| It all began back in 1978 in a small town in Germany called Wolfsburg. It was a beautiful day in May, birds were singing the bratwurst had never tasted better and all was good in the world. Yea I know your thinking high fuel prices and some nutty peanut farmer in the Whitehouse but forget about all that for a moment and return to Germany with me. | |||||||
| It was one in the afternoon and Heinz had just returned to the factory feeling rather bloated and slightly buzzed from his lunch of schnitzel and truffles, washed down with a liter of Warstiener at the local gasthaus. He stepped into the factory, punched a greasy timecard, belched contentedly and returned to the assembly line. He stepped into his familiar place at the initial chassis assembly post and began working on a puzzle of steel and rubber that with the addition of a small engine, small wheels, a pinch of German magic and a whole bowlful of great karma, was to become a Volkswagen Bus. Two days later, Anya was lovingly driven from the factory, and on to a train and then a boat, another train, a truck, and finally on to the lot of a northern California VW dealer. |
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She stayed there for a week before a family of six came by to ponder the German wonder, the husband kicked the tires, the wife squeezed the seats and stiffed the headliner, and the kids all admired the sunroof and then, quickly lost interest and played beat up the littlest one until a distraught mother threatened to beat them all. The salesman offered a test drive and accepting the husband took a drive around the block noticing the raw power of the 67 horsed churning in the rear and the quick and very scary handling characteristics. On returning to the lot he kicked the tires once more and after a brief consultation with the wife, decided to purchase. An hour later and after the bothersome paperwork the Bus changed owners for the first time and began its life on the road. The family owned her until 1984 when the upgraded to a Plymouth mini-van and sold the Volks to a 30 year old bachelor from San Francisco. | ||||||
| He used her to carry his transient girlfriends to unsuccessful dinners and dead concerts until 1993 when a certain Mr. Javier bought her and decided to convert the 7 passenger into a Westfalia camper. He installed a sink/stove, put in a folding bed and a cupboard in the back. He used her for an occasional trip to the mountains and to carry his kids to and from soccer games and cheerleading practice until 2001 when confronted by a blown engine and a lack of funds, he decided to sell Anya once again. This time the lucky owner was Peter, who although enthusiastic at first about a rebuild, soon list interest and after doing a half assed engine, decided he had had enough, dropped the bus off at Mikes Imported Cars and took off for Europe. Mike thought about rebuilding the bus himself but after a review of his schedule decided that another project would strain his sanity and so he wisely placed an ad on craigslist.org. | |||||||
| The ad was picked up by Giles, a New Yorker who was tired of living with two very gay members of the San Fran cheerleading team (it’s a long story) and was looking for a VW to live in. Giles called, decided to visit, visited, kicked the tires like the original owner so many years ago, decided to buy and consequently began his life as a Volkswagen owner. | |||||||
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