Pasko Parol Patrol

It’s truly a wonderful season!
All things seem to be hectic,
yet cheerful at the same time!
I again think of the wonderful
blessings, God has showered me.
I thank Him endlessly.
Of which of course include,
family, friends and all of you!

Like the Parol, our local
Christmas lantern that makes
the season warm with hope,
so is my fervent warm greetings
of a Joyful Christmas to all!

“Stand-By-Me” day

This is THE yearly VW gathering.
The usual drill was expected.
Crowd of fans congregated.
Lots of nice Vdubs.
Car show ladies.
Swap meet.
Bands.
You.
Me.

Huh?
Hmmm?
So what else?
It’s another year,
summarized in a day?
I’m trying to rationalize,
what’s keeping me coming
to this annual Vdub gathering.

Frankly, I don’t actually know
for sure or somehow I do.
Maybe this could shed
some light to it.
I, like other
people,
do it.

It’s a all about….
“Stand-By (pose beside a car you like)
(thus showing that’s) -Me”.

VW friends meet

Time flies when you’re working hard.
Hardly noticed it’s been a year,
since I last met up with fine friends.
Surely it’s been a good day to see
them and meet new ones!

Proof that friends are united by
their passion for Volkswagen.
Mabuhay!



Fine line of friends

bugline

busline

threeline

kgline

countryline

waterline

Superfastback

Quite fond of the Martini Racing livery
and is the theme of this custom Matchbox Superfast.
Starting with the classic Lesney England casting of the
MB # 67 VW (Fastback) 1600TL in Superfast wheels,
and a few mods (after doing sketches) to create this
concept in mind: which is a wrecked Porsche 911
racer as the donor of parts to create a very (imagined)
different Fastback for club racing: a Superfastback!

My current favorite Matchbox, coz it’s home-built.
This one sports a VW Alpine White paint and…
rolls on period styled ATS wheels.
I totally enjoyed doing this custom Fasty.

My new old-skool toy
I’m smitten again by the old-school VW waterpumper.
Just got this and a lady previously owned it.
This one is well taken cared for
and all original example.
My new 1:1 toy to enjoy, old-school Jetta GLI

backdrop is a barn inspired place for fun and toys.


Here’s my other old-school toy (obviously I’m hooked),
a variant of that white Euro-version.

This metal sunroof model is a US-version.

I’m pictured here during a fun run with other VW old-schooler.

Everyday enjoying VW's! Everyday is a fun day! Enjoy life!

Happy Camper

Face of the VW enthusiast series.

 Wondering what have I been up to for the past weeks?
You thought I was sleeping out on my VW blog!
Nah!
While busy making bucks, I’m still thinking of VW’s…
and…
anything pertaining to the enthusiast and the hobby.

This might very well be a primer of the hobbyist.
A peek of the person, behind the fascination.

He’s someone who enjoys the Vdub.
A ‘Bus’ in this case. Type 2 for the VW geeks.
More precisely a Westfalia, I might add.
This fella is out-going.
Groovy? Yes!
He wants closeness in everything.
Likes everything in tight package.
Oh, he knows how to squeeze, and love it.

So engrossed in the Westfalia, that he lives…
and breath the camper lifestyle.
Here he is….

I’ll be Damp!

Hooray for the rainy days!
Summer heat has finally dissipated.
Up ahead are showers to cool,
both the Vdubs and enthusiast.
This could be viewed as both,
a good and a bad thing really.

Some would see the wet days ahead,
as an off-season for their machines.
Storage time for those using Vdubs,
as weekend lazy cars or vain pets.
I truly wonder if they put mothballs,
moisture bags, baking soda, charcoal,
inside these pampered cars too.

It’s a totally different perspective,
for those using VWs, day in, day out.
These gallant daily drivers are breeds,
that deserve my highest admiration.
These air-cooled engines don’t like,
being wet and damp with rain-spray.
They seem to catch a ‘machine’ cold.
Keeping them running this season,
is a rite of true bravery and dedication

Most of these vintage running VWs,
aren’t as water-tight as myth suggests.
Water intrusion inside the cabin,
is part of the joys of ownership.
A good cover for the decklid louvers,
upturned can for the distributor cap,
some silicon shot for cracked rubbers,
metal patches for rusted body and pan,
would do the trick ….
….pack a gutter seal tube to be sure.

If you’re ready to go, equip yourself…
with the best accessories for the damp,
soggy and splashing wild season.
A nice fitting blue waterproof shirt,
with a huge white Volkswagen logo,
and extra large picnic-size umbrella,
with those funky antennae balls!
You gotta do it in style,
if things get soaking wet!

Postcard Perfect

Summer is here!
Time to bring out the Vdubs.
Perfect sunny weather for
hot-air rides.
This would fit to a tee,
in Santa Clara area.
These California Aircooled,
are hot as they are cool !

You gotta love these.
Vintage, Custom, Rare
VWs in picture perfect scene.
Two-tone Notchback,
Ovalie Bug, Splittie, make
for one awesome bunch!
The backdrop is a period
Gasoline pump station.
What more can you as for?


Kewl group, you have there Don!


And how do you travel
for a perfect VW vacation?
A trailer Bus of course!

Double Haul

Life is full of tempting choices.
It’s always choosing, which is which.
What if you had to choose between,
two fav VW to bring to a club meet?
A split decision is a difficult one.
More like a splitting predicament to me.

Wait a minute!
Splitting would more likely be the fare to go.
Volks-people have done it.
Tow the other VW with another VW!
A common way to make a statement though.
If you’re going to make a scene, do it grand!

Don Croxton has a grand plan!
A plan that’s something different.
That is to transport those VW’s in style.
Custom the loader as a show in itself.
Hitch the trailer convoy with class too.
Then paint a VW color to nail the look.
Those Vdubs are pampered to the max!

Double Transporter

Load em up!

The Fasty load

Pretty in Pink

Politics and VW

I’m not a politicize person.
Yet this present political exercise in our country,
got me pondering about the relationship of politics and “the car”

Rewind to the 1930’s….
We all know very well how the Chancellor of Germany then,
was responsible for the birth of the very first Volkswagen,
the epitome of a peoples-car.
Ferdinand Porsche, executed the Fuhrer’s order and
the rest they say is history.
That infamous mix of politics and the automobile,
is a fixture of history and maybe was bound to repeat itself.
A different formula was expected, but nonetheless somehow similar.

Fast forward to 2002….
History has both the leader and “the car”
reunited once again.
For better or for worst, let history be its judge.
Gerhard Shroeder, former Chancelor of Germany made its official car
The Volkswagen Phaeton W12.
Ferdinand Piech , the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and
(Piech gave us some of the greatest and legendary racing Porsches)
former VW Chairman conceived this as his last big VW encore!
Piech presented this car to Shroeder, and this grand “people’s car”
is now part of history and a defining moment for both of these men.

I got a scale model of this historic Phaeton. Both Piech and
Shroeder are pictured on the background card.




Sometimes I just laugh it off, when people I’ve come to know points
to how the VW groups here are “a politicized bunch”. They are!!!
They should be!!! The car they came to love is a child of politics!
Whether you like it or not, it was an instrument of a German politician.
History has witnessed it! Love it or hate it. Live and let live.
Mexican Latino, Derrick Pacheco, abhor this politics in the VW scene,
and is evangelizing, “taking politics-out” in the “HoodRide” movement.

Last year, Latino Hugo Chavez rode in a VW Beetle in his campaign.
Maybe to impress his affection to the masses,
by way of showing his affinity to the people’s car.
That got me thinking……
Our political leaders should try the mass appeal of riding a VW.
Naah, come to think of it, our politicians have mixed bag mentality.
I know they would want something grand,
while pretending to be modest.
Maybe this one will do the trick…..

Shanghai surprise

It was time for my annual trip abroad to broaden my horizon in the industry I’m in.
Yearly is a lesson in global awakening of how things are changing so fast.
Actually at times these changes are overwhelming as one discovers new things.
For starters going to Shanghai again, is an experience of ever evolving development.
It was not the same city, I’ve visited before.
Many more experiences are yet to be discovered.

First stop was the Hyatt Shanghai, one of the five tallest buildings in the world.
As an architect, it serves as a lesson in fusing the old and the new in one magnificent building structure.
It is an architecture masterpiece by I.M. Pei, akin to a delicate metal and glass sculpture.
Being able to go to its viewing level at the 88th floor up there @ 340 meters is one unforgettable experience.
The view is breath-taking and virtually all of Shanghai can be viewed from that height.
It is more like a view from a low flying plane, but much better.






Next is a blast of a ride in the world’s only magnetic levitation bullet train.
The SMT, Shanghai Maglev Train was built by the Germans, only for this city.
It is so expensive that even Germany doesn’t have this.
The train is similar to a Boeing plane on rails.
Even the interior is comparable to that of a passenger jet plane.
The most awesome part is that we were traveling at 431 kilometers per hour.
Now I know how it feels to travel faster that Schumacher and G-force on curve banks.





Of course for the Volkswagen enthusiast in me, Shanghai is VW heaven.
Fifty percent of the cars on the road are VWs, that is even excluding its Audi brethren.
Santana, Fox, Gol, Polo hatch & Classic, Golf, GTi, Jetta2, Jetta5, Bora, Touran, Passat, Touareg, name it they have it on the road. I really love this place.
My surprise find from my short VW collection hunt, came from TRU.
I wouldn’t pass this trip without a memento of a VW diecast model.
This little Golf5 has a story to tell in my collection
A reminder of 2007 Shanghai surprise.



By the way and not surprisingly so....Yao's shoes are really huge!

Third Career?

Doing a future fun VW pedal car as a hobby-biz is tops.
This would make for an interesting start.
So, why stop there?
Up another fun level, something ought to evolve.
But it has to be something along those lines too.
It must be VW based, light-hearted and creative endeavor.
At times, it can just give you that plain good laugh.

With the local scene full of creative talents, it will work.
Jolly men with skills are there for the picking.
I’ve seen them make Mustangs out of flat G.I. sheet.
Make chassis and custom fabricate works of pop-art.
I’ll be one of those that make sure their craft continues.
Call it a noble cause, call it grass roots fun, or call it both.
My third career is close to patronizing the Pinoy ingenuity.

Tri….cycle Career!
Aircooled Specialist and Custom Builder

Beetle bodied sidecars ....
....with custom surfboard roof.
What out….Orange Country Choppers!

Red hot

It seems though the cold mornings are over now.
Whew! It’s getting hot in here!
I don’t know why all of these are happening in February.
For some it must be St. Valentine’s Day, that’s causing things to get warmer.
For me though it’s a different reason for temperatures to rise.
This month I got hold finally of a long awaited passion!
That is the hottest diecast of the one and only ‘Hot Hatch’ in it's latest guise.

Now my Mark 2 VW GTi has got a hot pair.
Most articles would write about the 1:1 Mark2 model being the best GTi.
With the introduction of the Mark5, the formula is more potent.
Matchbox appropriately made the latest diecast model in potent red paint.
The result is one hot number!

My Second career?

Been busy making bucks lately, and been that for the last two months. While I enjoy my daily office commitments, one has to find some sort of escape from routine. Having hobbies surely adds spice to my life’s journey, making it more interesting.

Doing a quick run down of my persistent (read: incurable) hobbies, the top three are VWs, car toys and bicycles. With that in mind, if given an endeavor to create a fun business, it should have these three fav hobbies as ingredients.

The recipe?
1/5 size Beetle
It should start with a Bug, arguably the most recognizable VW.
4 wheeled Bike
Give it pedals, chain drive and sprockets. Recumbent single-speed.
1 adult toy
Tin body, white hot paint, red leather seat and spanking wheels.

The result!
My Second Childhood?

I’ll be a kid at heart, ALWAYS!