CLIVE'S BEETLE PAGE
Welcome, since November 2002, you are visitor number
to this page, many thanks
This page tells a little of the
history surrounding my Beetle. It's a 1971, 1300cc model. Absolutely standard
but for a pair of Taper tip exhaust pipes and a K&N air filter. The car's
previous owner was a dear friend of mine, Stan Robbins.
Stan was a great guy I used to
work with many years ago. Stan
helped me understand the politics of life in a large factory. We had one main thing in common, I liked Volkswagen Beetles
and he owned one.
On any given day, the conversation
would eventually get round to Bugs. Turned
out that after the war Stan lived in Germany were I assume he met his wife.
He worked at Wolfsburg on the assembly line and always had praise for the
German engineering that went into them.
His Beetle, DUK 488J was brought
new by him, serviced religiously, spoilt rotten with only the finest of parts.
I was allowed to tune it up every so often just to make sure it was ok (at
the time I owned a dwell meter and timing light to do instant tune ups).
As time passed on, I was asked to
counter sign his will and joked at the time that doing so would invalidate me
from receiving anything from it. How
wrong that was to be. Many years
later, Stan died. I attended his
funeral and met for the first time Angela, his only daughter.
She introduced herself and said that Stan had often spoken of me.
Then the bombshell, would I like to have the Beetle as she knew it would
be looked after properly. How could I refuse?
When I got it home it had been
standing for some time but eventually started after only minor fiddling.
On closer inspection, I then realised what Stan meant by the term built
in obsolescence. All the running
board mounts, sills and doorsteps were well rusted.
That didn't matter though, it would be fixed.
So far I have the new panels and
am waiting for the time to get them attached.
Latest
update as of 6th February 2001
Well, I finally managed to find
someone who I could trust to weld all the parts and repair the strucural damage,
in a way that Stan would have been proud (he was after all a skilled aircraft
sheet metalworker).
The guy chosen was Paul, from
T.E.K. Vehicle services. He was prepared to come out and do all the welding on
my driveway and being a Volkswagen owner himself, I felt that the Beetle would
be in good hands, I was not to be disappointed. Most folks who know me reckon I
am fussy when it comes to having a car that's working, if not looking right,
this guy took fussy to new lengths. Not only could he fabricate pieces from
scratch, but actually appeared to paint the welds on, then blend them back in
enough to be almost imperceptible. We ended up replacing both rear wings and
apron, along with the inner and outer sills and doorsteps, repaired both heater
boxes and cut out and re-plated just about everything which looked suspect. I
reckon it will last another 30 years, by which time it will be a problem for one
or both of my sons. To say I am impressed is an understatement !!
All that's left to do now is put it all back together, replace a few
brake pipes for the MOT, then start enjoying it.
I'm now on the lookout for a respray, nothing concours, I just want it all one colour.
Any ideas ?
