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Fans Jam Over Vintage VWs

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2007

DADE CITY - The parking lot at the Pasco County Fairgrounds on Sunday held Hondas and Fords, but inside there was only one name anyone cared about: Volkswagen.

With 1960s hit songs playing in the background, thousands of people packed the fairgrounds for the 19th Bug Jam, a celebration of all things Volkswagen.

Nearly 500 owners brought their cars to show off. And everyone had a story.

Just ask Jeff Hatcher.

The Davie resident is making "Volkslore: The Movie," a documentary about Volkswagens and the people who love them.

"I've met more people and made more friends with this car than anything else I've ever done," Hatcher said as he swapped stories with Jim Lowery of Miami.

Lowery's shiny 1952 Beetle sat under a canopy a dozen yards away. It was the car he learned to drive on. His mother bought it for him when he turned 15 for $350. At last year's show, a man offered Lowery $40,000.

"It's a universal car that everybody has a love of," Lowery said of his Beetle.

Hatcher was laid up with a broken leg after a 1989 motorcycle accident when he had his first VW experience.

"I got two magazines and I was, as we say, bitten by the Bug," said Hatcher, a lanky guy with goatee and Chuck Taylor high-tops.

At 34, Hatcher is about 17 years younger than his restored blue-and-white 1964 VW 21-window bus.

Hatcher rattles off the things that make his vehicle special. There are the tube-lined whitewall tires and, of course, the 21 windows. It's also "still a 6-volt," Hatcher said, referring to the battery, a predecessor to modern 12-volt car batteries.

The older battery means the electrical system requires a lot more care, Hatcher said.

"This is a little more for the enthusiast, the hard-core," said Hatcher, who finances his VW addiction by working on computer networks.
Bug Jam is about more than swapping stories, though. For some people, it's about making deals.

It wasn't unusual Sunday to see people striding through the crowds with bumpers and other car parts in their hands.
Robert Smith of Riverview bought his 1964 VW bus last year from someone who brought it to Bug Jam to show.

"He had to sell it," said Smith. The bus's owner wanted $12,000. Smith got it for $5,000 in cash. He has a friend in Zephyrhills who will do most of the restoration work. Smith expects to spend more than $10,000 bringing the vehicle back to nostalgia quality.

"I had one when I was a kid," Smith said of the bus. "It inspired me then. It inspires me now."

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

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