The Red Rocket

(Pictures from original owner / via Craigslist ad for this car)

In Summer 2013 I bought a 2000 Volkswagen Golf 1.8T. I was very pleased to find one on Craigslist for a reasonable price. It had a replaced suspension and all service records.

In the year 2000 I was a senior in high school. My dad had a 1999 GTI 2.0, which I drove a lot and really really liked. So, looking for an affordable new daily driver, this Golf really appealed to me.

Volkswagen only made 4 door Golfs with the turbo engines for a very short time. I think it was one year only. One site I found on the internet said they only made 7000 of these for the US market.

This car is super zippy and understated. When I bought it, it had only 105,000 miles, which I think is very low for a now 15 year old car.

As of Jan 1, 2015, I have 116,000 miles on the car. Still going well.

PROS:

Quick!

Great storage space!

Nice style – one of the best looking cars VW has ever made

Suspension is a nice compromise – not too firm but not too soft where it makes me queasy
You can fit a Series III Lambretta in the back, when you find one broken down on the side of the road and you have to rescue the scooter and rider, which actually happened over the summer.

Seats are really nice

Sunroof works and doesn't yet leak
Fits in questionable parking spaces in the city!  Only Smart Cars are smaller.

iPod hookup in glovebox

1.8 Turbo has a lot of power!

CONS:

Little things break (glovebox, arm rest, plastic bits)

Parts and maintenance is more expensive than VW Bus 

Brakes could be better

No fog lights or heated seats

Alternatives Considered:

Jetta Wagon – I was really close to buying one of these.  I like how they remind me of the old Type III Squareback, but I couldn't find one I liked.

Passat Wagon – used market is good! But it's too big for my tastes.

BMW 3 Series Wagon – More expensive, complicated, more “serious”

VW Bus Update

 

I thought it might be funny to update this blog, years later, with various thoughts on my vehicle collection. Some things have changed, I've bought a few new rides, retired a few. My perspective has changed a bit, and I've covered thousands of miles.

Once, I think it was Brad, who joked about starting a music review site and reviewing albums such as the Postal Service. “This album has been out for ten years, and I'm finally ready to tell you that it has some catchy numbers on it, and really it's a nice listen.”

The Fun Bus – my 1971 Bus – is now in storage at my parents' barn. I drove it from Portland, Oregon to Alfred, New York (about 2900 miles or so) in the summer of 2010. I loaded it down with everything I owned. I camped in it in Colorado. It didn't break down, but I did need to buy new tires along the way (the preowned tires I bought from a hippy for $50 in North Portland in 2007 weren't as reliable as I thought).

I still drove it once I moved to Alfred. It was a band van. I enjoyed driving it in the snow. The engine died in winter of 2011 and I bought another engine and had it installed. I drove it around more around 2012, and started driving a hand me down Ford Ranger pickup (aka the Ford Anger) as a daily driver instead.

I've considered selling the Fun Bus, but instead I went and bought a VW Golf.

I just saw an ad for the new Alfa Romeo 4C sports car. In no subtle terms, the ad says that if you buy an Alfa, beautiful women will jump into bed with you. Buying the VW Bus has been similar to this, although instead of attracting women it attracts weirdness, adventures, and breakdowns.

The VW Bus is a case of DO meet your heroes. I had always wanted one back when I was in middle school and high school. Driving one for years was as fun as I thought. Too bad prices on them are through the roof now.

PROS:

Interior space is amazing – I literally fit everything I own in this van.

Incredibly fun to drive

Actually reliable, durable, and cheap in the long term

Absolutely everyone thinks the VW is really cool and wants to talk to you about it.

Roof rack fits almost anything up there.

People ask me to sell it to them a lot – resell value is actually going up

Fweem engine sound is really cool

Handling is great, even off road.

CONS:

Lots of rust holes

No safety features whatsoever

Slower than 150cc Vespa.

Door locks only kind of work

I hate the horsehair seats. What was VW thinking?

Moonroof kind of leaks every once in a while

Eye for OG PAINT

Today I got the bright idea in my head that my VW is looking a little too drab and dirty. I love my Volkswagen for its "original ganster" hoodride type patina. But, there's no need for it too look completely shabby and neglected. Thus, I marched off to Autozone and picked up a can of Rustoleum Clear coat. I cleaned the bus with just some rags and water, getting all the imperfections and oxidation off. I just painted the passenger door, because here it started to rain and I ran out of daylight. Here's the result. Notice the contrast between the door and the front end that didn't recieve cleaning or paint.



Here's the hoodride looking a little bit more dignified. Note the muddy tires, from a little urban mudbogging I did this past week (driving the VW off road is great!). Click on the picture to see it in bigger detail.

Here's a picture of the VW from a few months ago when I was getting the back tire patched. Notice the blotchyness of the front door.


I'm perpetually unsure of what to do with the front of the bus. I popped out huge dents up there and scraped off lots of bondo. I prefer just looking at the bus from the sides, because the front end does look terrible. One of my friends comments that it looks like it's been through a warzone.

Maybe I'll tackle that sometime soon. In the meantime, enjoy this requisite dreamy TtV shot I took of the VW not so long ago.

VW: Pointless Love

In May 2009, as a reward for serving me so well as a daily driver, I bought my VW a new ignition system. I purchased the Crane XR-700 Fireball ignition. Basically, this replaces points and condenser with an optical sensor that triggers an electronic computer that makes the spark happen. This is simpler and better because it uses fewer moving parts.

In the last year the points failed a few times; once camping, and twice on my way home at night. I had to get the van towed. Hopefully the VW will be more reliable now. For the time being, I have abandoned the idea of trading it for a BMW.

For more information on this system, click here.

[Where the VW is always hypothetically always parked: the corner of hate and failing. photo by me circa march 2009]

Vintage VW Training for Vintage VWs

Today, this video helped me adjust my Volkswagen.

VW Microbus Best of

Here is a link to some of the best pictures of Pre-1967 Volkswagen Split-Windshield buses, as selected by split window microbus fanatics of TheSamba.com

LINK

This is over 50 message board pages of pictures, but I highly recommend it. It is interesting to see people's perceptions of the car change over time. I believe the original VW Bus is such a subjective piece that people can place very different connotations to it. Hippie vs purely industrial, unsafe vs warm nostalgia; It's a strange psychological mirror of an automobile.

Above: 1. VW Samba as surfing icon, in garage surrounded by quiver of longboards. 2. VW Bus as American road trip icon. 3. VW Bus as chicken coop.

Megasquirt or not?

I have been seriously considering converting my VW to nasty sounding, yet quite non-aggressive Megasquirt Electronic Fuel Injection.

Here, at the Samba, I am discussing it.

Secret Codes of Volkswagens.

Every old Volkswagen has a little plate riveted to it telling a bit of history of the car. I found mine on my 1971 Bus behind the drivers seat and yesterday decoded it. I used the information found on Type2.com as well as TheSamba.com.

Here are the codes and their meanings:

12 = Unknown, possibly a code meaning 1971 model year
162 = Bumpers with Rubber Moldings
191 = Outer and Center Underfloor Reinforcement Plates (these reinforced the structure of the bus to compensate for the hole in the roof for the camping pop top)
E = Unknown

4747 = Neptune Blue on top and on bottom
51 = Dark Beige Leatherette Upholstery
A02 = USA DOT Specifications
177 = Rear Bench Seat
507 = Vent wings in Cab doors
697 = Rumored to be "Fitted With Continental brand tires"

10 2 = Date of manufacture: either February 10th, 1970 or Tuesday on the 10th Week of 1970
7998 = Unknown, possibly a serial number of production runs at the VW factory
UP = Port of Delivery was Portland, Oregon
2310 = Kombi wwith Sliding door on the right, Left hand drive
21 = Upright cooling 1600cc engine, Manual Transmission

I encourage all Volkswagen owners to use the online resources to discover the meaning of their M Codes.

How to live in a van.

http://www.rockinvan.com/slummin_it.html

Apples OTE mentioned on Indie MP3

Apples of the Earth received an approving nod on indie-mp3.co.uk

http://www.indie-mp3.co.uk/2007/07/my-space-has-talent.html

(Photo: rain on the sunroof of my VW.)

Car of the Month: Porsche 356

Here is a lovely Porsche 356 my girlfriend insisted we take a picture of when we saw it on the street the other night. It is kind of hard to believe these cars have a basic flat four 1600cc engine - the same as my Volkswagen Bus. The silver paint is nice, but the tomato interior really does it.

Best Car Commercial Ever.

I drove my VW to Washington today. Here is my favorite VW commercial.

"Livin' the dream."

I bought a 1971 Volkswagen Riviera camper van. I have wanted a Volkswagen Bus for longer than I can remember. It is very strange to actually have one. I drove it all around Portland today and listened to this mix tape. I drove it to the record store and bought the self-titled Boy's Life album and "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" by Art Brut.

Car of the Month: Audi A2

I am driving my Volvo now every day. I really like the car. It's comfortable, fun, luxurious, interesting, and good-looking. However, the one thing that it doesn't have is good gas milage. I am used to scooter gas milage. I am used to the 60+ MPG of my 125cc engine, not this 2300cc behemoth!

Thus, my January Car of the Month is a VW product that is more New Beetle than the New Beetle. Unfortunately, it's not available in the United States. If it were, we Americans could enjoy gas milage on par with the Toyota Prius, all aluminium construction, comfortable seating for four (I've gone on a long trip in the back of a Skoda and many in the back of a GTI and they are no less comfortable than the back of an Accord), a large glass moonroof (which in a way evokes the Messershmitt bubble cars of the fifties), and (dare I say) cute styling.

Here's a picture:
here are some more pictures on a weird foreign site: link