What stories can your car tell?

[malagalaga]

As much as I love driving and working on '02s, I also really enjoy knowing a little bit about a car's history. Where it has been, who has taken it there and what it has done. Whether the car was raced by a well-known figure or simply driven by Grandma to the beauty shop every Tuesday morning, each car has its own stories to tell. If these panels could talk...

What stories would your '02 tell?

My '02 is just an average Sahara '73 with a sunroof. There's not much rare or unique about it. But it got off to an auspicious start in the mid-1970s. The original owner received it as a graduation gift when he finished law school at the University of Texas in May of 1973. Before entering the real world, he decided to take one last stab at living the high life, so he drove the car straight to Acapulco, Mexico, from Austin. I can only imagine how different that drive was nearly 40 years ago in the summer before the leader of the Zetas cartel was born. No intelligent UT grad would try that one today through the cartel-controlled border cities. What happened in Acapulco stayed in Acapulco, since the only voice my '02 has comes from its raspy little tailpipe.

When his fun was over, he drove the 2002 through Austin to Dallas, where he began his career.

[MollysDad]

...but I've sworn her to secrecy.

In our 38 years together, we've been to 29 states, mostly up and down the east coast with the one legendary journey to Colorado for O'fest 2002.

She's been driven (not raced) on the track at Summit Point by Bill Scott and Nick Craw and me, of course. I've also driven her at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, VIR, Road Atlanta, Sebring, and Moroso, as well as the Performance Center in an autocross (Hans Stuck was the starter).

She's won two Oktoberfest rallies, one in Colorado (2002) and one in Atlanta (2009). And she won her class at the concours at O'fest 2009.

Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange was the sixth person to ride in her. Bob day (author of The Last Cattle Drive has ridden in her many times.

She was my daily driver for 10 years. For her 10th birthday, I bought her a car (a 1983 VW Rabbit GTI), and she's had a more leisurely life since.

Most of the rest of her 310,000 mile history will remain our secret.

[UroTrash]

My 1970 has a "1982 Staff Parking" sticker and a St. Michael emblem in the sunvisor, both of which will forever remain on the car.

I've always felt a little mechanical empathy for a car that gets so restored that it's robbed of its personality and history.

[Jim_75Sahara]

My '75 Sahara must have been purchased in the Birmingham, AL area. The first two owners - the father and then the son kept it for quite some time in that area. Then, the '02 migrated a bit to the NW to a very small AL town. Later it made its way to Athens, AL. I bought my '02 from a gentleman farmer who must have bought it on a whim. He rarely used it and he sold it to me before he'd owned it for a year. He bought it off a lot that mainly offered trucks and farm equipment! Odd. I don't think that my '02 got much use or love over the last few years prior to my purchase in June of 2003.

I was faced with bad window seals, destroyed brakes, ruined struts & shocks, locks that didn't turn, ancient, corroded fuses, a worn-out clutch, a sloppy shifter, etc. However, there was very little rust. In July of 2003, the slow process of rehabing Dieter commenced. Some parts have been ordered from BLUNT, Maximillian, & Bavarian Autosport, while others came from derelict 02's by way of FAQ parts sellers. Many thanks to Mike McCarthy of Foreign Car Service for providing me a safe, reliable '02. I was especially pleased with the engine rebuild work he completed in early 2010. Some of you will recall the plumes of smoke as you followed me on drives! No more!!

Dieter has been to Hermann, MO, Eureka Springs, AR, Indianapolis, IN, Chicago, IL, Watkins Glen, NY, Winston-Salem, NC, Shaker Village, KY, etc. etc. He went flying OFF ROAD on April 16th of this year into a N. KY cowpasture. I may need to retain the battle scars (scratches to the hood from the barbed wire!) Dieter received in this incident. No other damage was noted. I LOVE the (formerly forlorn) Sahara '02 I rescued from neglect and oblivion.

Only the brave, the bold, and the odd can drive Sahara '02's!

[Mike Self]

Wolfgang's and Ludwig's stories, but here's one that I haven't told: Back in 1977 or so, I was working for the Red Cross here in Dayton and we were celebrating the chapter's 50th anniversary with a big luncheon.

I was delegated to escort Mrs Ivonette Wright Miller to the event, and drove her in Wolfgang, my '69. The name may not mean anything to you unless you're an aviation buff--then the Wright is a giveaway. Her uncles were a couple of bicycle tinkerers named Wilbur and Orville--and she was the first female to ride in an airplane--in 1906 when she was a young girl. She had some great stories to tell about her uncles too.

And so as not to slight Ludwig, if you remember Paul Duke, the original host of Washington Week in Review on PBS...when I was working for the local PBS station, he came to Dayton for ameeting, and I picked him up at the airport and took him to dinner in Ludwig, my '73. A most interesting gentleman.

cheers

mike

[roadhog0]

My '76 is pretty quiet of it's past, she was the first car for it's original owner and his college car. Bought in Atlanta I believe (as the dealer sticker says), and then driven around the area for a little while. She then moved up to New York until about 88 or 89 when she was put on a transporter and brought to the Seattle area, this is when we believe she had some work done on the doors which the original owner doesnt know of at all. From there she was driven around in the Seattle area until 90 and then she took her 19 year resting place in the original owners partially heated garage. I found out about her in 09 and bought her from the original owner, who was my friends father, with 59k original and some old Michelin XAS's. I brought her home on a Saturday and had her running by the next Friday. From there we've had a great 14k worth of stories to tell

[BarryA]

not many details related to the original owner's 25 years using the car - it was picked up at the factory in February of 1969, driven through western Europe for several weeks (with stamps in the service book documenting the servicing locations), then shipped to Napa California in time to get one of the last of the CA black plate series (ZOS 311).

It acquired 130K of mostly daily commuter use carrying its engineer owner between home (Napa) and work where where he was an engineer for the city of Fairfield until sometime in the late 80's, when it was retired to the owner's sister's garage in Napa, where it sat for the next 10 years.

By 1999, the owner had retired to the pacific northwest and the sister was preparing to sell her house, so the car had to be relocated - it was gifted to a brother in Santa Rosa CA, where it was passed on to the brother's next door neighbor a couple of months later.

The neighbor recomissioned the car, replacing the exhaust system and installing a 3 row radiator, new belts and hoses, but soon realized that between running his own business and riding herd on 3 teenagers and 2 high-school foreign exchange students he didn’t have time for an automotive hobby. He listed the car in the August 2000 Roundel, describing (in considerable detail) all the minor flaws – I didn’t see the ad until October and almost didn’t call assuming the car had been sold. Pleasantly surprised to find it still available, I drove over from Sacramento and bought on the spot.

Over the last 12 years, we’ve driven all over California, Nevada & Arizona, to O’fest in 2002 on the original engine (145K miles at the time), added a 320 5 speed, complete ’77 E21 braking system, and rebuilt / upgraded the original engine at 170K, but it still wears its original paint, upholstery, trim and glass (except the windshield), and is now up to almost 210,000 miles.

I’d LOVE to have details (and photos) from the original owner’s trip through Europe in the spring of ’69 (along with any other info from those first 25 or so years of use), but haven’t had any success in tracking him down………

[SteveJ]

Nearly every bump and bruise is a story.

The folded over tow hook: on a rally up near Healdsburg. Hit the bup so hard we thought we moved the oil pan into the cylinder head.

The different jamb colors on the door and hood and fenders- that was the avalanche.

I found out even the previous owner had his stories as well. His wife mentioned, "Oh yeah. That dent was from when we got rear ended."

I looking at this, I'm just glad tires can't talk. They'd send me to jail.

[gracer]

My 72 TII has been driven on the following tracks. Westwood in British Colombia(now a housing development), Pacific Raceways in Seattle,Portland International Raceway, Oregon Raceway Park, Sears Point, and Laguna Seca. It has participated in many ralleys and road trips. It was my daily commuter untill I retired. Now it is just a grocery getter and occasional country drive car. G