My grandparents made their careers in buying and selling cars.  Their car lot gave my dad the opportunity to drive a wide variety of different makes and models although my dad was primarily a GM guy since a couple of his brothers worked at the plant.  My mom was swept up in the VW craze and purchased her 58 beetle from my grandparents and has been a  Volkswagen driver ever since.

 

 As a kid, I distinctly remember cruising around in my mom’s 78

  beetle and all of the quirks that came with it.  Scraping the

   inside of the windows while she drove, limited heat, looking for

    parking spots where the engine would get direct sun, and

     riding behind the back seat.  I was hooked.

      When it came time to buy my first car, I immediately

       gravitated to a VW of my own.  For practicality, I started with

        an A1 convertible Rabbit which I drove across country then down to Mexico and back.  I finally sold the car with over 300,000 kms on it.  Once I had a reliable daily driver, I was able to start shopping for a Beetle of my own to play with.  This was pre-Internet so options were limited to rumours and word of mouth.  These searches uncovered a lot of rot boxes which I dragged home and dissected to learn the ins and outs of these little cars.  Eventually, I found a solid candidate for restoration.  A two owner 71 which had been imported in the mid 80’s.  It was a neglected car but complete, running, and very solid.  It didn’t take me long to tear it down to begin the restoration.  The result was a mild custom which I still own to this day.

Around the same time that I bought my Beetle, I took a job building and repairing boats which introduced me to finishing and paint work.  As a result, my Rabbit wore a few different paint jobs while I cut my teeth and strengthened techniques.  My OCD seemed to suit the paint process and pushes me to put in the time and effort required to produce an end result that I can be proud of.

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The devil is in the detail.