Book by chase randolph by Freestyle Academy

VolksFolks Chase Randolph

Dedication This book is dedicated to all of the intervewies that participated in interviews and to my family who supported and helped me buy my VW bus

Table of Contents 6

Preface

History

How It Works

The Stories

The Cost

The Stories

Conclusion

Workcited

bio

Preface

recently aquired a 1971 VW type 2 (bus),

capable of. I started to use my email, and when

encourage people who want to get into classic

riviera camper, whose name is Jolene. My

I came home from school or practice I would

cars to obtain an old Volkswagen to keep these

VW bus is now known my pride and joy. I

be sitting in my car for an extra half hour, com- cars alive and on the road, and to avoid the

came into the world of Volkswagen when I was

municating with interviewees to schedule inter-

rusty doom that most of them fear. The biggest

younger and I was getting into classic cars. At

views.

takeaway from this project is that these cars

that point in time I did not know what classic

Another hill I had to overcome was the bor-

are more than cars; they may not have the most

car I wanted to get when I was older, switching

rowing of gear; our school only has limited

powerful engine or the “coolest” look, but

between classic jeeps to a detroit muscle car un- gear for recording the interviews so borrowing

til I had dinner with my aunt on night. She told

equipment was challenging. For one interview

me when she was younger my grandparents

I didn’t have any gear at all so I had to com-

had an old splitty bus and suggested I look into

municate with other students last-minute until,

it. At this moment I instantly fell in love.

thankfully, a classmate offered to help me. I

My new bus opened a brand new community

grew older during this project, feeling more like

to me and I wanted to learn more about it, so

an adult, and more ready for the world beyond

when our school assigned a documentary proj-

high school. I feel like my communication skills

ect I found it to be the perfect opportunity to

have gotten much better, actually checking

explore this new world. This project was excit-

my emails and responding in a timely manner,

ing and made me look forward to work, yet it

going out of my sphere to reach out to people

held unforeseen challenges. I have a problem

for help and building new study habits to finish

with procrastination, doing most of my work

projects and create a piece I’m proud of.

at the last minute, but because I am so passion-

I want you, the reader, to take away an un-

ate about this subject I had to destroy my old

derstanding and appreciation for these cars,

study technique of half-assing a project just

so when you get stuck behind a VW bus going

to pass to planning a schedule ahead of time

uphill in second gear you don’t get mad. In-

and working on it gradually (although I’m still

stead, I want you to understand that the engine

writing this Preface hours from publication). I

isn’t that strong and that there is a passion and

did large amounts of work I didn’t know I was

community behind these cars. I also want to

what they have is a heart, one component no other car will have.

H i s t o r y

erdinand Porsche was

Chris Walker, owner of Bay Muffler,

the true founder of

recalls his time owning a all VW

Volkswagen. His goal was

garage: “I think half of them were

to produce a people’s car

hippies and half of them drove them

that the modern person could afford, because their parents made them, I just like Henry Ford’s Model T. After liked the hippie half, they were fun WW1 in 1934 he worked with the

to be around.” Then the Oil Crisis

Nazi party to build a people’s car,

of the 70s happened and these cars

but ending up as a bust as the sales

sold under their fuel efficient engines,

as the only use was for mail delivery.

the Bugs averaging around 30 mpg.

The sales of the VW Beetle started

The watercooled VW’s began being

when the Allied powers who wanted

produced with the 1974 golf or

to rebuild the german infrastructure

the better known “Rabbit.” If the

and decided to fund the Volkswagen

Volkswagens weren’t unconventional

factory. Luckily this factory

enough, VW’s became a popular car

miraculously survived a bombing

for hot rodding, which was founded

run, with a bomb that did not go off

as around the same time as slamming

laying in the middle of the factory

which interviewee toby recalling,

floor. The factory started to produce

“back then everyone wanted them as

the Type 1, other known as the Bug

low as they could be, you know they

or Beetle, soon after the production

called it like Slammed really low, and

of the Beetle, the type 2, or the

as fast as we could make them go,

VW Bus was produced. These cars

and loud stereos” (Toby Mcdonald).

became a popular alternative to the

Then when the environment was

cars imported from Detroit because

under concern the era of air cooled

of the lower price and how the

engines came to end, but the culture

automobiles were unconventional

lives on.

in all aspects. During this period the culture of Volkswagen rose and diversified, with these cheap cars being driven by people that wanted to be economically efficient and by the Hippies during the 60’s. (Muir) 9

How it Works

he Volkswagens are designed

to be an efficient car, they are built to be cheap, not power-

ful. The engineers knew what they were doing when they designed the car; they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just put ice into a wind tunnel and let it melt, to decide on the shape of the car. A lot of planning went into this car. The bodies were build to be aerodynamic, to compensate for the engine, this would allow the car to travel further with less horsepower letting the airflow around it, not obstruct it. While the car was constructed to be light to glide over snow and sand. While the engine was placed in the rear to deliver more power to the wheels. The way the engine cools is through air, taking in air and having the fan push air over the engine to cool it rather than using water that can boil over or freeze. It is also very simplistic which makes it easy to work on and cheap to manufacture bringing the price of the car lower.

arcive image

people in America thought the Volkswagens were stupid looking or ridiculous cars, so when they advertised the ads they made fun of themselves, kinda tongue and cheek, I think it just became part of the culture” (Mcdonald). In the 1960s when people

“remember those old Volkswagen ads” sum-

to compete with the cars being imported from

would try to buy the new car with the new fins

a personality, integrating them into cultures

Detroit. You know the big muscle cars with

when last year’s model was out of date, Volk-

around the world, from herbie the love Bug

the powerful water cooled engine? How on

swagen did the outrageous, and kept the same

racing through the snakey streets of San Fran-

earth would these tiny foreign cars compete?

design, year, after year, after year. The adver-

cisco to being the car that people associate

The way Volkswagen overcame this challenge

tising agency for VW would play off this fact

woodstock with, even in foreign countries like

is by creating advertisements that were comi-

showing a blank sheet with the phrase, “No

Hungary the airport stores carry a postcard

cal while at the same time turing a con into

point in showing the ‘62 Volkswagen. It still

with an illustration of a Volkswagen bus with

the reason for why the car is so great. By us-

looks the same” (VW Advertising). This ad-

“Budapest” written on the side. Volkswagens

ing this satirical humor Volkswagen set up an

vertisement was saying “why spend money on

became iconic through their advertising, associ-

identity for itself that is easily related with the

a car that will be fashionable next year when

ating them with their own personalities.

car. Toby described these ads as being impor-

you can spend money on a car that will never

he popular show Mad Men responded to the Volkswagen advertising: “I don’t know what I hate about it the

most, the Ad or the car.” This attitude shows what the fat cats, smoking their cigars on Wall Street, thought of these vehicles, but the common person took these ads in a whole different light. The funny looking German cars needed

tant saying “it

was good because in the earlier times a lot of

marized the ads with saying when you run out of gas it’s easy to push, showing dents in the car, showing it dirty, doing the opposite of the traditional advertisements. This represents the car perfectly, because Volkswagen was anything from a traditional car. These ads promoted a cult following of Volkswagen, giving them

look different?” Volkswagen kept this trend throughout their advertising; the documentary

The Advertising

The Cost

olkswagen in German means “the

More importantly, is this increase in cost ruin-

people’s car,” and that’s what it was: a

ing the culture and the essence of the car or

car for the mass population. In 1968,

preserving it?

you could walk into a Volkswagen dealership

First, why do these cars cost so much

and buy a brand new Beetle for 1,699 dollars,

now? Is it because that each day Volkswagens

which, raised for inflation, was a little more

become more elusive, and any VW owner will

than 12 grand. For a brand new car, that’s a

know the fear of rust when they leave their au-

deal. This car is also cheap to maintain, as

tomobile garaged for too long. Rust kills these

well as being simple enough to do all the work

old cars and most were neglected, leaving them

yourself if you have the time and will power.

to rot some scrap yard, and can tremendously

Volkswagens is truly a people’s car but for how

lower the amount of these cars on the road.

much longer?

Another factor to the rising price is that people

The price of the Volkswagens have been in-

who have money will spend the money on these

creasing within the last decade. It’s possible to

cars. According to Walker, “Mostly because the

purchase a Beetle for a low price depending

scrapyard scraped them all and they were made

on the condition and who you buy it from.

of poorly mixed metal, the metalology [sic] and

However, it can be costly to get a VW Beetle.

they did tend to rust so most of the country

In a decent quality it can cost 20 grand: to get

they rusted and got scrapped and the few good

it with a rust free body, and an engine that’s

ones that are left, were all trying to relive our

running perfectly condition it can cost 40, and

youth and old people like me have some money

to get it like new, with all its original parts, it

and they’ll buy the cars they drove when they

goes from 60 and up. The price of parts and

were young and they can afford it” (Walker).

maintenance isn’t cheap either; as previously

mentioned by David Rich, labor can run up to

saving the culture? This is where the ideals will

60, 80, or 100 an hour. What is making these

start to diverge. Randy Wenke, owner of a con-

“affordable” cars cost so much and making the

struction company and a beautiful VW Beetle

people’s car become a more selective group?

said, “I think that the more demand there is for

Now is this rising cost a problem or is it

something, if there’s less vehicles it creates an automatic demand, but no I think the culture will grow” (Wenke). The ideology of the cars being preserved does bring up the importance of keeping the Volkswagens, as many are meeting the same fate of the antarctic VW Beetle. In contrast, Toby argued that, “The prices of old Volkswagens going up has definitely changed it from the people’s car where anyone could have one, where they have become somewhat of a luxury item, when you go to auctions and their thousands to 100000s one hundred thousands dollars, it’s become a centerpiece or a fancy piece of furniture than a car where you go out and do every adventure imaginable from the snow to the sand so definitely the rise in value makes it out of reach for people” (McDonald). While this other end of the spectrum shows how Volkswagens should not be displaced in a garage but rather should be displayed on the road, living the adventurous spirit it contains. Then you reach the consen-

“You know, I think it ruined half the culture I have several customers that are still young people that can afford to fix the late model 77, 72 Volkswagens because they are still inexpensive the other end of the spectrum you get rich old guys that ruin the whole party by paying 24,000 for old VW pickup”.

sus, the ideology of Walker,

The Stories

interiors out of them and paint them up like hi-

was a route we

roshima and race them in the high school park-

liked to take,

ing lot and run into each other and tip them

we would cruise over and then just leave them and go back the down highway

next day and paint hiroshima all over them was

1 and go down

here, The school was not real happy about it

to santa bar-

but they left us alone.” showing how Volkswa-

bara.” Having

gens were… simply Volkswagens they were a

these child-

versatile car, a car that probably had more cre-

hood experiences of cruising around leads to

ativity to go into it than any Detroit car could.

new memories where you try to surpass the

Once a young adult the spirit of Volkswagen burns brighter, Walker started an all VW ga-

gas pump starting with, “I remember I used to

top speed of 55mph, the top speed of the stock engines. Wenke recalls, “We were racers in

rage remembering, “We opened a VW repair

Hawaii, and we did street racing… It was every

shop and I was young and the best thing about

Friday night we would get our cars out at 10

the VW repair shop was every young lady had

o’clock and head out to several known places

a VW so then we made our shop loaner a 69

for street racing, and my car was generally

VW convertable, every cute girl brought their

targeted because it was very very light and very

VW to our repair shop because they wanted

fast so all the other fast cars wanted to take

to drive the loaner convertible, it was good

the title, so it was every friday and saturday

for business and we met a lot of nice young

olkswagen community is surrounded by stories involving these cars. An owner of a classic Volkswagen will

always have someone come up to them at the have, so and so.” These iconic vehicles always spark a memory for someone who was around during their prime. These memories starting at a young age, Toby’s first memory with Volkswagen “when I was a little boy, my dad used to have me work on the car I didn’t even know what I was doing because I was so small and I would just go underneath and adjust the valves and just do stuff and he just taught me how so it was a good, family thing.”(Mcdonald) One theme that surrounds these cars are family, having a bond that gets passed down by generation, that childhood memorabilia of being in the metal shell cruising through town, that memory still lives in the car. This effect gets built on through the experiences in these cars like the infamous VW bus camping trips. Nate Donovan, a photographer who own a Vanagon, recalls these trips with his daughters: “Camping with my daughters, when they

were little there

night and their was about half a dozen different women.” While in adulthood (if you choose to places you had to dodge the police and pull off

grow up), the the torch gets passed down to the

your races and disperse... We were racing and

next generation. According to Rich, “This is a

we didn’t get out of this arena in time and the

project I did with my daughter… yes it was a

cops were funneling in and I decided I wasn’t

bonding experience for both. We spent literally

ready to get pulled over and I was young, hard

hundreds and hundreds of hours working on

headed and I took off and there was about 12

the car together in order to get it into this con-

police cars chasing after me and fortunately

dition.” These experiences keep the tradition

Hawaii wasn’t really build so we headed into

of the VW heritage in the family.

the Cane Field and that’s how we got away.” The self expression Volkswagen encouraged did not just limit itself to racing, as Walker explains: “take the old VW and strip all the

Conclusion These vehicles are one-of-akind, from exploring the icy terrain of Antarctica, to being converted for racing, creating family bonds; across the whole spectrum of what a VW can be, it’s a car of artistic expression and contains a part that no other car has – a heart. It’s as true as how cheesy it sounds. As the Volksheads know, “If you love your Volkswagen, your Volkswagen will love you back.” These cars containing a certain warmth, a distinct smell, and a certain energy that is indistinguishable with the classic Aircooled Volkswagens. Everyone you will meet will have a bond with these cars. McDonald sums it up nicely:

“I definitely think they have their own

personality, and I think whenever people see an old Bug I think it makes people happy. It just brings back so many memories because so many people had them growing up and just the shape of it and the sound of them it just makes people smile”.

Works Cited “BUDEL, BAD CAMBERG AND BEYOND.” Classic and Vintage Volkswagen Club of Australia, hapkido.netro.com.au/~VWcc/BUDELbadcambergandbeyond.htm. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. Digital image. Volkswagen Factory: Assembly Line. Pintrest, n.d. Web. Donovan, Nate, Personal interview. 13 Mar. 2017 Evans, Brett T. “Volkswagen’s Mexico plant ramps up for 2017 Tiguan.” Truck Trend, Nov.-Dec. 2016, p. 16. Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA4803 86085&it=r&asid=a4f602cd9ee90d8abec7b47008a87dc1. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “Ferninand Porsche: from the Beetle to the Panzer Tank.” The Spectator, 4 Nov. 2015, www.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/designing-the-swimming-car-the-doodleBug-and-the-panz er-tank-was-all-in-a-days-work-for-ferdinand-porsche/#. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “Its ugly but it gets you there” McDonald, Toby. Personal interview. 12 Mar. 2017. “No Point in Showing the ‘62 Volkswagen, It Still Looks the Same .” Orlove, Raphael. “This Was the First Car in Antarctica.” Jalopnik, Jalopnik.com, 15 Dec. 2011, jalopnik.com/5868236/this-was-the-first-car-in-antarctica. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. Rich, David. Personal interview. 19 Mar. 2017 Walton, Chris. “Volkswagen Microbus.” Motor Trend, July 2001, p. 54. Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA75917700&i t=r&asid=44fdbf89743b56aee4 273e0bf0d505cf. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “VOLKSWAGEN NEW BEETLE.” Motor Trend, Feb. 1999, p. 57. Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA5353 0077&it=r&asid=c92a961604a87045503590be4abeb9e7. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. Muir, John, et al. How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: a Manual of Step by Step Procedures fo the Compleat Idiot. Emeryville, CA, John Muir Publications, 2011. Walker, Chris. Personal interview. 15 Mar. 2017 Wenke, Randy. Personal interview. 18 Mar. 2017

hase Randolph a sixteen-year-old who is a student at Freestyle Academy started this documentary for a love of Volkswagen. He currently is a junior who plays water polo for Mountain View High School. He owns a 1971, dark red Rivera VW bus that has a black stripe across the side that is a daily driver. The bus also serves the purpose for camping trips, with plans to go on roadtrips, and eventually travel throughout the whole North American continent. Chase also enjoys hiking and backpacking and doing activities that involve nature.