1956 Oval Window Ragtop Beetle
- Thursday, 27 March 2008
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Steve lives in North Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, where he works as a glazier. He has been involved with VWs since he was just nine years old! "I was basically born into V-dubs," he remembers. "It all started when I was nine, helping my cousins in the garage. I fell in love with cousin Chris Fish's multiple Bugs and Ghias. I remember cruising around in his Ghia with the fast motor and dual quiet packs. I used to draw Bugs all the time and hang them on my wall. So, naturally my first car was a Bug at the age of 16. It was a '74 which I eventually converted to look like a '68. Steve Rankich of Southern California was a huge mentor to me as I was learning to work on my first Bug. He showed me all the ins and outs of working on a VW."
After owning the '74, Steve went on to own numerous other VWs, including a 1958 Beetle, a 1958 Ragtop Beetle, a 1961 Karmann Ghia, a 1965 Karmann Convertible Beetle and many others which he bought and sold for a few dollars more along the way. Now aged 31, Steve has become a little bit fussy about the models he's interested in, and is now only really into pre-1968 models. But there is one exception to this rule: "I'd love to get my hands on a Fridolin." Good luck, Steve!
Clearly then, Steve is a go-getter; if he says he wants something, he really means it, so don't be surprised if the next time you see him he's got himself a Fridolin!
The story behind his Oval underlines our point. Steve bought the car in June 2006, when it was, to quote Steve, "in every little piece you could think of!" So, like us you'll probably think he was being a little overenthusiastic when he decided to have the car totally rebuilt for the Las Vegas Bug-In held in October - just four months away. When you take into account that Steve intended a full body-off-pan rebuild, you can appreciate just how epic an undertaking Steve was embarking on.
For the full story check out the April 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 21 March and then available through back issues.
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