Why Choose an Air Cooled VW?

After my family’s recent VW bug adoption I started to wonder what brought me, a mid-life crisis aged shade tree mechanic, to choose this project. My reflection has revealed three themes.

Nostalgia

When I was a young motorcyclist all the machines I could afford were older, slower, and of modest technology. Technologies, in fact, not far removed from the VW air cooled engine. It seems possible that the era from which the VW evolved gives me a sense of connection to my past.

Simplicity

By almost every metric the VW air cooled automobile pales in comparison to it’s peers. It is not fast. It is not rare. It is not exotic. It is a simple machine and the simple joy of motoring on a warm afternoon might be all the allure that is required.

Relationship

Vintage VW ownership is more than dropping some coin and parking the automobile at your home. VW ownership requires a relationship with the machine. Many owners, myself included, are comfortable owning the frequent maintenance tasks not required by cars half a century newer. The maintenance ritual might, in fact, be a component in the relationship between machine and driver. We can’t overlook that maybe I’m not choosing a vintage car in as much as I’m responding to that car’s needs.

It is much too early for me to reach any conclusions. As the project matures I expect my understaning of the question posed in the title to mature with it.

Artwork courtesy Dana Trummert