Missoulaneous ACVWs

Our thingie that counts how many people visit this site--and also knows where you are: we've got our eyes on you--shows that our site traffic is down. If only our lives were interesting enough to warrant twice-weekly or even daily posts. If only. In the meantime, please feel free to browse the list of blogs in the right-hand panel to keep track of those who are a little more (and less) prolific than ourselves.

By-the-bye, these are some ACVWs we've seen around Missoula recently. First up is this 1971 Single Cab. It lived for a long time in the lot at Mountain Imports, a local shop that's willing to service these old beasts. 02McDonald and I drove his 1960 Single Cab from Lincoln Nebraska to Middleton New York and back in 2001 (post forthcoming, once I can arrange for some time with a scanner), and I loved it. In fact, I'll come right out and say it: Single Cabs are. Totally. Awesome.

Some (not us, mind you) consider 1971 to be the high-water mark for the bay window line (1968-1979), as they were equipped with the 1600cc dual-port Beetle engine and front disk brakes.
Now I'd like to introduce Bernadette, a 1975 Riviera whose owner has chatted with me in the library a few times. Seventy-fives are fuelies which means they can come with their own suite of problems, problems which, when surmounted, allow the powerplant to blossom into the finest air-cooled engine that one will ever find in a VW. I like to think I instilled a some measure of confidence in Bernadette's owner, as she went and threw down the dough for the Idiot Book and the Bentley manual, planning to dig right on in. She seems really into it and we wish her well; Bernadette looks to be a good, proud specimen.


There's another shop in town that'll tear into an old VW for you, Import Palace. Melissa stopped by there once to get me something and inquired about this black Beetle. The shop's owner said it was his and that he himself bought it off the showroom floor in 1979. I'm pretty sure it's a Champagne Edition (ah, that even so long ago VW imbibed in that whole stupid "Edition" crapola), and I think that CE convertible Beetles, especially CE convertibles that've only had one owner, are highly desirable.