So, just what is it about Volkswagens?
There is the Beetle–or Bug, if you prefer–the silly, rounded vehicle with the air-cooled engine, marginal heater and window defroster and, back when it was new, a sticker price low enough to qualify it as anybody’s first car.
Then there is the VW Bus, a boxy vehicle with windows suitable for curtains and a body inviting Day-Glo decorations. Even today, the Bus conjures the counterculture, from Woodstock to the last Grateful Dead concert.
Real fanatics remember–and idolize–the Volkswagen Thing, which was sort of blocky and sort of Bug-shaped and, fans say, was the true precursor of today’s sport utility vehicles.
And don’t forget that present-day car advertised with a bicycle or a snowboard as standard equipment.
Nicole Ehlert, 7, of Mundelein has her own thoughts about Volkswagens. She calls them “Herbie cars,” for the Beetle that was a movie star in “The Love Bug.” And Nicole has plenty of contact with Herbie because her father, Ken Ehlert, 37, is president of the Northeastern Illinois Volkswagen Association, a club with more than 100 members of a variety of ages who are devoted to Volkswagens past, present and future.
The members are a varied lot, and some even sport T-shirts or necklaces with the Volkswagen logo. All share Nicole’s enthusiasm for VW.
“The really addictive part is collecting the toys,” Ken Ehlert said. “I have over 500 Volkswagen toys. I have a steel Beetle, which is a music box, and (it) has shot glasses and a decanter. I go to toy shows, but you can find this stuff everywhere.”
Ken Ehlert remembers his first VW, a 1977 Rabbit (those were the boxy little cars that replaced the Bug), as the “first new car I ever bought.” By 1986, he had found a 1976 Beetle to restore. Today, his family has an ’83 Vanagon (the successor to the VW bus) and a 1964 Beetle convertible, “which we have for a toy and drive in the summer,” he said.
If all that sounds a bit obsessive, his devotion is not unusual among Volkswagen enthusiasts worldwide. Jim Taubitz, who is in charge of owner communications for Volkswagen of America, said the company has found at least 200 independent Volkswagen organizations in the U.S. that “have no connection with the Volkswagen company except for their passion for the brand.”
The enthusiasm, Taubitz said, stems from the cars. “They are different, and they are intended for people who are different,” he said. “You don’t see this kind of enthusiasm for Buick or Mitsubishi.”
The Northeastern Illinois Volkswagen Association was founded in 1990. Although there’s another VW club in Rockford, Northeast is the only one in the immediate Chicago area.
There may be organizations for different cars (Ford Mustang or Chevy Corvette, for example), but the VW clubs are unique because they involve the whole model line.
Dave Hansen, 36, of Arlington Heights, a board member of the association, said the Northeastern club attracts people who are fond of Volkswagens whether or not they own cars. “The club is real family-oriented,” he said. “We have guys in their teens and people who may be in their 80s who come to our events.”
Club members gather for monthly meetings throughout the year, even though the restored older cars are generally stored during the winter. In addition, members participate in swap meets, buying and trading parts and collectibles, and in shows and parades, where they can display their prize “babies.” They also have picnics, go in groups to car shows and get together to work on each other’s cars.
The club sponsors two Volkswagen shows a year; one of last year’s shows attracted more than 80 cars.
The group also held a toy show in February at Volkswagen of America in Lincolnshire. Many members collect VW memorabilia and toys, and this is a good place to view and sell and trade.
Jim Jenkins, 19, of Roselle is the youngest regularly attending member of the club. “My first car was a ’71 Beetle, which I just got rid of. Now I have a ’58 Bus,” he said. “I don’t really know why I like them, but they have style. . . . The Volkswagens are cheap and they’re cool.”
Economy was one of the original appeals of Volkswagens when they were introduced in the U.S. in the 1950s, and that draw remains. Car fanciers can still buy old Beetles and Buses for relatively little money, Hansen said, particularly when compared to other “collectible” cars.
Scott Jacobsen, 46, of Schaumburg edits the association newsletter and sends out 145 with each bimonthly mailing. For “car guys” (the group makes the point that it’s a family organization, but most of the vintage car owners are men), the Volkswagens are a good way to have fun. “You don’t restore a Beetle to make money on it,” Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen himself is a relative VW newcomer. “I drove them when I was a kid, but I never owned one,” said Jacobsen, who bought a 1966 Beetle three years ago.
Volkswagens aren’t the only cars that appeal to Ray Syverson, 48, of Lake Zurich. After restoring several Model T Fords, Syverson bought a 1972 Beetle convertible last summer and began working on it. “What got me into the VWs is that they were made with the same kind of idea as the Model T–it was originally a cheap car that’s easy to work on,” he said.
Gary Hanson, 44, of Clarendon Hills is a second-generation Volkswagen enthusiast, having been attracted to the hobby by his father, Adolph, a charter member of the still-active national Volkswagen club founded in 1955. He owns a ’72 Super Beetle, a ’73 Thing, an ’87 Vanagon and an ’88 Jetta. “I guess you could say Volkswagens are in the blood,” he said.
Dave Hansen, who in addition to car enthusiast is a bit of a history buff, said the Beetle’s World War II history is another thing that makes the cars so fascinating. The car was originally built before World War II in Germany when Adolf Hitler demanded an inexpensive car for workers. The war halted production, and the plant, which eventually produced the post-war Beetle, “was one bomb away from being destroyed,” Hansen said. “I suppose you could say the Beetle was kind of Hitler’s idea–but you know, he had a thousand bad ideas and this was the only good one.”
Current club members are concentrating on the future. A “concept car,” which is a redesigned Beetlelike vehicle, has been making the rounds of U.S. auto shows and is, rumor has it, scheduled for introduction in 1998. Kurt Wendt, 47, of Island Lake is often quizzed by fellow club members because he is a technical adviser at the regional Volkswagen parts warehouse in Lincolnshire (the only one in the area) and is therefore considered on the inside of stories about the new Beetle. He said the new car is patterned on the old VW Bug.
Wendt said he began his love affair with Volkswagens as a young man when he began driving his mother’s 1962 Beetle. Since then, he has restored many of the cars because “I’m always changing–I get one fixed, get rid of it and start over. I always paint mine a glow-in-the-dark color because they attract more attention that way.”
The Volkswagen company is looking for ways to support enthusiasts and hobbyists, Taubitz said, because all this translates into extraordinary owner loyalty. “We provide information to clubs and try to support them because we want to link the passion to the cars today,” he said.
In addition, he said, Volkswagen officials have done surveys and gathered information from another company with devoted followers–Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Co.
“People who purchase Volkswagens are very similar to those who purchase Harley-Davidsons,” he said. “You’d be amazed how many Volkswagen owners actually put VW tattoos on their arms.”
HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN SEE THOSE OLD VWS
The Volkswagen Association of Northeastern Illinois has scheduled two shows devoted to Volkswagens. On June 8, the Whitney Bugfest will be at Whitney Volkswagen, a dealership in Villa Park. On Sept. 14, the 2nd annual Anderson VW Fest will be at Anderson Imports in Crystal Lake.
For information on other club events, contact Gary Hanson, membership chairman, at the Northeastern Illinois Volkswagen Association, P.O. Box 3387, Lisle, Ill. 60532.
Prospective members are also invited to attend the club’s monthly board meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at Russell’s Barbeque Restaurant, 2885 Algonquin Rd., Rolling Meadows.
