your energy is so awesome and you guys you seem like you're

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busy you're like you know you're elbow deep in the grease it's it's awesome

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do you think that people who fall in love with vws are wired differently,

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Absolutely. I think it just comes with a more patient mind and more open aspect on everything in life.

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I've been in a lot of car scenes with my husband being into muscle cars.

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I've done, in my 20s, I've toured with the monster truck rallies.

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I've done circle track and drag strip and all the car clubs I've known.

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It's always been about who has the

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bigger motor who has the faster car

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and that's what i love about

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volkswagons yes i doll mine up and they're

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pretty but you know what i love the rat rods just as much and what i find in

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the volkswagen community it's never about comparison it is about the love of

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you and your vehicle regardless of its state and that that's that's just being

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good humans. Yeah, for sure.

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Yeah, I love that. I agree with that. I think it's more about the people than

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it is the cars. You know, the cars are kind of the icing. Yes.

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So getting a bus later in life, I know you said that you had some heartbreak, right?

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Initially, when you finally were going to pull the trigger and

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And that you drove all the way to Miami for a disaster. Can you walk me through that story?

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Oh, yes. So backtrack just a little bit before the Miami, I'd actually spotted

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three different ones over in the UK.

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Paid infectors, came back with horrible reports.

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I knew mechanically I wasn't scared having my husband be an ASE master's technician.

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I knew that that wasn't an issue. what scared me was the body,

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the rust, the hinges, things like that.

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Well, after three disappointments there, I finally found the one in Miami.

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And I'd seen videos of it rolling down the road. I'd gotten probably a hundred photos.

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So I was 100% certain this was the bus for me.

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Load up the trailer. My husband was feeling ill. So I hauled to Miami with a trailer.

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First time I'd hauled the trailer in about 20 years.

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And they opened the door of the storage unit, and it was just instant heartache.

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The moment I saw it, I could tell, walking up from the back end,

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her muffler was crunched flat.

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And they tried, obviously, they didn't know how passionate I was about Volkswagen,

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but they tried to tell me, they're all like that.

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And so I knew right there I was dealing with a liar. Yeah, ooh.

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I could go ahead and inspect the bus anyway, And it was it was a hot mess. I'm talking.

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I'm pretty sure a five year old could have put the headliner in better.

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That's bolts everywhere. Oh, no.

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Horrible. But I put on my brave face and kind of looked at him and told him,

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Luke, I'm going to go look at a couple more buses. I'll let you know.

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In reality, I was crushed. I went back to the hotel and I cried.

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I cried a little bit because I was so certain.

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And it was just more of a project at that point being my first Volkswagen that

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I was willing to like dive into.

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So I sat in the hotel room and I thought, well, while I'm out of my general

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area, Google might produce some other like content that I haven't seen.

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So pop on Google, do a little search and I'll find like 30 minutes from my hotel

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where phenomenal buses.

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I told him, I'll tell you what, let me come look. I want to look at your workmanship.

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I want to touch and look and inspect your work. So he allowed me to come over.

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And despite my best efforts of trying to buy one of the three that he had there, he was a businessman.

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He did not let me. I even offered more money.

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But he did tell me he would import one. And I laid down the rules.

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I told him I really didn't care mechanically if she was sound or not,

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Even though he said that they rebuild the engines and transmissions and all of that.

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I told him my big deal was the body work and the door closures and the little

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things like that that are pain to fix.

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So I put down a deposit, came back home and waited for about six months.

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And in the meantime, we were corresponding. I was picking out colors and picking

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out curtains and picking out the layout and what options I wanted in it.

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And so I cheated. I feel like I cheated a little bit, but the overhaul I have

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given her has redeemed me because getting her home was a whole different story.

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I mean, you can look pretty all day long, but if she doesn't drive,

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there's heartache. There's more heartache on the way.

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That's right. That's right. So what were some of those biggest surprises that

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you realized after you brought her home?

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Well, ironically, I didn't even have to get her home to realize the first error

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I was going to have to address.

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So obviously, my Miami area is very crowded.

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You're not going to get a big truck and trailer everywhere. So I had to park

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the trailer, drive the truck over, make the deal, and then get the bus over to the trailer.

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So maybe five blocks and immediately I could tell there was not enough power.

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Finding second gear, near impossible.

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Wow. At this point, I bit the bullet. I was just ready to get back home and started to work on her.

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So loaded her up on the trailer.

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And the second I go to unload her to get her home.

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Impossible to find reverse oh no

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yes so so i had i had

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one car show and it was actually our rare air car show

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three or four years ago my first one i'd went

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ahead and took her as is because i just gotten her less than 30 days i wanted

00:13:06.904 --> 00:13:12.364
to show her off regarding after that show she came straight home got put up

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on blocks engine suspension yanked out and she sat on blocks for six months

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while I waited on Powerhouse to build me a good engine.

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Wow. So yeah, walk me through now. What's what what she what she built like,

00:13:27.124 --> 00:13:29.644
I guess. How'd you go from? Yeah. What upgrades?

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So obviously the first thing I needed to do, because I'm not getting her just

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to put her in shows, I ride her.

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If I'm going to the grocery store, I've got 12 cars.

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That's the one I usually want to take, unless it's raining.

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So the first thing I did was her engine. So we pulled out her rebuilt engine

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that was leaking like a sieve. Powerhouse built me a 2110.

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Ooh. Full-carved, their Weber 44s. Okay.

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And because the engine was going to have about 150 horsepower,

00:13:59.164 --> 00:14:03.824
they told me 145, but when dynoed, it was about 150. Dang. Yeah.

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That'll move her. Dang. Yeah. But with that, it opens a whole new can of worms.

00:14:10.664 --> 00:14:14.204
You have to stop. That's kind of important. Kind of.

00:14:14.504 --> 00:14:18.964
You know, and with the additional power, she wanted to fishtail a little bit.

00:14:19.184 --> 00:14:22.904
So suspension issues were in there. So it just kind of started compiling.

00:14:23.144 --> 00:14:26.164
And at that point, I was also having some wiring issues.

00:14:26.524 --> 00:14:31.324
So it was time to pretty much gutter. And I thought while the engine was out

00:14:31.324 --> 00:14:33.284
and waiting for powerhouse to be shipped,

00:14:33.584 --> 00:14:37.464
the new one to be shipped, it was a good time to go ahead and yank all every

00:14:37.464 --> 00:14:42.324
wire out of her, yank her suspension out, put this brakes on her.

00:14:42.404 --> 00:14:49.084
So I found a company out of the Netherlands called Red 9 Design that do independent

00:14:49.084 --> 00:14:51.924
coilover suspension kits and,

00:14:52.568 --> 00:14:56.748
I have been so impressed with her drivability after that. Wow.

00:14:56.828 --> 00:14:58.508
That I put that in my pink bus.

00:14:58.968 --> 00:15:04.168
Our vice president of our local club ordered one to put in his bay window bus.

00:15:04.448 --> 00:15:09.628
So I'm not getting paid for promotion on them, but I'm telling you that was

00:15:09.628 --> 00:15:12.768
probably one of the best in terms of drivability.

00:15:13.628 --> 00:15:16.628
That's probably a good nugget. Good gem. Thank you. You know,

00:15:16.788 --> 00:15:22.308
and after all of the mechanical side got done, she's sporting four point camera

00:15:22.308 --> 00:15:24.028
systems, Bluetooth radio.

00:15:24.228 --> 00:15:30.108
She's got a TV that will elevate from behind her back, the passenger seat. Dang.

00:15:30.388 --> 00:15:35.528
Full on camp, everything you need, except for maybe the toilet.

00:15:37.488 --> 00:15:40.248
So when you think of a bus like this you

00:15:40.248 --> 00:15:43.068
know that's now so built and probably a

00:15:43.068 --> 00:15:46.588
lot invested do you think that people kind of maybe

00:15:46.588 --> 00:15:51.408
glamorize owning a bus without realizing how much money actually has to go into

00:15:51.408 --> 00:15:56.828
them to get them to look like yours oh wow absolutely every car show i take

00:15:56.828 --> 00:16:00.648
or two the patrons will be oh that's my dream part i want one of those and i

00:16:00.648 --> 00:16:03.588
tell them dude I got a hundred grand in this thing.

00:16:03.908 --> 00:16:10.228
You know, it is. It's an expensive hobby, but it is so worth it. Being retired.

00:16:10.928 --> 00:16:13.848
That's the, that's the perfect place to put my money. Yeah.

00:16:14.028 --> 00:16:19.188
I love it. I love it. So let's fast forward just a little bit to Farrah.

00:16:19.308 --> 00:16:21.568
Tell me about how Farrah came into your life.

00:16:22.195 --> 00:16:27.115
So Farrah came into my life. I had kind of been interested in a bay window.

00:16:27.315 --> 00:16:29.395
I wanted another bus. I wanted another project.

00:16:29.775 --> 00:16:33.955
And this time, I wanted to be the one to do a lot of that.

00:16:34.195 --> 00:16:38.635
And so that was my goal with her because I hired so much out with Phoebe.

00:16:38.635 --> 00:16:41.295
I wanted to get my hands dirty this time.

00:16:41.315 --> 00:16:47.315
So I contacted the guy that imported Phoebe for me because I had a body-wise,

00:16:47.455 --> 00:16:51.155
not mechanically-wise, But body-wise, I was impressed with what he produced

00:16:51.155 --> 00:16:52.295
compared to what I'd seen.

00:16:52.655 --> 00:16:55.895
Told him, basically, I'm looking for a bay window bus. I don't even care if

00:16:55.895 --> 00:16:57.615
it has an engine or a suspension.

00:16:58.295 --> 00:17:02.435
I need the chassis and the body. And I'll handle it from there.

00:17:02.695 --> 00:17:06.935
So it took about a year. And he still hadn't hollered back at me.

00:17:07.075 --> 00:17:09.195
And finally, one day, he called me. And he's like, well, Barbie,

00:17:09.255 --> 00:17:10.535
I found you a bay window bus.

00:17:11.284 --> 00:17:13.744
And I told him, great, great. Let me come take a peek at it.

00:17:13.864 --> 00:17:18.664
And he's like, well, I have to tell you, I know you said you wanted to do all the interior build out.

00:17:18.784 --> 00:17:22.444
And I know you were going to do all of the suspension and engine that you did with your other one.

00:17:22.544 --> 00:17:25.784
But this one's kind of already been built out. But I thought of you because

00:17:25.784 --> 00:17:30.004
it's a one-owner bus and it is impeccably kept.

00:17:31.004 --> 00:17:35.884
That caught my attention. I go down there and I had already envisioned in my

00:17:35.884 --> 00:17:40.364
brain how I wanted her layout on the interior, what all like I was going to

00:17:40.364 --> 00:17:45.784
include into her because you've got a little more space in the bay windows than you do the splitty.

00:17:46.224 --> 00:17:51.644
So I go down there. The second I laid eyes on it, it was just take my money.

00:17:52.664 --> 00:17:57.024
It was her interior build out was so far.

00:17:57.304 --> 00:18:01.964
It so far exceeded what I had envisioned. I knew I was going home with her.

00:18:02.204 --> 00:18:04.444
I necessarily want a pink bus.

00:18:04.924 --> 00:18:08.324
No, I know my name's Barbie, but pink's really not my favorite color.

00:18:08.904 --> 00:18:14.904
But it was so adorable on the inside. I had no choice. I had no choice.

00:18:15.784 --> 00:18:21.044
Now, part of me does think that he'd get that bus and paint it pink and do that,

00:18:21.244 --> 00:18:24.744
knowing he could sell it to me for more money. Probably so.

00:18:25.764 --> 00:18:28.184
I'm a sucker and it works. So

00:18:28.184 --> 00:18:33.364
kudos to him. Fast forward a little bit on how'd you build this one out?

00:18:33.988 --> 00:18:38.468
So with this one, she's also now she does not have her air conditioner yet.

00:18:38.668 --> 00:18:41.188
Phoebe actually has an air conditioner, which surprises most people.

00:18:41.328 --> 00:18:42.668
It was tricky, but you do.

00:18:42.828 --> 00:18:47.228
Did you do the new electronic style or did you do a certain style?

00:18:47.608 --> 00:18:52.168
Okay. Belt driven. Okay. I've heard enough horror stories about the electric

00:18:52.168 --> 00:18:54.868
that I wasn't. I live in Florida. Come on. It's hot.

00:18:55.408 --> 00:18:57.848
Hey, that's what I was going to ask you. Cause my wife's actually,

00:18:57.928 --> 00:19:00.528
she's wanting to put AC in the Carmen Ghia right now.

00:19:01.148 --> 00:19:06.008
And I I'm kind of weighing the options. Well, I will say the guy that imported,

00:19:06.288 --> 00:19:11.288
he had been doing, both of my buses, he had been doing the electric for a while,

00:19:11.288 --> 00:19:16.088
and he had so many issues, he's finally cut it and gone back to belt through

00:19:16.088 --> 00:19:18.388
it. Okay, that's a good tip.

00:19:19.028 --> 00:19:24.708
But Ms. Farrah, she's going to be just as glamorous. She's got a lot more storage.

00:19:25.128 --> 00:19:29.608
Her bed, like with Phoebe here, she's got the L-shaped couch in her.

00:19:29.848 --> 00:19:34.328
It does not convert to a bed. Have I camped in her? Yes. It was quite funny

00:19:34.328 --> 00:19:36.348
how I managed to make that happen, but I didn't know that.

00:19:37.328 --> 00:19:40.208
But with Farrah, she's actually got the rock and roll bed. One pull,

00:19:40.348 --> 00:19:44.028
you've got your bed all the way across. She's got a kitchen sink in her.

00:19:44.168 --> 00:19:46.728
It's tiny, but a place to wash your hands up.

00:19:46.928 --> 00:19:51.248
She actually has a mini refrigerator in her. Cool. A TV.

00:19:51.788 --> 00:19:56.048
I will be adding air conditioning to her soon, but right now we're trying to

00:19:56.048 --> 00:20:00.268
get her buttoned up and engine poked in and suspension handled. So all in due time.

00:20:00.548 --> 00:20:04.388
Yeah, yeah. So what's the difference in the personalities between these two,

00:20:04.548 --> 00:20:07.728
Phoebe and Farrah? A complete different personality.

00:20:08.308 --> 00:20:14.248
Isn't that cool? Phoebe is my personality. She's kind of the wild child, a little bit tomboyish.

00:20:14.568 --> 00:20:17.128
You know, she's a beachgoer, spread the joy.

00:20:17.568 --> 00:20:22.528
Whereas Farrah, Farrah captivates the little girls a lot. I've done a lot of

00:20:22.528 --> 00:20:26.248
mini photo shoots with her, and the moms and little girls love that.

00:20:26.448 --> 00:20:30.368
But to me, she seems a little more highfalutin, a little classier.

00:20:30.368 --> 00:20:35.008
She doesn't seem as infectious to me as Phoebe, but that's probably just my

00:20:35.008 --> 00:20:36.108
own personal preference.

00:20:36.448 --> 00:20:41.428
But I love her still the same. Let's fast forward a little bit then to another one, another F.

00:20:41.928 --> 00:20:45.128
Now, kind of cool because my whole family's J's.

00:20:46.228 --> 00:20:50.708
My mom's Judy. My dad's Jeff. My brother's Josh. My other brother's Jonah.

00:20:50.888 --> 00:20:54.508
I'm Joe. My sister's Jordan. So we were like all the J's.

00:20:55.368 --> 00:20:59.148
But with all the F's, I kind of thought, I'm like, oh, that's kind of cool.

00:20:59.148 --> 00:21:00.188
She's sticking with F's.

00:21:00.368 --> 00:21:06.948
But Fiona, the 2002 Beetle, tell me about how this one entered the mix.

00:21:07.628 --> 00:21:11.588
Okay. So she's the first water cool to actually hit the mix. Okay.

00:21:11.888 --> 00:21:14.008
Came out of sheer necessity, honestly.

00:21:14.288 --> 00:21:17.048
So she was actually the second Volkswagen I brought into the mix.

00:21:17.488 --> 00:21:20.868
And she got brought in because I was tired of getting rained out.

00:21:21.511 --> 00:21:25.971
Quite honestly. Phoebe, as much as a lover, she leaks like a sieve from those

00:21:25.971 --> 00:21:30.411
front two windows, and I've replaced every seal. That's just what she does.

00:21:31.471 --> 00:21:34.971
There were enough functions that I had missed out on that I was like,

00:21:35.051 --> 00:21:36.151
you know what, I'm tired of this.

00:21:36.571 --> 00:21:40.831
And at the time, her air conditioner wasn't quite keeping up for the heat of

00:21:40.831 --> 00:21:45.371
August, and I was tired of that, and I thought I could have a water cooler that

00:21:45.371 --> 00:21:48.291
would get me in the rain and air conditioned.

00:21:48.751 --> 00:21:52.991
And so that's kind of how she came in. I wasn't really looking for her,

00:21:53.091 --> 00:21:57.551
but it popped up on Facebook Marketplace, and it was yellow.

00:21:57.771 --> 00:21:59.231
Of course, that caught my attention,

00:21:59.231 --> 00:22:04.851
so honestly, I had seen maybe a dozen pictures of her, exterior only,

00:22:05.514 --> 00:22:08.694
and bought it outright. It was so cheap that I thought they would give me a

00:22:08.694 --> 00:22:13.494
project. I had no project at the time going on. They are really priced well still.

00:22:13.894 --> 00:22:19.194
Yeah. I love the Beetles, the new Beetle. They're priced well used.

00:22:19.194 --> 00:22:23.294
You can get a great car under 100,000 miles that'll run really,

00:22:23.354 --> 00:22:25.054
really strong for really cheap.

00:22:25.494 --> 00:22:29.514
Yes, yes. And I've enjoyed her. I know she's not air-cooled,

00:22:29.594 --> 00:22:31.274
but I'm not a hater. I love water-cooling.

00:22:31.474 --> 00:22:35.094
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me too, me too. A hard top or convertible?

00:22:35.274 --> 00:22:37.694
Yeah, no, it's a hard top. It's a hard top? Okay, cool.

00:22:37.934 --> 00:22:42.274
Yeah, just envisioning it. So it's got the yellow, and then it has the yellow dash too, right?

00:22:43.234 --> 00:22:48.254
Well, no, because I've completely redid her. So her body, I didn't still- Tell me more. Tell me more.

00:22:48.774 --> 00:22:52.854
So when I got her, she was a hot mess. And I knew the price I paid,

00:22:52.874 --> 00:22:54.834
I was going to get kind of a clunker.

00:22:55.574 --> 00:22:59.654
But yeah, paint work was absolutely horrendous. She did have a couple of rust

00:22:59.654 --> 00:23:05.754
spots and a bunch of peeling paint on the one quarter panel that they did not show me pictures of.

00:23:05.954 --> 00:23:09.974
But her interior basically looked like a homeless person had lived in it for a month.

00:23:10.474 --> 00:23:15.934
Liner down, broken plastic pieces everywhere. And don't even get me started on the smell.

00:23:16.414 --> 00:23:18.914
I know everybody tells me there's a smell to Volkswagen.

00:23:20.034 --> 00:23:24.854
This one was like on steroids. Yeah.

00:23:25.354 --> 00:23:29.614
Maybe not the smell we want to remember. No, no. Everybody kept telling me,

00:23:29.854 --> 00:23:33.174
oh, it smells like crayons. No, it doesn't. It just stinks.

00:23:34.674 --> 00:23:38.934
But a couple of days running an Ozone generator in there kind of helped it out.

00:23:39.114 --> 00:23:42.114
And I just got busy busting her apart.

00:23:42.314 --> 00:23:47.314
She actually has proved to be the trickier one of all my Volkswagens to repair,

00:23:47.714 --> 00:23:49.674
mainly because of the plastic pieces.

00:23:50.214 --> 00:23:54.134
You know, you get these old ones. They're all metal. You can fabricate that.

00:23:54.934 --> 00:23:58.614
You can make plastic a little bit now with greedy printing and all,

00:23:58.714 --> 00:24:03.934
but that was the big trick with Fiona was all of the broken plastic pieces.

00:24:04.074 --> 00:24:05.914
I had to, you know, tearing her dash apart,

00:24:06.541 --> 00:24:12.021
Just little plastic tabs popping off everywhere. Well, there you aren't putting it back in.

00:24:12.221 --> 00:24:17.981
And at that sweet spot with being in 02, she was at that kind of that little

00:24:17.981 --> 00:24:24.301
spot where she's not old enough to get parts at a restoration kind of shop.

00:24:24.321 --> 00:24:28.321
But she's still too new, like finding parts.

00:24:28.501 --> 00:24:33.781
She hit that little window in there where she's like finding parts or you're

00:24:33.781 --> 00:24:37.061
looking at junkyard or you're having to kind of make them. Okay.

00:24:37.761 --> 00:24:43.301
Okay. But you did that successfully and she's all, she's, she's all macked out now.

00:24:43.601 --> 00:24:48.961
She, she is officially completed and it took more effort than I expected,

00:24:48.961 --> 00:24:51.601
but honestly, she's fun to toodle around.

00:24:51.781 --> 00:24:56.861
It, it was honestly the first Beetle I've ever owned. The first Beetle I ever actually rode in.

00:24:57.001 --> 00:25:00.801
And I was surprised at the room she had inside and how peppy is she is.

00:25:00.881 --> 00:25:05.181
She is a turbo, so she's got a little sportiness to her, which I enjoy,

00:25:05.341 --> 00:25:08.981
but out of all my cars, she's probably going to be the one that gets me a ticket,

00:25:08.981 --> 00:25:13.381
even over the muscle cars, because she's just so easy to speed in.

00:25:14.081 --> 00:25:15.481
Yeah, they ride well, too.

00:25:16.441 --> 00:25:21.801
Your husband, Mark, how does he react to all of these Volkswagens?

00:25:21.901 --> 00:25:24.361
I know you said he's a mechanic, so it's probably second nature,

00:25:24.581 --> 00:25:29.381
but is he just as much of a Volkswagen nut as you? Oh, no.

00:25:30.401 --> 00:25:37.881
It took me probably 10 or 15 years of him asking me, what's your dream car?

00:25:38.381 --> 00:25:40.441
And I would tell him a Volkswagen bus.

00:25:41.301 --> 00:25:48.021
And he would, oh, no, no, no. To the point he bought me one of the brand new C8 Corvettes.

00:25:49.032 --> 00:25:52.732
The last time we had the conversation, before I had the Phoebe,

00:25:52.992 --> 00:25:57.312
and as much as I love it, I'm still going to get in Phoebe these days.

00:25:58.272 --> 00:26:02.952
You know, he tried to sway me away from it. Right. Because he wasn't familiar

00:26:02.952 --> 00:26:04.492
with air-cooled engines.

00:26:05.012 --> 00:26:09.152
Right. And being in West Texas, we just didn't have a lot of Volkswagens out there.

00:26:09.232 --> 00:26:14.092
We still own a business in West Texas and work on cars day in and day out.

00:26:14.232 --> 00:26:15.732
We just run it remotely from here.

00:26:15.972 --> 00:26:21.412
Right. But Volkswagens were not something even our shop out there worked on very often.

00:26:21.832 --> 00:26:26.252
And so I think just him not having the knowledge and being so deep in the muscle

00:26:26.252 --> 00:26:29.652
cars, that's kind of where he leaned and tried to push me.

00:26:29.772 --> 00:26:32.412
But the dream of that Volkswagen just would not die.

00:26:32.832 --> 00:26:36.872
And so finally one day he was like, OK, if that's what you want,

00:26:36.992 --> 00:26:38.212
we're going to give it a try.

00:26:38.592 --> 00:26:43.352
So he wasn't he didn't hate Volkswagens. It just wasn't his favorite thing because

00:26:43.352 --> 00:26:45.532
he's more of a sporty kind of car guy.

00:26:46.974 --> 00:26:51.274
How about now, today? Fast forward to today. How do you feel now?

00:26:52.034 --> 00:26:54.914
I'm softening him on it.

00:26:55.054 --> 00:27:00.474
I will say the downside is with my buses, he can't really drive them.

00:27:00.614 --> 00:27:02.774
So he doesn't get the full experience.

00:27:02.954 --> 00:27:06.214
With Phoebe, he can fit in the front seat and the passenger side,

00:27:06.414 --> 00:27:10.374
but he better watch his knees because as I crank into fourth, I will jab you.

00:27:11.274 --> 00:27:14.254
So the but for that aspect he doesn't really

00:27:14.254 --> 00:27:17.114
enjoy my buses now i think he will probably would

00:27:17.114 --> 00:27:20.414
enjoy the bay window better because it's more roomy but

00:27:20.414 --> 00:27:23.134
unfortunately i've girled her out and made her pink and

00:27:23.134 --> 00:27:30.254
all girly so so uh that was kind of off but when i was redoing fiona my beetle

00:27:30.254 --> 00:27:34.054
i actually put some of the little fake eyelashes not the ones that stick up

00:27:34.054 --> 00:27:38.394
it's little vinyl wrap eyelashes and i made her girly yeah i sent him to the

00:27:38.394 --> 00:27:40.414
parts store one time and he came in and And he's like,

00:27:40.514 --> 00:27:43.594
the eyelashes have to go or I will never drive this beetle again.

00:27:44.814 --> 00:27:48.574
Then he pulled up to the parts store and there were like four men staring out

00:27:48.574 --> 00:27:52.474
the window as he gets out of this little yellow beetle with bees all over it

00:27:52.474 --> 00:27:54.174
and eyelashes. Oh, my goodness.

00:27:54.874 --> 00:27:57.514
Well, let's talk about something that he does approve of then.

00:27:57.734 --> 00:28:01.474
Let's talk about this stealth beetle kit car concept.

00:28:01.914 --> 00:28:05.534
This is interesting. I know it's still in a crate, but just tell me a little

00:28:05.534 --> 00:28:10.934
bit about how you stumbled across this thought, I guess. and then turned it into a reality.

00:28:11.134 --> 00:28:14.914
And I don't know, maybe just like what your reactions were when you first kind of stumbled across it.

00:28:15.481 --> 00:28:20.201
Well, late night scrolling on YouTube isn't always your best friend.

00:28:21.421 --> 00:28:24.861
And it was just one of those, you know, can't turn your brain off,

00:28:24.961 --> 00:28:29.341
sit on the computer, watch Volkswagen stuff. And here comes this Beetle.

00:28:29.681 --> 00:28:35.221
I love the look of the old style Beetles more than I do my little Fiona.

00:28:35.541 --> 00:28:38.841
But I just haven't gotten to one of those projects. When I saw that,

00:28:39.021 --> 00:28:43.661
the immediate thing that popped into my brain was my love of Volkswagens,

00:28:43.661 --> 00:28:47.361
his love of the, like, sportier cars.

00:28:47.621 --> 00:28:51.581
And since we're always in the shop together, most of the time I'm tinkering

00:28:51.581 --> 00:28:53.661
on my stuff and he's tinkering on his stuff.

00:28:53.881 --> 00:28:59.821
And I thought this was something that we could merge and make our little Volkswagen hot rod baby out of.

00:29:00.621 --> 00:29:04.641
So cool. So that's where that started. But tell me just, I guess,

00:29:04.661 --> 00:29:07.221
a little bit more, like, what was it like the day that it arrived?

00:29:07.221 --> 00:29:09.861
I know you ordered it from South Africa, right?

00:29:10.201 --> 00:29:14.561
Correct, correct. It comes in from South Africa. I think this one will be about

00:29:14.561 --> 00:29:19.221
the 10th or 12th one imported to the U.S., so it's going to be a super, super fun build.

00:29:19.481 --> 00:29:23.901
Wow, wow. But the great aspect of it was not anything special.

00:29:24.421 --> 00:29:31.061
He showed up after dark, basic enormous crate on a skid truck.

00:29:31.421 --> 00:29:38.461
Okay. Luckily, I had a forklift on my property. Otherwise, we might have had an issue. Sure, I bet.

00:29:39.221 --> 00:29:43.401
Yeah, so basically it was just plopped it into my driveway and I sat there and

00:29:43.401 --> 00:29:46.181
stared at a box and then went to bed for the night.

00:29:47.581 --> 00:29:52.601
Because I don't want to dig into the box right now. It's all in bits and pieces.

00:29:53.161 --> 00:29:57.921
So it does not resemble a chassis at all.

00:29:58.041 --> 00:30:03.221
It does not resemble a car at all. It just looks like a bunch of metal pieces

00:30:03.221 --> 00:30:09.001
laying in a crate. But it's built on a 69 beetle body, right?

00:30:09.602 --> 00:30:15.762
The only Volkswagen thing on this will be the shell of the Beetle. That's right.

00:30:16.002 --> 00:30:21.562
We'll have an Audi suspension, an F-engine, so it will be a beast of its own.

00:30:21.662 --> 00:30:25.702
We will have to quarter the body to get to on final assembly.

00:30:25.922 --> 00:30:29.482
And the back fender wells will have to be bigger because of the wheelbase.

00:30:29.722 --> 00:30:33.062
I'm going to lose the back seat because the engine is going to be so much bigger

00:30:33.062 --> 00:30:36.242
that I'm going to have to use that space to get the engine.

00:30:36.822 --> 00:30:41.722
I'm excited. I can't wait. I love the Volksrod, you know, builds.

00:30:42.022 --> 00:30:43.482
I can't wait to see this thing.

00:30:43.802 --> 00:30:46.202
That's a plus three.

00:30:46.562 --> 00:30:50.982
It's going to be so cool. So it's going to sound so good. I think Felix will

00:30:50.982 --> 00:30:54.502
probably piss off some purists, but that's, that's awesome because,

00:30:54.562 --> 00:30:59.542
you know, I think one of the reasons why the culture and the people are so awesome

00:30:59.542 --> 00:31:01.242
is because everybody's welcome,

00:31:01.462 --> 00:31:05.422
including a 525 horsepower Volksrod.

00:31:05.642 --> 00:31:07.282
Let's go. That's so awesome.

00:31:07.882 --> 00:31:10.222
I'd end up having to put wheelie bars on that one.

00:31:11.342 --> 00:31:17.422
So cool. So let's talk about your name, Volkswagen Barbie. Tell me how that nickname came up.

00:31:17.762 --> 00:31:22.882
Well, semi self-imposed. Basically, when I'm cruising in Phoebe,

00:31:23.682 --> 00:31:28.882
Everyone in town, you're going to notice a bright yellow bread box going down

00:31:28.882 --> 00:31:31.162
the highway and people pay attention.

00:31:31.382 --> 00:31:34.942
Well, with all those windows, what do they see? They see me jamming.

00:31:36.362 --> 00:31:41.022
It's inevitable. I cannot control it. It is going to come out and I move and

00:31:41.022 --> 00:31:46.722
shake and jam and peace and wave every time I'm in her. Oh, that's such good energy, man.

00:31:47.002 --> 00:31:50.622
Some of my girlfriends happened to like I didn't see them because I was too

00:31:50.622 --> 00:31:52.182
busy in my own little work there.

00:31:52.182 --> 00:31:55.062
But some of my girlfriends happened to see me at a red light

00:31:55.062 --> 00:31:58.242
one day and the next time we had our girls meet and they were like so

00:31:58.242 --> 00:32:01.462
uh you know you're gonna be called the crazy volkswagen

00:32:01.462 --> 00:32:05.502
lady around town and i thought rather than be called the crazy volkswagen lady

00:32:05.502 --> 00:32:11.722
i would just own it and say hey i'm volkswagen barbie peace out and so that's

00:32:11.722 --> 00:32:16.782
kind of how it happened and everybody who knows me knows my passion for volkswagen

00:32:16.782 --> 00:32:20.622
so it just kind of fit and it rolls off the tongue easy So, hey,

00:32:21.042 --> 00:32:27.202
do you see the VW world as more of a culture than it is a hobby,

00:32:27.342 --> 00:32:29.602
more of a feeling than it is just a hobby?

00:32:30.082 --> 00:32:35.562
Oh, for sure. For sure. You know, the cultural aspect of it is really what drew

00:32:35.562 --> 00:32:37.542
me to the community itself.

00:32:37.702 --> 00:32:42.182
Like I said, I've tried other car clubs. You know, I'm still members of Corvette

00:32:42.182 --> 00:32:43.402
clubs and stuff like that.

00:32:43.402 --> 00:32:49.062
But the culture of the Volkswagen community is something that reminds me of

00:32:49.062 --> 00:32:56.282
a better time, better people, where if you break down, somebody is going to come to your rescue.

00:32:56.742 --> 00:33:01.862
Over the time that you have been spending in the culture, getting your hands,

00:33:01.942 --> 00:33:06.362
you know, I guess, dirty, coming up with these builds, these ideas,

00:33:06.582 --> 00:33:10.462
spending all this money, you know, having all this fun, making all these videos, right?

00:33:10.872 --> 00:33:14.712
What's some of the most valuable lessons that you've been taught later in life

00:33:14.712 --> 00:33:17.992
on kind of finding this new culture, new hobby?

00:33:18.272 --> 00:33:22.572
Slowing down. I know that sounds ironic coming from me, but it has helped.

00:33:23.192 --> 00:33:26.072
Slow down and enjoy everything.

00:33:26.732 --> 00:33:30.452
I'm going to move at a faster pace than most people. That's just how I roll.

00:33:31.692 --> 00:33:38.252
If you could go back to give your 20-year-old self advice, what would you say? Same thing? Slow down?

00:33:39.004 --> 00:33:43.104
Yeah. Slow down, slow down, but get into Volkswagen sooner.

00:33:43.704 --> 00:33:47.824
My dad told me that I got goosebumps because that's one of the,

00:33:47.824 --> 00:33:51.484
the, the biggest kind of quotes I take away from my childhood.

00:33:51.704 --> 00:33:56.344
My father always saying to me, he's still around, but I felt it when you said

00:33:56.344 --> 00:34:00.944
it, because he used to say to me all the time, son, you got to slow down.

00:34:01.204 --> 00:34:03.104
What's the rush. Yeah.

00:34:03.644 --> 00:34:06.324
Right. What's the rush. And I used to be like, well, it's this,

00:34:06.444 --> 00:34:09.164
and that's the reason. And this is the, you know, I defend it all the time.

00:34:09.364 --> 00:34:15.824
My pace was always just, you know, a million miles an hour, but slow down is,

00:34:15.864 --> 00:34:18.424
is really, really, really good advice.

00:34:18.844 --> 00:34:24.224
What's your response to people that don't really understand the Volkswagen culture,

00:34:24.224 --> 00:34:29.084
don't really understand the feeling that we get, but when they tell you it's just a car.

00:34:29.884 --> 00:34:34.344
Honestly, I don't really have much of a response for them. I'm going to live

00:34:34.344 --> 00:34:36.904
it vicariously. I'm going to show them.

00:34:37.404 --> 00:34:40.444
They're not going to listen to words because they're not going to understand

00:34:40.444 --> 00:34:44.644
or get it. But if they're around me long enough, they understand it.

00:34:44.944 --> 00:34:48.664
The joy is so infectious. It will get you.

00:34:48.924 --> 00:34:53.324
I got some rapid fire questions I want to roll through with you.

00:34:53.724 --> 00:34:56.884
These are going to demand a fast response.

00:34:57.644 --> 00:35:04.244
If a story comes out of it, awesome. If not, it's okay as well. Are you ready? Let's go.

00:35:04.604 --> 00:35:08.124
All right. How about favorite road trip snack? Definitely chips.

00:35:08.364 --> 00:35:12.764
You have to have potato chips. I'm a simple girl. Give me some salt and potatoes and carbs.

00:35:13.384 --> 00:35:17.764
Okay. Okay. If you could road trip Phoebe anywhere in the world, where would you go?

00:35:18.164 --> 00:35:22.764
Oh, a thousand percent. I would load her on, ship her over to the Germany-Austria border.

00:35:23.364 --> 00:35:26.564
Wow. Cool. Cool. Is there anything specific you want to see there?

00:35:27.292 --> 00:35:32.032
The countryside, honestly, I spent some time over there doing some World War II tours.

00:35:32.352 --> 00:35:37.252
Whoa. And it was absolutely impeccably beautiful. Rolling hills. Fuck.

00:35:37.692 --> 00:35:41.832
Yeah. Yeah, okay. The things dreams are made of, for sure. I can see that.

00:35:42.112 --> 00:35:44.792
All right, how about Dream Celebrity Co-Pilot?

00:35:45.172 --> 00:35:47.332
Oh, no-brainer. Steven Tyler.

00:35:48.092 --> 00:35:54.492
Oh, cool. I'm a fan, and I'm telling you that Ben would have the stories and entertain me for hours.

00:35:54.932 --> 00:35:58.492
VW Show. VW Show. that you'd never miss?

00:35:59.432 --> 00:36:02.612
Obviously, the Rare Air Emerald Coast Volkswagen Club.

00:36:03.292 --> 00:36:06.712
Obviously, yeah, yeah. Put my blood, sweat, and tears into it.

00:36:06.812 --> 00:36:08.912
No way I'm going to miss that one. Okay.

00:36:09.232 --> 00:36:13.772
It'll actually be our 29th annual anniversary, so this has been long in the running.

00:36:14.072 --> 00:36:17.992
Last year, we had, I think, close to 200 Volkswagens here.

00:36:18.332 --> 00:36:22.832
Nice. Nice turnout. It's always a good time, good camping, good people.

00:36:23.272 --> 00:36:28.412
How can people find that show, give them give that that shout out yeah everybody

00:36:28.412 --> 00:36:34.632
can find out about our show we've got an event and a a page both posted on facebook

00:36:34.632 --> 00:36:41.652
look for the 29th annual anniversary rare air emerald coast volkswagen club it's awesome.

00:36:42.966 --> 00:36:47.346
How about hardest part? Hardest part about being a VW owner? Hardest part?

00:36:47.926 --> 00:36:52.846
I don't consider anything really hard. The hardest part I'm running to throughout

00:36:52.846 --> 00:36:56.326
it all was when I was down and I only had one Volkswagen.

00:36:56.806 --> 00:37:01.886
Having a Volkswagen down and it's your only one, that was the hardest part.

00:37:02.086 --> 00:37:07.146
But now that I've got multiples, there's nothing really that ruffles my feathers.

00:37:07.826 --> 00:37:10.726
Okay. I can take that. I can take that.

00:37:11.046 --> 00:37:13.766
Hardest part. Let me think. if I had to answer that question,

00:37:14.306 --> 00:37:16.906
hardest part for me would be not,

00:37:17.206 --> 00:37:21.286
and this is more of maybe something I'm admitting than something I'm,

00:37:21.366 --> 00:37:28.406
but anyway, I'd say not every single day am I as happy as I can be.

00:37:29.066 --> 00:37:35.506
But when I get in my car, it's impossible for me to not have the kind of the

00:37:35.506 --> 00:37:37.466
people that smile, give me thumbs up.

00:37:37.546 --> 00:37:40.426
I hear all kinds of people yelling at me, especially when my windshields down

00:37:40.426 --> 00:37:44.446
and, you know, and I'm cruising, I got a thing. So it creates a lot of attention.

00:37:45.086 --> 00:37:50.146
But I guess my point was, I'm not always in the, in the mood to deal with the

00:37:50.146 --> 00:37:51.786
happiness that's thrown my way.

00:37:51.826 --> 00:37:58.706
So I would say the hardest part is changing that switch every single time I get in my car.

00:37:58.766 --> 00:38:02.506
But in defense of that, sometimes that's why I get in my car.

00:38:03.206 --> 00:38:07.346
Exactly what I do. Right. I'm like, you know what? I'm having a tough day.

00:38:07.506 --> 00:38:11.966
I'm going cruising and I come home and I sure ain't having a tough day anymore.

00:38:12.862 --> 00:38:16.762
Funny thing is, if I wake up and I'm in a cranky mood, because it does happen

00:38:16.762 --> 00:38:21.302
occasionally, but if I'm even remotely cranky, all my husband does is tell me,

00:38:21.462 --> 00:38:24.622
go for a ride in your Volkswagen. Yeah, see, that's what I'm talking about.

00:38:25.062 --> 00:38:29.362
Yeah. So to me, that's kind of the hard part is, you know, is turning that switch,

00:38:29.602 --> 00:38:34.362
you know, because some, yeah, but anyhow, okay. How about this one? This is a good one.

00:38:34.622 --> 00:38:38.782
Most overrated VW model of all time.

00:38:39.322 --> 00:38:43.362
Overrated. Come on now. Now, my mama told me if there wasn't anything nice to

00:38:43.362 --> 00:38:45.222
say, not to say anything at all.

00:38:45.642 --> 00:38:51.362
All right. Let's go flip side then. How about underrated? What's the most underrated VW model?

00:38:51.562 --> 00:38:53.702
I'm kind of partial to the Karmann Ghias.

00:38:54.242 --> 00:38:58.742
You don't see them as much. And a lot of people, not necessarily in the Volkswagen

00:38:58.742 --> 00:39:02.882
community, but just out in public in general, a lot of people don't understand

00:39:02.882 --> 00:39:04.402
what that is. You're right.

00:39:04.862 --> 00:39:10.402
And appreciate it. So, to me, that probably is going to sneak up in a future project one day.

00:39:10.662 --> 00:39:16.082
Cool. Yeah. We, my wife has one. It was the only Volkswagen that she wanted,

00:39:16.882 --> 00:39:18.322
especially after she did some research

00:39:18.322 --> 00:39:21.422
and, you know, found out how it was designed and all that fun stuff.

00:39:21.602 --> 00:39:26.962
But then our snag or our hangup was she didn't want to drive a stick shift.

00:39:27.062 --> 00:39:29.562
She was like, no, if I'm going to get a classic car, I'm going to get one.

00:39:29.662 --> 00:39:31.162
I can, you know, I can, I can enjoy.

00:39:31.342 --> 00:39:33.862
I don't want to have to work that hard. I'm like, oh, okay.

00:39:34.782 --> 00:39:40.242
So I found her a Carmagea, which is a 71 with an auto clutch, auto stick.

00:39:40.382 --> 00:39:42.942
So there's no clutch. So there's no excuse.

00:39:43.782 --> 00:39:49.122
One owner, 46,000 miles sitting up in a barn in Pennsylvania. Oh man.

00:39:49.582 --> 00:39:53.742
Oh yeah, man. I drove up there and snagged that thing a couple of years ago.

00:39:53.942 --> 00:39:59.522
But yeah, that's her car. She loves the Carmagea. It's a great,

00:39:59.582 --> 00:40:01.902
but what you said is so true.

00:40:02.322 --> 00:40:06.082
All the time, we're driving that thing. If we're downtown, we park it,

00:40:06.182 --> 00:40:09.162
we're getting lunch. Even though it's got, you know,

00:40:09.739 --> 00:40:13.439
labels and, and, you know, branding on it. People always say,

00:40:13.899 --> 00:40:15.279
man, what the hell is that thing?

00:40:15.859 --> 00:40:19.319
Right. And like, oh, it's a Karmagea. They're like, that's a Volkswagen.

00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:25.559
Like, yeah, it's not, you know, to us that are in the culture, we see them everywhere.

00:40:25.779 --> 00:40:29.499
It's not that big of a deal. I'm like desensitized to it, but you're right to

00:40:29.499 --> 00:40:32.319
the public. They always wonder what it is. Yeah.

00:40:32.899 --> 00:40:37.379
Yeah. Okay. All right. How about parting advice?

00:40:37.699 --> 00:40:43.279
If you have, what do you want to tell the Volkswagen community? Any parting advice?

00:40:43.699 --> 00:40:48.679
Never lose your sparkle. You know, honestly, if I were to give advice.

00:40:49.538 --> 00:40:54.338
Don't be afraid to tackle things on your own. YouTube and the Volkswagen community

00:40:54.338 --> 00:40:58.698
itself, the family that we are, you will be trained.

00:40:58.998 --> 00:41:00.938
Just take the risk.

00:41:01.298 --> 00:41:08.058
Go out there. Make it happen. I had Annie's VW on recently on the podcast,

00:41:08.058 --> 00:41:13.018
and she said something that was so awesome that I'll repeat now.

00:41:13.018 --> 00:41:19.758
Now, she said when a woman is in a shop setting and she asks a question,

00:41:19.758 --> 00:41:24.918
it doesn't mean that she wants you to take the tool from her and go show her.

00:41:25.158 --> 00:41:30.538
She just wants the guidance and wants you to guide her or whatever,

00:41:30.538 --> 00:41:35.238
but she wants to do the damn stuff herself. So she's like, stop taking the tools

00:41:35.238 --> 00:41:36.838
out of the woman's hands.

00:41:37.078 --> 00:41:40.978
I thought that was like so awesome. Yeah, I will say most of,

00:41:41.078 --> 00:41:43.218
you know, most of the people that help me with my bus, because,

00:41:43.378 --> 00:41:45.918
you know, I'm not going to pull a suspension out just by myself.

00:41:46.078 --> 00:41:50.898
I've got all the equipment raising table, but it requires extra hands from time to time.

00:41:51.018 --> 00:41:55.398
But with Farrah right now, I've got Joe over here helping me.

00:41:55.498 --> 00:42:00.938
And every time he tries to take a tool, I'm like, no, if I can do that, I want that.

00:42:01.378 --> 00:42:05.278
You might have to tell me, you might have to show me, but then my hands are

00:42:05.278 --> 00:42:09.698
going to do it so that I learn for next time. And I'm also video documenting

00:42:09.698 --> 00:42:14.578
all of this as I'm going along, because I know there will be parts of it that I'll forget, you know.

00:42:14.798 --> 00:42:19.318
And so for future reference, I will be able to go back on the tags that I have

00:42:19.318 --> 00:42:23.278
put on all my videos and immediately figure out if I'm working on a door and have an issue.

00:42:23.378 --> 00:42:26.798
If I'm working on an engine and having issues, go watch my own videos.

00:42:27.538 --> 00:42:30.258
Oh, cool. Yeah, good, good cue.

00:42:31.118 --> 00:42:35.898
Where can people find you? Just in case they don't know, which a lot of the

00:42:35.898 --> 00:42:40.558
community does know, but just in case somebody is inspired and they're listening

00:42:40.558 --> 00:42:44.698
to this podcast, they don't know who you are just yet, where can they find you and follow the journey?

00:42:45.361 --> 00:42:50.601
Hey, well, I kept it really simple, and I was actually shocked that all of these

00:42:50.601 --> 00:42:51.941
had not been taken already.

00:42:52.181 --> 00:42:57.021
But honestly, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Volkswagen Barbie.

00:42:57.541 --> 00:43:02.581
Keep it simple, straight across on all platforms. Y'all, check her out.

00:43:02.661 --> 00:43:04.681
She's so much fun. She's so animated.

00:43:05.141 --> 00:43:10.481
The mechanical knowledge, everything's there, and everything's in the videos. It's so much fun.

00:43:10.581 --> 00:43:13.841
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dove Life Diaries.

00:43:14.401 --> 00:43:17.901
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:43:17.901 --> 00:43:19.961
the people in the Dove that drive their dreams.

00:43:20.301 --> 00:43:24.781
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:43:24.781 --> 00:43:26.101
so you never miss an adventure.

00:43:26.361 --> 00:43:31.041
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the Dove life? Awesome.

00:43:31.341 --> 00:43:36.401
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:43:36.401 --> 00:43:38.161
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:43:39.021 --> 00:43:44.081
DoveLifeDiaries at gmail.com. until next time keep the engines humming and the

00:43:44.081 --> 00:43:48.681
wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you this is joe person

00:43:48.681 --> 00:43:51.741
i'm signing off i'll catch you on the next ride.