|
WELCOME TO
WELLAND, ONTARIO
Supporting the V-Dub sport since 1985 When you want more than the best price...! We provide solutions...!!! ENJOY YOUR VISIT...!
|
||
|
PHONE: (905) 735-2847 FAX: (905) 735-2822 Email: bugshop@vaxxine.com |
|
|
WE HAVE MOVED
TO WELLAND, ONT. |
|
|
MONTREAL TO SAN FRANCISCO
IN A FIBREGLASS BUGGY CLICK HERE |
||
|
WET & CHILLY SWAP MEET STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS |
||
|
FAVORITES
ABOUT US
PHOTO GALLERY
NORTHERN RACE
& STREET CARS MORE INFO
|
JOHN SPIRONELLO JUST A LITTLE STORY Here's my chance to finally sit back and just chat a bit about VWs and what ever else comes into mind. My love for VWs came at an early age, after my Uncle gave my Dad a 62 Beetle. My Uncle was a master at fixing old cars that were doomed for destruction. He used to go to the local scrap dealers and buy old VWs, fix them up, and either drive them himself, or sell them to people. His garage was the neighborhood spot for car repairs, boat repair, canoe building, and a local hang out for young mechanical enthusiasts. Although I never spent any significant time there, I always remember a VW being in the garage or driveway every time my parents took me to visit. It makes me shake now, thinking that, what my Uncle was doing back then, is what so many of us enthusiasts would love to be doing now. This was in the mid to late 60's. He was working on VWs that we would die for today. Split, Oval, Barn Door, were just words in the Dictionary; that described what happened to your pants, the shape of an egg, and a word used in a phrase when describing how well your eye site was. How times have changed since then. Anyway, the 62, that was given to my Dad to fix up, ended up in my hands at the wonderful age of 13 1/2. It was sitting in our driveway for a long period of time, because my Dad was not one for fixing cars. I kept bothering him to do something with it. I suggested we build a Dune Buggy; so I could have one just like my friend Walt and his brother. I was driving my Dad crazy, asking him to let me have this car so I could do something with it. At that age, it took some serious convincing, for my Dad to give me the VW . Maybe I was just a big pain in the butt. What was my Dad thinking anyway? Remember now, Computers and Nintendo were not around to keep your 13 year old happy. Finding something fun, to keep your teenagers mind occupied with, was a hard thing to do back in the early 70's. At that time, believe it or not, I was reading VW Greats magazine and I was just fascinated with all the cool looking VWs and great looking Dune Buggies. Since my Dad was not agreeing to chopping this car up into a Dune Buggy, I decided to try and customize this VW with a budget of around $ 000.00. I'm now closer to 14, no money, so you could imagine the creativity that showed up. The biggest thrill of all, was my Dad letting me reverse the rear wheels so the tires stuck out further. Well, I learned how to drive a standard shift car at the young age of 14, not on the road, but up and down our driveway, so many times that I burnt the clutch out of the 62. Now, if I had put one tire, of that car, on the road, I was either in trouble from my Mom, who would watch from the window, or my wonderful neighbor from across the street who was a police officer. It wasn't easy doing this, as my driveway was on an incline. So it rolled back on to the road a few times. (Yeah right).
PHONE: (905) 735-2847 FAX: (905) 735-2822
|
I used to spend many days at my friend Walt's house. His brother Pete, who was around 17 years old, was buying old VWs from people, who lived in the neighborhood. I can still remember laughing my head off one day, when Pete arrived home with another Beetle that he had just bought for, get this, $6.00. Some one was asking $20.00 and Pete bartered his way down to $6.00. He was so proud of his purchase. Back then Beetles were all over the place and buying a Beetle for $50.00 and under was nothing new to us. VWs were everywhere. Pete would take these Beetles (back then they were classified as scrap) into his garage, completely strip all the parts from them, and in less than a week or so, magically build these really cool Dune Buggies. We would spend every bit of our spare time at the local Sand Pits with the Dune Buggies that Pete had built. Walt and I seldom got to drive these Buggies, because Pete took so much pride in them and never trusted either one of us behind the wheel. That soon changed because Walt and I finally decided to build our own. We both decided to build Baja Bugs because having a little more protection around us from rocks and tree branches was definitely in the plans and besides, it was a lot less work. I can remember Walt telling me about an old beat up 63 Beetle that he had seen not to far from home. It was a bit expensive back then - I think Walt paid $50.00 for it. I kid you not, this car was solid as a rock with the exception of being slightly smacked in the front and one fender loose in the back. Needless to say, out came the hammer and chisel (This was the cheap way to do things, as torches were not in our budget). Pete wouldn't let us use his set, because he said we were too dangerous. Oh well, we still managed to chop the front clip off only cutting our skin a little. We then cut the back off the car and trimmed things here or there where it was necessary. If only we knew back then what we were doing cutting up such a nice body. |
