by Chris Wilburn
Blu’s story begins after I sold Tina (my 1971 Westfalia). As much as I really loved Tina I had just finished getting Marshmelo (my 1972 Westy) on the road. Having two Buses seemed a bit of overkill and, when a guy approached my club at a car show in Tennessee asking about buying a Bus the time seemed right. A short while after the show he and his wife came up to look at it, and the deal was done. Tina was off to a new home. It was at this same car show that I had first seen Blu, and there was a bit of an attraction there already (OK, I admit it, it was straight on lust).
Armed with a stack of money, I should have put it away but I did what any of us would have, I started the hunt for a new car and I’d really liked the look of the Brasilia. There was actually a yellow one for sale at that time, located in California, but attempts to contact the owner were unsuccessful. I’m glad they were now. I also saw Blu for sale on a couple sites, and after a bunch of back and forth with her owner (a very nice guy who actually imported her from Brazil), I was on my way, trailer attached, to Georgia. The car was as sweet as I remembered from the show, and it drove just as well.
Once home I put adjusters on the stock beam, and replaced all the torsion bars that had previously been removed, setting the nose to a better stance. While re-indexing the rear she slipped off the jack, causing some damage to the driver’s rear quarter panel that still hasn’t been properly fixed. It’s a bad feeling when you break your new toy before you even get to play with it. I added the polished Sprint Stars (one of the few four-lug wheels I actually like) and other than a bunch of stickers, that’s about all I had to do.
The car has been driven to shows everywhere from Tennessee to Ohio, and in 2018 my son and I loaded Blu onto the trailer for the ride out to California. We spent 11 days out there, and Blu took us to everything from Pierside Parts open house (they had some great free tacos) to Bug In 50, to some local cruise nights, and even the big daddy, El Prado (where Blu took home an award despite being loaded full of souvenirs).
And to top off a great year it ended with Blu being featured in VolksAmerica, which is how I’ve come to be more involved with the magazine. Get issue 11 and read the full feature and see lots more photos https://volksamerica.com/issues/product/volksamerica-11-deluxe-vw-magazine/.
Blu is showing some use, but I don’t care. I love driving her. She feels different to any other VW I’ve owned. She’s wider than a Beetle, more open than a Ghia, and not as heavy as the feeling of a Type 3. A Brasilia is a weird little car, one without provisions for heat and a mix of old and new tech. It’s a ’76 with a swing axle. It has a single master but disc brakes. It’s weird and mixed up and full of VW, just like me.
Chris Wilburn
Photo credit: Patrick Glanz
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