My first car.
by Jordan Woodley
Back in 1984 we lived in Kelowna B.C. Their was a fear of a gas shortage and Dad had just gotten a new job in Vancouver. Mortgage rates had skyrocketed and my parents could not sell our house. My Dad had to commute between Kelowna and Vancouver, coming home for the weekends. My Dad's solution for the gas crisis was to purchase a brand new 1984 VW Rabbit turbo Diesel L. This car was basically the GTI trim but with the turbo diesel engine. My older brother and I instantly loved this car, my Dad liked to drive this little car fast on the Hope/Princeton highway and we loved going for the ride when we could. A year and half later we sold the house and moved to South Surrey B.C. Five years later my Dad got a new job that came with a company car. My older brother was soon turning 16 so my Dad kept the Rabbit to give to my brother. As soon as my brother got the car he started saving his money to start modifying it. First came a big stereo and then a lowering kit. Next on his list was new rims and tires. But he was having trouble deciding what to purchase. My mother had dragged me to the grocery store one Sat so I went to the magazine rack to have a look around and kill time. I found a magazine called VW Trends (no longer exists)that had a wheel and tire buying guide on the front cover. I thought this could be helpful for my brother and purchased the mag for him. As I waited for my Mom in the car I started reading the mag. It was mostly full of Bugs. That was it, I was hooked. Had to have an old beetle. I never did give my brother than mag, just let him read the tire and wheel article, I still have it tucked way in my collection. I instantly started saving my paper route money and started searching for a car. Eventually the paper route turned to an after school job at a local fast food restaurant and the money was adding up as I got closer to my 16th birthday. Being that I was a bit of a speed demon, my parents were thrilled that I was interested in an old(slow) beetle for my first car. So my Dad told me that If I kept my grades up above a B average, he would help me get a car. My Dad and I looked at tons of cars over the next year but most were in very poor condition for the money I had to spend. Then one day while driving up 144th in Guilford with my Mom, I spotted a very clean 1963 VW Bug. I had my Mom stop and I knocked on the front door. The lady told me that she had no intention of selling the car but it didn't run because of a bad fuel pump. So it just sat in her carport for about six months. Then one day my Mom came home from a trip to Guilford mall and told me the car was on the front lawn with a "for sale" sign. My Dad drove me out their immediately and after some slight negotiating, I bought the car for $2300. It was red and bone stock with the original 40hp motor. A quick fuel pump change by the local VW dealer in White Rock and the car was running. Over the years I got to know Horst that owned Kessler motors quite well and he would let me come in after school and he would teach me about my car and help me fix the various issues that these cars regularly have at that kind of age. I drove the car all through high school, making slight modifications to it when I could afford to. After high school I decided it was time to do a once over on the old girl, so I consumed my parents garage for three years and did full pan off redo (I won't use the word restoration as a lot of stuff was custom on the car. When finished it became my summer driver and show car that won a few awards and was featured in April of 1999 issue of Hot VWs. I eventually lost interest in the car while I was doing my automotive apprenticeship and once I was done, I decided to sell the car to pay back the money I had borrowed from my parents for my tuition at BCIT. My Dad wouldn't hear of it and instead we traded the car for the debt. He drove it every summer and I got to use it in my wedding when I got married. My wife had learned to drive standard in that car when we dated in high school. A few years after my wedding, my Dad found out he had cancer and wanted to give the car before something happened to him so I got the car back, he survived the cancer and is still with us today. I continue to drive the car in the summers and 19 years after I bought my first car, my six year old son and my three year old daughter love going for Sunday cruises in it. I hope I can hang onto it to pass it down to my son. Although he keeps telling me that when he is older he is going to have a bug and it will be orange and faster than mine, maybe my daughter will get it then. I know this is a long story but the only way I feel it should be told. I could write a book on the adventures I have had in that car over the last 19 years. Click here to read or post comments. |
