It's often suggested that VWs are merely stepping stones to bigger and better things. The basic logic is that a VW owner in their 20s will soon be an Audi or BMW owner in their 30s, and probably a Porsche owner once the big four-oh mid-life crisis hits, and then Mercedes from there until death. It's kind of an insulting assumption in my opinion, after all who are "they" to judge me for driving a VW my entire life, and although I aspire to ownership of a Porsche 911 or perhaps an E30 M3, it has to do with the driving experience, not the status. After all an E30 M3 is still 3-8 years older than my humble daily driver.
I suppose some people succumb to the pressure to do what is expected of them...you get older, you buy a bigger / nicer car to haul around the kids and impress the neighbors out there in the suburbs, that sort of thing. I would like to consider myself successful (thus far) at not falling in line like the rest, which I guess is why I drive slammed Mk3 in NYC on a regular basis. Would I drive a slammed M3? Sure, but I'd still own that VW. Always have an always will.
One of my recurring fantasies involves me becoming rich and / or famous enough for an episode of cribs. People will think I'm insane. Rather than lame SUVs with chrome wheels and stupid, boring Bentleys, I would have row after row of humble, but highly modified Volkswagens.
"Yes that's my 1989 Rallye Golf. One of 5000 made you know. I've converted that one with a 16v head, much like the G60 16v as used in the Golf Limited...which is the car parked right here. One of 70 made, this one is 100% original, but I still drive it at least once a week."
"That red Rabbit GTI in the back is the first ever car I ever owned. Yes, I tracked it down and bought it from the current owner and restored it to the original condition, to the same specification it was just before I sold it in 2003 like a dumb-ass. Over here is my Berg Cup racer...."And so on. I guess that means I'm a pretty terminal die-hard VW case. I know others like me, but being dedicated and not having say, the lure of a 911 to work on instead of a VW is partially situational, as in not being in the situation of being forced to choose between a VW and something else. Not many people have their 911 sitting next to their Mk2 thinking "forget that exotic sports car with all the racing heritage...let's wrench on the early 90's economy car instead."
This is exactly what my buddy Robert does however. He owns and runs a fairly well regarded Porsche shop. He has driven and worked on pretty much every kind of exotic and desirable 911 ever built. Modified turbo 993s, 996s, GT3s, 930s, old 70's Carreras, not to mention plenty of GT3R race cars. This guy has a plethora of stuff that dreams are made of sitting around, yet he is consistently finding some way to work on his Mk2 Jetta.
Case in point: He swapped an ABA block into his old daily driver a year or so ago, and ended up having the thing stuffed in a parking lot thanks to some random dude chatting away on a cell phone rather than paying attention to things like speed, steering and brakes. A car was bought to replace it. Another red 1992 Jetta. A shell was (eventually) found for the completely rebuilt ABA 8v engine...yet another red 1992 Jetta, as seen in the background here.
Here is Jason and Robert after a minor lack-of-fuel problem on the way back home...pesky gas tanks never seem to fill themselves up!
Talk about a sickness! Naturally swaps were made, parts were stored or sold off, and the old shell was deposited at the scrap yard for a cool $50. So now Robert is down to just two Mk2 Jettas in Tornado Red, rather than three, and he still has all those 911s waiting their turn as well.
People like Robert and his buddy Jason, who often helps with the junk-yard searches and multi-state reconnaissance missions for parts and donor cars, make me happy. I know I'm not alone in this world of being a die hard VW head. I don't really like Audis that much, so sue me. I know they're basically the same as their similarly sized and shaped Volkswagens, but they just don't do anything for me at the end of the day. Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it makes me happy that there are others like me. People who realize that life is not always about aspiring to the bigger or better thing, it's valuing what you have and what you love, and if you love old Mk2 Jettas, well, the 911 can wait.
More to come from Project Jetta Beater by the way....Robert has some wheels in storage and more work ahead before she's 100% back on track, and when she is, I'll have more on perhaps the only Mk2 Jetta 8v that is loved more than a 911. Seriously.
_WRS
Not bad right? J wasn't about to give up any of his lenses for the paulty sum I paid for the body, so I did some searching and decided to order from www.usedcameras.com. In my searches I knew that I needed a zoom with a little range, but the pricey 18-200 jack-of-all-trades was a bit too much in one package, and I wanted a little more range than the venerable 18-70 that the camera originally came with. So it was down to the 18-105 and the 18-135. I also didn't need, nor could I afford, a mondo awesome pricey lens. A basic Nikkor kit lens is fine for me right now.
Basically I decided that my amateur eye would benefit more from the lens shake reduction on the 105 than it would with the extra range of the 135...and so I placed an order and just a couple short days later it arrived in NYC! I know there are a lot of used camera gear spots out there, and although they were short on the info during the shipping process, the lens was a steal, exactly as described, and I got a free hat, so I'll definitely go to usedcameras.com next time I need a lens.
Anyway, I'm just super stoked on this one, as I am with my newsed (that's new to me but used) 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour. And before you ask, no I'm not doing a fix gear conversion. I like the old-school stuff to stay pure and natural, and honestly I don't have a death wish to ride a fixie in NYC. Plus I read Bike Snob NYC,I'm not about willingly make myself a target for a gentleman with a wit as sharp as his!
More to come my friends, more to come...but in the meantime check out the MUCH higher quality pics over at the WRS Flickr Page.
