Speedy Jim's VW Stories

I enjoyed reading Speedy Jim's VW stories on his website. I particularly
liked his story on the Overzealous Car Wash. I suppose everyone has at
least one or more VW stories to tell.

Here's one of the many in my life.
Back in the late 70's I had a stock '66 beetle, it was my major form of
transportation. I took it everywhere, even to Tijuana where the Mexican
people worship these cars. In anycase, I made a run to the local drugstore
to purchase a few items. The store parking lot was on a slight incline, and
the incline increased as you got further away from the store.
I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store forgetting to
set the parking brake or putting the car into gear. Guess you know what
happen next. About 15 minutes later I came out of the drugstore and looked
for my car. My first thought was; "Damn, my car was stolen!" Then as I
looked around, I see my car at the bottom of the parking lot about a good 60
yards away from where I parked it. I ran to see if there was any damage,
walking around the car, carefully examining the metal. Not a scratch! I
took a glance back at where I originally parked, and to this day don't know
how she missed all those other parked cars.

Back in the '70's in TJ, I remember getting gas, popping the hood to fill.
This middle aged Mexican attendant comes running out to check out my car.
"Or-ridg-a-NEL, Or-ridg-a-NEL???" as he pointed to the headliner. "What
year EH?" I reply '66. "SixxTY-SIX!!!" as he whistled to his co-workers
to check out my ride; "SixxTY-SIX EH!" I never seen anything like that
before, it was a pretty awesome experience.
-tom

On 2005-04-12, Tom Nakashima > wrote:

> I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store forgetting to
> set the parking brake or putting the car into gear.

Does there exist a soul who hasn't done that?

Mine was on level terrain, but on a very windy day. Came back from
lunch one day, parked in a slot that was along the border of the
lot. When I got off work and approached my car, it took a minute to
realize it wasn't where I had left it.

The thought process went something like "okay key in ingnition, shift
into neutral.. hey wait, it's in neutral already. wait, this isn't
where I parked, is it?"

It had rolled backwards, turned a full 90 degrees, and slid right
in to a perpendicular parking spot. Apparently I had left the wheel
turned just enough for it to do so, which was good because if the
car had gone straight the sidepanels of a co-worker's car would have
absorbed the impact.


There was also the time, less than a month after purchasing my first
bug, when I was poking around in the engine trying to get a feel for
where everything was. Popped the air cleaner off, and as I tried to
peer down the throat of the carb, tilted just a little too much,
causing a thick stream of oil to spill all over the ground.

"jesus christ what the hell is oil doing in there?!"

On 12 Apr 2005 18:31:12 GMT, Seth Graham > wrote:

>On 2005-04-12, Tom Nakashima > wrote:
>
>> I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store forgetting to
>> set the parking brake or putting the car into gear.
>
>Does there exist a soul who hasn't done that?

No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)

"Stupid people are funny." - me

"Shag" > wrote in message
...
> On 12 Apr 2005 18:31:12 GMT, Seth Graham > wrote:
>
> >On 2005-04-12, Tom Nakashima > wrote:
> >
> >> I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store
forgetting to
> >> set the parking brake or putting the car into gear.
> >
> >Does there exist a soul who hasn't done that?
>
> No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
> Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)
>
>
> "Stupid people are funny." - me
^
Glad somebody is straight, but you may want to read the manual sometime:
http://www.vw-resource.com/images/66manualpage22.jpg
"As I reached for the emergency brake, things were looking up" -James Bond
in his Aston Martin BD5
-tom

"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
...
> > No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
> > Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)
> >
> >
> > "Stupid people are funny." - me
> ^
> Glad somebody is straight, but you may want to read the manual sometime:
> http://www.vw-resource.com/images/66manualpage22.jpg
> "As I reached for the emergency brake, things were looking up" -James Bond
> in his Aston Martin BD5
> -tom
>
>

Tom, your posting of the manual only re-enforces Shag's statement.....

"Joey Tribiani" > wrote in message
news:njb7e.2024$Z73.717@lakeread04...
>
> "Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
> ...
> > > No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
> > > Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)
> > >
> > >
> > > "Stupid people are funny." - me
> > ^
> > Glad somebody is straight, but you may want to read the manual sometime:
> > http://www.vw-resource.com/images/66manualpage22.jpg
> > "As I reached for the emergency brake, things were looking up" -James
Bond
> > in his Aston Martin BD5
> > -tom
> >
> >
>
> Tom, your posting of the manual only re-enforces Shag's statement.....
>

Joey, I'll write the first sentence of the manual from the use of the
handbrake.
It's at the bottom of page 22 in the manual.
"When Parking on a steep slope, set the handbrake to stop the car rolling.:"
I suppose you could call parking on a steep slope an emergency.

On 2005-04-12, Shag > wrote:
> On 12 Apr 2005 18:31:12 GMT, Seth Graham > wrote:
>
>>On 2005-04-12, Tom Nakashima > wrote:
>>
>>> I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store forgetting to
>>> set the parking brake or putting the car into gear.
>>
>>Does there exist a soul who hasn't done that?
>
> No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
> Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)

Where I grew up, that handle was only used to send the car spinning,
to the extreme enjoyment of the two whootin' and hollerin' teenage
boys inside it.

On a foot of fresh snow. With no one else around.

Far as I'm concerned there's no other reason for the thing to
exist.

"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
...
> Joey, I'll write the first sentence of the manual from the use of the
> handbrake.
> It's at the bottom of page 22 in the manual.
> "When Parking on a steep slope, set the handbrake to stop the car
rolling.:"
> I suppose you could call parking on a steep slope an emergency.
>
>

Tom, can i assume(yeah i know) that you did not follow the "other" thread?
I'm kind of getting the impression you did, but then i get the impression
you didn't....if you did you would know regaurdless of who says otherwise
you NEVER use the handbrake for parking....never.....that and apparently i
need medication....

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:46:17 -0700, "Tom Nakashima"
> wrote:

>
>"Shag" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On 12 Apr 2005 18:31:12 GMT, Seth Graham > wrote:
>>
>> >On 2005-04-12, Tom Nakashima > wrote:
>> >
>> >> I parked my VW in one of the spaces and hurried into the store
>forgetting to
>> >> set the parking brake or putting the car into gear.
>> >
>> >Does there exist a soul who hasn't done that?
>>
>> No, but you guys.... the parking brake is only used for emergencies.
>> Not for parking. JJ, set these guys straight. :-)
>>
>>
>> "Stupid people are funny." - me
> ^
>Glad somebody is straight, but you may want to read the manual sometime:
> http://www.vw-resource.com/images/66manualpage22.jpg

I did. My manual says the same thing. If you'd followed the
"parking/emergency brake" thread you'd see that I've said all along
that the "hand brake" is used for parking.

>"As I reached for the emergency brake, things were looking up" -James Bond
>in his Aston Martin BD5
>-tom
>

"Stupid people are funny." - me

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:06:57 -0400, "Joey Tribiani" >
wrote:

>
>"Tom Nakashima" > wrote in message
...
> > Joey, I'll write the first sentence of the manual from the use of the
>> handbrake.
>> It's at the bottom of page 22 in the manual.
>> "When Parking on a steep slope, set the handbrake to stop the car
>rolling.:"
>> I suppose you could call parking on a steep slope an emergency.
>>
>>
>
>Tom, can i assume(yeah i know) that you did not follow the "other" thread?
>I'm kind of getting the impression you did, but then i get the impression
>you didn't....if you did you would know regaurdless of who says otherwise
>you NEVER use the handbrake for parking....never.....that and apparently i
>need medication....
>

He apparently did NOT follow the other thread.

"Stupid people are funny." - me