It’s never going to work… I’m not really into cars
Gill Cave 1990
by Gill Cave
That was what I told my housemates when I got back from the first VW show that Paul had taken me to. We had known each other for a few months and although I thought his rough and ready-looking 1965 Split Window Bus was a bit quirky and fun, I had not the slightest concept of how classic VWs have a tendency to completely take over your life once you let them in. No-one in my immediate family considered a car anything but a device for transporting you from A to B and back again. They were a functional necessity and nothing more.
And I have to admit that my first experience of a VW show didn’t overly inspire me to think they’d become an integral part of my life, or even just an integral part of some weekends – hence my review of our first VW-related “date” was not exactly optimistic for the longevity of our relationship. You see it had been a bitterly cold Sunday in March and there’d been a VW event not far from my parents’ house. Paul’s Bus needed bumpers, hard to find even then, and so we were at the showground almost as soon as the gates opened hoping to come across one, if not a pair, amongst all the auto-jumble stands. It’s a long time ago now but I seem to remember we managed to pick up a front bumper that day but no luck with a rear. Part of the reason that I don’t clearly recall was that the icy chill of the spring wind blowing like it had come straight from the arctic, and occasional drizzle falling onto the open hilltop location had penetrated my eyes, ears, nose, hands and every other part of me until I was frozen right through. And despite a flask of hot coffee, hypothermia had started to set in before lunchtime.
Of course we weren’t there just for the auto-jumble. We also walked up and down the lines of show cars, Paul explaining about some of the differences between the various models and years of Volkswagens on display, with his usual appreciation and enthusiasm for all types; but at that stage all I really noticed was the variety of bright paint colours and various stages of repair or perhaps disrepair that cars were in. By the end of the day though, I could confidently identify a Split Screen and a Bay Window and I knew the upright headlight Beetles weren’t as old as the sloping headlight versions – c’mon give me a break it was very early days for me!! The fully restored vehicles with super shiny paintwork and coveted original accessories were clearly the stars of the day, but I have to admit that at the time I just didn’t really get the appeal of spending a whole day in a field full of VWs and VW parts getting cold and wet. You see, we had to hang around right until the very end of the day to see what last minute bargains might be had in the auto-jumble. We were both students at the time and so funds were precious and had to be spent very wisely, hence end-of-day bargains were worth waiting for.
Obviously the experience wasn’t so bad that it did indeed put an end to it all, despite my initial prediction.
We are now an old married couple with many VWs under our belts; I guess some of the summer shows we went to that year where the sun shone and encouraged you to linger and chat and make friends, where the entertainment at weekend events brought out even more of the social side of VW life, changed my perception of spending a day or two at a “car show”. I began to see the inherent beauty and/or quirkiness in many of the shapes of the classic VWs and admire the dedication and commitment of their owners. For me it’s not the mechanics of these cars that make them so special. It’s their automotive history and the stories that they have collected as they have travelled the roads; the people they have shared those miles with and have changed the lives of. It seems everyone who has ever been driven in or owned an old Volkswagen remembers the experience – whether it be good, bad or ugly. And that’s what makes Volkswagens so much more than just a car, wouldn’t you agree?
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