Thursday, October 21, 2010

Bringing a future VW driver into the world...


I've been keeping this blog up for about 3 years now with barely a break. With the upcoming birth of our first child (who will not have a VW-related name), I will be taking a short break from the blog to enjoy dirty diapers rather than dirty engines.

Stay tuned. I expect to have this bus back on the road in a few weeks...

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The history of our 1956 VW bug (as we figure it out)


Here's what I know about the new bug. I'll update this as I find out more details.

The bug was 1 of 333,190 built in Germany for model year 1956. It was actually built on November 22 of 1955 - making in 55 years old as I post this. 50,437 bugs were registered in the United States for model year 1956.





In 1968, it was sold to Frank Barker in Napa California. Frank's daughter, Diana, drove the bug until the early 70s. It seems like the last time it was registered with the DMV was 1973. An un-returned 1974 registration was found in the car:


Frank parked the car outside for a few years, but then moved it into the garage to "fix the transmission". He put the bug up on 2 pieces of wood, cut the body in the back to remove the engine and pulled the transmission out. Apparently, this is where he stopped. Sometime in the mid-70s.

Frank passed in 2002, leaving the project unfinished.

Here's how it looked in 2010 when I bought it:




The engine and chassis numbers don't seem to match up from the research I have done so far:

Chassis # 1-1026474
Engine # 2,322,092 (seems to be from 1958)
Color: exterior: L 315 jungle green
Upholstery - leatherette: 73 dark green


Oh, and apparently the bug took Frank to the golf course a few times. I found this in the glovebox:



  

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Vintage Tuesday! European scene.

European scene.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Bug toy for the new baby...

The people who recently purchased our 1953 Aljoa trailer gave our soon to come child a gift. This cool wooden VW bug toy. Oddly, this marks the first (of many, I'm sure) VW bug toy for the little one. For those of you who follow this, we are due in about 3 weeks!




Sunday, October 17, 2010

From the Static Files: wrecked split

Sunday, October 10, 2010

From the Static Files: Vintage Beach Camping

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Drive by shootings #14 - Hipstamatic Edition

It seems to be all the rage now - the Hipstamatic app on the iPhone - but I still dig the pictures. Here are a bunch from my phone or EP's phone that were taken over the last few months...












Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Vintage Tuesday! Hey ladies!

Hey ladies!

Monday, October 4, 2010

VW Vanagon Model

This thing cost me $3 at Bus Fest 6 a while back. It only has 3 wheels, so I'm on the hunt for a 4th (or a whole new set of spinners?). It's pretty cool that it comes with the top popped. I wish there was a bay window model...






Sunday, October 3, 2010

Hall of Shame: July VW Trends Swimsuit issue, again...

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