We, and when I say we I mean Father and I, have had
two of these trucks and a half dozen other random VW
diesels over the years. He finally outgrew them, I haven't.
More the fool me I suppose.
Father bought this truck when I was a kid. I learned to drive in it.
I can remember sitting on Fathers lap driving on I40.
We finally parted ways at 600K, still going strong, after untold travels.
There will never be another truck like that one.
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| Oklahoma in the 90's with my bitchin CR125. Dad hauled several go-karts and motorcycles back and forth halfway across the country in that thing with me. I learned some of the best things I ever did on those trips. |
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| That scrape on the passenger side wheelwell is from the flywheel of an old dodge v8 that went in something someone I know owned. That plastic box, I still have, was from walmart because I was broke. In Chapel Hill some POS ripped the latch past the (too thin) padlock and stole my tools. They were my first set of tools that Father gave me too. I'd still hurt that person if I could today. They did manage to drop my OCT multimeter, which I still have. |
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| I have always loved dark red interiors. Our Lincoln, which is another story, had one too. That and brown or green. That was a 500K mile interior at that point, dash not cracked, seats not bad, carpet was shot but hey. VW built the hell out of that thing. Pop and I used to joke that all a sore back needed was 20 hours in the pickup. Wasn't far from the truth either. |
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| I forget which motor this is. There were at least three in there at one point or another. None of them wore out exactly, there were always other factors. The IDI VW diesel is a singularly unique animal, it's at once fragile and durable, strong and weak, refined and coarse. Anyone who's been around them long can go on at length about the conditions that must be met to obtain good service from them. They are largely a metaphor for life to me. I'm a lot better at the motors than I am at life. |
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| It takes a considerable amount of intestinal fortitude and plain old cussed staying power to see these kinds of mileage numbers, from both man and machine. It usually takes more than one person, even just two is pretty notable. I once put 100K miles on this truck inside 12 months. I once drove it from FL to NC and to work and back for a week after with a badly slipping clutch. I drove through driving winds over ice that blew the rear of the truck sideways in the midwest. Cold or hot or tired or sad or happy or to bad or good, it always got there. |
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| Last photo I have handy of Truckie1. Interestingly I had only just finally put 14" wheels on it (e30 alloys, they came painted). Paired down to basics and lean and strong, block heater out front, no bumpers, high and proud and enduring. A year prior to this I'd pulled it, literally, out of the woods and put a motor from a jetta in it from memory, fixing and making as I went in a rather Frankenstein way. I don't know where, or even if, the thing is anymore and I don't want to. I moved, way moved, and couldn't bring it so I left it with a friend. Sorta like you'd leave a body or something you needed to disappear. It's good to have friends like that. There aren't many of them and there will never be another one of these. |
