Wow... MOTM... whoulda thunk it! Much appreciated though as I am pretty much still a newb here!
My love of cars started A LONG time ago. I was busted for driving underage when I was 14. It was a lot of fun sitting with the police in my parents living room until they came home from their bridge night.
My dad has always been a "ford" man. I have to admit, his tastes in Ford were good. He still owns a 1968 Shelby GT500KR, 1965 Shelby Cobra 427SOHC and a 1964 Mercury Marauder w/ a 427 3X2bbl, top loader 4 speed and a 9" rear geared at 4:11... and it is a stock car. Even has the original NASCAR sticker inside the door.
I turned coat on him when I was 16... maybe that's why my birthday presents started to suck! My forst ride was a 1972 Nova SS. I bought it as a rolling chassis. I tuned it from a 350 car into a 396 w/ a turbo 400. Pretty nice ride for a 16 year old! After that I went through a car every 3 months so keeping track was hard. Some of them that stand out were my 1967 Malibu 300 delux, 2 door SEDAN! Super rare and even more rare since the guy I sold it too totalled it off. I still own my 1970 Chevelle LS6. It will never be sold and is driven about 3 times a year.
As far as my love of imports goes... kind of funny. I married a girl from Germany when I was living in Canada. She inroduced me to Braun appliances! I was kind of wowed... NOT! Anyway, she had a 1970 Karmann Ghia that she brought over directly from Germany, not a Brazilian car. She did her own tuning on the car. It had dual Webers and a few other goodies on it. I always laughed at it and didn't drive it. When I finally did I was hooked! A go kart that's street legal! I couldn't stop driving it and started learning the inuendos of tuning the car. Eventually she sold it to a collector that could take more care of the car. It still tours some of the circuits today.
After that I was hooked on "all things German". We went out and bought a MkII GTI that she loved. I did as well. Eventually it succumed to the Canadian Winters and turned into a "rust bunny". We sold that off and bought a 1990 Passat. I didn't mod the car as the tuner scene wasn't up to much where we lived. The Passat treated us well and gave us 10 solid years of service.
When we moved to Colorado from Canada I immediately went out and bout a 2001.5 Passat w/ the 2.8 and 4 Mo. Not one hiccup with the car for 4 years (other than the CEL but hey...) Laughing We still had the B5.5 and my wife was driving a Grand Cherokee. She didn't like driving the SUV and wanted another VW. Went out and bought a 2003 MKIV GTI with the VR^ and 6 speed. LOVE the car. We ended up putting in coilovers, Carbonio CAI and an exhaust system. Other than left it stock and it's still out there!
I traded in my 01.5 B5.5 for the new B6 Passat. I was on a budget and was looking seriously at the new A3 but liked the roominess of the Passat.
I've had the Passat since August of 2005. Runs like a top! To date it has H&R springs installed (thanks to Randy at Autobahn), the 93 Octane program from APR (thanks to Joel at RS) and 18" Mille Miglia wheels (thanks to Steve "scuba" on those).
In closing I guess you could say that I am a tried and true VW enthusiast. I still have a spot in my heart for a factory V8 that car churn out 425 HP / 450 ft lbs. without blinking but I have to admit... the 2.0T with the APR and the new design of the B6 Passat have put a small chink in the armor around that V8 rumble!
I'd like to thank everyone on the forum who has helped me out to date. This is by far the most "grown up" group and #1 for helping out those in need! Thanks all!
Al
