Episode 6 - Classic VW Bugs with Chris Vallone

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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, folks, today we've got a killer episode lined up for you.

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If you're a VW nut, a classic car junkie, or just somebody who appreciates pure

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craftsmanship, get comfy because this episode is for you.

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My guest today is Chris Vallone, the mastermind behind classic VW bugs.

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This dude isn't just restoring old beetles.

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He's bringing them back to life like the day they rolled off the factory floor

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in Wolfsburg With over 167,000 YouTube subscribers and a worldwide following,

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Chris has turned his passion into an art form, a business, and a movement.

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Now, we're going to talk to Chris today about how he got into the air-cooled

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life, his craziest restoration stories, the do's and don'ts of bringing a classic

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VW back to life, and maybe, if there's time, even get into the big debate on electric conversions.

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So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let's dive in with the one and only

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Chris Vallone. Chris, welcome to the show.

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Thank you, man. This is awesome. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, thank you so much,

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man. And by the way, happy belated birthday.

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I saw you just said it just a couple of days ago. Yes, sir.

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Where is the time going? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know either.

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All right. Before we get into the world of vintage VWs, which obviously this

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podcast is about, I do want to take a step back and ask you,

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if you were not restoring classic

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Volkswagens for a living, what do you think you'd be doing instead?

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Yeah, probably would have became like maybe a teacher or something,

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an art teacher, or found some other online internet business model.

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You know, I grew up around entrepreneurs. My oldest sister has a restaurant

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for 40 years and right outside West Point.

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My dad had a landscaping company. He was also NYPD for a while, so he did both.

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He would just do overnights with the NYPD and then come home in the morning

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and do landscaping all day.

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So we come from a hardworking family. I got four sisters and parents,

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you know, just hit the grindstone and started working. So I probably would have

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figured another, you know, online business or something, or maybe became an

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art teacher or something like that. Yeah.

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Growing up like that, you are ingrained with what we call the hustler's mentality.

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Yeah. That's just 12 years old, man. 12 years old. My dad grabbed me.

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Come on, you're cutting lawns. I'm like with me. I'm like, oh, yeah.

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That's awesome. And something else I saw in your background,

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just doing some research on you was your background in film.

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Which is also really cool. I wanted to congratulate you on being selected for

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the Hollywood Film Festival for your film Hellbound Fugitive.

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Looks awesome, man. And yeah, congratulations on that.

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I appreciate it. That was the first dream. I went to school for art and cartooning

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and film. So I got a bachelor's of fine art. And when I got out of college,

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I did about 10 years of filmmaking.

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I wrote and directed and shot and produced my own stuff because I was poor, a starving artist.

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But in the background, the Beatle was a hobby. So at the end that 10 years,

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I'm like, all right, I got to start making money.

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So I grabbed the bug and combined the film background to showcase them.

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Excellent. It's all like a timing thing. And also it's where your heart's at.

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So good stuff, man. So we were touching on your family a little bit.

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Tell me more about your family for a sec.

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So parents from Brooklyn mom my mom's off the

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boat from Sicily so we got an Italian background my

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dad's half you know Italian he's got English and Irish

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in him my grandfather you know loved him

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to death my poppy Frank Vallone it was uh World War II so

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he was handy so I got kind of the handiness and the artisticness

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from him because he used to work on the planes and and when

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they came back from their bombing route you know or their fighting

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route he was a small guy and they wanted him to be in the ball terror gunner

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on the bottom of the bomber whoa and because he was he was small he was probably

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i don't know maybe five four five five hundred pounds something like that they

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used to put the small guys in there but to his advantage he got motion sickness.

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So they said yeah you can't go up there so why don't you just stay down here

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work on the planes when they come back and so that's what he did so i got kind

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of the mechanical background from him My dad too, very mechanical.

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He worked in a mechanic shop back in Brooklyn, but he worked on mostly muscle cars, not the Beetle.

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I guess he told me, you know, since doing the landscaping company that the Beetle

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engine is one step up from a lawnmower engine that he'd be able to show me.

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But he knew the basics of brakes and mechanicals and things like that.

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I more like the cosmetics. So with my art background, showing the color contrasting,

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picking the right colors, picking the right interiors, that kind of thing.

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My four sisters they're academic my oldest

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sister is very entrepreneurial she's got her own restaurant for 40 years

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my two youngest sisters are math teachers i was the oddball i

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was an artist i was drawing cartoons looney tune cartoons and things like that

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so they would look at me like what is he doing you know so yeah and i didn't

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go to school for i don't know any mechanics i used to work on the little rc

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cars behind me and i still bring them back to life so i i used to tinker so

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I'm good with tinkering and good with little things.

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Yeah. I got a son that tinkers. Just one out of five. I got one son that's always

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liked the tinkering stuff.

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He was even into Traxxas and the whole RC stuff. Yeah, yeah.

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He was a little younger. Yeah. Awesome, man.

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Thank you for sharing that background with me. So your shop,

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Classic VW Bugs, it's kind of become a go-to name in the air cool world.

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When was the moment that you think you realized, look, this might be more than

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just a passion. This actually could be my career.

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Oh man, it was, we were out of the, this community we were living in,

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kind of like a gated community in Haverstraw called the Harbors at Haverstraw.

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It was kind of like a resort looking type place on the Hudson River, beautiful place.

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And there was a one car garage in there and we started doing the bugs in that garage.

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And I think the first year with, you know, buying and selling on eBay and,

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you know, jazzing them up to make them look better, not full restorations,

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like we would buy them and really maybe change an interior, put white walls,

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that kind of thing or a little look.

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And we did like 13 that first year.

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And it was amazing. We kept doing road trips every month. So it was a lot of

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fun. It was a good bonding time with my dad too.

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Oh, cool. And it was at the end where I put up a 54 Beetle on eBay that we found like local.

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Someone tipped us off on this thing. This thing was covered in a guy's driveway.

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And this guy who was the first, the original owner was, he was an eccentric guy.

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He made like electronics and batteries and tubes and things like that.

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So you saw a couple of his experiments like inside this beetle,

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which was pretty funny. Wow.

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But that 54 was like the first early one that I ever worked on.

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And I never saw those little taillights before the single tailpipe, that kind of thing.

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And so when we put that up on eBay, I said that if this is the one,

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if this thing goes quick, we painted it. We did the interior body on Resto.

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If this goes quick, we got to get a shot.

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And sure enough, we put it up on eBay for a bite now. And in two days,

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that thing sold without even an offer.

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And it was Billy Joel Armstrong from Green Day bought it. Oh, dude.

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So between the timing of that and then the homeowners association coming through

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saying, you got to cut this out.

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Because at one time I had like 11 cars around the complex in all different stages.

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They're like, it's an HOA. This isn't a shop. Yeah, I can.

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That's totally what happened. And so that's right then. And then I said,

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okay, we got to get a shop because it's growing. And then, you know,

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getting phone calls with people saying, I don't want to bid on any of your cars anymore.

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Could you just build me one? And that's where I knew we were around to something.

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Okay. Good stuff, man. So everybody has that one car, especially,

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you know, the real true VW enthusiasts that kind of started all.

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What was your one car that started it all? And I'm curious, do you still own it?

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I don't know. I wish I, believe me, I wish I had back, but my first car,

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my first Beetle was summer of 99.

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I picked up a red 71 Super Beetle convertible and I didn't know what I was looking at.

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I just hit the eye candy pop because it was fire engine red and had a white

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top. And I'm like, oh, how cool would this be?

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I'm an artist with a bug driving to school, that kind of thing.

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I'll be the only cat in the parking lot with a Beetle.

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And sure enough, that was the one. And I cut my teeth on that.

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I owned that one for the longest. I think I owned that for a good eight years. Wow.

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Um, but you know, things happened to it.

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Gosh, I mean, the engine blew, had to get a new engine, needed heater channels,

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needed support rails, needed all that stuff. So I really cut my teeth on that one.

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So yeah, it was trials and tribulations and it's, it's, I'm glad it happened

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because it's a great learning experience.

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Yeah. So I've got a similar story and very close in the, in the year.

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So in 96, I bought a 72 just regular standard beetle, but it had an auto clutch.

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So I thought the coolest concept ever was to shift gears, you know, and not have a clutch.

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So I just thought that was so cool. And then, you know, I lived off of a brick

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roads. Every time it would rain, I'd put it low and I'd go do donuts.

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And, you know, I had all kinds of fun in that, in that little car,

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but same for me, I don't have it anymore.

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I wish I still did kind of started the whole, you know, vibe for me,

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a cruising down the road and a beetle.

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Yep. But yeah, man. So yeah, cool. Thanks for sharing that.

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So when you first got into, you know, the restoration side, were you mentored

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or inspired by anybody or were you kind of what you're saying?

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Did you just kind of figure it out yourself?

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Yeah, I guess it was basically a combination of, you know, my grandfather,

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a couple, you know, his skills being kind of influenced by him, my dad.

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And then, you know, in the beginning, we didn't have the internet.

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So much, right? You know, to, to, to find how to's.

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And I think people need to understand that too. You know, like we take a lot

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of this for granted, what we have at our fingertips today, you know,

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just with a smartphone. Right.

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But before that, you know, I still had a VCR or, or, or later on a DVD player.

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So I bought the, the Rick Higgins, how a bug me video series.

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And he, he was a huge mentor. I mean, and, and also the J bugs had tapes from,

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I think the nineties and it was like interior, interior restoration,

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exterior restoration, that kind of thing.

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And so just following those and VW trends magazine, hot VW's magazine,

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and just, that's what we look forward to every month, you know,

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what's the how to tip this month.

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And that's basically, and then just getting a car, making mistakes,

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learning on that mistake and making it better the next time out.

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Yeah. Awesome. Good attitude too. Cause that's usually what happens.

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I swear working on these cars, it's like making trips to home Depot.

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You know, you never, you know, you're going back four or five times that day.

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Yeah. And what's great about this car too, is that, you know,

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you can go to your local hardware store.

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I mean, we had a little mom and pop hardware store that this family has been around for 50 years.

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And so unlike home Depot, you know, you can go to talk to an associate there

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or, or, you know, someone who's working the floor there.

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And a lot of times they don't know what you're asking them. But if you go to

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a real mom and pop place and they've been in the business for so long and they're

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creative and they know how to improvise, I mean, gosh, there's so many hearts

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that I got from the local hardware store to improvise.

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To put stuff together for the BOS was really cool. And that's fun. It's like a hunt, right?

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It's like you're working on just a little pride and joy in the fact that you

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can go somewhere locally and just improvise and get creative sometimes.

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It's really cool. Yeah. Working on making it work.

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Yeah. Yeah. Totally. So starting a restoration business, I know,

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isn't just about loving cars.

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It's also almost about loving business.

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How did you learn how to do the business side? What was the hardest lesson that

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you had to learn early on? Getting audited.

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Yeah. I did not go to school for finance. I didn't go to school for business.

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And with my family, they gave me some tips and things, but I kind of really learned on my own.

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I thought I knew what I was doing and I wasn't keeping tight books and keeping tight numbers.

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And I got audited, not in a bad way. I mean, it was just, it was one discrepancy that I had.

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So any car that I restored for myself that year, I would put it in as advertising

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costs because I felt like I went to car shows and I was showing off the work.

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So I put those costs in as advertising costs and that kind of threw them a wrench and they didn't get it.

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So thankfully it wasn't a terrible audit.

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It did cost me, I don't know, my 13 grand or something like that,

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whatever it was, but it was the best education I got because from that point on,

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man, did I learn to keep books and spreadsheet and how to, you know, how to keep a budget.

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So that was, that was, that was the one lesson.

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And I'm actually very grateful for it because it made me a better business person.

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Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but in the get-go, if you're going to start

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into this, you know, do have some form of, you know, numbers,

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knowledge, or, you know, budget knowledge, you know, keeping a good spreadsheet.

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And it can be a very basic spreadsheet.

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You don't have to use QuickBooks. You can use Excel and just,

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you know, you keep everything in the line.

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And I keep on those books pretty much daily to weekly and, you know,

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just never want that to happen again.

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So, yeah, I think, I think what you said is valuable.

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You know, it, it, it exposes the, the side of business that most people detour

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from is, is understanding and knowing your numbers, knowing almost all the way

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down to like an hourly rate, et cetera.

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Those types of things are, are super important for, for business growth,

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but also for what you said for awareness.

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That's how you scale. You can't grow and scale if you don't have a fundamental

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awareness of the foundation of the business, all the numbers. So good stuff, man.

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Yeah. And there's some businesses I work with and I outsource my paintwork too.

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Sometimes if there's something in shop we can't work on at that time because

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we're too busy and I have to outsource maybe some metalwork or something.

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New York is a tough area too. For me, almost 20 years in the business up there,

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I kind of pat myself on the back because most businesses failed in the first five years up there.

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And when I see just even sometimes the receipt from a business and there's not

00:15:05.989 --> 00:15:09.689
even a letterhead on it, to me, I'm like, all right,

00:15:09.969 --> 00:15:13.689
it's the little things like that, that you know, something's not right.

00:15:13.689 --> 00:15:15.949
You know, they're not running something right here.

00:15:16.069 --> 00:15:18.969
And I see it then down the line as I keep working with them.

00:15:19.049 --> 00:15:21.869
I'm like, why are you doing it? How are you still in business acting,

00:15:22.209 --> 00:15:24.549
performing like, you know, so

00:15:24.549 --> 00:15:29.729
just little things like that, the little details, you know, you can see.

00:15:29.929 --> 00:15:33.729
But and once you look at those little details, even going back to the car,

00:15:33.829 --> 00:15:38.149
it's the little details when you really start to see how something's operating.

00:15:38.149 --> 00:15:43.369
You know, it's, you know, it's not for everybody. and a lot of times they do

00:15:43.369 --> 00:15:46.329
put the business side of things, the number side of things on the side.

00:15:46.609 --> 00:15:50.969
Yeah. But I think in the end, you got to harp on that because it's important.

00:15:51.649 --> 00:15:55.309
Yeah, it's most important. To stay in business, you have to be aware,

00:15:55.629 --> 00:15:56.489
have to know your number.

00:15:57.049 --> 00:16:01.289
So speaking of business, let's touch on and explain some of the services that

00:16:01.289 --> 00:16:04.309
you provide on ClassicVWBugs.com.

00:16:04.549 --> 00:16:09.469
Just for the listeners that don't know, which is probably few and far between,

00:16:09.469 --> 00:16:14.689
I'm sure a lot of them know you, but you got build a bug, find a bug, buy a bug, and sell a bug.

00:16:14.849 --> 00:16:19.189
So back up to the top, let's talk about build a bug. Just tell me real quick,

00:16:19.349 --> 00:16:21.969
what is this and what services are offered here?

00:16:22.629 --> 00:16:26.269
That's the full restoration service. So build a bug is when somebody calls me

00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:32.289
and says, man, I was born in 66, 67, and I want you to either find me a 66 or

00:16:32.289 --> 00:16:34.549
67, or I have one in my family already.

00:16:34.889 --> 00:16:38.589
Can you restore it for me? And I want it to showroom condition.

00:16:39.369 --> 00:16:45.289
Wow. Okay. Fantastic. So build a bug, it's truly whatever they want,

00:16:45.409 --> 00:16:47.449
you can build it type thing. Yep.

00:16:47.889 --> 00:16:51.529
Okay. So find a bug. Tell me what this is and what's offered here.

00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:56.469
So that's something where a person who can't afford a build a bug,

00:16:56.589 --> 00:16:59.669
this build a bug restoration can get high in costs.

00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:04.609
But this is like really centered around someone who's 15 grand mark,

00:17:04.829 --> 00:17:07.669
25 grand mark, 30, 35, maybe 40.

00:17:07.929 --> 00:17:12.169
And they want a good looking bug that I didn't restore, but something that I

00:17:12.169 --> 00:17:14.309
can search for them across the world web.

00:17:14.729 --> 00:17:19.869
And I act as their agent to say, to ask these sellers the hard questions.

00:17:20.229 --> 00:17:24.129
And I know what to look for, the little details before we go purchasing.

00:17:24.129 --> 00:17:28.569
We might send an inspector if it's an out-of-state job car to go look at it

00:17:28.569 --> 00:17:30.809
for us and get a full breakdown of the car.

00:17:31.229 --> 00:17:35.309
And then our services, if we do go with the purchase, the car comes to our shop

00:17:35.309 --> 00:17:38.089
and we do a full inspection on it.

00:17:38.169 --> 00:17:41.309
Because, you know, these cars are never 100%. There's always something not working.

00:17:41.409 --> 00:17:43.429
The horn's not working. The blinkers aren't working right.

00:17:43.809 --> 00:17:47.549
Maybe there's a stutter, you know, a tune-up or something. So I like to make

00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:48.889
those cars turnkey for them.

00:17:49.427 --> 00:17:53.027
And then it gets shipped out to them. So someone who's a little more budget

00:17:53.027 --> 00:17:55.927
conscious, but just wants a good looking car and ready to go.

00:17:56.687 --> 00:18:02.807
Okay. And that's find a bug. So let's talk about buy a bug, another avenue.

00:18:03.547 --> 00:18:07.507
Yeah. So if I have a car for sale, if I'm selling anything that's in my list,

00:18:07.647 --> 00:18:13.347
we come across cars or somebody comes to me and say, hey, can you help me sell this car?

00:18:13.547 --> 00:18:17.367
I'll put that on my site and then people can buy a bug through me.

00:18:18.007 --> 00:18:23.747
Okay. And then lastly, there's sell a bug, which I'm going to predict this is, I can sell your car.

00:18:24.587 --> 00:18:27.347
That's a, yeah, exactly. Like a consignment service. So, you know,

00:18:27.447 --> 00:18:30.787
we have a good social following, you know, and a lot of times I can put a car

00:18:30.787 --> 00:18:34.767
up for sale just on my website or just posting it on social media and like one,

00:18:34.867 --> 00:18:39.687
two days it's gone because we got a good targeted audience and people know what we, what we sell.

00:18:39.747 --> 00:18:45.407
And I kind of vet to the, the owners, I rarely put up a car that needs a ton

00:18:45.407 --> 00:18:48.887
of work or needs restoration and that kind of thing.

00:18:48.967 --> 00:18:51.927
We're pretty much going to be selling a car that's ready to go, turnkey.

00:18:52.247 --> 00:18:57.267
And we also do inspect that car and go through repairs prior to selling it.

00:18:57.447 --> 00:19:00.247
So this is a problem with this guy's car. Yeah.

00:19:00.887 --> 00:19:04.687
You're putting your name and everything on it. It's going to be what they can count on.

00:19:05.267 --> 00:19:09.687
Right. Yeah. And then what I'm going into now, what we'll touch on later,

00:19:09.787 --> 00:19:15.367
of course, is I put a bunch of money and time into this new feature on my site

00:19:15.367 --> 00:19:16.487
and it's going to be auctions.

00:19:17.347 --> 00:19:21.607
So just air-cooled Volkswagen auction. So if someone wants to sell a car through

00:19:21.607 --> 00:19:25.007
me, I'm going to be putting it up on an auction, but I want to keep the human

00:19:25.007 --> 00:19:26.107
element involved in this.

00:19:26.187 --> 00:19:29.447
So people could still pick up the phone and call me and ask me questions about

00:19:29.447 --> 00:19:31.127
this car that's currently on auction.

00:19:31.647 --> 00:19:36.427
Or we can do a live Q and a, like we're doing something like this and talk with

00:19:36.427 --> 00:19:38.927
the owner about the car to kind of keep this human element.

00:19:39.047 --> 00:19:43.167
I know we're using internet, you know, every tech, every day.

00:19:43.387 --> 00:19:46.807
And I feel like the impersonalization is just kind of, it's just getting so

00:19:46.807 --> 00:19:49.987
big and I want to keep personalization involved.

00:19:50.387 --> 00:19:54.987
Yeah, no, that's, that's a great touch. So a lot of people know you through,

00:19:54.987 --> 00:19:58.407
obviously your YouTube, tons of, tons of followers there.

00:19:58.507 --> 00:20:00.707
Do you remember the first video that you ever uploaded?

00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:05.599
I actually had a check last night and the first video I think was a white 67

00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:08.239
that I posted for an eBay auction.

00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:15.919
Okay. So I wasn't thinking as YouTube as the promoter yet or the marketing tool just yet.

00:20:15.919 --> 00:20:21.179
I was just using it to, you know, house the video so I can embed it into the

00:20:21.179 --> 00:20:23.939
eBay auction, which was very new at the time.

00:20:24.219 --> 00:20:30.479
EBay was just getting into that. prior to that i actually had to upload the

00:20:30.479 --> 00:20:34.619
video to my server and then embed it into the ebay code,

00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:38.619
wow the html code to do that so they weren't implementing

00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:42.259
youtube stuff just yet but that that white 67 i

00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:45.759
remember i think we bought that car from florida and shipped it up and did some

00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:50.719
fixes to it and then which resold it so yeah that was the first one but the

00:20:50.719 --> 00:20:55.419
first like how to was a few just a few videos after and i think it had to it

00:20:55.419 --> 00:20:59.319
was in my with the one car garage where we started. And I was talking about the shifter.

00:20:59.959 --> 00:21:03.139
And you got an amazing audience.

00:21:03.439 --> 00:21:07.719
I know your content, super detailed. It's clear, obviously, even now asking

00:21:07.719 --> 00:21:12.159
about your background and your family, it's clear that you care about educating people.

00:21:12.339 --> 00:21:17.259
What do you think sets your videos apart from other restoration channels?

00:21:18.479 --> 00:21:24.159
I guess maybe just being down to earth, just being humble and the way I am in

00:21:24.159 --> 00:21:26.259
life is the way I am right here on the camera.

00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:29.939
I, I don't put on an act. I just want to be genuine.

00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:35.819
And, you know, we, we had some networks come to us like Netflix and we sat with

00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:40.519
some people, Spike TV, the Discovery Channel, uh, all that kind of stuff to do a show.

00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:46.939
And, you know, they all reject, they all rejected us because we didn't do drama.

00:21:47.479 --> 00:21:51.899
I wasn't going to be like the, the, the, the, uh, the choppers where I'm screaming

00:21:51.899 --> 00:21:55.099
at my father and cursing at him and throwing wrenches at him. Yeah.

00:21:56.679 --> 00:21:59.539
Not our vibe not our vibe and i

00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:02.499
i get it that's that's the drama that's that's the

00:22:02.499 --> 00:22:05.459
pull that's what sells tickets but i just

00:22:05.459 --> 00:22:11.199
i couldn't do that to my dad and so with my videos i try to just come off genuine

00:22:11.199 --> 00:22:16.379
and just you know i'm not here to showboat really you know well i think that's

00:22:16.379 --> 00:22:22.059
probably what what what i can say sells probably the best right is just real

00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:23.679
human element yeah Yeah.

00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:27.819
Real, you know, no, no fake. No, you know, I mean, I'm all right with being

00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:30.419
prepared and stuff, but yeah, I'm the same way.

00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:35.959
I'm, I'm a, I'm a real dude as well. And I think that's, that's probably nature of why I do what I do.

00:22:36.019 --> 00:22:38.779
And I, and I, and I'm successful with it. I'm just a real dude.

00:22:39.399 --> 00:22:42.539
I think so. And that's, that's where the longevity comes in.

00:22:42.679 --> 00:22:46.599
You know, there's no, cause that going that other route, I mean, you, you have your high.

00:22:47.231 --> 00:22:52.471
But then you can crash, man. I mean, you can be a complete sellout and then

00:22:52.471 --> 00:22:55.271
that kind of trend phases out or whatever.

00:22:55.471 --> 00:22:59.171
But I think when you just stay true to your roots, then you just have that gradual

00:22:59.171 --> 00:23:01.511
incline and everything goes smoothly.

00:23:01.631 --> 00:23:06.131
You're not this overnight success, that kind of thing. It's a marathon, right?

00:23:06.371 --> 00:23:10.491
Yes. I see a lot of YouTube personalities that see success on there.

00:23:10.591 --> 00:23:13.591
That's what they talk about. A, just stay consistent.

00:23:14.691 --> 00:23:18.051
You're not going to be an overnight success. It just stay consistent.

00:23:18.411 --> 00:23:21.531
And that's what, you know, followers engage with.

00:23:21.651 --> 00:23:25.731
But speaking on, on YouTube, has there ever been a time where you thought,

00:23:25.991 --> 00:23:27.791
you know, maybe I'm done with this?

00:23:27.931 --> 00:23:30.811
You know, have you been frustrated yourself with, with YouTube?

00:23:30.971 --> 00:23:31.931
What, what keeps you going?

00:23:32.951 --> 00:23:36.591
The people keep me going. That's one thing. I mean, my audience keeps me going.

00:23:36.791 --> 00:23:40.071
And the fact that I get, you know, about three hours of, you know,

00:23:40.631 --> 00:23:45.211
texts or mail a day through my global, like the international audience.

00:23:45.411 --> 00:23:49.111
So like I start in the morning and I get a ton of email and a lot of it's questions

00:23:49.111 --> 00:23:51.791
through Facebook and YouTube and Instagram.

00:23:51.811 --> 00:23:56.071
And I'm trying to respond to all, I'm not really like the one guy that does

00:23:56.071 --> 00:23:58.671
all this. Man, full-time gig.

00:23:59.111 --> 00:24:04.111
It is. Yeah, it really is. You know, part of my, you know, where I'm at with

00:24:04.111 --> 00:24:09.431
my business right now is I'm doing all this behind the screen clerical work now.

00:24:09.551 --> 00:24:14.091
I rarely work on the cars anymore because I'm running the business,

00:24:14.271 --> 00:24:16.071
the back end of it all. Yeah, exactly.

00:24:16.491 --> 00:24:18.971
Yeah, it's the boring stuff, to be honest with you.

00:24:19.411 --> 00:24:23.711
I'd love to be back in there and, you know, finding a gem and tinkering with it.

00:24:24.251 --> 00:24:26.671
And I know people say, why don't you hire someone? But I guess,

00:24:26.811 --> 00:24:30.211
I don't know, just the way we were raised, I don't know.

00:24:30.711 --> 00:24:33.811
Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of times where, you know, because YouTube,

00:24:33.871 --> 00:24:35.291
again, is a rollercoaster ride.

00:24:35.811 --> 00:24:38.611
You know, it's very hard to track that algorithm. And, you know,

00:24:38.611 --> 00:24:41.891
I try to keep up with the gurus and stuff out there. but what they say sometimes

00:24:41.891 --> 00:24:43.171
is already six months old.

00:24:43.591 --> 00:24:48.271
Uh, so you might try some implementation of techniques and I've even hired some

00:24:48.271 --> 00:24:50.251
people to help me out and see what they think.

00:24:50.391 --> 00:24:53.871
And they're like, nah, man, just keep doing it. It's just YouTube. It's what it is.

00:24:53.971 --> 00:24:58.571
And, but yeah, there's times because doing that, making videos every week,

00:24:59.051 --> 00:25:04.071
especially the, what the how-tos and some of those how-tos I was doing were like nine, 10 chapters.

00:25:04.071 --> 00:25:09.831
I mean, it would take me sometimes a month to do a whole series and to edit

00:25:09.831 --> 00:25:12.571
it and to do everything right.

00:25:13.071 --> 00:25:16.031
And then, gosh, when you put the video up and maybe it does okay,

00:25:16.311 --> 00:25:18.131
it doesn't go crazy viral.

00:25:18.411 --> 00:25:21.071
Sometimes it get a little frustrating. So there were a few times,

00:25:21.151 --> 00:25:24.331
I think I did take a break one time for like six months and,

00:25:24.798 --> 00:25:28.658
And then everybody thought I vanished off the planet. You know,

00:25:28.798 --> 00:25:31.158
everyone thinks they're used to your consistency. Yeah.

00:25:31.858 --> 00:25:35.038
Yeah. Did you die? Did you go out of business? Is everything okay?

00:25:35.258 --> 00:25:38.958
And I'm like, oh, fine. Everything's good. You know, we're just so. And it was funny.

00:25:39.198 --> 00:25:43.498
The six months I took off. I mean, our business did so, so well.

00:25:43.718 --> 00:25:46.978
I mean, it's, I almost felt like at one point, God, I don't need,

00:25:47.058 --> 00:25:48.558
I don't need the YouTube.

00:25:48.718 --> 00:25:52.718
I don't need to be putting so much time into it anymore because we're still,

00:25:52.838 --> 00:25:54.458
we're still doing really well here.

00:25:54.858 --> 00:25:58.078
And thankfully, you know, a lot of our content is evergreen.

00:25:58.958 --> 00:26:02.278
So I'm not a channel like a tech channel where, you know, you put a video out

00:26:02.278 --> 00:26:03.998
today and it's obsolete next week.

00:26:04.138 --> 00:26:07.918
If you're doing a phone review or something or, you know, my headliner videos

00:26:07.918 --> 00:26:10.278
from 10, 12 years ago are still relevant today.

00:26:10.318 --> 00:26:12.978
You can go back to those and still use the same techniques.

00:26:13.438 --> 00:26:16.638
Yes. You know, so thankfully I got a channel like that.

00:26:16.738 --> 00:26:22.278
And, but yeah, it's, this time was frustrating, but then I keep saying to myself, you know what?

00:26:22.378 --> 00:26:27.718
Life's too short. But if I keep harping on this, you go insane because YouTube

00:26:27.718 --> 00:26:29.638
is a beast. Google, that is a beast.

00:26:30.218 --> 00:26:33.818
And I just keep throwing content out just to make everybody,

00:26:33.818 --> 00:26:37.338
I want everyone to still feel we're all connected. Yeah, yeah.

00:26:37.758 --> 00:26:41.298
It's a nice little beautiful world. We're a niche. That's all.

00:26:41.718 --> 00:26:44.838
May never get a million subscribers. May never get half a million subscribers.

00:26:45.138 --> 00:26:51.358
But in the end, I've met some of the most amazing people through it.

00:26:51.558 --> 00:26:53.018
That's what you said, man. And it's about the people.

00:26:53.318 --> 00:26:57.598
So back to the car, back to the cars, not all restorations are created equal.

00:26:57.738 --> 00:27:01.278
When somebody says to you, this car has been fully restored,

00:27:01.318 --> 00:27:02.898
what are some of the first things

00:27:02.898 --> 00:27:06.358
that you look at to tell if it's really been done or even done right?

00:27:07.478 --> 00:27:10.958
It's the little detail. So like a first is, you know, when you look at paint,

00:27:11.218 --> 00:27:15.918
the things that might, that make me cringe when someone says it's a full quote

00:27:15.918 --> 00:27:17.378
unquote body off restoration.

00:27:17.878 --> 00:27:19.978
And then you see the fender beads are painted over.

00:27:20.578 --> 00:27:23.638
You see over spray on the

00:27:23.638 --> 00:27:26.678
seals over spray on the check rod seals and

00:27:26.678 --> 00:27:31.738
the jams or the door switch seal you know the little details or the rubber bracket

00:27:31.738 --> 00:27:34.918
seals are painted over that kind of thing you know they didn't take everything

00:27:34.918 --> 00:27:39.998
apart right so that's that's the first thing that you see is the paint work

00:27:39.998 --> 00:27:43.438
and like anything else when you start looking at the little nooks and crannies

00:27:43.438 --> 00:27:45.718
and little details that are, you know,

00:27:45.938 --> 00:27:50.198
simply not taking the rubber off and putting a new rubber back on.

00:27:50.994 --> 00:27:56.334
That right there tells you, you know, it's a telltale sign. What's a small detail

00:27:56.334 --> 00:28:02.514
in restorations that I'd say most people overlook, but you guys make sure you always get it right?

00:28:03.054 --> 00:28:08.194
Yeah, it's, say, coming down to where you put the right factory sticker.

00:28:08.854 --> 00:28:11.254
Say, on the coil, fan shroud.

00:28:11.254 --> 00:28:15.334
Again, the little details and the little grommets, you know,

00:28:15.534 --> 00:28:19.794
the bumper bracket seals, the bolts that hold the bumpers on,

00:28:19.914 --> 00:28:23.734
the bolts that hold your fenders on, your beads, all that little stuff.

00:28:23.874 --> 00:28:25.874
You know, if you're looking at all those little details, you know,

00:28:25.934 --> 00:28:31.734
when someone puts L-5-1 sticker in their, you know, trunk right by the brake

00:28:31.734 --> 00:28:34.314
reservoir where it's supposed to be, right by the gas tank, you know,

00:28:34.374 --> 00:28:35.774
it's little details like that.

00:28:35.914 --> 00:28:39.554
Then, you know, someone was very conscientious and took their time.

00:28:40.134 --> 00:28:43.454
Because in the end i know we want to get these things done overnight you

00:28:43.454 --> 00:28:46.554
know we live in amazon world today and everything's dropped everything's

00:28:46.554 --> 00:28:49.534
you know shipped to your door in a few hours but yeah here now

00:28:49.534 --> 00:28:52.234
this is art this is an intricate thing and you should

00:28:52.234 --> 00:28:55.234
take your time and when you see that when you

00:28:55.234 --> 00:28:58.454
see those little details like that that's what

00:28:58.454 --> 00:29:01.474
that's what i i really like seeing you know like i

00:29:01.474 --> 00:29:04.214
said even just simply is looking in the door jam and making

00:29:04.214 --> 00:29:07.114
sure those hinge plug hinge plugs are not painted

00:29:07.114 --> 00:29:10.094
over you know and the door check rod seals and

00:29:10.094 --> 00:29:12.874
then little things like that and the door seals the scrape with the door

00:29:12.874 --> 00:29:15.494
scrapers you know a lot of times people don't want to do

00:29:15.494 --> 00:29:18.834
those door scrapers but this is a pain in the butt you know i got videos on

00:29:18.834 --> 00:29:23.614
that but if you see that done because doors are they could be tough for people

00:29:23.614 --> 00:29:29.894
to do you know but the outside door scraper is the first thing that gets put

00:29:29.894 --> 00:29:33.074
in so if they change that and that looks good.

00:29:33.214 --> 00:29:36.614
They had to take the whole door apart to do that. So that's a good.

00:29:37.394 --> 00:29:42.194
Yeah, good, good, good touch there. On the car, you probably worked on so many

00:29:42.194 --> 00:29:47.054
cars over the years. Is there a personal favorite build that you can remember?

00:29:48.267 --> 00:29:51.687
Like eight of them. Eight to 10. Oh my gosh.

00:29:51.867 --> 00:29:55.127
I mean, even the one I have right now, which is a great story,

00:29:55.307 --> 00:29:56.847
this 54 convertible that I own.

00:29:57.167 --> 00:30:02.027
Ooh. I love it. You know, I got this car probably over 10 years ago and I have

00:30:02.027 --> 00:30:05.067
the video online where we found it.

00:30:05.247 --> 00:30:07.507
Well, we actually didn't find it. The family called me.

00:30:07.987 --> 00:30:13.747
The son called me, said my mom just passed away and I have her 54 convertible

00:30:13.747 --> 00:30:15.347
that she bought new in 54.

00:30:16.307 --> 00:30:21.567
And I'm like, wait, what? You know, and only in Connecticut,

00:30:21.807 --> 00:30:24.867
you know, we drove over there and it was all intact, unrestored,

00:30:24.987 --> 00:30:28.047
had little flower power stickers on it, but still had the egg taillights in

00:30:28.047 --> 00:30:29.787
the back and it was all numbers matching.

00:30:30.107 --> 00:30:32.987
And I remember buying that car and I sat on it for maybe eight,

00:30:33.087 --> 00:30:36.327
10 years because people were like, no, it's only original ones, just leave it.

00:30:37.047 --> 00:30:40.607
And, but I just, I felt like it needed his glory because the rails were all

00:30:40.607 --> 00:30:43.087
rotted. The wood was all rotted in the frame. I was like, this is,

00:30:43.187 --> 00:30:44.827
this is time to do this car.

00:30:45.347 --> 00:30:49.147
So that was a very special one. And my Zwitter, my 52 Zwitter,

00:30:49.287 --> 00:30:51.767
I miss, found that out of Minneapolis.

00:30:52.287 --> 00:30:56.227
And I think I was only maybe the second or third owner from that one, which was really cool.

00:30:56.507 --> 00:31:00.627
Yeah. Yeah. So I missed that one. Another 54 ragtop that I had.

00:31:00.727 --> 00:31:03.127
I mean, it is a bunch, but. Yeah, I figured. Yeah.

00:31:03.387 --> 00:31:05.747
They all have stories, man. And they're all different.

00:31:06.247 --> 00:31:09.527
Right. Right. Yeah. Well, that's why they all get names and,

00:31:09.527 --> 00:31:10.767
you know, and everything too.

00:31:10.927 --> 00:31:14.787
You know, they almost have a vibe that comes with them too, you know. Exactly.

00:31:15.287 --> 00:31:18.767
Sometimes you even have to wait till you meet the car before you can even think

00:31:18.767 --> 00:31:21.147
about naming it, you know? No doubt. Yeah.

00:31:22.087 --> 00:31:26.007
So flip side, has there ever been a project where maybe even halfway through

00:31:26.007 --> 00:31:28.487
you thought, oh my goodness, what'd I get myself into?

00:31:29.147 --> 00:31:34.127
Yeah. One of the first projects, I think probably like our second project that I picked up.

00:31:34.607 --> 00:31:41.247
So 68, I was dating somebody a while back and then a few towns over in her apartment

00:31:41.247 --> 00:31:44.547
complex. There was a Beetle just sitting in the parking lot.

00:31:44.687 --> 00:31:49.587
Again, it was just sunk, you know, flat tires, all beat up looking.

00:31:49.587 --> 00:31:52.507
And I drove in with my 71 convertible at the time.

00:31:52.567 --> 00:31:56.007
And the guy stuck his head out the window. He's like, hey, that's my car if you want it.

00:31:57.044 --> 00:32:00.304
You know, $350 later, you think, oh, it's nothing. That's great.

00:32:00.784 --> 00:32:04.024
And it was the first real project that I bought. I said, this is something I

00:32:04.024 --> 00:32:05.124
want to work on with my dad.

00:32:05.764 --> 00:32:08.984
And I remember bringing that home and he was like, what are you doing?

00:32:09.584 --> 00:32:12.424
What is this? It's an eyesore, you know? But sure enough,

00:32:12.724 --> 00:32:17.004
when we found out we had to do heater channels on that, and it was like our

00:32:17.004 --> 00:32:21.164
first time really doing heater channels and floors, and this was a complete

00:32:21.164 --> 00:32:25.624
abomination kind of a car, that was like the first time where I felt like, oh, man.

00:32:25.624 --> 00:32:28.424
And, you know, you think it's cheap, 350 bucks.

00:32:28.564 --> 00:32:31.504
And I hear these stories all the time. People are like, oh, I bought this car for a thousand bucks.

00:32:31.644 --> 00:32:34.024
It's a great car. And then they bring it to me to look at. And I'm like,

00:32:34.184 --> 00:32:36.644
if you sneeze, this thing's going to blow apart.

00:32:37.264 --> 00:32:41.924
You know, I know it's enticing to pay the cheap amount up front,

00:32:42.084 --> 00:32:44.984
but then just down the line, what you got to throw into it.

00:32:45.164 --> 00:32:48.804
And that's what I started seeing on that project was like all the money throwing into it.

00:32:49.044 --> 00:32:54.844
You know, I don't do this professionally for work, meaning restore cars.

00:32:54.844 --> 00:33:00.604
But I did have an opportunity just last year. I came across the 67 split bus,

00:33:00.804 --> 00:33:02.584
which was original to St.

00:33:02.704 --> 00:33:05.364
Pete and I bought it and I got a good deal on it.

00:33:05.644 --> 00:33:11.304
And exactly what you mentioned. I had a couple of guys, a couple of local shops come over and look at it.

00:33:11.384 --> 00:33:15.024
I sent some videos to it, you know, frame everything to some other guys,

00:33:15.204 --> 00:33:18.284
you know, in Florida that obviously do this for work.

00:33:18.424 --> 00:33:22.244
And they were like, yeah, you're looking at, you know, X amount.

00:33:22.424 --> 00:33:24.524
I'm like, yeah, hold on.

00:33:24.844 --> 00:33:30.324
I thought I was getting a good deal. So yeah, man, I feel that when,

00:33:30.324 --> 00:33:35.384
when, when you say that, I feel that, uh, what, what, what, what's one of the wildest requests,

00:33:35.584 --> 00:33:40.824
customer requests that you guys have ever, ever had the wildest one pretty simple,

00:33:41.004 --> 00:33:44.324
but first I had to take a step back when he was requesting this was,

00:33:44.464 --> 00:33:49.744
I was restoring a 54 ragtop beetle for a client, a black one with the red interior.

00:33:50.204 --> 00:33:54.224
And in the end, when all said and done, no fluids in the car.

00:33:54.844 --> 00:33:57.884
So no gas, no brake fluid, nothing.

00:33:58.384 --> 00:34:03.824
He was just going to bring it home, put it in his kitchen and look at it and

00:34:03.824 --> 00:34:06.664
have espresso in the morning with his wife, with his other 30 car collection.

00:34:08.164 --> 00:34:11.604
Wow. That's it. No, wasn't going to run it.

00:34:11.864 --> 00:34:18.484
That is a pretty cool, basic, but still a wild request. Pretty cool, man. Yeah.

00:34:19.004 --> 00:34:21.784
There's always a debate in the community, right? Right.

00:34:21.944 --> 00:34:25.624
And that's the, you know, should we stay true to the roots, you know,

00:34:25.904 --> 00:34:30.144
the classic vibe or is there room for modern upgrades in these cars?

00:34:30.304 --> 00:34:32.004
Where do you stand with that topic?

00:34:32.811 --> 00:34:39.631
I'm all for, you know, upgrades. I'm not a huge, I don't put like dual carbs

00:34:39.631 --> 00:34:43.651
or, you know, 2110 kind of engines. I don't really lower my cars, that kind of thing.

00:34:43.971 --> 00:34:48.691
But if you want to have a daily driver and you want to put front disc brakes on, hell yeah.

00:34:48.991 --> 00:34:52.611
You know, if you want to upgrade to 12 volt, sure.

00:34:53.191 --> 00:34:56.431
Do it, man. You know, you want more comfortable seats. You want to go with those

00:34:56.431 --> 00:34:57.671
pro car seats or something.

00:34:57.671 --> 00:35:00.711
Right it's totally fine yeah i mean i'm someone

00:35:00.711 --> 00:35:03.891
that likes even upgrading the engine it's a

00:35:03.891 --> 00:35:06.531
bigger bore piston and cylinder maybe a mild upgrade in

00:35:06.531 --> 00:35:09.471
the cam or something you want to put a sportier muffler

00:35:09.471 --> 00:35:14.151
on with fatter pipes sure as long as to me as long as the car still looks the

00:35:14.151 --> 00:35:19.571
part and it's not a monstrosity i'm all for it you know i mean we even upgrade

00:35:19.571 --> 00:35:22.771
our interiors a little bit you know we use a lot of the tweed material from

00:35:22.771 --> 00:35:28.811
so fine in our stuff and that's it's a it's a very durable material. It's very forgiving.

00:35:29.291 --> 00:35:32.151
Putting headliners in with tweet material is really awesome.

00:35:32.331 --> 00:35:36.791
The quality is really nice. I know it wasn't original, but it still kind of looks vintage.

00:35:37.191 --> 00:35:39.351
So I'm all for stuff like that.

00:35:39.771 --> 00:35:47.571
I always feel that Beetle has elbow room for creativity that's not going to deviate from value.

00:35:48.071 --> 00:35:52.611
These aren't Duesenbergs. These aren't Bugattis, where they look at the tiny

00:35:52.611 --> 00:35:55.991
little details of even just your felt channel going up the window.

00:35:56.411 --> 00:36:00.191
You know, these are cars that if they look still killer and they're damn good

00:36:00.191 --> 00:36:04.791
and they're fun to drive, people still, you know, the value is still there.

00:36:05.111 --> 00:36:10.051
So yeah, I'm all for it. So there's another thought there in the community as

00:36:10.051 --> 00:36:12.691
well. And that's the topic on the electric conversions.

00:36:12.931 --> 00:36:14.911
Obviously today they're becoming

00:36:14.911 --> 00:36:19.971
more common. Would you ever consider a restoration project with electric?

00:36:20.991 --> 00:36:24.411
Totally. Yeah. We've been talking about it for, gosh, 10 years already.

00:36:24.551 --> 00:36:27.231
And one of our cars actually sold to his electric bunk.

00:36:27.823 --> 00:36:33.803
They converted the 64C blue that I restored, and they converted it to electric.

00:36:34.223 --> 00:36:37.263
And then I thought about getting into it. I figured, you know what,

00:36:37.283 --> 00:36:39.703
let's do it to a later Beetle, like a Super Beetle.

00:36:39.943 --> 00:36:43.683
I feel like the earlier Beetles should be left the way they are,

00:36:43.743 --> 00:36:45.503
like a 67 and earlier. That's just me.

00:36:46.603 --> 00:36:49.503
But it's still kind of costly to get the whole kit.

00:36:49.583 --> 00:36:54.283
If I'm not mistaken, is it still like $25,000, $30,000, $35,000 to get the whole

00:36:54.283 --> 00:36:57.163
battery and the motor and everything?

00:36:57.823 --> 00:37:02.543
If I'm not mistaken. And then I'm like, all right, now I'm just going over value

00:37:02.543 --> 00:37:03.943
on the Super Beetle at that point.

00:37:04.123 --> 00:37:07.643
So I think it's cool. I mean, hopefully if costs start to come down,

00:37:07.803 --> 00:37:09.303
it's a little more affordable for some people.

00:37:10.423 --> 00:37:16.703
Because again, this is a hobby. The average person that doesn't have a ton of

00:37:16.703 --> 00:37:18.243
money works on a Volkswagen.

00:37:18.543 --> 00:37:21.203
If that can come down and be more affordable, I'm all for it. That's cool.

00:37:21.703 --> 00:37:27.283
Yeah. Okay. So VW people in general are pretty much a different breed.

00:37:27.403 --> 00:37:31.263
Now I say that in a good way, but what's one of the best experiences that you've

00:37:31.263 --> 00:37:34.403
had just because you are a part of this community?

00:37:35.123 --> 00:37:40.803
Meeting some of the most interesting people in the world and becoming friends

00:37:40.803 --> 00:37:44.123
with them and them being even mentors of mine.

00:37:44.667 --> 00:37:48.507
So, I lost a great friend a few years ago, Vince Vespi.

00:37:48.787 --> 00:37:53.147
I met him at an early, geez, got to be 15 years ago at the first car show I

00:37:53.147 --> 00:37:56.227
went to. He's the original owner of a 65 Carman Ghia convertible.

00:37:56.807 --> 00:38:00.967
And his stories, the guy's been all over the world.

00:38:01.127 --> 00:38:03.827
I mean, he's the Dos Equis man, I called him, because he's the most interesting

00:38:03.827 --> 00:38:05.347
man in the world I ever met. Yeah.

00:38:05.947 --> 00:38:09.867
So, and just the camaraderie of it all. You know, I used to do dubs and coffee,

00:38:10.087 --> 00:38:15.047
open houses at my shop once a month just for the morning. and just the people

00:38:15.047 --> 00:38:17.327
I would meet from all over the world. Yeah.

00:38:17.867 --> 00:38:24.007
You know, the fact that like I have followers, you know, fly in, they don't even tell me.

00:38:24.447 --> 00:38:28.687
And the guy's from Singapore, the guy's from the Netherlands and they're knocking

00:38:28.687 --> 00:38:31.887
on my door. They want to visit the shop. You know, it's just, I'm like, wait, what?

00:38:32.327 --> 00:38:36.767
You know, it's, it's, it's wild, you know? So, and thankfully that's one good

00:38:36.767 --> 00:38:37.667
thing with the internet.

00:38:37.827 --> 00:38:42.587
You know, I'm able to reach out, you know, across the pond and touch with people.

00:38:42.587 --> 00:38:45.507
And these are regular, everyday people. Yeah.

00:38:45.827 --> 00:38:49.287
You know, pretty cool stuff. And, but it's always the stories,

00:38:49.587 --> 00:38:52.067
right? It's always about my dad had this.

00:38:52.247 --> 00:38:59.027
I mean, we went to a car show once and I had my 51 black split window at the time.

00:38:59.547 --> 00:39:04.587
And gosh, we got goosebumps on our, you know, my dad and I, when we were talking

00:39:04.587 --> 00:39:12.087
to this guy and I have some memorabilia with the car showing Hitler for Namporch.

00:39:12.087 --> 00:39:15.187
You know, it's the early KDF brochure It's the reproduction,

00:39:15.427 --> 00:39:19.587
you know I kind of keep it with the car to show at car shows Sure And sure enough,

00:39:19.687 --> 00:39:21.907
you know, swastika stickers on the back All that thing, you know,

00:39:21.987 --> 00:39:25.507
the emblem And this guy comes up to us, he's like, you see that?

00:39:25.967 --> 00:39:28.147
I had to keep that on me at all times.

00:39:29.075 --> 00:39:33.635
Who are you? You know, like, what are you talking about? And this guy pulled

00:39:33.635 --> 00:39:35.595
out his birth certificate in his wallet.

00:39:36.115 --> 00:39:39.235
He was part of Hitler's youth group. Whoa.

00:39:40.035 --> 00:39:43.995
And he pulled out his birth certificate and it had the swap and he still had

00:39:43.995 --> 00:39:48.455
it on him when he came to the show because it's so ingrained in his head.

00:39:48.575 --> 00:39:50.455
He's like, I always had to keep this on me.

00:39:51.175 --> 00:39:54.955
Wow. And just to hear his story, like I'm getting goosebumps now thinking of

00:39:54.955 --> 00:39:58.715
it. Me too. Just his voice and just to hear him talk.

00:39:58.975 --> 00:40:01.115
My dad and I were like, are you kidding?

00:40:01.635 --> 00:40:08.215
Like, so that's what's so interesting, you know, like who you meet in this car.

00:40:08.335 --> 00:40:12.035
I don't know if there's any other car that's got these stories. Amen.

00:40:13.275 --> 00:40:17.395
I hear that. I feel that too. Yeah, that was, that was awesome.

00:40:17.715 --> 00:40:20.835
So the classic car world is, is changing.

00:40:21.235 --> 00:40:25.015
Do you think that the younger generation is going to try to,

00:40:25.155 --> 00:40:27.715
you know, keep the air-cooled tradition alive?

00:40:28.475 --> 00:40:33.755
God, I hope so. Time will tell. I've been talking about this a while now because

00:40:33.755 --> 00:40:37.855
we got our boomers, we got guys our age that are still interested in the car.

00:40:37.995 --> 00:40:43.755
But when we eventually phase out, what's the interest going to be? Father time.

00:40:44.155 --> 00:40:50.095
Yeah, I hope so. And that's why I'm trying to start something to keep that going.

00:40:50.415 --> 00:40:53.395
You touched on it earlier. I'd love to start a coaching program.

00:40:53.395 --> 00:41:00.375
If any kid and his father wants to start a VW restoration business or something like that, call me.

00:41:00.575 --> 00:41:03.715
I'll help you out. I'll put you in the right direction, that kind of thing.

00:41:03.895 --> 00:41:07.935
Any sort of more teaching that I can do and spreading the historical message

00:41:07.935 --> 00:41:10.795
about the car, I really hope so.

00:41:11.735 --> 00:41:15.895
I don't want it to fall awake like the Model A and Model T.

00:41:16.115 --> 00:41:19.735
That generation is kind of gone. Yeah.

00:41:20.035 --> 00:41:24.695
And you could pick up a Model A, Model T so cheap right now because the demand for it is just not there.

00:41:24.975 --> 00:41:30.915
Right. Like it used to be. But I have hope because the Beetle was an international car, right?

00:41:31.075 --> 00:41:33.355
I mean, it was up until 2003 in Mexico.

00:41:33.755 --> 00:41:36.875
Right. So it still had its footprint around the globe.

00:41:37.775 --> 00:41:41.415
I really hope so. I don't know. I have no crystal ball, but I hope so.

00:41:41.775 --> 00:41:47.395
Yeah. So I was doing research on you and I saw something else that you're starting

00:41:47.395 --> 00:41:51.055
or a concept that you have. And it's a good time to touch on it now.

00:41:51.195 --> 00:41:55.235
But I saw that you're working on an animated series, which is like a father

00:41:55.235 --> 00:41:59.235
son rebuilding Beatles type, you know, animated. So cartoon.

00:41:59.515 --> 00:42:02.395
Tell me a little bit about your motivation to create something like that and

00:42:02.395 --> 00:42:03.835
maybe even some details on it.

00:42:04.733 --> 00:42:07.853
Yeah, I mean, I've gotten back into filmmaking recently. So,

00:42:08.053 --> 00:42:09.313
I mean, it's always been in my blood.

00:42:09.453 --> 00:42:12.313
And now with technology, the way it is with AI and things, you know,

00:42:12.393 --> 00:42:15.013
you're able to, as long as you still keep the human element involved.

00:42:15.173 --> 00:42:18.533
I know people think AI is, you know, you put in a prompt and everything,

00:42:18.553 --> 00:42:20.313
it just pops out. It's not the case.

00:42:20.733 --> 00:42:22.593
Yeah, you still got to do the work, man.

00:42:23.113 --> 00:42:27.073
You still got to write. I'm still writing these things. I'm still traditionally editing these things.

00:42:27.233 --> 00:42:31.293
But yeah, I put out a little short video last week on it. And I'm going to do

00:42:31.293 --> 00:42:35.053
one also with father-daughter. daughter and it's something I'm touching on.

00:42:35.193 --> 00:42:38.513
Yeah. I would love to do something maybe even on a weekly basis,

00:42:38.653 --> 00:42:41.753
even if it's just a couple of minutes and it's like one little section about

00:42:41.753 --> 00:42:43.613
the beetle father, son kind of thing.

00:42:43.913 --> 00:42:47.133
Cause to bring the family value back into this and, and, and,

00:42:47.413 --> 00:42:50.673
you know, cause the bonding I had with my dad is, was, was great.

00:42:51.033 --> 00:42:56.753
And I'll always remember this, you know, it's, it's, it's tattooed to my head,

00:42:57.053 --> 00:42:58.693
right. You know, that'll never leave me.

00:43:00.973 --> 00:43:04.373
And I think that we're kind of losing in some of today's day,

00:43:04.473 --> 00:43:08.193
but yeah, I'd love to, I'd love to continue doing that. I'm seeing how it's going.

00:43:08.353 --> 00:43:11.073
I'm seeing the comments, what people think, and it's been a great response.

00:43:11.253 --> 00:43:13.873
People do like the idea of it. Yeah. I watched that.

00:43:14.213 --> 00:43:18.393
I don't know if it was the first one or, but I watched that announcement that

00:43:18.393 --> 00:43:22.633
you had made talking about that and no joke, I'm watching it and I'm picturing

00:43:22.633 --> 00:43:24.133
myself with my five-year old.

00:43:24.273 --> 00:43:28.193
I'm like, damn, I got to get to work on some of this stuff with this little boy.

00:43:28.373 --> 00:43:32.313
So yeah, man, it kind of motivated me. I think it's a great, great idea.

00:43:33.033 --> 00:43:37.233
Yeah. Just get back to working with our hands again. You know, I love that.

00:43:37.313 --> 00:43:41.233
I mean, my, my first, my first experience working with my hands was on the little

00:43:41.233 --> 00:43:45.793
cars back here and building the car with my dad, the, you know,

00:43:45.973 --> 00:43:49.273
the, the little monster beetle or the black foot or the cloud buster,

00:43:49.693 --> 00:43:50.693
you know, in our basement.

00:43:50.853 --> 00:43:54.893
And we're tinkering with things and the beetles like a, just a bigger version

00:43:54.893 --> 00:43:57.413
of an RC car and just to be able to go with it.

00:43:57.413 --> 00:44:00.753
Telling you home home tools you're good

00:44:00.753 --> 00:44:03.473
yeah so for somebody that's just

00:44:03.473 --> 00:44:06.653
wanting to get into the restoration world either for a

00:44:06.653 --> 00:44:11.393
hobby or like you even said for a business what's a piece of advice that they

00:44:11.393 --> 00:44:17.533
should take to heart take your time do your homework don't harp on homework

00:44:17.533 --> 00:44:20.433
so much don't get information overload because there's a lot of overload now

00:44:20.433 --> 00:44:24.773
on the internet but just get your hands in there, get them dirty, make mistakes.

00:44:25.393 --> 00:44:30.033
Do not get frustrated if you make a mistake. It's all good, all part of the learning.

00:44:30.193 --> 00:44:34.633
And that makes you a better guy, a better builder. Just, you.

00:44:36.359 --> 00:44:39.099
It could be worse, right? There's worse things going on in the world.

00:44:39.179 --> 00:44:42.719
And the fact that you're working on a toy is really cool.

00:44:42.959 --> 00:44:47.659
Just look at it as a very humbling thing. It builds growth. It builds character.

00:44:48.239 --> 00:44:51.159
And just look at it that way. You know, it's organic. You're working with your

00:44:51.159 --> 00:44:54.119
hands. Get your hands cut. I got my hands cut. I don't know how many times.

00:44:54.479 --> 00:44:59.599
You know, it's all part of it. And don't worry about it. Just go take your time. You'll be all right.

00:44:59.799 --> 00:45:03.899
All right. I like that. I like that. So let's talk about what's coming up for

00:45:03.899 --> 00:45:08.439
Classic VW Bugs. Any new builds, any big projects, anything down the pipe that

00:45:08.439 --> 00:45:09.579
people should look out for?

00:45:10.319 --> 00:45:13.879
Yeah, we got a 64 convertible that we're working on for a client right now,

00:45:13.979 --> 00:45:16.859
a full-on restoration. And this car came from Eugene, Oregon.

00:45:17.339 --> 00:45:21.099
And this is a car, it just got it painted this past week, actually,

00:45:21.219 --> 00:45:24.619
which it's really nice. They bought this car brand new in 64.

00:45:25.439 --> 00:45:31.059
And the son called me, gave me a very humbling story about this family and his

00:45:31.059 --> 00:45:33.939
pop just passed away. I love the stories.

00:45:34.659 --> 00:45:37.379
Yeah his his pop just passed away and he

00:45:37.379 --> 00:45:41.039
obviously wants father's legacy to live on man that's

00:45:41.039 --> 00:45:44.379
that's those are the stories that touch and that's what just drives

00:45:44.379 --> 00:45:49.819
you even more to make that car as perfect as possible right for them yeah and

00:45:49.819 --> 00:45:54.839
then doing you know we've opened the doors the past almost two years to repair

00:45:54.839 --> 00:45:59.879
work and so i never did repair work before and it's only been always was restoration

00:45:59.879 --> 00:46:04.139
but the fact that i opened up for repair work the word has gotten out and I've,

00:46:04.859 --> 00:46:08.479
hardly even publicized that but the word has gotten out that we we get such

00:46:08.479 --> 00:46:14.419
a flow of cars coming in now which is really nice so that's really cool to keep

00:46:14.419 --> 00:46:18.359
that going because I'm only I'm one of the few even where I'm at the northeast

00:46:18.359 --> 00:46:21.459
region there's not many people that want to even work on them anymore.

00:46:22.319 --> 00:46:26.759
Especially like the late models like the the fuel injected you know 79 fuel

00:46:26.759 --> 00:46:30.919
fueling cars no one wants to work on them so they're coming to us you know that

00:46:30.919 --> 00:46:32.699
kind of thing Totally cool.

00:46:33.279 --> 00:46:37.799
I'm all on board with that. And then I have been doing on the back end an auction

00:46:37.799 --> 00:46:39.759
on my website. I think I briefed on that earlier.

00:46:40.219 --> 00:46:45.979
And then of course, I'd love to do the series that I'm thinking about and consulting actually.

00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:51.199
So even when I get off this call, I got a call from a guy overseas that needs

00:46:51.199 --> 00:46:52.499
help with his car in his garage.

00:46:52.939 --> 00:46:55.479
So I'm talking to him like this and he's pointing his camera down.

00:46:55.559 --> 00:46:57.859
What do I do down here? And I'm like, I'll tell you.

00:46:58.819 --> 00:47:03.759
Amazing amazing what an opportunity you know to to stay in doing what you love

00:47:03.759 --> 00:47:08.119
to do man that that's awesome but i got some rapid fire quick response style

00:47:08.119 --> 00:47:12.059
questions for you we'll get a little drum roll you ready all right what's the

00:47:12.059 --> 00:47:15.179
best what's the best air cool vw ever made,

00:47:15.859 --> 00:47:19.659
yeah it's for me the beetle you know just the history there alone i mean it's

00:47:19.659 --> 00:47:22.499
better you know than any other the other volkswagens it's just where it came

00:47:22.499 --> 00:47:26.779
from i mean how many decades man And it's for me. Yeah. How about this one?

00:47:26.919 --> 00:47:29.619
What's the most overrated classic VW?

00:47:30.759 --> 00:47:33.279
Very tough, tough question there. I, I,

00:47:34.144 --> 00:47:41.644
Cause in the, when they were coming out, they weren't, the reviews were not like so extravagant.

00:47:41.924 --> 00:47:45.004
Remember like Volkswagen in their ads would always make fun of their own cars.

00:47:45.844 --> 00:47:51.444
So, right. Like, so it's, it's hard for me to, to say what's overrated.

00:47:51.584 --> 00:47:57.904
If it's anything I can say is maybe the bust where the price,

00:47:58.044 --> 00:48:02.004
the pricing where they've gotten to is, I think is way, it's crazy.

00:48:02.204 --> 00:48:05.004
So the older, like they're. six figures i

00:48:05.004 --> 00:48:07.864
mean yeah like it's 67 or with the

00:48:07.864 --> 00:48:11.084
rags and all the window and you know like we went to barrett-jackson

00:48:11.084 --> 00:48:14.004
a few years ago and saw one go for 262 000 and

00:48:14.004 --> 00:48:19.604
i'm like wait is this for real yeah so maybe that's a little overrated okay

00:48:19.604 --> 00:48:25.544
fair enough okay so let's touch on this then if you could own one if you could

00:48:25.544 --> 00:48:32.304
own one vw from any area what would it be the head muller i've heard I've heard

00:48:32.304 --> 00:48:33.884
that before. That's awesome.

00:48:34.224 --> 00:48:38.804
49, 53. Yeah, that was the, that car that was very short window had the fire

00:48:38.804 --> 00:48:41.064
at the Hebbuller factory and that's what stopped production.

00:48:41.784 --> 00:48:45.544
I know they're six figures, those cars, but yeah, I did just,

00:48:45.644 --> 00:48:48.284
I think they look so cool with the two tone paint jobs.

00:48:48.444 --> 00:48:51.784
I mean, say a black one with the red sides or something, that,

00:48:51.784 --> 00:48:54.324
that, that, that top when it goes down, I mean, it's just, it's,

00:48:54.424 --> 00:48:55.524
it's beautiful looking car.

00:48:55.704 --> 00:49:01.024
I love the back end of it. It almost mimics the front, the hood, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

00:49:01.684 --> 00:49:06.084
Yeah. Awesome, man. So what's, what's, what's the best way people can connect

00:49:06.084 --> 00:49:09.724
with you, whether they want to follow your work or maybe even get a car restored

00:49:09.724 --> 00:49:12.044
by you? What's the best way to connect with you?

00:49:12.944 --> 00:49:19.704
I still love the old fashioned way. Pick up the phone and give me a call. 845-290-9900.

00:49:21.024 --> 00:49:24.604
And primo communication there. But if you're still a tech person and you want

00:49:24.604 --> 00:49:28.924
to just email me or call me or text me or something, I'm on all the platforms,

00:49:29.104 --> 00:49:34.924
you know, between Instagram and Facebook, Twitter, my website, my YouTube channel.

00:49:35.204 --> 00:49:37.224
There's all those contact ways in there.

00:49:37.804 --> 00:49:43.724
Email is chris at classicvwbugs.com. That's how I got with you. I shot you.

00:49:44.084 --> 00:49:47.944
And to my surprise, it was even a faster response than I anticipated.

00:49:48.384 --> 00:49:53.264
So, yeah, man, I appreciate that. I'm sure the community does as well, for sure.

00:49:54.184 --> 00:49:56.744
One of the only ways to skin a cat is so many ways to contact me.

00:49:56.944 --> 00:50:00.704
So it's not even just Google my name or Google the business and big color it

00:50:00.704 --> 00:50:05.524
all comes up you know all right so if you could leave the dub life diaries audience

00:50:05.524 --> 00:50:08.844
with just one final thought what would it be,

00:50:09.587 --> 00:50:13.107
Keep the dream alive. Get in there. Work on your bug.

00:50:13.327 --> 00:50:19.527
Don't be afraid to work on your Volkswagen and go for a drive and have just go back in time.

00:50:19.847 --> 00:50:23.467
Put your tech away and look at that one little dial on the dash.

00:50:23.867 --> 00:50:27.247
The little. Put your phone down. Put your phone down. That's it.

00:50:28.187 --> 00:50:31.087
Oh, my gosh. And that's what that it is.

00:50:31.187 --> 00:50:35.547
It's therapy for me when I, you know, you disconnect from your phone and go

00:50:35.547 --> 00:50:37.747
back in that car at a time where everything's manual.

00:50:38.267 --> 00:50:43.987
I don't have to go through a console To turn my air on Right You don't have

00:50:43.987 --> 00:50:48.467
to go through a screen To just turn your air on Or something.

00:50:49.927 --> 00:50:53.647
That's all I can say Keep the hobby alive, keep the dream alive Get in there,

00:50:53.687 --> 00:50:54.987
get some wrenches on your car,

00:50:55.627 --> 00:51:00.747
And get off the screen Stop going on some of the forums And bashing people back

00:51:00.747 --> 00:51:04.147
and forth About what oil is not good and this oil is Just get out there,

00:51:04.147 --> 00:51:08.967
work on your car and go for a drive And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:51:09.307 --> 00:51:13.027
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:51:13.027 --> 00:51:15.067
the people in the dubs that drive their dreams.

00:51:15.347 --> 00:51:19.887
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

00:51:19.887 --> 00:51:21.207
so you never miss an adventure.

00:51:21.567 --> 00:51:26.167
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the dub life? Awesome.

00:51:26.487 --> 00:51:31.507
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dub Life Diaries or shoot

00:51:31.507 --> 00:51:33.267
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:51:34.147 --> 00:51:39.187
DubLifeDiaries at gmail.com. Until next time, Keep the engines humming and the

00:51:39.187 --> 00:51:42.447
wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you.

00:51:42.607 --> 00:51:46.907
This is Joe Person. I'm signing off. I'll catch you on the next ride.

00:51:48.560 --> 00:52:43.750
Music.