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SEND ALONG A MEMORY - A REQUEST - WHATEVER
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO LENNON'S VAN?
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA - The owners of a Beatles museum are headed down the long and winding road of bankruptcy court, two
years after they moved from rural Stanardsville to Virginia Beach. Michael and Sheila McKee came to the oceanfront hoping
to expand their life's work, McKee's Beatles Museum, into a full-time, money-making business. They displayed memorabilia such
as ticket stubs and signed guitars and photos.
This VW Van belonged to John Lennon, and is part of the museum's treasures! We first saw a blurb on midnight TV showing
the delightful van which looked as if it'd been stored in some garage for decades.
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SHORT MESSAGES Shirley dropped us a note saying her "favorite VW is the latest van model, and that her best VW Van trip
was one to NE Canada." She'd like to read some contributions from VW van owners in Canada, so send us some! Simon wrote in
to say the '84 VW Van is his favorite, and so far, his best trip was to the desert in Arizona, but he plans more travel, maybe
into Mexico.
DELAWARE SEARCH FOR VW VAN "Show me some VW Vans," is Amy's request. Any ideas on where she
should look in her area can be sent to her by e-mail (ajdu@magpage.com). Send us some ideas and we'll include them on this
page (nancye2@tfn.net).
WONDERFUL TRIP TO ALASKA
Joe (25 )wrote in to say that he'd been around VWs his whole life.
Uncles, mom, grandparents had crew cabs, buses, bugs, squarebacks. So naturally, when he became a teenager he got the v-dub
fever. His two uncles were VW/Porshe mechanics when he was a child, and they now have their own shop (Harding's Automotive,
in southern California).
In 1985, Joe and his late grandma Jean, mom and sister took a summer vacation from Los Angeles
to Juneau in his grandma's '77 camper van. The only mechanical problem they had was the valves loosened up in Portland. He
remembers that one way the trip was 6 days on the road and one day on the ferry. On the way to Alaska they would do VW shows/swap
meets: his grandma used to pack up her van and sell VW parts. Joe believes they did about 4 shows. They have a whole photo
album of pictures of their entire trip, including many photos of their van. "We had that thing fully loaded," Joe wrote, "my
grandma had racks above by the camper shell, and she had blue tarps and poles for her shows. We had our fishing poles and
my skateboard was also up there. Now that I think about it , it's pretty amazing all the stuff we had in that van and also
how far we traveled...... a time in all our lives which we will never forget." Our special thanks
to Joe, Vdubbusman@aol.com, for a grand story.
REPAIR MANUALVolkswagon Vanagon Official Factory Repair Manual 1980-1991 (including Diesel Syncro and Camper) is now available
at the Westfalia webpage bookstore.. John says for everyone to enjoy the rest of the summer and to send in some trip and show
reports. (http://www.westfalia.org)
LUDWIG 'n' ME Fiona spent a recent day de-rusting her bus and finished up the chore with a need to communicate with other
bus lovers. Lucky us, she found our web page about our VW Vans, and shared her heart with us. "Ludwig is a 1968 early bay
window devon camper conversion. Very original but at 30 years old is now needing a bit of welding and a lot of TLC." Ludwig
and his owner (f.mason@virgin.net) live in Colchester, England, and they've travelled extensively in the UK from the highlands
of Scotland to the rolling hills of Cornwall.
LOOKING FOR A VW FOR A GLORIOUS ADVENTURE
What are the differences in the VW Vans? That's what Grant wants to know. He's owned several VW Bugs and the newer Rabbits,
but says he has "no clue" about the vans. He's interested in a van with air conditioning, and wonders what years seem to be
the most reliable. Living in North Palm Beach FL, the vans he's seen all seem to have a lot of rust on the lower body, and
that concerns him. Send along your advice and ideas to gahouser@bellsouth.net
HOW RELIABLE IS A VW BUS? Ronnie, age 19, has wanted a Volkswagen bus for a LONG time, and is asking for some opinions
on how to buy a "dream" for little money, what to look for/insist upon, how reliable are these vehicles, etc. Send along this
valuable, helpful information to Ronnie (Toddles168@aol.com).
WHERE ARE SOME TEXAS VW CAMPER CLUBS? Mike Barley (mikebartley@unicomp.net) is interested in contacting some VW camper
clubs or get togethers in Texas. They have had 2 Volkswagen campers, buying a a '71 van in 1977, and an '85 in 1985 (they
picked it up at the factory in Germany). They still own the '85 van..... which has traveled 182,000 miles.
VAN POSTERS WANTED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
Members of the Royal Air Force stationed in Wallingford, UK are interested in some posters of VW Vans traveling in America.
Send any ideas to Dave Kent (Fatlezz@aol.com).....he and his buddies want to use the posters to decorate their small crewroom
just painted recently.
LOOKING FOR A GOOD WESTFALIA Ken Foust surfed in thanking us for an enjoyable site, and mentioning that he'd owned 2 Beetles
('72 Super & '73 SB Convertible). Now he's searching the net and elsewhere for a good van. E-mail any good leads face@net.net
TRANSPORTER IN SCOTLAND HAVING DIESEL TROUBLES
Paul Crawford writes in from Scotland, telling about his Volkswagen Transporter, which was purchased as having a 1700 diesel
engine. Later to his dismay, it turned out to have a worn out Golf 1600 diesel in it. So then he spent 410 pounds on a 1600
diesel engine for a replacement, but after a year his "mechanic" still has not fulfilled the promise to fit it to the transporter.
There is some hope, however, that this installation might be done by mid June when Paul who is a student finishes exams. He
wonders though if the replacement diesel in a van of this size will be a gas guzzler...not a fast driver, he hopes the gas
performance will be all right.
Paul sounds like a typical VW Van worrier: envisaging the mechanic leaving things unlocked, with the engine half fitted
in the back..... or maybe just fooling around long enough that his friend can buy the vehicle cheaply from the disgusted owner!
Whenever the engine gets installed, Paul is interested in converting the transporter into a camper (windows etc). So, send
along some encouragement and advice to him in Carnoustie (Scotland), a small town of about 12,000 residents, where he says
the British Open Golf Championship can soon be seen on TV. E-mail to: PHS7PC@leeds.ac.uk
VOLKSWAGEN DAISY STICKERS Where can we get some VW Daisy Stickers? Several VW folks want to know, including Tim (tcarr@uswest.net).
Input please!
LAUGH AT THIS SITE ( http://www.aircooledmind.org/aliens.html)
SOUTH AFRICA'S VOLKSIE WEB PAGE Chairman Emil Swanepoel of the Amabugabuga Volksie Club in South Africa e-mailed
in to invite surfers to visit their web site , and to say they loved the stories on our site. So, stop by http://www.pow.co.za/amabugabuga/
to see what fun they are having in South Africa. Emil says to be
sure and look at their gallery on the Events page to see what happens in their country....and to keep a special eye on the
African Beetle Marathon. amabugabuga@hang-ten.com
E-mail your VW story to naclark2005@earthlink.net
VW STORY PAGES 7
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