Tom's 1969 Bug
The car that started it all.
History
This is the car that started my life long fascination with Volkswagen and it's cars. This particular model, a 1969 Beetle (technically VW never called it the Beetle, it was the "Sedan"), was originally sold to my parents in February of 1969. They bought it from a VW dealership in nearby Riverside, California, 
Economotors. For those of you not into the VW scene, Econo is the dealership that created probably the most influential manufacturer of aftermarket parts for the VW and dune buggy scenes. Econo sold these parts under the EMPI name. I also own the fiberglass dune buggy sold by EMPI, the EMPI Imp.
So I grew up riding in this car. For the most part, my Dad drove this car as his daily driver until 1986 when it was showing it's age. Instead of selling it, they parked it, knowing that I'd be driving in a few years and a VW Bug is a great first car for a teenager. When I got close to getting my driver's license, my parents helped me to get the car up and running again. I drove the car all through high school and even a few years of college. It's been my on-again, off-again driver ever since.
Currently
It definitely needs some work now, and that's what I'm working on. I was influenced by the look of the custom VWs 
called the Cal-Look. The front of the car is lowered, with narrow tires, and the engines is a strong hot rodded unit, giving the car a purposeful yet understated look. This is the look I'm going for my car.
Currently I'm working on a few things. I'm working on getting the custom wheels I want, and I'm working on getting the parts I need to build the engine. Currently it was a basically stock 1600cc Type 1, but I'm working on a 2056cc Type 4 engine, originally from a '76 Bus. I'm hoping to get 120-130hp out of an engine that will travel over 100,000 miles.
Photos
Here are some photos I've taken of the Bug:
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All content and images are copyright © 1999 - 2008 Tom Slider. Any use without permission is strictly forbidden. |
