something big happened and i don't know why.

the most amazing thing happened today but i have no idea why. to cut a long story short i came home from work super grumpy so went and had a sleep, i was woken up by my daughter coming in and saying "mum wants you to come and look at something" eventually i crawled out of bed and marnie was on the computer looking at a beetle in the trading post, and asked me "what do you think?" she said that she even put a bid on one (nfi where as it wasn't e.bay)

i am seriously stunned at this, actually stunned isn't strong enough a word. i have no idea what has changed, i really don't get it but i hope that it lasts. she has always acknowledged my hobby (addiction) and said that she would like me to get my ragtop moving, the funding for it is another story though. she has been saying we need a second car for a while but always said that she thought a cheap newish (10yr old or so) thing would be better than a vw. if you are reading this you probably understand why i didn't agree with this. to spell it out, i think i can maintain a vw with little to no outside assistance. aka for the cost of parts only, plus if looked after properly a vw will only go up in value as it gets older.

some now it looks like my wife has come around to my way of thinking, i don't know what happened but i'm really pleased.

having said that i really want to be the one to pick the car i will have an on going relationship with for the next while (most likely a few years if not longer), so i'm worried that i will come home one day to find a vw here that she has bought for me but it won't be the right one. aka have some fault that will cost huge $ to fix that i could well have spotted beforehand or will be a total abortion of miss matched bits and ugly mods etc. as i have said before i'm a tight ass and as i may or may not have said i'm really picky.

i'm still up in the air as to what i really want. the ideal would be to do my ragtop, but that would need way way more $ than i can spend. not to mention the time that it would take to do it the way i want. i already did it wrong once and spent $$$ on stuff that for the most part won't be reused in the it's new incarnation, i want to do it right this time, not do another half assed job. the biggest issue $ wise would be getting the body done, i'm slowly trying to teach myself the skills to do it myself, but i'm only at the very beginning of the learning process, no where near ready to do it, let alone do it perfectly.

i really want a 6V beetle obviously the earlier the better, to be honest 56 is about as early as i would want to go as prior to that parts go way up $ wise, plus i have plenty of stuff for 56 on but very little for 55 down. i live in a country town so don't need to keep up with cut and thrust peakhour traffic 36-40hp is plenty for cruising (mind you 50-60hp of vintage tuning fury would be heaps better). fuel economy is a consideration, not the be all and end all but it does figure in the consideration.

i don't need a kombi as we have a 4wd with 7 seats (f'n POS) and a tow ball. though we are looking at getting something more modern with a similar number of seats (i think this is totally ridiculous and we have been arguing over it so only time will tell). the thing with the kombi is i own a lowlight panelvan (if the guy hasn't resold it as i have left it there so long) but i have never had a kombi, don't have any of the bits it needs bar the engine, and as it only has 1 other seat it isn't much good for the afternoon school run if we get stuck. plus i'd imagine that the fuel economy wouldn't be that good compared to a stock early beetle.

late model beetles are prob a little more refined, safer and use cheaper parts if needed but again i have very few parts if i need them and basically no experience bar with twinport motors. plus i much prefer the look of earlier vw's they look so much cleaner and more simple (and i'm a bit of an early car snob).

i also have a volvo 122S in the shed that would be great to get back on the road. it needs rust work and and engine/gearbox rebuild though... not that cheap. i have grown up a lot since i last drove it daily, but i couldn't help but flog the guts out of it nearly every time i drove it as it was so nice to drive briskly. it was really nice through the corners, not super fast but very good for it's age with a lovely involving feel and response = heaps of fun,..  and it sounded so good with twin SU's and a beautifully burbly exhaust note that built to a lovely rasp at higher rpm's. a lead foot plus a later 2l motor with an aftermarket cam meant really crap fuel economy, 

an early shape t3 would be nice too. i've kind of got a thing at the moment for fastbacks. i never liked them, but found a 66 parts car in vw blue and fell for that combo, then relooked at all fastbacks and saw their appeal. VW blue with just a slight lowering with some popouts and maybe at some stage a set of rims and it would be perfect, nothing flash or outragous. even the silver factory slotted rims (wide 5) currently on the ragtop would be enough to give it that little bit of spice. fit my speedwell wheel and a matching gearknob of some description plus a small diameter set of extractors and i'd feel king of the world in it.

basically no spares or experience again though... plus where would i find a really good vw blue fasty in my price range. i've only ever seen one for sale since i first fell for the combo.

more thinking needs to be done. unless of course the perfect car falls into my lap, i'm spreading the word every day so at least people know i'm after one.

btw i got the socket rails but haven't been out to the shed to do anything with them.