1972 VW Beetle - Joe Nolan's first car!

• Tuesday, 1 April 2008
• Jon Gilbert
• 1 Comments

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What better car could you own as your first other than an air-cooled VW? Well to the non-believers there are loads, but to a VW fan the list would be very, very short!

Can you remember your first car? I know I can! I certainly wasn't lucky enough to own a fully restored Beetle that's for sure. I couldn't even afford a clapped out rust bucket of a Bug and was forced to by a French 954cc hatchback for 500 notes!
As far as first cars go (or even a second, third, fourth, fifth...) this 1972 Beetle would have been a dream come true for many I'm sure. And for 17-year-old Joe Nolan it is exactly that - certainly worlds better than the Fiesta he was going to buy!
Now the surname Nolan may ring a few bells and that's because Joe is son to Steve Nolan from Wolfsburg VW, Lancashire, who is renowned for his restoration excellence. But before you make the mistake of thinking Steve built a car and gave it to his son you might want to think again. Steve and Joe built the '72 together.
Joe is currently carrying out a two-year apprenticeship as a paint sprayer so works on cars quite a lot. That said a lot of the stuff that he paints is already at the 'repaired' stage so Joe doesn't really get to see what goes into building a car.
After Joe decided on a Beetle (once the Fiesta idea had been quashed) Steve thought it a good idea to get him to help build the car. Not only would it give Joe a better understanding of the work involved but also give him an insight to his fathers profession. Plus there's nothing like a good bit of Father Son time is there!

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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