I Love VW Buses!

Bullrun Week 6 Update: VW Bus Miraculously Survives!

Just a quick update on Week 6 of Bullrun... Team VW Bus is *still* in it, even though they were in the challenge at the end. Looked like the challenge was rough on the lowered bus as the front-end of the ride kept digging into the dirt. Hopefully everything is okay and they'll be good for the next leg of the rally.

On a separate note about the show overall, its becoming more enjoyable. The first couple of episodes were hard to watch and not all that entertaining. Perhaps they just had too many cars to follow so it was hard to build any real story lines. My special lady friend asked if I would keep watching even if Team VW gets eliminated... yep, now I'm into it!

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Oh... no picture on this post because a certain BS, who used to really like my Goldberg pictures, told me the last few have been lame... so no pic this week out of protest! :-)

Southwest Championship Bug In This Sunday 3/29 in Ennis, Texas

The title says it all, but I'll say it again... Southwest Championship Bug In This Sunday 3/29 in Ennis, Texas. Here is a link to all of the info you need to know about it (apparently).

Hopefully we'll see some VW Buses out there. You goin? Drop us a note by Following @ILoveVWBuses on Twitter

Texas Road Trip Yields Many VW Bus Sightings

My Special Lady Friend and I took an awesome road trip from DFW, down I-35 to Austin, then to San Antonio, then to I-10 East to Houston and up I-45 back to DFW. Over 700 miles and we never left Texas! We saw all of the cities that matter in Texas... sorry El Paso, you are just a suburb of New Mexico.

On our way to Austin, somewhere around Temple, Texas I believe, we spotted a bus by a custom car shop on the service road. We exited at the next exit and went back. This was a weird find in the middle of nowhere really. The shop looked to specialize in Lamborghini or other custom doors. We couldn't get too close, but we were able to shoot a couple of pics of the bay window VW Bus (one is below).

After we got to Austin, we took some time on Friday night to check out the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival and grab some tacos... what a crazy scene. On our way back to the motel, we spotted a couple of buses in a parking lot. Turns out they were Campmobiles and were located at the Underground Metaphysical Volkswagen Repair shop. Probably the coolest name ever.

The next day, before we left Austin, we went back and took some daylight pics at the Underground VW shop

While we were driving around through some neighborhoods just west of Downtown Austin, we found a bus in its natural habitat. Luckily, we were able to snap some pics.

After driving around the neighborhoods, we cut through downtown and saw a White Split Screen Panelvan; the only VW Bus Panelvan we've ever seen actually driving around. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture, but it is the same one we've seen, and photographed, before, so here it is. Killer ride.

Oh, and while not technically a VW Bus, while in Austin we did see the likeness of a vintage bus used in a JanSport ad.

Finally, on our way out of Austin, we spotted another bus in a parking lot. Crazy! This bus has definitely had a hard life, but it is still going strong.

Once we got to San Antonio, we didn't see any VW Buses until we were checking out of our hotel. While we were waiting for our car to be brought to us, a bright yellow and white Campmobile drove by. We didn't have the camera ready so we didn't get a picture. Oh well. If that was you, send us a pic!

The final leg of our road trip would take us east on I-10 over to Houston. While we were there, we happened upon a VW Bus while driving around some neighborhoods before we headed home.

What an awesome trip... SXSW, cool buses, lots of tacos, and well... my special lady friend to keep me company.

Check out the rest of the pics on our Flickr Photostream. If you aren't already, be sure to Follow @ILoveVWBuses on Twitter.

Bullrun Week 5 Update: VW Bus is still alive!

Oh man... its getting exciting now. Team VW Bus is still in the race, but its getting more and more likely that they will be in a challenge and that would spell disaster for them. Fun to see Team VW Bus rolling in the cold, snowy weather... no heater, a hole in the floor, etc. No matter how souped up it is, its still a VW Bus! Awesome.

Bullrun Week 4 Update: VW Bus is still alive!

I've got the Spirit!!!
Originally uploaded by macslost

This week's episode didn't feature Team VW Bus much, except to show them fighting with Team Evo again. Looks like Team Evo is gone now, anyway, so without someone else to fight, we might never see the VW Bus boys. Its good to see them still in the race. I'm afraid if they ever get into the challenge that they'll be gone.

The overall race is not about speed or even driving skill. Its mostly about navigation. The challenges seem to require a vehicle that is fast and can handle. While the VW Bus has some power (relative to other VW Buses, I'm afraid) it certainly doesn't handle well. Also, we've already seen some of the issues they have with the transmission, so I'm not sure they can take off very fast from the line. Hopefully they'll just avoid the challenges, but the opening sequence of the show makes me think that isn't true.

Oh... the image is for "BS" who said in the comments on the last Bullrun post that they like the crazy Bill Goldberg pictures. Hopefully I can keep finding good ones.

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Key West needs some Love from the VW Buses

A somewhat tragic month in paradise so far... no, not a hurricane, but a couple of bad things happened in Key West, Florida. First, a Mallory Square performer named Gold Man died in a boating accident. We never saw him perform, but that is such sad news. Then the other night the Crepe restaurant on Duval burned. Conch Scooter who works in dispatch for the Key West Police Department took some pictures of the fire and posted them on his blog. No one was hurt in that fire, but it did some major damage to that business and the surrounding ones. From what I understand, things are tight in Key West and those businesses, especially the crepe place, might not be able to come back.

So what can we do for them here at ILoveVWBuses.com? We can spread some VW Bus love by showing the world the cool VW Buses that reside on the island of Key West. Maybe this will get some of the VW Bus enthusiasts to make a voyage to the Conch Republic... if we inspire just one new visitor to the island, then we know we made that visitor happy and they probably made a vendor or two on the island happy.

Here's the love.

If you have traveled to Key West or live there and have pictures of VW Buses, send them our way (or send links) to pics @ ilovevwbuses.com or send them to us on Twitter @ilovevwbuses.

Bullrun Update... the VW Bus is still in it!

Just a quick update on this season of Bullrun... the VW Bus is still in it. Lots of drama around Team Evo and it looked like the Bus boys were going to throw down with them. Nothing happened (at least on TV), but the VW Bus was spared from being in the challenge at the end. I'm afraid that if the bus does get in a challenge, that they will not do well. Not because the bus isn't stacked, or that the guys on the VW Bus team aren't good drivers, just that its still a bus... and they don't handle well. Hopefully I'll be surprised.

New YouTube Video of 1966 13-Window Deluxe VW Bus

Please do not watch while operating heavy machinery... its just that exciting.

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