Howdy Webriders! Dr. VW here to give you the scoop on a drama that’s been unfolding for a while over on one of my haunts, thesamba.com. It’s a completely VW oriented site, and widely considered the mecca of aircooled VW knowledge and the online center of the community. With any forum, there is always drama: flame wars between individuals, business scams being busted, etc etc. Often times, the forums come to the rescue, like the story of “the Claw” in Canada. However the story I’m about to share with you is even more touching. Hit the jump to find out!

Every year in Irvine California, there is a show, or rather a set of shows, collectively known as “Classic Weekend”. The VW Classic is a once a year event that draws aircooled VW enthusiasts from across the globe, and is widely considered to be “THE” event of the show season. As a result, many clubs, shops and organizations choose to hold their own events around the same time leading up to and following the main event. All across LA, shops like ISPwest throw open their doors to type threes, while the group OCTO holds its annual Bus only show and swap. Another event that is attended by many show goers is the VTO Blackstar camp out. The VTO camp out is only a few miles from the Classic show grounds and is nestled in the mountains to the east of Irvine. I myself have attended the ISP BBQ, Berg Enterprises Rally, VTO camp out, and VW Classic two years in a row, but this year I missed out; and I really did miss out!

Our story begins a few weeks ago on thesamba.com’s split bus forum, and the entire thread can be perused here. In a nutshell, the wife of a young couple is looking for help and advice on where to go and what to do about her husbands 66 split camper. The bus itself was in rough shape, but by no means a parts car. In fact, most agreed that a tune up and a quick once over would get it back into running condition, even if it wasn’t the prettiest car in the world. Problem was, money was tight, and figuring out what should get repaired and what shouldn’t was a little confusing. However, a few members offered to donate some parts to help jumpstart the repairs. One thing lead to another, and she was invited to attend the OCTO bus event and the VW classic, to network and pick up donated parts. The story caught with the Bus community, and soon enough parts and offers for free help were pouring in. Everything seemed to snowball, and with the help of the SV2 Bus club and several prominent members of the forum, a plan was hatched: do a quikie restoration by Bus experts at the VTO camp out and then present the finished car to her husband at the OCTO or Classic, depending on how quickly work got done.

The amount of help and support the members of the samba bus forum offered to this woman might be unprecedented… aside from securing transport for the non running car over 110 miles to the campground, members donated all new master and slave brake cylinders, soft brake hoses, new gas lines, almost new carb,  rebuilt distributor, other engine parts, new upholstery for the seats, new body panels and doors, rubber seals for the windows, and countless fluids as well as a rebuilt original radio. In of itself, that’s a lot of help, but the samba members also set up a paypal account for people across the globe to donate for things like new tires, paint supplies, and other parts for the future after the quickie restoration. Aside from the money and parts, several members stepped up and offered their technical skill, offering to do free work on the bus while it was at the campground, prepping it for its unveiling.

As the classic weekend approached, an Overhaulin’ esque story unfolded, with the wife convincing her husband to attend the OCTO event with her while the Bus was simultaneously transported to the VTO camp  out event at Blackstar canyon. Once there, the work began. One member offered up his body work and metal skills, bringing his welder and replacing the lower 4 inches of the rusted out front nose, as well as patching the rockers and lower windshield frames. Others tore the engine down and rebuilt it, while still others finished cleaning up the interior and upholstering the seats. The process took a little over a day, with the bus being completed and ready for the road this morning at OCTO. There, the bus was unveiled, much to the delight of the owner and his incredibly devoted wife. Original papers from Europe, known as the bus’s “birth certificate” were even procured! As we speak, the owner and his wife are probably spending their first night in the newly restored camper together at Blackstar.

While the bus is far from finished, in a matter of a day members of an online forum put together an ad hoc restoration at a campground, using donated parts, skills, labor, and time. What they delivered was a reborn car, from a broken down lawn ornament to a reliable daily driver with the hardest parts of the body work finished. The most incredible part about this story is undoubtedly the community spirit apparent on the Samba. While all of this went down just today, more information, pictures and youtube videos, are forthcoming; so stay tuned webriders! VW enthusiasts, bus owners, and car lovers alike should be on the edge of their seats! I just wish I had been able to attend this year as I have in the past and throw my own assistance into the effort.

Hope you guys enjoyed that story! Remember to head down to the forums for links and updates as they come in, tomorrow is the Classic! This is Dr. VW- out.