Not sad for me: I own a March 1973 T-2 bay-window with a 1,700 cc aircooled longblock
(suitcase engine), 3 spd. automatic transaxle with 7 seats, in ... mmm ... working conditions, shall I say? Here is my Perica
(means Parrot in spanish: a talkativer bird, and also means monkeywrench, witch is the road logo for mechanical assistance in México) because this Combi is my shop-on-wheels for vintage aircooled VW with engines at the right place: at the REAR!!
(I know rear engines are NOT popular in England, I watch TopGear!! But I learned how to drive with rear engined automobiles: a 1962 Reanult Dauphine) Here, my Perica is assisting Vicky's
(mother of my two sons, thee BOSS!) Tracker when the automatic gearbox went KAPUT
(a common fault with 3 spd automatic Trackers, unfortunatly) This is also our garden at Hacienda Armonía, North of Cuernavaca city:
I have a blog
(in Spanish with Google translator, sorry) about my Perica =
http://laperica-tallermovil.blogspot.mx ... a%20PericaI was in dire condition that morning in Puerto Escondido, in the mexican state of Oaxaca: could not walk, I went crawling like uncle Otto's WWII commandos to the cold shower, and could come out IF the walls had some concept of solidarity to keep me vertical. Friends said I looked like Sh..t
(thank you Rosana & Gary, from Cabo Blanco "Where Legends Are Born" live rock & EXCELLENT cajun grill: saved my life!!) and took me to Salubridad hospital. There I was informed that I was entering liver paralisis & hepatic coma would follow soon
"so relax, you are just becoming dead". That was in August 1995. Since the only option for survival was
"have a lot of cash", I decided to die on the beach, like the Sun at Sunset. No hospitals for me: they depress me with that pale green hue, and the beach is full of veryvery tiny dental floss they use as swimwear nowadays, barely covering female essentials all over the beach for more than a mile: that cheered me up, and instead of going to the Other Shore, HERE I am!!
Then I had to start working for a living again, rent a hut for sleeping & cooking. By 1997 I met 3 italian youngsters tyraveling the mexican coast in a green Combi. They tried to travel the coast: instead they visited all VW repair shops from San Diego (USA) to Puerto Escondido during three months (main reason I am my own mechanic, because this type of scenario is astonishingly common in México). After changing the gas tank
(they rust BADDLY with age), changing the mechanical fuel pump for an electric one & cleaning both carburators, the Combi was running ... on 3 ciliders! But they insisted on traveling like that the THREE remaining days in their visa, then take the airplane to Mexico City & back to Italy
"We are also running out of money" was the magical word
"we will pay you with the Combi" wich, being italian mafia, I did not believe. I remembered all those helping hands on my many road incidents during my life, from all those people that didn't accept a penny & I never saw again. So I decided
"Life will pay me with someone helping my sons" and the
"you owe me nothing, Señor" of my empty bank account.
Three days later, the Combi adopted me. And after 17 years of daily transportation, city and roads, it still starts at the flick of the switch. Not much have I invested in paint or bodywork, but mechanicals are new shocks, Continental tyres, new brake calipers cilinders & master, alignment is true. And manymany tune-ups, oil seals, CV joints allways with new boots & lubricant ... more reliable than pour 1998 Tracker!! My son Jean has a 2002 VW Pointer station wagon from Brasil. They just finished the brasilian Combi production, exporting to England
(50 units I believe) and to Germany, engine is watercooled 1.8 lt from the Golf:
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:07 am
....>>>
...!
...!
Occaisionally, I would get someone to push start it for me, like my pregnant wife, for example! Great excersize. 
...!
...!