That Chevy-powered Beetle is very cool, Jean...thanks for the link...my lifelong fantasy has been to install twin Harleys side-by-side in a similarly constructed Bug...I keep thinking I'm going to Photoshop one together one of these days. Well, I've been driving it daily (except Tuesday when I went to Galveston all day) and it's been good. Very good, actually. Other drivers react to it...it gets a lot of looks. Whereas at one time I remember there being millions of them everywhere like Toyotas are now, but since the day I bought it I haven't seen any air-cooled Beetles on the road except mine. It feels a lot like a riding mower. It's a different kind of rock n' roll. But it's good. The only time I really get hot is when I sit in traffic with no wind and the sun beating down on everybody, other than that it's a cool ride. Some drivers angrily honk at me to get out of the way, ride my bumper (I'm going the speed limit, for Chrissakes!) and zip around me like I'm in their way...and they're driving recklessly just to pass me...others give a slight pleasant nod and give me the right-of-way...it's the guys in trucks and hopped-up imports that give it a straight-on look. One dude at a tire shop (I took it to Joe Tires to have the air pressure done and the tech that worked there flipped over it..."AIR COOLED, DUDE! AIR COOLED!" Pee Wee loved it. His '56 BelAir is in the shop getting a high-performance motor upgrade and a new paint job...he was all over the Bug when he saw it and he asked me if he could borrow it some time, I said sure. I think he's got a buddy he wants to drop in on with it and blow the guy's mind. Debby loves it, too...she had fun riding in it with me last weekend, and I'll be taking her out more often when we're both available. She wholeheartedly approved of the entire deal. Of course, with the money we saved, she's purchased new toilets and is making plans for our bathroom to be converted into a shower-only deal, but that's OK with me. I have a few things I'll get, too...I can actually leave this car like it is and drive it well into the forseeable future. It's got all-new running stuff...but I want some cosmetic stuff for it. I have to put some carpet in the back area behind the seat. It's ugly back there and it's also LOUD...the front trunk is a rat's nest and must be dealt with. I need a new driver's side visor and clip. I want a decent sound system in it, the one that's in it doesn't work. New battery, maybe a new generator. Polish out the surface rust on some of the after-market chrome pieces, get some Wolfsburg caps for the mags, maybe even lower the front end a little...There are a few things, like I say, but not a whole lot...now, the names are great! I really like Elvira, unfortunately there's a guy in the band named Sylvester...he plays bass trombone...and he's killer...The band guys are Loren, John, Jeff, Ron, Pee Wee, Clem, Sylvester, Dale and Ricky...Wally keeps coming back in honor of the great one, as well as my friend here on the list...but Elvira, that's a cool name...I remember all these VWs we had through the years...Big Fella, Henry Mae, Olive, Max (short for Maximilian Von Bockelwagen), Adolph, Tyrone, Brutus, Smockel B. Jones, Sweet Pea, now this. I also thought of naming it St. Agatha. I'm still thinking. Thanks, WC1
Here's some VW pictures I made a long time ago...
Me and Olive, at a Love-In at Milby Park, 1969
A cloud I saw one morning while driving to Galveston
A vintage bug I did as practice while learning a drawing program called Macromedia FreeHand...I heard Adobe bought 'em out...cool...Adobe Illustrator is the ultimate for drawing but FreeHand had some user-friendly features that the Adobe guys could learn from...Cat
