im in this to the end.... sort of

1212 Views 15 Replies 6 Participants Last post by TechnoTrix'd, May 24, 2015

007

Discussion Starter · May 12, 2015

2

hi.

im jd. i had the fastest bug in texas, third in the us. by dyno sheet of course in 2008. while getting 398whp to my bug i wanted more. i needed more. so i went to motorcycles. wheelies at 100+ and lots of fun, sure my luck ran out one night and i was hospitalized.

since i have gone back to my home, what made me happy. but yet i craved more still. i own an R32 now and wow its fun. i can never replace the memories ive had with beetle folks. i now have a stage 2 beetle and its "fun" i dont experience the rush i once had in my 400hp beetle. im now older and it isnt the same. i guess im saying..... its the people that make the experiences.. look at marvins_dad. my idol in some ways, and a best friend in others. he has the slowest bug, but has more memories that i couldnt replicate if i tried with the beetle community.

my R32 is fun no doubt. but the roswell experience i am going to have in a month will surpass anything i have done with the VW community ever in my life. sure i got airbags and i have a turbo-s. i want to meet the guy who has roll up windows and no A/C. i want to meet the guy who has put $0 in their bug and is is here for the moment. to have a bug and enjoy the VW experience.. i hope to meet everyone who bleeds blue, like i do. VW. its my life and my soul.. and thats why i am a service advisor at a dealership. hope to meet you one day.

-jd

hope u like my babies.

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billymade

· #2 · May 12, 2015

Hey, both of your cars look great; the R32 looks like a nice upgrade. Roswell should be interesting; maybe we all can put some faces, to usernames, we see all the time on the .org!

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Chuckie

· #3 · May 12, 2015

Memories....

Had a burger and a beer with Antoine and JD in Dallas many moons ago. Huey and Dewy they are for sure! What a great time we had (at least I did) Will never forget the big gal in the semi parked in the parking lot trying to get me to go for a "ride" with her!

It's the people who make this obsession what it is. I can't wait to see these two again in Roswell. It will be one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Chuckie

Pushing Fifty

· #4 · May 12, 2015

007 said:
.... but the roswell experience i am going to have in a month will surpass anything i have done with the VW community ever in my life. sure i got airbags and i have a turbo-s. i want to meet the guy who has roll up windows and no A/C. i want to meet the guy who has put $0 in their bug and is is here for the moment. to have a bug and enjoy the VW experience.. i hope to meet everyone who bleeds blue, like i do. VW. its my life and my soul.. and thats why i am a service advisor at a dealership. hope to meet you one day.

-jd

This says it all right here. There aren't as many of us as there used to be, and in fact I was late to the party myself as I didn't get a NB until 2009, but once you meet a cross-section of this awesome community at an event such as Roswell, you'll see what true enthusiasm for a car is all about.

007

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 14, 2015

im really hoping more people will come out. i wanted to do SOWO again last year, but after the heckling i got for being a (straight) male driving a bug i decided against going back. but when all my buddies are poking me, and saying, "take the R32" i wanted to go.

im going like i said to make memories of something i may never do again. i cant be cool and do SOWO and TOD. I cant do SOWO and Roswell. i have to pick and choose.

im just asking to make the best out of this event and come if you can. i wont even streak by the campfire like ive been known to do. promise.

-jd

007

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 14, 2015

Chuckie said:
I can't wait to see these two again in Roswell. It will be one of the highlights of the whole trip.

Chuckie

ok, i guess am streaking by the campfire...

-jd

Chuckie

· #7 · May 14, 2015

Streaking by the Capfire?

Oh Cool! I will bring my tabasco sauce filled squirt gun for that!

Hot time in the alien city tonight! Can't wait to see all my out west friends again!

Chuckie

billymade

· #8 · May 14, 2015 (Edited)

It's interesting; how the air cooled Beetle, in the past didn't seem to get the same "heckling" reaction, at "Bug In" shows I went to in California years ago. The Beetle is what started it all and was the the original Volkswagen car, to begin with and was the primary emphases at these shows (buses, square backs, Ghias, to a lesser degree). It seems strange, how the New Beetle brings out this strong type of reaction in people; one thing is for sure, it has a very polarizing effect on people! You "HAVE" to love or hate it? The heckling; makes me wonder about the nature of the people going to these Sowo shows; from all the previous years coverage, I have heard about the drunken antics and out of control behavior, the locals have to contend with... It seems some, were ruining the shows atmosphere? What say you; give us more detail as on your experience. Maybe it is a reflection; on where we are at in the USA culture in general? I for one; would never heckle anyone, at a custom car show; no matter what is being shown, I always appreciate, the amount of time and effort people, put into their cars... even if they are not to my taste or preference. Although, I will say; I have gotten some negative reaction to my perceived personality traits because I chose to drive a New Beetle every day ( at a former job I had). I have driven and owned air cooled and water cooled Beetles; it is the only type of car, I have owned! Needless to say; I have a long term love affair with these quirky, crazy little German cars!

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Pushing Fifty

· #9 · May 14, 2015

I've found that the water-cooled Beetle crowd of enthusiasts are literally a 3rd faction of the entire VW realm. To this day, I still can't fully comprehend why the New Beetle's initial fanfare wore off in what, just 3 years or so? I would have thought that virtually every single person that grew up in the old Type 1's would have welcomed this car and never looked back. Instead, many still don't consider our cars to be "real" Beetles and choose to remain stuck in about 1967.

I admittedly don't know much about the non-Beetle water-cooled crowd, but I do know enough to realize I don't fit in it at all. Most are young and into tuning and modding their cars to the point where many are unrecognizable as Volkswagens. The fact that many shun modern Beetles is enough for me to stay away.

With the exception of so few people that I wouldn't even be able to count on one hand, water-cooled Beetle people are an eclectic bunch and yet a close-knit family all rolled into one. It doesn't matter how old you are, or how much (or little, if at all) you modify your ride. We are by far the best group of the three, and this reason is by far the biggest as to why I was freaking out so much a couple of months ago when those rumors of the Beetle being discontinued surfaced. I am eternally grateful that they proved to be false.

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TechnoTrix'd

· #10 · May 22, 2015

Never understood it either Billy, but our NB's were bagged and tagged right out of the gate.

Having said that, 15 years later, Pepe is still my daily, I still attend VW events and thoroughly enjoy the fellow NB owners I have meet thought the years.

I DO NOT attend major shows like Waterfest, H2O, SoWo, etc for the very reasons JD mentioned above.

But, I do enjoy air/water cooled events, and seem to find calm waters when I go.

Basically, with that crowd, if your into cars, can speak the lingo, and can show them your passion for your own car, in general, they buy in and do not hate on you.

Rough road sometimes, but that's what makes it interesting. :wink:

Pushing Fifty

· #11 · May 22, 2015 (Edited)

I too will never go to something like SOWO or H2O. I went to an all-water show once a couple of years back and just didn't fit in at all, and in fact I had the only NB there among 250 cars, and that was before I became aware of the individuals at those big shows that ruin it for everyone.

I will gladly go to all-VW shows as long as they have a class for water Beetles. I don't expect a trophy, but knowing that someone in a NB/12+ will get one for their model of Volkswagen is satisfying enough. Shows that employ the "Top 10" or "Top 25 cars" without individualized classes are simply too lopsided. In fact, if I were running an all-VW show, there would be at least 3 classes for our cars alone: 98-05, 06-10, and 12+.

By far, though, my favorite events are those for NB/12+ only.

scarabY2k

· #12 · May 23, 2015 (Edited)

I hear ya Pat.
There was a Volkswagens on the beach show, years back that welcomed all VW's. I had the pleasure of attending/entering in 2 of them. And sure as grits are groceries, they had lumped all the new beetles in one class. I blame it on air-cooleds now engrossed in water beetle knowledge you or I. At any rate, it was all good and it was a good show. Folk were very kind to all class of VW. There was a smattering of the VWtune-punks sneering at VW's that didn't fit their Stepford mold.

I'll continue to go to your casual bug-in show and enjoy the cars and ambiance of the event. But I'm overly thrilled for all-beetle events such as Roswell, TOD, TSD, Back of the Dragon and the like. With as Rob said, the out of the gate, bagged and tagged, new beetle distain, it's cool to have a gathering where we can appreciate a bone-stock GL beetle with roll up windows. BTW, Wilson, Kat's former GL is still one of my favorite beetles

Pushing Fifty

· #13 · May 23, 2015

What's funny is something that happened to me just once, and it was at a very good all-VW show put on by the Minneapolis club.

It was 2009, and the only period of a month or so that I didn't own a Beetle, old or new. I sold my 1969 Beetle to another guy in my soon-to-be defunct club after destroying the clutch and 3rd gear....

I was in the market for a good pre-owned NB, but hadn't bought one yet, so I showed up at the registration booth in a bone-stock 2007 Passat. The guy promptly told me, "This entrance is for show cars only. You need to park in the spectator lot."

I pleaded my case that it was a Volkswagen, and he let me in, but if I had had a bone stock NB, which I have had ever since a week or two after that, they don't question me!

scarabY2k

· #14 · May 24, 2015

That is funny Pat. Now n if your Passat were slammed to the ground, and a hearty exhaust, they would've let you right in :lol:

007

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 24, 2015

bags and wheels win shows!

-jd

TechnoTrix'd

· #16 · May 24, 2015

Pat, crazy world my friend, buy I am very glad you found our group and that I had a chance to meet you at TOD. Hope your Roswell trip is amazing bud, make sure to post up tons of pics sir!!

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