Bonding over Buses: The Volkswagen Family
One Sunday morning, 7 or 8 years ago, I was leaving my local Farmer's Market, walking to where my old Volkswagen camper was parked. As I put my purchases in the passenger's side door, I noticed that someone had stuck a business card under the wiper blade of the windshield. "Marc Kramer and Eliana Ardila" were the two names on the card, and there was a photograph of a man and woman standing on either side of a beige Volkswagen camper, pretty much like the Westfalia that I was getting into.
When I got home, I took a look at the website that the couple had listed on the card. It documented a trip that they had taken in their VW camper, all the way to Alaska, in 2008. There were plenty of great photographs, and I really enjoyed reading about their terrific adventures in the bus that they had named "Valentina". I called the phone number on their card, got a recorded answer, and left a message. I did not get a reply then, but about a year later, the same thing happened: Farmer's Market in my bus, return to find a card on my windshield, and this time I got a human when I called the number. I had a nice conversation with Marc Kramer, and we talked about meeting in person later.
Not long after, a friend of mine came into Miami, to help me do some work on my bus. This man is an Itinerant VW mechanic, and each year, he travels around the country, helping people work on these vintage vehicles. After my work was through, he mentioned that he had another Miami stop, with a couple named...Marc and Eliana! He was at their house the following day, and I drove my bus over to meet them. I was greeted by Marc, who struck me as a scientist with a good sense of humor, and Eliana, his gregarious, very active girlfriend, who was hustling around cleaning Volkswagen engine parts. As with Rick and Louis, at the end of the great film, Casablanca, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. However, this is not a unique occurrence in the Volkswagen bus community; far from it.
Since the 1960's, when the VW bus became a symbol of the hippies preferred mode of travel, it has retained a unique place in automotive history. It is the single automobile that almost everyone links to the free spirited individual, the bohemian, the explorer. Small children are drawn to it, who pay no attention to any other make of car or truck. Perhaps it is the smiling face that the front end mimics, with big eye headlights, the VW emblem nose, and the grinning white front bumper. Whatever it is, this vehicle has a panache that will not be denied. The people who chose to own these buses today are, without exception, a breed who march to their own drummers. As VW dealerships no longer work on these cars, and the independent mechanics and shops who knew them well, retire or pass on, a person who owns one of these must make a commitment. If you own one of these today, it is you who must take over its care and feeding. Not many are equal to the task. As a result, the people who own VW buses have gotten to know each other. There are serious websites that offer repair advice, used parts for sale, and places all over to find a "driveway camp", should a bus owner find themselves in a strange town as the sun is setting. Over the years, I've had several dozen people stay with me, at "McIntyre's Home for Wayward Volkswagens and Wandering Souls", here in Miami, as camping in this metropolitan area is scarce and expensive.
Marc and Eliana have become two of my closest friends, and I often care for their dog, when they go off on their "Birding by Bus" overseas expeditions. Together, we rebuilt Valentina's wonderful 4 cylinder engine in my shop, even as they educate me as to what birdlife we have fluttering around my forested backyard.
This is today's world of the Volkswagen bus. It remains a unifier of diverse people who share a common interest in these great cars, the newest of which are now approaching the half century mark. Just as birders find each other, and "flock" together, sharing joy at watching our feathered friends, so it is with the VW folk. Find a birder, or a bus owner, and you are guaranteed to meet an interesting individual. But, when you meet the person who is in love with both birds, and buses, then, my friend, you have found the true rara avis.