This is my third car. I doubt any photos of my second exist, as it was an embarrassing contraption I'd just as soon forget. My dad gives me a hard time about my second car, because he remembers I drove it under one of those bars they extend across a parking lot entrance to keep people out. I didn't drive under it while it was blocking the path. The wind had blown it away from the side of the fence, and it was sticking out at an angle. I poked the end of it through my windshield.
This is my Baja VW. I purchased this for more than I should have paid, but it was a fun car. My buddy, Steve James, had one; so, I thought I needed to get one as well.
I blew the engine driving up to Minnesota in this car. A friend, Randy Hollis, and I were driving up together. The engine blew in Emporia, KS. The baja doesn't really have a bumper, so we went to K-Mart and purchased a roll of wire and spider wrapped the bumpers together. Oh, he also had a VW Bug. Our top speed for the next 600 miles would be about 45 MPH. In the Flint Hills, I thought we might not make it up a few hills, but weeeeeeee got some speed up going down them.
When night fell, and we were passing the Missouri boarder into Iowa, we passed a cop, who was going south on 35W (we were heading north). I saw his lights come on and the chase was on! Just kidding. He could have caught us on a good 10-speed bike.
Apparently, the cop noticed that we didn't have tail lights. Randy got a ticket, which I later paid. We were grounded until we could get tail lights. So, we drove into an old truck stop in Iowa and purchased several long extension cords. My years of taking electrical appliances apart was about to pay off.
We wired his tail lights to mine, and taa daa!- We had tail lights. We continued on into the Twin Cities that night. I remember looking up at those tall buildings and thinking- wow, life sure is strange some times.
(Below, the front tires have been put on the back. The explanation follows below).
This car wasn't built for bad weather. When it rained, I had to put a rubber boot over the tail pipe to keep rain from going down into the engine. When I say "rubber boot"- I literally mean a boot from an old pair of galoshes.
My baja VW really didn't fair well in Minnesota weather. It turns out, when your motor is completely exposed in -20 F weather, the oil turns as hard as putty, and the battery only chuckles when you ask it to turn the starter motor.
I lost a job due to this problem. I took a job at some warehouse, reporting in a 4:00 am, to check orders pulled by the forklift drivers. I missed work twice due to my car not starting in cold weather, and that was the end of the job.
To add insult to injury, thieves decided they wanted my big mudder tires. In the photo below, you can see the car is sitting on blocks. They actually stole my battery as well. SG Norris, the college president, heard of my plight, and he bought me new tires and a battery. That was nice of him. Obviously, I couldn't expect him to buy me the mudder tires, so the baja's appearance took a hit. So, I moved the front tires to the back and left regular VW tires on the front. It was noticeably less cool.
I decided to sell the baja. It sat unused for a summer in Minnesota after I had to replace it with more reliable transportation. When I went to show the buyer that the engine would start, the gas lines cracked going to the carburetor, gas sprayed onto the engine and it caught on fire. Luckily, there was a pile of sand near by. We scooped sand with a trashcan lid and put the fire out. The carburetor was filled with sand.
I told the guy he was in luck. I was having a fire sale. I sold the baja for $58. I had paid $2500 for it.
