Funny Roadside Story
Matt Brown
Ghia, we stopped in a small town along the way for lunch (the total drive
is only three or so hours). We're done and getting ready to head out when
my dad decides to check the oil since this Ghia has been known to guzzle
(above what is considered natural) the oil on road trips.
He opened the deck lid when an late '70s tank-of-a-car pulls into the
space next to us. A girl dressed for work gets out with her boyfriend,
who, to put it nicely, didn't look very bright. He walks past but stops
to see what we were doing. His jaw dropped like he lost all energy to
keep his mouth shut. He stood there for a moment and then approached us.
I assumed that he was going to want to talk a little shop (not that either
my dad nor eye are capable of much more than "yap, it's broke alright").
Not the case.
"Is that the engine?" he asked in an almost stereotypical hick drawl.
"Yep, it is,"
"Uh, so what's in the front?"
"The trunk." (didn't want to intimidate him with the word frunk)
"Whoa, I aint never seen nothing like that before," he said, obviously
still quite dumbfounded by the concept.
"There's quite a few around," my dad said, not being able to keep himself
from poking a little fun at this poor guy.
"So the trunk's in the front? Is it front-wheel drive?"
"No, rear-wheel," my dad said, realizing this would continue for awhile.
"That must be hell in the snow and all," the guy said still baffled.
"No, they actually do quite well in the snow."
And so this line of questioning continued, often repeating itself, and
finally ending with, "Geez, we better get going...look at the time!" (wink
wink nudge nudge).
I never had any idea that there were people in this world that had never
seen or known about a rear engined car! It was amazing, and to this day,
I wonder how this guy had gotten by in the world without ever seeing a
bug, or the likes. Anyone else ever experience this kind of situation?
-- Matt Brown
-- <c62...@showme.missouri.edu>
Rebel without a pause.
> Driving from Springfield, MO to Columbia, MO with my father in his '72
>
> I never had any idea that there were people in this world that had never
> seen or known about a rear engined car! It was amazing, and to this day,
> I wonder how this guy had gotten by in the world without ever seeing a
> bug, or the likes. Anyone else ever experience this kind of situation?
Hmmm. Not with somebody so old, and not first hand...
twenty two million VW Bugs ALONE, and you find somebody-maybe they can use
this same guy for the Jury on OJ Simpson's trial...
Anyhow, in an issue of REaders Digest, in one of the comedy sections,
somebody's little girl pointed to a VW bug and said, "look mommy, a model T!"
Both Dr. Porsche and Henry Ford were probably turning over in their graves that
day...
>
> -- Matt Brown
> -- <c62...@showme.missouri.edu>
Kyle
Matthew Hocker
Anyone remember the VW ad about their air-cooled station wagon? The one
where people look under the "hood" for the engine, then in the back of
the car? Found that one pretty funny...
Matt
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Bill Tchr
Kids today often don't know what you mean when you ask them if they know
what a "Bug" or "Beetle" are <sigh>, but as soon as you draw a little
picture on a scrap of paper, they know exactly what you are talking about!
There is still hope...
Re: the guy who didn't know about rear engine cars...the best of this type
of story <IMHO> is the old VW ad with a (*very* young) Dustin Hoffman for
the then-new Fastback. "And in the front where most cars have their
engine, VW put a trunk. And in the back, where most cars have their trunk,
the VW has...a trunk...uhhh... (The VW dealer will show you where the
engine is.)"
Bill Wright :)
Old Greenwich, CT
Paul Roberts
: Re: the guy who didn't know about rear engine cars...the best of this type
: of story <IMHO> is the old VW ad with a (*very* young) Dustin Hoffman for
: the then-new Fastback. "And in the front where most cars have their
: engine, VW put a trunk. And in the back, where most cars have their trunk,
: the VW has...a trunk...uhhh... (The VW dealer will show you where the
: engine is.)"
Damn, I wish I was around to see those old fastback/squareback ads you're
all talking about. I have a rather nice local dealership VW catalogue
from 1966 though (with pages of colourful KG's, t-3's and sedans). Full of
explanations to the various VW features of the time, Aircooled engines, rear
engine placement, 4 stroke paint, fully synchronized gearbox, big wheels and
big tires, and the strong VW pan. Let me just quote one line from the
section about aircooled engines: <translated> It starts the moment you turn
the key, and runs and runs and runs.
Paul
-81 vanagon
-69 squareback
--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Paul Roberts * I think the optimum choice in the *
* University of Trondheim, Norway * circumstances would be some kind *
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Bill Tchr
writes:
>Damn, I wish I was around to see those old fastback/squareback ads
>you're all talking about.
*I* wasn't around to see the ad either (I'm only 28). It was on a history
of VW tape that VW put out a few years ago. My dad brought it home from
the dealership he works at--I don't know if it was only for dealers, or
for the public, or what. It was a very good tape--lots of old pictures,
film clips, ads, etc. Covered everything from prototype Beetles in the
mid-30s to the transition to watercooling, to the new models (at the time,
the Passat, if I remember right...)