This online journal began as a way to share our VW experiences with our family, friends, and other Volkswagen enthusiasts. Here you will find our VW travels, our mechanical failures and triumphs, and other VW tales of interest.
Mitch writes in blue.
Melissa writes in red.
Posts written together are black.
About us
We have a VW. We love it.
We try to go camping as much as possible.
This is what our faces look like:
Melissa's first VW was Ludwig, and Gertrude is her second.
Ludwig and Gertie are Mitch's sixth and seventh VWs, respectively.
Prior VWs in Mitch's possession:
1973 Type III Fastback "Gretchen" (d. 1991, contact w/ 1990 Chrysler)
1970 Type III Squareback "Anne" (d. 1996, engine)
1967 Type III Squareback "Frieda" (d. 1997, contact w/ wildlife)
1971 Beetle (Type I) "Margaret" (d. 2000, engine)
1984 Rabbit "Loretta" (d. 2002, driveshaft/last straw)
FAQs & other snide remarks (these aren't made up, real people have said these things)
Q: Those old VWs are so unsafe. Aren't you worried you'll get killed?
A: No. Any car in unsafe when driven by an idiot. Despite the popular conception, a car's engine isn't what protects you in an front-end collision (and most collisions aren't head-on anyway), the structure of the vehicle itself does.
(click for larger image)
Unfortunately, more and more features on newer cars are turning drivers into little more than ballast. Old VWs, like ours, come from an age when cars were made to be driven. The most important piece of safety equipment in a car is the driver.
Q: Ew, old VWs are so loud and slow.
A: First, the mere presence of "noise" isn't indicative of poor performance. Second, our VW is for recreational purposes, not for racing. Ludwig will zip happily down the road at 70mph, thank you very much.
Q: You have an old VW bus? Oh, then you must be hippies.
A: Um, not at all actually. If you know us and think we're hippies, then you clearly have never met a real hippie. We don't hate hippies or anything, we just aren't hippies by any stretch of the imagination.
Q: Don't you know your Volkswagen is just a car?
A: The most polite response we can manage is a quote from Wide Eyed Wanderers:
"To a longtime VW owner their bus is much more than simply a means of transportation. Volkswagens, especially the older ones, have such individual personalities that they seem to take on human characteristics. They are not mere cars or practical machines designed to move people, but are treated like a member of the family."
A: No. Any car in unsafe when driven by an idiot. Despite the popular conception, a car's engine isn't what protects you in an front-end collision (and most collisions aren't head-on anyway), the structure of the vehicle itself does.
(click for larger image)
Unfortunately, more and more features on newer cars are turning drivers into little more than ballast. Old VWs, like ours, come from an age when cars were made to be driven. The most important piece of safety equipment in a car is the driver.
Q: Ew, old VWs are so loud and slow.
A: First, the mere presence of "noise" isn't indicative of poor performance. Second, our VW is for recreational purposes, not for racing. Ludwig will zip happily down the road at 70mph, thank you very much.
Q: You have an old VW bus? Oh, then you must be hippies.
A: Um, not at all actually. If you know us and think we're hippies, then you clearly have never met a real hippie. We don't hate hippies or anything, we just aren't hippies by any stretch of the imagination.
Q: Don't you know your Volkswagen is just a car?
A: The most polite response we can manage is a quote from Wide Eyed Wanderers:
"To a longtime VW owner their bus is much more than simply a means of transportation. Volkswagens, especially the older ones, have such individual personalities that they seem to take on human characteristics. They are not mere cars or practical machines designed to move people, but are treated like a member of the family."
Contact us
Questions? Comments? Tell us what you think. Email us!
ludwig74 at gmail dot com
