Favorite car you've owned and why.
Am torn between my old 63 TBird, and my current '95 SLS, but the most fun was the '72 VW Westphalia Camper... that took DW and #4 son to every public campground in Illinois and Wisconsin, between 1979 and 1984.
Bought it used from a Carny, who had lived in it for 5 years as he followed travelling circuses around the country. It had an strange aftermarket heater, that consisted of a galvanized pipe sitting upright between the two front bucket seats. It operated on gasoline, fed from the gas line to a drip burner that was ignited by a spark plug. We'd turn the valve on, and start the spark, and wait for the flame to "pop", then run with a rumble and an exposed flame. If it didn't fire right away, a big flame would shoot out. DW would wait outside til I got the heater started.
Always an adventure.. We'd leave every Friday night after work and travel to a new campground, and return on Sunday night. Her name was Victoria... "Victoria Von Volkswagon", and she was forever unpredictable... An intermittent starter periodically required #4 son and DW to push start, which always got me dirty looks... Actually my bride's fault since she refused to learn how to pop the clutch.
Victoria had a Porsche engine, but not too much power... half way up a winding one lane road to the top of the Mississippi Palisades, she just wouldn't make it. With dozens of cars behind us we were forced to turn around on a
wide spot in the road and finish the hill climb in reverse.
She had a pop up top, that turned into a sleeping space, a porta potty, sink, gas stove and dining table and a pull out canopy.
She gave up the ghost on a trip, and we limped home in fourth gear, after losing first, second and third. Had that fixed, then a month later, engine went out... A great experience. Four bolts to remove and five hours to rebuild with new rings and split dual carbs. I felt like a master mechanic.
Couldn't find a picture of Victoria, but she was exactly like this... Know she would have been proud.
Am torn between my old 63 TBird, and my current '95 SLS, but the most fun was the '72 VW Westphalia Camper... that took DW and #4 son to every public campground in Illinois and Wisconsin, between 1979 and 1984.
Bought it used from a Carny, who had lived in it for 5 years as he followed travelling circuses around the country. It had an strange aftermarket heater, that consisted of a galvanized pipe sitting upright between the two front bucket seats. It operated on gasoline, fed from the gas line to a drip burner that was ignited by a spark plug. We'd turn the valve on, and start the spark, and wait for the flame to "pop", then run with a rumble and an exposed flame. If it didn't fire right away, a big flame would shoot out. DW would wait outside til I got the heater started.
Always an adventure.. We'd leave every Friday night after work and travel to a new campground, and return on Sunday night. Her name was Victoria... "Victoria Von Volkswagon", and she was forever unpredictable... An intermittent starter periodically required #4 son and DW to push start, which always got me dirty looks... Actually my bride's fault since she refused to learn how to pop the clutch.
Victoria had a Porsche engine, but not too much power... half way up a winding one lane road to the top of the Mississippi Palisades, she just wouldn't make it. With dozens of cars behind us we were forced to turn around on a
wide spot in the road and finish the hill climb in reverse.
She had a pop up top, that turned into a sleeping space, a porta potty, sink, gas stove and dining table and a pull out canopy.
She gave up the ghost on a trip, and we limped home in fourth gear, after losing first, second and third. Had that fixed, then a month later, engine went out... A great experience. Four bolts to remove and five hours to rebuild with new rings and split dual carbs. I felt like a master mechanic.
Couldn't find a picture of Victoria, but she was exactly like this... Know she would have been proud.
