End of an Era for VW of America

[ckissick]

Not an earth-shattering change, but big news for our family. My father resigned as a VW dealer today, after 55 years. He started in Burlingame, California in 1955, selling VWs and Porsches. He owned Boardwalk VW in Redwood City since 1980. I was literally raised on VW and Porsche, and very proud to say so. He'll be 82 in May, so it's time.

Fortunately, he's still very fit and sharp. He wants me to help him write a book about his experiences. Believe me, he has a lot of stories. Wish him luck!

[Rick Lee]

Very cool. You must have some great dealer-only swag.

[Racerbvd]

Very cool, but sad too.. Are you stepping into his shoes??

[Steve Carlton]

Yes, good luck to your dad! Isn't the VW store part of a large group of franchises there- Chevy, Jeep, Lotus, etc? What's happening with the others?

[Wickd89]

Good for him. I am sure he enjoyed his work to work that long...

[ckissick]

I have a lot of nice swag. When I was a kid I had at least a hundred little plastic VW toys. Bugs, busses, ghias, fastbacks, squarebacks. They sell for over $100 today. I blew them all up with fire crackers and a BB gun when I was about 12.

I'm a geotechnical engineer; not stepping into his shoes. I'm more of a scientist than a salesman.

Boardwalk sells VW, Chevy, Nissan, and Lotus. They had Chrysler/Jeep taken away from them last year, even though they were consistently #2 in California in sales. The dealership is not changing, just being taken over by his partners.

[speeder]

Congrats to your Dad for what sounds like a fine career. In grade school back in the '60s, my best friend's Dad owned the big VW dealer in town. (Schmelz Bros. in suburban Minneapolis). Being the little car-obsessed kid that I was, it used to thrill me to no end when we'd ride out there on a Sunday and putz around the place. MN. has always had a law banning car dealerships from being open on Sunday, (couldn't begin to tell you why), maybe his old man was checking/cooking the books or something but we would have the run of the place for a while. I can remember super-cool dune buggies and American muscle cars stashed in the service dept. as well as lots and lots of VWs of course. I can still remember exactly how a brand new VW smelled back then, I'm sure that you can as well. They had their own distinctive, (and I always thought pleasant), smell from the particular vinyl they used. Also the *air-tight* cabin where you had to lower a window in order to close the last door. Awesome cars and memories...

[ckissick]

I remember that smell. My favorite cars to play in when I was a kid were the pre-1968 campers, of course. I loved that old wood paneling. They were like sail boats.

I still remember clearly the day my dad brought home a new bus in late 1967. I was eight. I was dismayed by look of the new bay window buses and wondered why they couldn't keep the old splitty design.

You know what's weird? Yesterday my wife's 2007 Passatt broke down and had to be towed. Despite all the stories you hear about unreliable VWs, I've never had a newish VW towed. Until the same day my father resigned from VW. I guess the Passatt was sad.

[H.G.P.]

Originally Posted by ckissick

I remember that smell.
I still remember clearly the day my dad brought home a new bus in late 1967. I sad.

My college car: 69 Karman Ghia. Many faithful miles.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Congratulations to your dad for a life well lived.

My first drivable car was a 63 VW crewcab pick-up. Still miss it today, the only car out of 30+ that I ever named. Beasley, fit perfectly. Sort of a robin egg blue, could have been velvet green, the same color as my S. Started life in Montana and somehow made it to Western MA.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Congratulations to your dad for a life well lived.

My first drivable car was a 63 VW crewcab pick-up. Still miss it today, the only car out of 30+ that I ever named. Beasley, fit perfectly. Sort of a robin egg blue, could have been velvet green, the same color as my S. Started life in Montana and somehow made it to Western MA.

There's a lady in the local Vintage VW club with an early blue single cab named Vernon. I've never seen anyone so in love with a car. I bet if she was offered $1 million for it, she'd say no.

[Seahawk]

Very nice tribute to your Dad.

My first car was a '59 Beetle. No gas gauge but plenty of push from the 36 horses

I bought it for $153.00 dollars in 1972.

Keep him active!

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by ckissick

Believe me, he has a lot of stories.

That can be taken several ways.

Good luck with the book.

The book binding should have aluminum cooling fins or something.

[Tim Hancock]

My dad's first new car was a late 60's beetle. After that, he always had at least one VW until the mid 80's when I totaled his rabbit diesel in college. My first car was a rotted out '72 Super Beetle that I bought in about '82/'83 for $50. A couple more Beetles and a rabbit followed. I definitely can remember the smell of the Beetles and doing an unassisted engine drop in 15 minutes in highschool.

Great memories!!! Having a dad with a VW/Porsche dealership sounds like a dream childhood to me.

[Hugh R]

My parents bought a new VW Microbus in 1960. No gas gauge, and something like 36 HP. I think we drove it around the US two or three times camping for the summer. Congrats to your Dad, as others said, keep him active.

[The Gaijin]

If I had a time machine I would go back and get another '63 bug.

No way I could afford the maintenance on a 550 4-cam..

[Looking_for_911]

[QUOTE=ckissick;5174709]I have a lot of nice swag. When I was a kid I had at least a hundred little plastic VW toys. Bugs, busses, ghias, fastbacks, squarebacks. They sell for over $100 today. I blew them all up with fire crackers and a BB gun when I was about 12.


My great-grandfather was a Hudson, then Rambler, then AMC dealer. I had a zillion model Ramblers, maybe some Hudsons, can't remember, and a bunch of AMC's. The Ramblers were made of metal. Opening hoods, trunks, doors, detailed out the wazoo... better than most Real Ramblers.
I wish I still had them. The only thing I have is a plaque from Rambler congratulating them on being the top dealer in the nation for some long ago year.
They got a trip to Europe out of that.

[juanbenae]

very cool. driven by it many a time

[tcar]

Originally Posted by speeder

. I can still remember exactly how a brand new VW smelled back then, I'm sure that you can as well. They had their own distinctive, (and I always thought pleasant), smell from the particular vinyl they used. Also the *air-tight* cabin where you had to lower a window in order to close the last door. Awesome cars and memories...

The 'smell' (Porsche 356 and early 911 also) was mostly from the rubberized horsehair padding in the seats.

Very distinctive.

They later switched to foam rubber.


I've owned (and restored) three '69 beetles and two '69 KG converts.

Also a Dasher, 2 GTI's and a Rabbit convert.

Car dealers are still closed here on Sundays. Finally allowed liqour stores to open on Sundays as of last year. (Blue Laws). Dad said that in the '50's even grocery stores were closed on Sunday.