4 'VW' Wheels on a Gravel Road



Brownie & I...
My 'hippy days', man.
image by Carolle.


As you know, I write about two wheel inspiration of the bike kind.

My good friend, Steve of the fun blog Empidog, inspired me to write of my 4 wheel love. Check out his cool post here.


The state you reach driving a VW, preferably air-cooled...
We baptized Brownie's rear window with this sticker!



I still have a love affair with the VW's, especially the vans. I first owned a 1972 VW Type 3 Variant in lemon yellow. Carolle and I met at Emily Carr Art College. In 1996, our mutual fixation of the 4 wheel kind, arrived with a 1972 VW campervan nicknamed, 'Brownie.' We lived in that van and our friend Jim even called us, 'Hippies.' Art college meets art students!

At one point, we found ourselves between addresses so we decided to live in our van. We lived in Brownie during August of 1996. All the time driving and camping in beautiful Vancouver Island. We took our time, so liberating, camping at Englishman Falls & Goldstream parks. We were newlyweds and looking back, it was the most carefree summer we ever had.

We traveled twice across to Québec, at times, feeling if we would ever make it. I remember asking a gas attendant to help push start us in Dryden, Ontario. I think it was well below zero. So grateful for his help and the welcome advantage of a slight slope to make it easier. These old buses never had a reliable gas heater. A poor design that if used, sometimes blew up. We promptly disconnected the beast of course never bothered using it. So, we relied on good ole wool and fleece to keep us warm.

But, all good things come to an end, we eventually sold him in 2003. Now, we have a more reliable but not as exciting car with heat. I call it living with creature comforts. Definitely not Funkengruven. But, you know, Brownie was one of a kind ...& fun!



Two books we never could do without...
We turned ourselves into amateur mechanics,
our two cherished VW 'bibles' that Carolle & I always had handy!


Comments

Empidog said…
Wow. Great post..Brownie is very similar to my 72 Danbury, I went Westfalia after, then 66 Split panel van finally I ran my daughters lowered Type 3 fastback..sold that and just cycled everywhere ( apart from being ferried around by Chris) till Max came along... cycling stickers and bikeracks........As my hair gets longer it feels I'm going back in time....They all had stories to tell of distant journeys
Richard said…
You've owned quite a few of the humble air cooled VW's. I'd like to think we're in a exclusive group.
Carolle's begging me to grow my hair long again...hmm...