They tell me I was born in 1947, so I guess I'm 57.

In 1972 my wife and I had just moved to Chicago and my dad was a dealer
in cheap used cars and trucks in western Michigan.  He let us have a '67
Fastback (type 3) for $400.  About a week later it was totaled when we
got rear ended on Lake Shore Drive.  We had liked that type of vehicle
and found another Fastback at a misc. dealer.  It was a '69 and had fuel
injection!  My wife drove that car for many years and it was very
reliable.  I soon bought another type 3, a '70 squareback.  Eventually
we moved up to a 411 wagon for me and a 412 for her.
   When our two girls got beyond the toddler stage and I bought a '76
van to help haul things, we started camping in it; I built a platform in
the back and put boards in the middle and the front for the kids.  We
had a memorable trip out to the west coast with that van, along with
some memorable electrical problems.
   Eventually we bought our first Vanagon (named Flanagon), an '80, 7
passenger and set up the same type of sleeping platforms.  When we got
our '84 Wolfsburg it had a real fold down bed and heat!  By then the
kids were big enough that we moved them out to a tent.
   For the past 5 years or so we've had a '91 GL with a fold down bed
and table and jumpseats poorly installed by a PO.  We camp in it 4 or 5
times each summer and are looking forward to more of the same when we
retire in a year or two.
   We have also had a series of Rabbits and presently own a '94 Golf,
but our oldest daughter seems to have taken it away.  But there is still
a Saab 900 that the youngest daughter doesn't want any more and a misc.
Cherokee or two.  So it goes...

Larry A.