VW Type III: David's '68 Squareback
The story of David's '68
My parents went out and bought a new white Squareback from Precision Motors in Santa Monica, CA in 1968. (I think the car was $1,700, but I'll have to check with them) They kept the car stock with fuel injection and no modifications, and took the car to the dealer for every service scheduled and repair (which cost them major bucks, but kept the car in great stock shape!)-- including the first replaced stock 1600dp longblock around 1979. When I turned 16 in 1983, my parents gave me the car-- and I used all of my earnings from my fast-food jobs to make minor modifications to the vehicle. These included a Hurst shifter, a Wink mirror (which has saved me countless times from destroying my car/self), a lowered front end (on 145 Kleber's), KYBs, a Thunderbird Extractor exhaust, and a 3 spoke Grant Gt steering Wheel.
Over the last 13 years, I have driven the car every day, and put over 100,000 more miles on it myself-- for a grand total of 231,000 and counting!! Many other mods have been done since my High School Daze-- including dual Solex Carbs (stock 1967 setup including stock air filter) in lieu of problematic fuel injection), a center console from Scat (with a tach from a 1974 Opel GT in the bottom portion and a pull out Blaupunkt Tampa in the top), a 4 tip Monza exhaust, aftermarket seats and seatbelts, a Bosch dual air horn kit, VDO oil temp gaugue (ESSENTIAL!) and electric side mirrors from a 1983 Saab 900. Security is tight, but I won't go into it... :-)
Since I was given the car in 1983 I have done all of the maintenance myself (Idiot Guide firmly in-hand!) and most of the mods. D and K VW in Santa Cruz installed the most recent longblock in 1990 (the car's third 1600cc dual port) which was made by GTX. These days the folks at Griffin Motorwerke in Berkeley do most of the stuff I can't or don't want to do because of time/tools (ex: Ball joints). I highly recommend them for stock and especially high performance/aftermarket work.
I love this car more than words can tell. I grew up in the backseat, made out for the first time at Mulholland Dr. (Los Angeles) in the front seat, taken it (or, it took me and my friends) to over 100 Grateful Dead shows and countless other Trips, and to work all over the state of California (currently Berkeley/Bay Area). It has been a hell of a lot more reliable than women in my life! I will keep it forever (as Muslims say "In'sha'allah" -- "if God Wills It"... kind of like "Knocking On Wood") and dream of eventually having a 5 speed tranny (do they exist?), a fatter motor, and a Heavy Duty Oil Cooler w/ thermostat and electric fan.
The only other noteworthy items I have are the "VARIANT" and "S" emblems for the back decklid.
Images submitted in 1999, after front clip replacement and some major body/paint work:
