Like most cars that people buy to fix up, there is a detailed story that goes along with it. With my 1966 VW Fastback it was no different. This was my pride and joy that I purchased from a guy along time ago. I bought the car originally for $360 after I haggled my way down from $400. . The car was not running, was still 6 volt, and the rear floors were like the cars from the Flintstone cartoons. Feet down and you were touching the ground! The gas tank was corroded inside and out, and the gas lines were about the same. Being as young as I was I ran a coat hanger wire through the main gas lines under the car, to clean out the dirt and corrosion. Nasty stuff! Luckily the lines were still strong, and I didn’t poke any holes during the process. After I cleaned the lines out, my friends and I were able to get some gas in the car and replace the 6 volt battery so I could get the car home. On the way home I ran out of gas (young and broke), while on the side of the road the police pulled up to learn that I didn’t have current tags or registration in my name, and I had to explain myself, which wasn’t a good start. I ended up pushing the car the rest of the way, only to have my folks see me pushing my investment in the driveway, which was another task since the driveway was a bit steep! “Here is the car I just bought”, I said with a big smile… only to have them say a few words that I didn’t really need to hear at that point. From that point on, it was my passion to show them just how much of a car I really had to work with…and so my journey began!

Picture of my Fastback I just bought after I managed to drive the car to a friends house on the way home to wash it.

I started out with removing parts from the car that didn’t have any quality (bent bumpers, broken reflectors, crashed front passenger fender,etc), and tried my best to straighten out the body myself. Using "rattle cans" I decided to paint the car primer gray and black, since I new of another Fastback in town that was already all primer gray. I didn't want to be confused with someone else. Since I had a Baja Bug previously and helped my friend with his 1966 VW Bug, I had a little experience with body work. I then added some “T” bars to the front so the police wouldn’t mess with me, and went to the nearest “pick-a-part" for the rear bumper and front passenger fender. I then painted the stock wheels with a rattle can to cover the rust. Keep in mind I was about 20 yrs old when I bought this car, and didn’t have much money, so fixing this car up the way I wanted was going to take me several years.

Some pics of car with the Primered look and "T" bars.

Here is a pic of the front of my Fastback with the new bumper.

Next, I decided to buy a set of Centerline rims with 195/50 series Fulda tires, to give the car that Cal-look. I wasn’t sure exactly which way I wanted to go with the restoration, but at that time it was leaning toward Cal-look not classic.

Here are some pics of the ride with the Centerlines and Fulda tires along with some added tint on the rear windows.

Added some Knock-offs to the wheels!

Added some Mudflaps and customized them with some chrome tape and I popped out the back hood, to give it that style of look. I liked it because I had to make the hardware myself to do this, as these pieces weren’t available yet for Type 3’s.

I probably drove it like this for about a year or so, which was fun as the car would just about turn on a dime. Then I ran into some engine trouble after a car show and threw a rod driving home. Not bad from a stock motor, that was almost dead. I worked with a local shop, and worked out a deal along with a friend of mine to become apprentices for the shop. This meant that we would do work around the shop for them, while we could fix our cars with their help and their tools! Awesome deal! I must say that I learned a lot about cars working for these guys. Especially after putting in a half a days work for the city of Pasadena. Anyway, These guys helped me to rebuild a 1641 motor bored out with racing pistons, along with a 1700 Kennedy clutch and Dual Baby-Dells size 40 under the hood. I cleaned and painted the tins, and unfortunately, I am unable as of yet to find those pics..still lookin. Again 35mm film. I was also able to fix my flooring problem by using some old city freeway signs made of galvanized steel. You know the ones above the freeway that you look for when exiting the freeway? I wish I took pics of these installed on the car. It was awesome to see old freeway signs whenever my ride was on the lift with city streets and arrows pointing in different directions! Crazy, but they worked, and didn’t cost me anything!

At this time I was beginning to change my mind about the look of my car. I wanted to slam the crap out of it. I couldn’t do this with the centerlines and Fulda tires, because of the width of the tire. I still wanted the tint, but wanted it all the way around, and I also was contemplating a ragtop. So I sold the Centerlines and tires and bought some stock chromies with Wolfsberg logo hubcaps.

Here are some pics of the car with the tint all the way around chromies on it 135's up front and 165's in the rear, and the Cal-look front windows I decided to install.

Pics of the side view.

Now I needed to slam it!

Slammed front view.

Now I needed to get this bad boy painted. The only way to come up with money for the paint was to sell my Baja Bug which I had just finished before I bought this car. My older brother
and I actually shared the Baja, however, he moved out of state, and left me to decide
what to do with it. I will show pics of it sometime. Sold it for $1000, and went to a
local bodyshop for a paint job. I paid $1100 for the paint and body, which included the doors and jams. Not too bad. I took everything off the car except the windows, which I had just recently put in with new Cal-rubber, so I was tired of messing with the windows. I even had to drive home sitting on an old milk crate, because I had removed the seats as well!

Here is the ride freshly painted in 1990 Iroq-Blue Metallic and ready to be put back together.

Pics of car slammed on the streets in the hills above the Rose Bowl of Pasadena.Check out those slim European tail lights!

Here are some pics of the interior. Yes I know, nice steering wheel. At the time I had to have this, to impress some lowrider homies of mine.

Here are some pics of it with the window tint removed and chrome molding installed. Yes, finding the stock holes for the molding was difficult with them covered up with bondo, but I managed to take my time, and used some math skills!

Next came the ragtop, which I wanted so badly, and installed some chrome louvered plating inside the front fender-wells!