Behind the Barn Finds: Randy Carlson’s Craziest VW Discoveries Ep8

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Music.

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Dub Life Diaries, the podcast where passion meets the open road.

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I'm Joe Person, your host, and also a lifelong dubber.

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Buckle up, because this ride is just beginning.

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This podcast is sponsored by Volksmania Magazine. Good times,

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great cars, awesome Volksmaniacs.

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Visit volksmania.com to learn more about this class-leading VW magazine.

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All right, ladies and gentlemen, Volkswagen fanatics, air-cooled addicts,

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and lovers of all things classic, welcome back to another episode of Dub Life

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Diaries, where we dive deep into the stories behind the people shaping the Volkswagen world.

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Today, I've got an absolute legend in the house. I'm so excited for this one.

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If you've ever fallen down the rabbit hole of rare, of weird,

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of one-of-a-kind Volkswagens, If you've ever searched for that dream car,

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that impossible find, you'll probably know the name Randy Carlson.

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Randy's the supermind behind OldBug.com, the ultimate online hub for classic VW enthusiasts.

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He also has a very successful YouTube page called Carkeology,

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about 15,000 subscribers or so.

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This man doesn't just find rare Volkswagens, he uncovers history.

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He's an appraiser. He's an automotive TV show host.

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His accolades and magazine features just continue to grow and grow.

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You've seen him on And hold your breath Because this is a whole bunch Discovery

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Channel Sticker Shock Jay Leno's Garage Barn Find Hunter The Bug Movie He's

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also played parts in Lords of the Car Hordes Rusted Development Monster Garage

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Herbie Fully Loaded Man,

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I could probably continue to go on But I'll stop here Here's the thing though

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Randy isn't just a collector He's a master storyteller Every car has a pass

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And he's the guy who digs it up Dusts it off And brings it back to life And today,

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we're going to dive headfirst into some of these stories,

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some you've heard, hopefully some that'll blow your mind.

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So grab your favorite cold boy. Let's hit the road.

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Randy Carlson, welcome to the show.

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Hey, thanks so much for having me. That's a hell of an intro.

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Yeah, man. Hey. Doesn't seem real, but I guess I've done some stuff.

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Yeah, that's so awesome, man. So look, I want to, I'm very respectful of your

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time. I want to jump right into it. So I got to ask you right up front,

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what got you into Volkswagens?

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Well, VWs were cheap and easy, you know,

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in, in the eighties, I graduated high school in 84 and in our group of my group

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of buddies and stuff, the first guy to get his license was my friend, Nick, who had a bug.

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So I kind of drove around in that with him and, you know, high school auto shop,

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guys were building VWs and, and it just seemed like an easy thing to get started with.

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And and it and i did and it

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just never freaking stopped what what was like maybe your

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first real vw memory oh gosh

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first vw memory that's maybe maybe a

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little tough i i mean certainly riding around

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in my friend nick's 68 auto stick bug

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hey cool there were some we had

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some really wacky times with that and you

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know thrashed that car horribly and and you

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know painted it in his driveway and fixed it

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up did crazy stuff to it but you know that was maybe

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kind of the first vw memory my my dad

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was a car guy so i grew up around a whole bunch of

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different collector cars and things but he didn't.

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Have a vw but he did have a 356 porsche

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which was that he had traded a vw in on

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before i was born but i don't

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know it was just they were cheap and easy and everywhere and

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there was obviously a scene going

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on and and it was a fun thing to get into and be

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a part of yeah so obviously today right

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the scene is is nuts it you know it's it's much

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larger but when you first got into it back then was it you know

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was it a different vibe than it is today well everything

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was a different vibe in the 80s certainly you know it was

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all day glow and big hair and and you

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know kind of a different thing i mean the cow look scene and

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the bright colors of what was happening then you

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know is a bit different than now and you see a

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resurgence in that look too which is

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kind of cool yeah but you know it it was as exciting then as it is now i maybe

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even and a little more so just because I was young and getting into the whole

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scene and everything was new and everything was super rad. And it was just fun.

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Yeah. So I, I just got to share with you because you said the word auto stick,

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that was my first beetle.

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I had a 72 standard beetle and it was an auto clutch auto stick.

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And, uh, back then 96, it was tough to find parts for, you know,

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that little vacuum solenoid deal.

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And, and I ended up putting a four speed in it way back then.

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Not me. I had to pay somebody to do it, but did just a cool memory because that

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was my first, first, first core memory of, of Volkswagens for me was,

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learning how to drive that thing and pushing it down the road and always thinking to myself,

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man, this thing actually does a lot better than I ever thought it would.

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I think that's VWs in general. They do do things that other cars don't do.

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I had other friends that had big lifted Chevy trucks and things like that.

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They'd go out and get caught in the mud and then Nick would show up with his

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bug and drive circles around him.

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It was I don't know. They're just, they're really, really approachable and really fun little creatures.

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And the more you get to know them, the more you kind of get hooked.

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Yeah, I totally agree with you. So let's cover a couple of the websites.

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You've got oldbug.com, carcheology.com and californiacar.com.

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What's the spark behind these websites?

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Oh gosh let's see the the quick

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story of old bug kind of goes back

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to late 90s so when volkswagen

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introduced the new beetle and brought that out into the world i started up a

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company selling accessories and hop-up parts and stuff for those cars and so

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i was looking for a domain name for that and I found newbug.com and then always being an old VW guy,

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just kind of search oldbug.com and it was available.

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And so I bought the domain and I just put up a picture of a split window bug that I had at the time.

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And that was it. And I just thought it was kind of funny if somebody went to

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oldbug.com, there's a picture of an old bug, you know.

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And then I had an oval window bug that I wanted to sell.

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And I thought, you know what, I'm going to post up some pictures of it on old

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bug and just see what happens, you know.

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So I made a little ad for this project, oval window, and posted it up.

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And like a week later, I get a phone call and somebody bought it.

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I went, hmm this is kind of interesting so then

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i started hitting up friends and i'm like you know

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if somebody had something for sale i thought i'd you know throw it

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up there give it a try and it just kind

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of built from there so it became a good platform to to market my own stuff as

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well as everybody else's and you know i've been running that site since 99 now

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so that's a long time i I love the press page on, on that site.

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I think at one point when I looked at it, I thought I saw a hall of fame or

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something somewhere in my thoughts, but that's basically what it is because,

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you know, it's buried down there at the bottom, but once you uncover it,

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it's like, oh, that's who Randy is. Okay.

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I mean, it's so weird. I started putting that together because I,

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I was having a hard time keeping track of everything.

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And it's like, you know, I'll build something and it'll get in a magazine and

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that's cool. And then the magazine goes into the stack.

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But I, you know, I don't know. I just, I started putting it all together in that page.

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And when I did that and started adding it on, it kind of scared me.

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It was like, holy crap, I've done a lot of stuff.

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I'm always looking forward, not necessarily looking back.

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But to do that and lay that all out there and kind of see where I've been and

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what I've done, And it's, I mean, it almost like doesn't seem real.

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It's like, how did that much time go by and, and how did that happen?

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But, but it's been such a fun run. I mean, I've had a blast.

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Every single one of these cars

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has been a great adventure and the people that I met along the way and,

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You know, that's the whole reason I'm doing this, this podcast is because of

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what that last statement you made, the people along the way,

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you know, that's what I feel like needs to be celebrated inside of this Volkswagen

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community because there is, there's, there's, there's awesome folks out there

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that, that have great stories to tell.

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So what's the background behind carkeology?

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Archaeology i don't know i i love cars right

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and i love the history of cars and i love to

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dig old dusty things out of barns and

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stuff i when i i look at one point i kind of looked at my life and i went okay

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what is it that i do that just really turns me on and and it's that it's seeing

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this this bit of history on wheels that's sitting in a garage somewhere that

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really needs to be out in the world.

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And so I started sharing those stories and pulling these things out.

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And a friend of mine used the term carcheology. It's like you're digging up

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this history and bringing it out.

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And it's like, you know what, that's solid. Can I use that? And he's like, oh yeah.

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So I did the trademark on the name and just kind of started pushing that out

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there, not really knowing where it was going to go.

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I still don't even know where it's going to go, But it really kind of encapsulates

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and describes what I love to do.

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You know, I love to find the car. I love to study it, learn the history,

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the people that are behind it and have been involved with it,

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and then share that story with the world.

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And, you know, much like archaeology digging artifacts out of the dirt,

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it's the same thing. It's just these artifacts, you know, four wheels.

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Yeah. So let's talk about that real quick. Let's dive in. what's like the rarest

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maybe Volkswagen that you've ever unearthed or discovered?

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Where was it hiding? How'd you even manage to get your hands on it?

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Oh gosh. I mean, there's been, been a lot, but the, the stuff that,

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that I've always really been into is, is the freakiest stuff.

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You know, for many years, I sponsored this freak show display at the VW classic events and things.

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And, and I, I found that you can get more attention with something that was

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really wacky, even if it was a pile

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of trap than you can with doing a real traditional build on something.

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So I've always focused on that weird stuff. And as a result,

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when people see weird VWs, they often contact me and say, hey,

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check this out. Would you be interested in that?

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So it's been kind of a cool thing. So like recently in the past couple of years, I had a,

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call from a guy back in Chicago area and he had a Volkswagen single cab that

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had been turned into a fire truck.

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For use at an amusement park and this

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guy actually ended up he had went to look at it

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it was for sale he couldn't quite make the

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deal he contacted me because he knew i was

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into crazy vw's and then turns out

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i ended up buying two of them a match pair

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from this guy this collector in in chicago

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and brought them out to california and

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one of them i sold to a buddy mine robert skinner

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from skinner classics yeah is just

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a great vw nut and a big helper of

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the whole vw scene so he was

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a perfect home for one of them and i took the other and when

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he we went out together to pick the things up

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and bring them back and it was just a great adventure

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we did a really nice photo shoot for the magazines and stuff

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with it and and these things were just totally

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totally insane time capsule all original trucks

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that were just weird as hell but

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just super super fun it's like the ultimate

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dream find really you know well and the crazy part it's not like i was looking

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for that it was just a random you know email hey i know you're into crazy stuff

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would you be interested and and that's been really really wacky in recent years

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it's like now that i've been doing this long enough,

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and I've been out there enough that people know where to find me,

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it's almost like I don't even need to hunt.

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The stuff just kind of hits me. You know, people always ask me,

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how do you find this stuff? I said, well, somebody told me about it.

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They tip you off. Yeah, definitely. I mean, some stuff, though,

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I've come across some really interesting cars that you just see something,

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you get a little vibe that it might be something special, and then you go with it.

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There was a Beetle that I found for sale on the Samba website that was...

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It was a 66 Beetle sedan, nothing real special at first look,

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but it had a little bronze plate that was behind the spare tire there that said Emden 100,000.

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And I went, hmm, what's up with that? So I started doing a little research.

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Emden was the secondary plant that Volkswagen put together in Germany to keep

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up with Beetle production for the US.

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And after contacting the people at

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volkswagen i get this picture of this car

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coming off the assembly line at the emden

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plant with the whole workers all around it

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a big bouquet of flowers on the hood and i'm

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like whoa wait a second so that

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car ended up being a real special find even though at first

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glance it was just a faded old bug but it

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ended up being a very very special one that ended up

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going back to emden's 50th anniversary

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event which was really cool too so and and now it's back here in the u.s and

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a collection in the pacific northwest i think but amazing what a cool story

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tell me about the craziest barn find whether it be volkswagen or not like one

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that just absolutely blew your mind.

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Gosh, I mean, there's been a couple of really, really insane ones.

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Probably the coolest one from a personal experience point of view was some years

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ago, I had a Tempo Matador truck for sale on oldbug.com.

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And the Tempo Matador, the first ones of those used Volkswagen Power.

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And then eventually, Volkswagen kind of cut off Tempo from selling them engines

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because they had come out with their own truck.

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And they didn't want the competition anyway sure

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there's not a whole lot of these tempo matador trucks

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out there but i received a

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call from somebody that was back east and they said they have a tempo matador

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but it's a camper and you know would i be interested in it and i said of course

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i'd be interested so as the story went on and the guy started to reveal more

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about it This thing ended up being a coach-built, one-off,

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total high-end, crazy, bespoke camper that was built for members of the Vanderbilt

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family on the East Coast so that they could tour Europe.

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So it ended up just being this really insane thing.

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I said, yeah, I'm absolutely interested in it.

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I threw everything I had at it. I said, I'll offer you this much for it because it's all I had.

00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:26.599
And they said, okay. And I ended up going back to Newport, Rhode Island,

00:16:26.599 --> 00:16:29.239
where the Breakers Mansion is.

00:16:30.319 --> 00:16:33.399
There, it's that side of the Vanderbilt family there.

00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:39.259
They had this camper stored in their country house, which was in Pound Ridge,

00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:42.179
New York, in a custom garage that was built for it.

00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.059
And then a friend of mine, Volkswagen dealer back in Connecticut there,

00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:50.039
Gene Langan, helped me get it out of there, get it back to his shop.

00:16:50.139 --> 00:16:52.279
So we get it up on wheels to roll it out.

00:16:53.136 --> 00:16:56.636
Get it shipped out here to california and i

00:16:56.636 --> 00:16:59.856
mean it was a really really special vehicle but

00:16:59.856 --> 00:17:02.676
the most interesting thing to me was how it

00:17:02.676 --> 00:17:05.896
opened up this whole story of the history of the vanderbilt family

00:17:05.896 --> 00:17:08.936
for me and it gave me an opportunity to

00:17:08.936 --> 00:17:11.996
you know meet members of the family and you know

00:17:11.996 --> 00:17:15.456
take tours of properties and stuff there by

00:17:15.456 --> 00:17:18.416
the family themselves you know there's

00:17:18.416 --> 00:17:21.196
people can tour the breakers mansion there in

00:17:21.196 --> 00:17:24.196
newport it's a big tourist destination but

00:17:24.196 --> 00:17:27.376
the top floor of the property there

00:17:27.376 --> 00:17:30.836
is reserved just purely for the family well you

00:17:30.836 --> 00:17:33.896
know i'm there with with the family member

00:17:33.896 --> 00:17:36.656
that's got the key and so i got to see things there that

00:17:36.656 --> 00:17:39.776
people don't normally see and go through the

00:17:39.776 --> 00:17:42.516
the stables there at the breakers where they

00:17:42.516 --> 00:17:45.896
have the vanderbilt family coaches and

00:17:45.896 --> 00:17:48.816
things there and there was another barn find car

00:17:48.816 --> 00:17:51.716
an old cadillac that was sitting in a part of that building

00:17:51.716 --> 00:17:54.536
that nobody ever sees that you know i just

00:17:54.536 --> 00:17:58.976
it was these sort of pinch me moments where you're like how on earth did i end

00:17:58.976 --> 00:18:06.236
up here basically picking at the vanderbilt's garage and and all of that and

00:18:06.236 --> 00:18:10.956
it was just i don't know to me that was probably the most special find it certainly

00:18:10.956 --> 00:18:13.196
wasn't the most valuable but it was.

00:18:13.996 --> 00:18:18.276
It was the craziest one for me just because of the people and the stories behind

00:18:18.276 --> 00:18:24.576
that whole family and how they came to wealth and power and so awesome it was

00:18:24.576 --> 00:18:28.656
way cool really super cool yeah that was way cool to hear that do you have a

00:18:28.656 --> 00:18:32.036
VW that you ever you know scored throughout your

00:18:32.416 --> 00:18:37.676
career that that you feel like might be the one that got away now maybe even regret selling it,

00:18:38.276 --> 00:18:43.976
oh I'm gonna follow I'm in love with all of them because they're all a real, a real band.

00:18:44.854 --> 00:18:48.574
But, you know, I realized early on,

00:18:48.934 --> 00:18:51.314
you know, I'm raising a family, I'm trying to run a business,

00:18:51.314 --> 00:18:56.834
I'm trying to survive doing this, that I can't really keep everything, you know, I'm not,

00:18:57.134 --> 00:19:02.354
I, you know, I build something up, I give it my love and attention,

00:19:02.354 --> 00:19:05.954
and then it's got to go to pay the bills that I ran up building it,

00:19:06.174 --> 00:19:09.394
and hopefully keep the wheels going into the next one.

00:19:09.394 --> 00:19:15.914
But there was one car that I had that I kept for a fair bit of time,

00:19:15.974 --> 00:19:20.394
and it really kind of became mine, and it was a car called the Rosenstiel Roadster.

00:19:21.254 --> 00:19:27.194
And a guy in Arizona, Dave Rosenstiel, he's a postal worker that just loves

00:19:27.194 --> 00:19:34.234
to bang metal in his home garage, had made this kind of Hefmuller-style car, the Roadster.

00:19:34.234 --> 00:19:37.134
And i bought it from him and i finished

00:19:37.134 --> 00:19:40.234
it off and and really kind of made it my own got

00:19:40.234 --> 00:19:43.354
it into some of the magazines and things and and i

00:19:43.354 --> 00:19:47.954
just absolutely loved that car i love the way it drove it was so unique you

00:19:47.954 --> 00:19:52.174
could show to show up at any event people knew the car they knew it was my car

00:19:52.174 --> 00:19:58.634
and it just it fit me better than any other vw i've ever had but it had to go

00:19:58.634 --> 00:20:00.874
because you know Times got tough.

00:20:01.034 --> 00:20:03.254
It was like 2008, recession's happening.

00:20:03.614 --> 00:20:05.894
Oh, yeah. I've got kids to feed, a mortgage to pay.

00:20:06.614 --> 00:20:08.934
Well, what do I have around here I can sell?

00:20:10.394 --> 00:20:13.654
I'm not good looking enough to stand on a street corner and make an end.

00:20:13.934 --> 00:20:16.994
So off the Rosensteel went.

00:20:17.214 --> 00:20:22.154
But if I could buy that car back, I would do it. I would love to have that one back.

00:20:22.734 --> 00:20:26.134
Do you still think there's some hidden gems out there? Or do you think we've

00:20:26.134 --> 00:20:29.154
pretty much unearthed them all? I know it's a big hobby now.

00:20:29.894 --> 00:20:34.094
Well, I, there's always something new out there and there's,

00:20:34.214 --> 00:20:39.194
you know, like there's, there's somebody today that's parking a car in the back

00:20:39.194 --> 00:20:42.834
of their garage that is not going to move for 40 years.

00:20:43.274 --> 00:20:48.834
So, you know, time gets away from us, projects, dreams sometimes don't happen.

00:20:49.274 --> 00:20:54.834
And I, it's human nature to squirrel that stuff away and keep it,

00:20:54.974 --> 00:20:58.274
you know, for a rainy day or, or to have that someday dream,

00:20:58.274 --> 00:20:59.514
I'm going to build this car.

00:20:59.894 --> 00:21:06.214
So I think the supply of things to find in barns and special treasures is never ending.

00:21:06.494 --> 00:21:10.874
I mean, there's always something out there to find. Good. That gives us hope.

00:21:12.134 --> 00:21:15.574
Definitely. That gives us hope. No, I know when I go, somebody's going to come

00:21:15.574 --> 00:21:18.034
to my garage and go, holy shit, look at all this stuff.

00:21:19.194 --> 00:21:24.534
That's absolutely awesome. Ever stumbled across any type of VW prototypes or

00:21:24.534 --> 00:21:29.414
anything that was never really even released or anything crazy like that?

00:21:29.894 --> 00:21:35.994
Not necessarily. I mean, I've seen some interesting cars like that in my travels

00:21:35.994 --> 00:21:39.474
and stuff, but nothing that I've really discovered.

00:21:40.354 --> 00:21:41.574
There was one.

00:21:42.361 --> 00:21:48.341
One car, probably the closest thing, was this car that was built by an automotive

00:21:48.341 --> 00:21:51.961
trade school in Germany that was based on a Volkswagen.

00:21:52.361 --> 00:21:57.761
And this was every year that this group in Kaiserslautern, Germany,

00:21:57.861 --> 00:22:02.381
I always threw that name up, they would do a class project where they would

00:22:02.381 --> 00:22:05.761
design and build a car as the class project.

00:22:05.761 --> 00:22:09.441
And it would teach these kids automotive design, it would teach them the business

00:22:09.441 --> 00:22:13.961
practices of building a car, all the skills of building and metal shaping,

00:22:14.341 --> 00:22:18.921
the mechanical parts of it, electrical, interior, all of that, they would build a car.

00:22:19.401 --> 00:22:24.241
And a handful of those were built on Volkswagen platforms because that was easy to work with.

00:22:24.541 --> 00:22:29.641
And I did come across one of those cars that was down in San Diego here that

00:22:29.641 --> 00:22:33.661
I ended up buying and then bringing back out to show folks. And,

00:22:33.661 --> 00:22:35.921
and that was, that was a really special car.

00:22:36.461 --> 00:22:40.621
Nice. It sounds like it. So, you know, these cars have deep history.

00:22:40.641 --> 00:22:43.981
They're obviously connected. We're, you know, touching on Germany.

00:22:44.161 --> 00:22:48.741
Now they're connected to the, to the war. There's a lot of crazy myths and things

00:22:48.741 --> 00:22:51.401
that, you know, have, have been developed over time.

00:22:51.461 --> 00:22:58.021
Any wild conspiracy theories or anything that, that you have learned or play into in the VW world?

00:22:58.821 --> 00:23:02.401
Gosh, I don't know about conspiracy theories or anything like that.

00:23:02.401 --> 00:23:09.261
Obviously, the whole World War II era Nazi connection to those real early cars

00:23:09.261 --> 00:23:15.621
has a mystique to it, and some of it a little uncomfortable for some.

00:23:16.181 --> 00:23:20.301
And I had a friend once that had found a...

00:23:20.953 --> 00:23:23.893
Found a really early beetle war or two era beetle

00:23:23.893 --> 00:23:27.213
that you know he was trying to track the history on

00:23:27.213 --> 00:23:30.453
and and eventually he got the info from germany that

00:23:30.453 --> 00:23:34.293
it was a car that had been delivered to herman goering's

00:23:34.293 --> 00:23:37.553
field offices and goering was basically hitler's right-hand

00:23:37.553 --> 00:23:40.113
man and you know

00:23:40.113 --> 00:23:42.953
was the butcher of prague they called him and i

00:23:42.953 --> 00:23:46.753
mean he was a badass dude or actually was

00:23:46.753 --> 00:23:49.773
that i might be confusing it but you know

00:23:49.773 --> 00:23:52.673
that car had like a bit of evil

00:23:52.673 --> 00:23:56.313
vibe to it because of that connection and

00:23:56.313 --> 00:23:59.213
you know he was i mean not really but yeah

00:23:59.213 --> 00:24:02.033
that that's kind of what i was hunting for though something like

00:24:02.033 --> 00:24:05.153
that so there's a vibe like that well and and

00:24:05.153 --> 00:24:07.953
that's kind of the way it is i mean obviously there was

00:24:07.953 --> 00:24:11.033
a horrible time in in world history and

00:24:11.033 --> 00:24:14.453
a lot of a lot of nasty crap happened there

00:24:14.453 --> 00:24:17.393
and none of that is the result of these

00:24:17.393 --> 00:24:20.373
cars these cars just happened to be there when all of that was happening

00:24:20.373 --> 00:24:23.233
um but you know

00:24:23.233 --> 00:24:26.293
and and from that era and from all of that you

00:24:26.293 --> 00:24:31.453
know spawned the beetle that we love today and and all of that so i think it's

00:24:31.453 --> 00:24:37.153
an important part of history but i a car can be in a place or be in the hands

00:24:37.153 --> 00:24:45.313
of somebody that did some evil stuff and And it's kind of hard to extract that from it.

00:24:45.453 --> 00:24:51.473
You can't, you know, if you've got, what was it, Ted Bundy had a beetle or something.

00:24:51.733 --> 00:24:55.533
And, you know, it's like, would you want to have Ted Bundy's beetle?

00:24:55.673 --> 00:24:58.173
Probably not. But maybe somebody out there would.

00:24:58.773 --> 00:25:01.433
Yeah, that'd be kind of dark.

00:25:02.773 --> 00:25:08.273
Well, that's it. I mean, I think there's darkness out there in humanity.

00:25:08.273 --> 00:25:12.353
And sometimes these cars are in the room when that stuff happens.

00:25:12.753 --> 00:25:18.673
And, and I, I can see how people will turn away from that because they don't

00:25:18.673 --> 00:25:21.673
want to have a reminder of, of, of a bad time.

00:25:22.853 --> 00:25:26.873
Yeah, I think I can, I can understand and even, even relate to it.

00:25:27.013 --> 00:25:31.753
So in your eyes, why is preserving VW history so important?

00:25:32.873 --> 00:25:36.413
Well, I think preserving history of everything is important.

00:25:37.693 --> 00:25:42.533
I think that there's soul in the past.

00:25:42.933 --> 00:25:50.393
I love these cars an awful lot, but more so I love the history of the cars.

00:25:52.933 --> 00:25:56.113
It doesn't have to be some crazy history.

00:25:56.373 --> 00:25:59.533
It could just be some general owner that bought this thing and kept it,

00:25:59.773 --> 00:26:02.073
and drove it all over the place.

00:26:02.873 --> 00:26:08.453
I just, I love to celebrate that human connection to these cars and see that

00:26:08.453 --> 00:26:10.813
that story goes along with each car.

00:26:11.073 --> 00:26:15.973
So that's the way that I kind of try to preserve the history of these cars.

00:26:16.233 --> 00:26:20.193
I mean, obviously preserving the cars themselves so that they can continue to

00:26:20.193 --> 00:26:24.053
run for a long time, I think is far better than throwing them out,

00:26:24.513 --> 00:26:28.313
doing restorations and things like that. Number one, it's fun to do.

00:26:29.253 --> 00:26:33.553
There's not a whole lot in our world that we can make better with our own two

00:26:33.553 --> 00:26:38.233
hands, but we can do that with an old bug or any old thing,

00:26:39.293 --> 00:26:45.833
I don't know I think it's fun more than anything else it's fun,

00:26:45.953 --> 00:26:52.873
it could be a decent investment it can allow you an avenue to meet a lot of

00:26:52.873 --> 00:26:55.273
really fun people in the VW scene so.

00:26:56.873 --> 00:26:58.153
Why is it important?

00:26:58.313 --> 00:27:02.913
Well, you got to do something and that's, and this is pretty fun to do.

00:27:03.613 --> 00:27:06.573
So you, in the beginning of it all, you mentioned, you know,

00:27:06.633 --> 00:27:10.053
one of the reasons you got into it was because they were cheap and naturally

00:27:10.053 --> 00:27:13.813
that's, you know, a reason for any of us to, but over the years,

00:27:14.113 --> 00:27:20.333
the, the market has completely gone berserk, especially even maybe a year or two post COVID even now.

00:27:20.453 --> 00:27:23.233
I mean, they're the prices on some of these cars are just so,

00:27:23.373 --> 00:27:27.653
I mean, do you think we're in a bubble or is this just the evolution of collecting?

00:27:28.381 --> 00:27:31.341
Well, it's the evolution of collecting, really.

00:27:31.621 --> 00:27:37.561
You know, I think that there's a generational wave of collectible items where

00:27:37.561 --> 00:27:41.501
people that, you know, experience them as when they were young,

00:27:41.781 --> 00:27:45.081
you know, now get to a point where they've got the money to spend.

00:27:45.261 --> 00:27:48.021
They want to have their high school car back. They want to, you know.

00:27:48.881 --> 00:27:54.581
Just kind of relive those memories. And that nostalgia fuels a rise in value.

00:27:54.901 --> 00:27:59.261
It certainly fuels demand and the whole supply and demand curve comes into play.

00:27:59.521 --> 00:28:04.181
So, you know, I look at the cars that my father was into. He really loved like

00:28:04.181 --> 00:28:06.961
30s and 40s era American classics.

00:28:07.681 --> 00:28:13.621
And those cars don't have the following now that they did when he was alive.

00:28:13.621 --> 00:28:16.501
So i can see in the future

00:28:16.501 --> 00:28:20.021
where vw values drop as

00:28:20.021 --> 00:28:22.861
a result of that just because there's not as

00:28:22.861 --> 00:28:27.421
many people that are are into them but but

00:28:27.421 --> 00:28:30.341
the vw and unfortunately the

00:28:30.341 --> 00:28:33.641
vw has such a following to it and there's such a community about

00:28:33.641 --> 00:28:36.621
it and and such a scene that's gone on

00:28:36.621 --> 00:28:39.961
for a long period of time i think it'll have much more

00:28:39.961 --> 00:28:43.021
staying power than you know something that

00:28:43.021 --> 00:28:46.521
was an off brand or something that's that

00:28:46.521 --> 00:28:49.341
doesn't have that background you know

00:28:49.341 --> 00:28:52.241
i've got some old british cars in my

00:28:52.241 --> 00:28:55.401
collection and you know is somebody gonna really

00:28:55.401 --> 00:28:58.741
care about a a humber super

00:28:58.741 --> 00:29:02.861
snipe you know which is a really obscure british

00:29:02.861 --> 00:29:05.661
car you know i nobody's gonna

00:29:05.661 --> 00:29:08.441
know what it is but somebody's always going to know what a book's like

00:29:08.441 --> 00:29:15.001
beetle is yeah good i i think that helps but but values have risen i think i

00:29:15.001 --> 00:29:20.201
i think the world saw a really crazy bubble just post-covid yeah i feel and

00:29:20.201 --> 00:29:25.921
that seems to have deflated a bit now values are down to what they were prior to covet i think.

00:29:27.081 --> 00:29:30.921
And you know it's and obviously with our world and all the crazy crap that's

00:29:30.921 --> 00:29:34.821
going on out there a lot of people are focused on other stuff so yeah i think

00:29:34.821 --> 00:29:38.641
the marker right now is a little soft i I think it's a great opportunity to

00:29:38.641 --> 00:29:42.541
buy because there's some deals that are out there and there's some cars that

00:29:42.541 --> 00:29:46.201
are coming to market that have been, you know, stashed away for a long time.

00:29:46.461 --> 00:29:51.161
And, you know, I, I see it as a, an incredible buying opportunity right now.

00:29:51.421 --> 00:29:56.701
Yeah. So a collector, a real enthusiast, you know, obviously somebody with a

00:29:56.701 --> 00:30:00.541
lot of buying experience. Are there any, any trends that you see coming?

00:30:00.681 --> 00:30:04.701
Like what's the next big thing for, for VW collecting in your opinion?

00:30:05.533 --> 00:30:10.793
Well, I mean, I'm starting to see it outside of the air-cooled market and see,

00:30:10.933 --> 00:30:15.793
you know, some of the early water-cooled stuff is really starting to ramp up

00:30:15.793 --> 00:30:19.873
as far as interest and values in those cars.

00:30:20.113 --> 00:30:25.093
You get up into the, you know, the 70s and 80s era of VWs, you know,

00:30:25.173 --> 00:30:30.393
try to find a good first-generation GTI or something, and already the prices

00:30:30.393 --> 00:30:32.373
on those are really ramping up.

00:30:32.973 --> 00:30:36.213
But i i see that there's a lot of room for that to expand

00:30:36.213 --> 00:30:39.753
it's they're not the cars that i'm into necessarily but

00:30:39.753 --> 00:30:42.713
i i think it's i i think

00:30:42.713 --> 00:30:46.013
that following that generational wave of

00:30:46.013 --> 00:30:48.693
of you know okay if you

00:30:48.693 --> 00:30:51.733
were if you graduated in 84 like i

00:30:51.733 --> 00:30:55.173
did well what was the car that you dreamed to have in well man

00:30:55.173 --> 00:30:58.033
i would have loved gti you know

00:30:58.033 --> 00:31:01.413
but i couldn't afford a new car there but and i'd

00:31:01.413 --> 00:31:04.473
love to have one now you know and so that

00:31:04.473 --> 00:31:08.553
i i think that that's a definite spot i think

00:31:08.553 --> 00:31:11.653
see what else i've always

00:31:11.653 --> 00:31:14.693
been kind of looking at karmagias thinking

00:31:14.693 --> 00:31:20.313
that they're about ready to take off and go insane and and they haven't really

00:31:20.313 --> 00:31:25.833
and maybe it'll never happen but i i always think that you know we're going

00:31:25.833 --> 00:31:32.093
to see some real early guias break a hundred grand at auction and And I haven't really seen that.

00:31:32.765 --> 00:31:41.285
I hope that happens. Now, I've got one, but it's not early. It's not 50s. It's actually a 71.

00:31:41.825 --> 00:31:48.085
Yeah. I found it in Pennsylvania on a female-owned, one owner,

00:31:48.185 --> 00:31:51.285
46,000 miles. Found it on Facebook, Marketplace.

00:31:51.605 --> 00:31:56.265
Went out and picked it up. It was dusty in the back of this dude's barn.

00:31:56.265 --> 00:31:58.005
It turned out it was his mother's car.

00:31:58.465 --> 00:32:00.665
And yeah, it was great.

00:32:01.945 --> 00:32:05.125
Very very respect respectable price on

00:32:05.125 --> 00:32:08.065
it meaning in my favor and i i put it

00:32:08.065 --> 00:32:11.605
on a u-haul trailer and brought it back home and it's sitting out front now

00:32:11.605 --> 00:32:15.885
it's a 71 though so it's not you know it's not the the low light or anything

00:32:15.885 --> 00:32:21.485
like that or 50s or even 60s it's got the the faux wood dash and the you know

00:32:21.485 --> 00:32:25.805
the the black you know topper that that cracks up in the sun and stuff but man

00:32:25.805 --> 00:32:27.825
And it's a beautiful car,

00:32:27.825 --> 00:32:30.565
and it drives like a dream. I mean, seriously.

00:32:31.525 --> 00:32:38.005
It's just so good. Yeah, great car. Yeah, great era of car of VW for a driver.

00:32:38.245 --> 00:32:43.385
You know, the late 60s, early 70s stuff in today's world, you can keep up with traffic.

00:32:43.685 --> 00:32:47.165
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good car. You're right. They're just great.

00:32:47.425 --> 00:32:51.785
And finding a car like you found, something that has low miles and good history,

00:32:52.125 --> 00:32:54.285
and, you know, that's the dream.

00:32:54.285 --> 00:32:59.065
I don't matter what year it is or what model, but you'll, you'll appreciate

00:32:59.065 --> 00:33:04.025
this when I, when I picked it up, but it had some paperwork that had come with it.

00:33:04.185 --> 00:33:08.605
And in the paperwork, it's over there in my, my little cabinet was the original

00:33:08.605 --> 00:33:13.585
invoice or receipt or work order with the options and the footrest and the,

00:33:13.585 --> 00:33:16.965
the couple extra things that, that his mom bought with it.

00:33:16.965 --> 00:33:22.545
But it was like 2,300 bucks or something with the few options and the AM FM radio.

00:33:22.825 --> 00:33:26.505
And yeah, it was, it's really cool. So I, my wife wanted one.

00:33:26.585 --> 00:33:29.325
She said, it's the only Volkswagen classic Volkswagen that I like.

00:33:29.585 --> 00:33:33.725
So I had to find her one. And then we had another problem. She didn't want to drive a stick.

00:33:34.245 --> 00:33:37.325
So as I'm doing my research and I'm looking through, I'm like, wait a minute.

00:33:38.065 --> 00:33:41.465
Carmen Ghia has a early seventies model with the auto stick.

00:33:41.465 --> 00:33:45.785
And I drove an auto stick in high school. So I know my wife will enjoy that.

00:33:45.785 --> 00:33:48.665
So I, dude, I found it. I, and I was so happy that I did.

00:33:49.357 --> 00:33:52.337
Yeah that's that's awesome you know great car definitely

00:33:52.337 --> 00:33:55.177
yeah thanks man so if somebody looking to get

00:33:55.177 --> 00:33:58.277
into into into you know vintage vw's right

00:33:58.277 --> 00:34:01.017
now you know there's still a solid investment you know

00:34:01.017 --> 00:34:03.997
i feel the the the days of the good deals

00:34:03.997 --> 00:34:07.097
aren't necessarily long gone based off what you're saying right

00:34:07.097 --> 00:34:10.837
there's probably be those days again well

00:34:10.837 --> 00:34:13.897
i i i mean those days are are every

00:34:13.897 --> 00:34:16.697
day you know there's bargains out there you can

00:34:16.697 --> 00:34:19.617
troll through facebook marketplace and see deals

00:34:19.617 --> 00:34:22.377
on stuff and and you just need to

00:34:22.377 --> 00:34:25.277
be willing to to get off your butt and go get them you

00:34:25.277 --> 00:34:29.237
gotta jump fast and grab the

00:34:29.237 --> 00:34:34.377
deals but yeah you know and you you don't always pull a fish into the boat when

00:34:34.377 --> 00:34:39.777
you go fishing and you don't always catch that car but the more you you chase

00:34:39.777 --> 00:34:43.537
it you know the more you're going to find and there are some great deals that

00:34:43.537 --> 00:34:48.977
are out there and there's some great opportunities to be the next caretakers of, of these cars.

00:34:49.177 --> 00:34:53.597
You just, you know, got to be at the right place at the right time and, and grab them.

00:34:53.977 --> 00:34:57.377
Yeah, I agree. There's, there's still some good stuff out there.

00:34:57.697 --> 00:35:02.397
I see stuff all the time that like, like you, I, I just wish it was an endless

00:35:02.397 --> 00:35:07.937
supply of, which I could go out back and pick a few thousand dollar bills off the money tree.

00:35:10.217 --> 00:35:13.237
And go and buy some of these cars because the more you

00:35:13.237 --> 00:35:16.657
investigate the more time you spend searching the

00:35:16.657 --> 00:35:19.637
more opportunities like just like you said the more opportunities you'll find

00:35:19.637 --> 00:35:22.837
and and then you know it's a it's a matter of you know

00:35:22.837 --> 00:35:27.997
the letdown of man can i make this work no no not this time so you just have

00:35:27.997 --> 00:35:32.217
to let them go but all good all good all right moving past that like electric

00:35:32.217 --> 00:35:36.117
conversions i want to get your your thought on these are you are you on the

00:35:36.117 --> 00:35:41.097
side of keep things original or are you into the electric conversions at all?

00:35:41.197 --> 00:35:44.217
Where do you stand on that debate in the VW community?

00:35:45.135 --> 00:35:50.175
I'm a big fan supporting people and doing whatever the hell they want to do.

00:35:50.315 --> 00:35:54.135
As long as they're not hurting other people, and they're having a good time,

00:35:54.255 --> 00:35:58.155
and they love their car, I'm all over it.

00:35:58.495 --> 00:36:04.715
Now, if someone were to take a really bitchin' all virgin, original preserved

00:36:04.715 --> 00:36:08.135
car and screw it up, well, then I see a little sadness in that.

00:36:08.135 --> 00:36:13.715
But, you know, the electric conversion thing, I've got a friend that bought

00:36:13.715 --> 00:36:18.735
an oval window from me years ago, and it was his daily driver for a bit.

00:36:19.295 --> 00:36:25.015
And a few years ago, he said, I'm having it converted to electric. And I went, really?

00:36:25.415 --> 00:36:29.275
Okay, fine. You know, go for it. And then he got it done. He said,

00:36:29.335 --> 00:36:30.675
Randy, you got to come drive this thing.

00:36:30.875 --> 00:36:36.475
And I went, okay, fine. And I went to his place, and I really kind of wanted to hate it.

00:36:36.475 --> 00:36:40.535
But, you know, it was like, not that I would have said anything to him or make

00:36:40.535 --> 00:36:46.055
him feel bad, but to me, it was something that I wouldn't have done necessarily to my car.

00:36:46.255 --> 00:36:51.075
But having a chance to drive it and to feel the way the electric motor works

00:36:51.075 --> 00:36:55.375
and just the way the whole system was done and to see how well the conversion

00:36:55.375 --> 00:37:02.335
was done and how it really didn't hack up this really nice little Ovalda bug, it was cool.

00:37:02.335 --> 00:37:06.795
And I left there going, man, this is pretty badass. Now, if it was,

00:37:06.955 --> 00:37:12.795
it's really expensive, you know, I think he spent 30 grand or more on doing this conversion.

00:37:12.875 --> 00:37:16.715
It was a lot to put into a car that's worth maybe 30 grand.

00:37:17.015 --> 00:37:21.615
But, you know, it was, I don't know, I thought it was pretty cool.

00:37:21.615 --> 00:37:25.875
And I think as time goes on and technology goes on and the stuff is more available

00:37:25.875 --> 00:37:31.455
and easier set up for enthusiasts to kind of plug and play.

00:37:32.514 --> 00:37:37.014
You know, what the hell, if it makes you want to drive your car more and get

00:37:37.014 --> 00:37:39.994
more enjoyment out of it, then do it.

00:37:40.354 --> 00:37:43.434
I want to drive one. I want to drive an electric one because I,

00:37:43.534 --> 00:37:48.694
I know that technology I've driven electric cars and the few that I've,

00:37:48.874 --> 00:37:51.574
you know, that I've driven, even the, the, the, the Tesla,

00:37:52.094 --> 00:37:55.934
I'm surprised at the torque, the low end torque and the, and just the,

00:37:55.934 --> 00:38:00.054
the handling because of the low center of gravity because of the weight of the batteries.

00:38:00.054 --> 00:38:04.554
I just, yeah, man, I've, I've, I've thought about, wow, that might be kind of

00:38:04.554 --> 00:38:06.074
cool, but I always like to ask that,

00:38:06.494 --> 00:38:09.294
especially to guys that are deep rooted like you, because, well,

00:38:09.514 --> 00:38:13.174
there's a debate and that debate is keep them natural, keep them,

00:38:13.274 --> 00:38:16.134
keep them air cooled or, you know, be cool.

00:38:16.274 --> 00:38:20.894
And, and if that's cool and, and enjoy the electric conversion, but all good, all good.

00:38:20.894 --> 00:38:23.814
Big live and let live kind of a guy

00:38:23.814 --> 00:38:27.174
if you want to take your car and paint

00:38:27.174 --> 00:38:29.834
it flat and and put it on a

00:38:29.834 --> 00:38:32.674
bronco chassis or something go for it man i mean if

00:38:32.674 --> 00:38:39.014
it makes you happy and it it increases your joy of having that car that's why

00:38:39.014 --> 00:38:44.514
these cars are here and for i think any of us to talk crap and tell people what

00:38:44.514 --> 00:38:51.234
they should do with their car i i think is is foolish you know just support the scene,

00:38:51.434 --> 00:38:54.494
support the people around you, and have fun.

00:38:55.114 --> 00:38:59.054
Yeah, man. And I can tell that's your heart too, because supporting the scene.

00:38:59.214 --> 00:39:02.274
Because you got back in touch with me, and you don't know me from Adam.

00:39:02.454 --> 00:39:05.134
So, man, again, I appreciate that so much.

00:39:05.334 --> 00:39:08.854
So, let's do some quick reaction type questions.

00:39:10.074 --> 00:39:14.854
What's the most overrated air-cooled VW in your opinion? Overrated.

00:39:16.174 --> 00:39:17.874
Overrated air-cooled VW.

00:39:19.425 --> 00:39:31.045
Gosh i mean i it's kind of hard to say but i think split screen buses are are really cool,

00:39:31.665 --> 00:39:38.705
but they also kind of suck to live with because they're slow and and a little

00:39:38.705 --> 00:39:44.425
dangerous and you know i i love them i don't mind going slow i'm used to it

00:39:44.425 --> 00:39:46.945
it's like but they're beautiful but,

00:39:47.665 --> 00:39:50.485
i see a lot of people that have gotten into

00:39:50.485 --> 00:39:53.465
the scene because they want to have one because it's the thing to have

00:39:53.465 --> 00:39:56.485
and they're not necessarily old vw people

00:39:56.485 --> 00:39:59.365
but they want to have the micro bus because that's the thing to have

00:39:59.365 --> 00:40:05.025
and then they get it and they realize that it's not comfortable it's slow it's

00:40:05.025 --> 00:40:10.305
loud the heat doesn't work you're literally the front bumper is right in front

00:40:10.305 --> 00:40:15.165
of your face and you know that sort of thing and so i i think that there's been

00:40:15.165 --> 00:40:19.345
a lot of people that have followed that trend that have then gotten those things and went,

00:40:19.505 --> 00:40:23.145
well, wait a second, this isn't, this isn't fun, you know.

00:40:24.125 --> 00:40:29.605
But you're not the only person that's, that said that, that, uh, well, that's good.

00:40:29.865 --> 00:40:33.865
The split window bus, you know, and most of the time it's for the same reasons,

00:40:34.025 --> 00:40:38.745
safety comfort, you know, the way it drives and handles, et cetera.

00:40:39.125 --> 00:40:42.565
Hell yeah, they're cool. You know, and, and I can even get in line there and

00:40:42.565 --> 00:40:46.345
say, you know, I'd love to have one, you know, a rare one, you know,

00:40:46.645 --> 00:40:48.485
looking good, fully restored, et cetera.

00:40:48.825 --> 00:40:53.365
But yeah, I, that's not the first time I've heard the split window bust.

00:40:53.485 --> 00:40:55.605
So I can certainly understand that.

00:40:55.785 --> 00:41:00.105
All right. Next one up dream road trip in a VW classic air. Cool.

00:41:00.185 --> 00:41:01.385
Where are you going? Who are you taking?

00:41:02.905 --> 00:41:08.185
I'd love to do a cross country trip. Doesn't have to be from any particular

00:41:08.185 --> 00:41:10.505
destination to any other destination.

00:41:10.505 --> 00:41:18.245
I think it would just be fun to traverse our country in an old bug in today's world.

00:41:18.705 --> 00:41:23.625
And, and as far as who I'd take with me, I'd probably take my dog and have it

00:41:23.625 --> 00:41:28.045
just be me away from it all.

00:41:28.185 --> 00:41:33.365
Shut the phone off and just drive, you know, what a feeling.

00:41:33.545 --> 00:41:38.325
I know that feet, it don't matter who you are, what your accomplishments are in life.

00:41:38.785 --> 00:41:43.145
That feeling right there is one that no matter who you are, you can relate to.

00:41:43.865 --> 00:41:49.725
Yeah, that's awesome, man. Yeah. No, that freedom part of it and a little bit

00:41:49.725 --> 00:41:51.405
of personal adventure part.

00:41:52.157 --> 00:41:58.117
You know, I, I've not done a lot of real long distance running in air cool VWs,

00:41:58.197 --> 00:42:00.397
driven them a lot of miles,

00:42:00.577 --> 00:42:05.157
but, but I think I would like to do a big, like cross country run and,

00:42:05.297 --> 00:42:08.697
and some good old bug or bus or whatever. We'll see.

00:42:09.297 --> 00:42:12.437
Yeah, sweet. That'd be awesome. I would too.

00:42:12.657 --> 00:42:18.517
And I'm probably going to do maybe early seventies Bay window in,

00:42:18.577 --> 00:42:21.657
in my mind, you know, if that's, if, if that's what plays out.

00:42:22.157 --> 00:42:26.797
So best VW show out there, no debate, bar none.

00:42:27.077 --> 00:42:29.997
I know you've probably seen a lot of them and been to a lot of them.

00:42:30.057 --> 00:42:31.137
What's the best one you've been to?

00:42:31.637 --> 00:42:39.697
Well, the coolest one in my eyes and in my memory is the Hesha-Soldendorf vintage

00:42:39.697 --> 00:42:45.397
VW show in Germany that they do every four years, I think it is.

00:42:46.357 --> 00:42:50.397
They kind of take over this whole little German town.

00:42:51.137 --> 00:42:53.977
And even the shop owners and stuff get into it

00:42:53.977 --> 00:42:57.377
so like the window displays are vw related and

00:42:57.377 --> 00:43:00.537
you know the the church allows a

00:43:00.537 --> 00:43:03.137
display of a volkswagen in there you know

00:43:03.137 --> 00:43:06.077
in the middle of the church and and all of the earliest

00:43:06.077 --> 00:43:09.277
vws from all around europe show up at this event and

00:43:09.277 --> 00:43:12.217
it's on cobblestone streets and it's

00:43:12.217 --> 00:43:15.317
just the whole thing is a postcard and a time travel

00:43:15.317 --> 00:43:18.477
kind of a thing and that that

00:43:18.477 --> 00:43:24.177
event kind of far and above everything else i think is is the coolest one or

00:43:24.177 --> 00:43:29.697
provided the most amazing memories for me to flash back to as i think about

00:43:29.697 --> 00:43:35.737
it just really really cool scene awesome what's your favorite vw of all time

00:43:35.737 --> 00:43:37.297
if you could have just one,

00:43:38.150 --> 00:43:41.510
And, and, and that's it. That's all you can have. Which, which one's it going to be?

00:43:42.830 --> 00:43:49.030
If I could have that Rosensteel Roadster back, or maybe my, I,

00:43:49.050 --> 00:43:52.150
I had a crew cab truck, a 62 crew cab.

00:43:52.370 --> 00:43:56.910
That was like the first VW that I ever got into a magazine, you know,

00:43:56.950 --> 00:43:57.950
way back in the eighties.

00:43:58.470 --> 00:44:03.310
And, and even though I, it was, it was not the best bus in the world.

00:44:03.310 --> 00:44:07.010
And certainly by my standards today the

00:44:07.010 --> 00:44:10.890
work that i did on it then was crap but but

00:44:10.890 --> 00:44:13.690
that thing that vehicle opened up this whole

00:44:13.690 --> 00:44:17.230
world to me and started me on this path of being able

00:44:17.230 --> 00:44:20.330
to do what i love and provide for my family and

00:44:20.330 --> 00:44:23.470
travel the world write for magazines and

00:44:23.470 --> 00:44:26.930
do all sorts of stuff everything started with that truck so

00:44:26.930 --> 00:44:29.710
if that thing popped back up you know that that

00:44:29.710 --> 00:44:33.690
would if you wanted to grab a new relecto okay okay yeah

00:44:33.690 --> 00:44:36.470
man started it all and that's good i appreciate you

00:44:36.470 --> 00:44:39.470
sharing those those memories so what's next

00:44:39.470 --> 00:44:42.350
for you any any cool projects in the pipeline or anything

00:44:42.350 --> 00:44:45.090
like that i mean i never know

00:44:45.090 --> 00:44:47.790
what's around the corner i've got projects that are

00:44:47.790 --> 00:44:51.470
out in the garage right now that i'm working on this

00:44:51.470 --> 00:44:56.910
weekend i'm i'm putting the original engine back into this 356 porsche that

00:44:56.910 --> 00:45:03.130
belonged to my father i i i've owned that car now for over 30 years but when

00:45:03.130 --> 00:45:08.750
i got it it didn't run right the motor was really tired and so i pulled the engine out and.

00:45:09.390 --> 00:45:13.910
And just couldn't afford to rebuild it you know and i kept running vw motors

00:45:13.910 --> 00:45:19.770
in it because you could do that and they were cheap but i finally ponied up

00:45:19.770 --> 00:45:23.810
to rebuild you know the numbers matching an original engine for that 356.

00:45:24.150 --> 00:45:29.530
And so it's going in there on Saturday. And so I'm looking forward to that.

00:45:30.633 --> 00:45:35.713
And then other VW projects, I've actually got another car that this guy,

00:45:35.813 --> 00:45:39.173
Dave Rosensteel, had done the metal work on.

00:45:39.513 --> 00:45:44.153
It's kind of a coupe version of that Roadster that I had.

00:45:44.293 --> 00:45:49.033
And that one's waiting in the wings for me to dive into and build it into something cool.

00:45:49.913 --> 00:45:55.293
Awesome. Sounds like a dream come true. So where can people find you?

00:45:55.393 --> 00:45:58.673
Where can they check out your work? how do people you

00:45:58.673 --> 00:46:01.353
know get in touch with you if if they want to see what

00:46:01.353 --> 00:46:05.233
you're up to well obviously oldbug.com is

00:46:05.233 --> 00:46:08.653
that's the the site that that

00:46:08.653 --> 00:46:11.713
i run as as a business and you

00:46:11.713 --> 00:46:14.473
know people post their cars for sale on that and i'm

00:46:14.473 --> 00:46:17.213
easily reachable through that you know

00:46:17.213 --> 00:46:20.613
all the email addresses and phone numbers on there all point to

00:46:20.613 --> 00:46:23.973
me so i'm easy to find there on social

00:46:23.973 --> 00:46:27.193
media you know old bug has a good facebook page you

00:46:27.193 --> 00:46:30.853
can find me there carcheology on youtube

00:46:30.853 --> 00:46:36.593
you can check me out there there's also a carcheology page on facebook as well

00:46:36.593 --> 00:46:42.613
instagram i'm kind of an instagram fiend right now i use it far more than i

00:46:42.613 --> 00:46:48.213
probably should but but you can find me on Instagram, it's bugginbox.

00:46:48.233 --> 00:46:51.353
That's B-U-G-N-B-O-X.

00:46:51.913 --> 00:46:57.213
And I think I've got like 38,000 people or something that follow my madness

00:46:57.213 --> 00:46:59.913
on Instagram, which is kind of fun to see.

00:47:00.453 --> 00:47:05.913
Okay, so I guess finally, any last words for the Dub Life Diaries listeners,

00:47:06.113 --> 00:47:11.213
all the VW lovers out there, you know, final words of wisdom or anything from you?

00:47:12.293 --> 00:47:18.453
Oh, God, I don't know. I think The main thing that I'm seeing right now that

00:47:18.453 --> 00:47:25.533
I'd like to see people embrace is to really share your cars with the younger

00:47:25.533 --> 00:47:27.253
generation as much as you can.

00:47:27.253 --> 00:47:28.693
I know that sounds like an old guy

00:47:28.693 --> 00:47:32.673
thing to say as I sit here with my gray beard and look like an old guy.

00:47:32.673 --> 00:47:38.533
But, you know, the way to make sure that the scene continues is to make sure

00:47:38.533 --> 00:47:43.933
there's people that want these cars and love the scene that's about it.

00:47:44.193 --> 00:47:49.833
And so getting younger kids into it, you know, go to some car show that's not

00:47:49.833 --> 00:47:55.633
a VW show and show up, you know, park your bug in amongst all these guys for

00:47:55.633 --> 00:47:57.753
their tuner Hondas and things like that.

00:47:57.753 --> 00:48:02.213
And show them what's cool and, you know, let them sit behind the wheel,

00:48:02.313 --> 00:48:04.633
take them for a spin, let them drive it, whatever.

00:48:05.073 --> 00:48:09.053
You know, you got to get some hands-on experience with the younger generation

00:48:09.053 --> 00:48:13.833
with these cars so they can see how fun they are and meet the people that are

00:48:13.833 --> 00:48:16.753
involved with it and how cool the scene is.

00:48:16.913 --> 00:48:21.273
And that will help it continue on, you know, long after we're gone.

00:48:22.019 --> 00:48:27.219
That's awesome. Those were some awesome parting words. It's been a pleasure, my friend. Thank you.

00:48:27.459 --> 00:48:30.379
Yeah, no, that's been great. I love your enthusiasm.

00:48:30.779 --> 00:48:36.719
I love the questions that you have are good. And I like what you're doing,

00:48:36.819 --> 00:48:39.239
man. I think this is going to grow into something cool.

00:48:39.599 --> 00:48:44.999
Thank you, man. Thank you very much for reaching out. I do have one final question.

00:48:45.259 --> 00:48:50.139
And look, I'm goosebumps when I bring this one up. What's Jay Leno like, man?

00:48:51.119 --> 00:48:58.299
Jay's pretty awesome. So the, the quick Leno stories was I had a car for sale

00:48:58.299 --> 00:49:03.919
for a customer of mine and I had it posted on eBay and it was a weird little

00:49:03.919 --> 00:49:08.759
French car called a Pinard PL 17, goofy, goofy little car.

00:49:08.999 --> 00:49:15.599
Anyway, I get this phone call on the car and voice on the other end goes, Hey, my name is Jay.

00:49:15.779 --> 00:49:19.159
I'm from Burbank. I'm interested in this car. And I'm like, say

00:49:19.159 --> 00:49:21.899
that again you know and sure enough

00:49:21.899 --> 00:49:24.779
it was jay and he's all i don't like the auction

00:49:24.779 --> 00:49:27.779
thing but i'm really interested in the car just tell me how much

00:49:27.779 --> 00:49:30.819
and you know will you sell it to me so i

00:49:30.819 --> 00:49:34.559
contacted the owner i said hey i've got this guy that's interested you

00:49:34.559 --> 00:49:37.279
know what's your happy price and i gave jay a

00:49:37.279 --> 00:49:40.859
call back and and he said fine let's do it and the

00:49:40.859 --> 00:49:44.199
car was in texas and was

00:49:44.199 --> 00:49:47.399
being shipped to him and i told him hey when that car gets there i'd love to

00:49:47.399 --> 00:49:53.379
come up and see it and meet you and he's like yeah no problem so the car shows

00:49:53.379 --> 00:50:02.379
up and you know we connected and and he invited me out to to take a tour of the of the garage and.

00:50:03.330 --> 00:50:10.910
And he was the most gracious, most almost Rain Man level, knowledgeable deer

00:50:10.910 --> 00:50:12.610
head dude I think I've ever met.

00:50:12.930 --> 00:50:19.070
And, you know, he gave, I went up there with my wife and my son and a friend of mine.

00:50:19.550 --> 00:50:23.990
And he just gave us a personal tour of the whole place. If there was a car or

00:50:23.990 --> 00:50:27.490
a motorcycle that we had interest in, you know, he would fire it up.

00:50:27.650 --> 00:50:29.550
He'd tell us all the history of everything.

00:50:29.730 --> 00:50:35.690
And, and it was just freaking amazing. He was just such a positive dude to meet

00:50:35.690 --> 00:50:39.790
and just so kind and so knowledgeable that from that point on,

00:50:39.990 --> 00:50:46.170
if there was ever an opportunity to help him in any way, I'm all in.

00:50:46.410 --> 00:50:50.730
So, you know, I met some of the people there that worked for him and,

00:50:51.030 --> 00:50:56.490
you know, if they needed a VW for filming or something, they would ask me if I knew where one was.

00:50:56.490 --> 00:50:59.390
And so over the years i've i've helped

00:50:59.390 --> 00:51:02.890
them you know gather cars for the

00:51:02.890 --> 00:51:05.750
filming for the shows and stuff i met

00:51:05.750 --> 00:51:08.850
this one young guy up in portland that was like

00:51:08.850 --> 00:51:11.610
this little leno in my head as far as the way that

00:51:11.610 --> 00:51:14.850
he had this knowledge of all this stuff and he's

00:51:14.850 --> 00:51:17.790
showing me his collection and i'm going you you need

00:51:17.790 --> 00:51:21.170
to be with jay i want to see you two get together because you

00:51:21.170 --> 00:51:24.510
guys will be bouncing off the walls together having a good time and so

00:51:24.510 --> 00:51:28.110
i i kind of pushed to see that happen or to see if i could somehow make that

00:51:28.110 --> 00:51:32.150
connection and and that happened and then i went down when that happened and

00:51:32.150 --> 00:51:37.850
watched that and just kind of giggled like yeah this was really cool but but

00:51:37.850 --> 00:51:41.910
it's been great i mean it's it's turned into a thing where i've always i've

00:51:41.910 --> 00:51:43.930
never asked them for anything i've.

00:51:45.281 --> 00:51:48.981
You know, it's just, if, if I get a call from Jay or one of his people,

00:51:49.181 --> 00:51:54.681
I'll drop everything and handle it just because I'm such a supporter of what they've got going on.

00:51:54.841 --> 00:51:58.881
I think he's the patron saint of the whole collector car world.

00:51:59.381 --> 00:52:04.461
You know, it's like, he's, he's the Pope and the garage is the Vatican.

00:52:04.761 --> 00:52:06.681
Right. And you go there and see this place.

00:52:07.061 --> 00:52:11.281
I had that. That's why I had to ask. I wasn't going to let you get away without,

00:52:11.281 --> 00:52:12.941
without asking about Jay Leno,

00:52:13.141 --> 00:52:18.581
just because, you know, anybody that's a, a car enthusiast at any point in their

00:52:18.581 --> 00:52:24.401
life is going to intersect with knowing that he's a mastermind in, in the car world.

00:52:24.681 --> 00:52:28.661
And then when you, like you said, when you hear him and see him and see the

00:52:28.661 --> 00:52:32.161
passion and the enthusiasm talking about cars and explaining them and,

00:52:32.281 --> 00:52:35.281
you know, do you can just tell, I mean, it's just, it's just,

00:52:35.401 --> 00:52:36.941
but so yeah, I just, you know,

00:52:37.181 --> 00:52:39.281
I had to, I had to ask, I had to ask what he was looking at.

00:52:39.301 --> 00:52:41.501
Like, but cool, man. Thanks again, brother.

00:52:42.181 --> 00:52:46.301
Yeah, no, thank you. That was, that was great. I look forward to watching that

00:52:46.301 --> 00:52:50.761
or listening to the podcast and, and definitely we'll boot it out there and

00:52:50.761 --> 00:52:52.381
share it with as many people as possible.

00:52:52.821 --> 00:52:57.401
Awesome, man. Thank you. And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:52:57.781 --> 00:53:01.461
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:53:01.461 --> 00:53:03.501
the people in the dubs that drive their dreams.

00:53:03.801 --> 00:53:08.321
If you love today's episode, Don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:53:08.321 --> 00:53:09.641
so you never miss an adventure.

00:53:09.941 --> 00:53:14.601
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dove life? Awesome.

00:53:14.921 --> 00:53:18.781
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries.

00:53:19.041 --> 00:53:21.721
Or shoot me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:53:22.561 --> 00:53:27.481
DoveLifeDiaries at gmail.com. Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:53:27.481 --> 00:53:32.221
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you. This is Joe Person.

00:53:32.401 --> 00:53:35.361
I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride.

00:53:36.720 --> 00:54:32.173
Music.