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...to Volkswagen! For all the wonderful gas-guzzling, fire-breathing rides I've had over the years, I paid my dues with five air-cooled VW's (two buses, two Karmann Ghias, one Super Beetle), most well used and one my sole ride for five years that went places I'd have only taken my Jeep CJ-7. What starving student prior to the '80's didn't own a VW at one time or other during their not-so-peak earning years? My Super Beetle went places that Land Rovers feared to tread (well, almost)...and always brought me home.

In grad school, I had my ragged out '68 Karmann Ghia (with only a hint of any reverse gear) and would have killed to have a colleagues' Squareback...the only Type 3 I'd have been caught dead in and lusted to own (the notchback was fugly and the fastback just looked weird). I've never owned a water-cooled VW and don't expect to, but wouldn't trade my boxer 4 years for anything (now that they're over).

Never owned one myself even though I had my share of lean years, but we had a powder blue Karmann Ghia when I was a kid, and later a light blue Beetle that my dad drove all over the place, even rolled it coming home drunk one night, broke a rib or two but drove the car home and continued to drive it every day with a flattened roof.

Had the pleasure of helping a good friend pull the motor out of his Bug so he could rebuild it after a rod started knocking. He had never worked on a car before but with a Chiltons manual we tore it down, I promptly dislocated my knee in high school football and couldn't work on the car with him for a while, but he did a complete rebuild and installed it back in the car himself.

And I'll never forget seeing the quintessential flower-power hippie van parked off to the side of the Happy Belly Food Place in Willits, CA. We had just moved there and went into the place thinking we could get a burger and shake - the hippie behind the counter offered us wheat germ and a fruit smoothie instead. We left and saw a very stereotypical hippie mom changing her baby's diaper right there in the open van, clothes and junk all over the place and on the sidewalk, psychedelic paint job with flowers on the van and everything. D'ya think the original designers ever suspected their vehicle would become so deeply rooted in that iconic image? Far out, man!

So you're right that most everyone has good memories about at least one.

Wow, all good... thought I missed Ascouts B-day.

- JG300-fr8ycat

Wow, all good... thought I missed Ascouts B-day.

ROFL...I bet you'll pay for that...lol

briefly had a Rabbit myself, It was a four banger that thought it had at least 6 under the hood, peppy little box spoiled me for a while on the homegrown rides