12 years here! McMurdo, Palmer Station (2 winters), South Pole (14 months), RV/IB Nathanial B. Palmer for two down and around. Oh, the memories... and all the great motorcycle rides in New Zealand and OZ.

VW ur Beetle Turbo with manual gray leather, Aquarius Blue with Gray top is covered in the backyard. Probably mice habitat; Dog hauler. Staffordshire Bull Terrier carefully removed stitching from leather seats. Not worth the effort or time to fix, repaired with seat covers.

Ferdinand must have crept up from somewhere from his bunker/lair and hissed out the words “....more diesels you fools...”

We don’t make autos Europe wants to buy - not in mass, but maybe there are few who want a Hog or truck... Now if Europe would only send us the smaller cars that Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Ford make for only European consumption.

Wait...in the distance...do you hear it? Just a little? Is that the fat lady warming up?

When the Chinese don’t want to buy you, you can bet they looked at it hard, vetted it out and said “hmm. Those odds don’t look so good” and moved on.

After an ‘84 Westy, I break out in sweat every time I see one. Anything but another Vanagon. Ours ate two engines, despite maintenance and care. Sold it for $7k without an engine though; new owner installed a Subaru engine. Bu-Bye.

Ban diesels. I’ve owned ‘em. Loved ‘em. But take VWs lead for cheating. Make ‘em all Electric.

I worked with a guy like that. Every single customer I had he would rush up and say “....hey good to see you!” and then insist they were his customer.

Having sold new cars, it’s a “dog eat dog”, “bird in the hand” and the first person to sign up for financing (as the dealer gets a cut). As such, I’ve owned one new car; all others used. Usually from someone selling their own auto.

Sigh. I’m a motorcyclist first, cage driver second. There have been many, many times a cage driver has nearly killed me due to inattention, testosterone, or just plain old stupidity. I get it. But going out en mass and causing mayhem doesn’t send out the right message.

I’ve owned a couple Benz diesels, older ones, and burned bio-diesel in ‘em. Still, no more. My next car will be a Chevy Bolt. And my next motorcycle a Zero. I’m done with ICE engines. Too much time, maintenance and besides, I love this planet and hope to live out my life with clean air and water.

Learned to really “drive” in a ‘71 Fiat 124 Sport Spider. It had a flat hood instead of the bulges. Back in the early ‘80s the Blue Ridge Parkway was empty on Sunday mornings. It was my church. Oh, it was tough to love. Little things... wouldn’t start... for weeks. Found a wire had rubbed and grounded it out. A little…

I sold VWs. We were taught in classrooms, video series and with promotional material that TDI’s were clean. 5 years of it. I was taught to lie.

How to reset the windows and radio code in my Audi TT. It’s pretty easy magic.

What Porsche really needs are aspirational cars like they once made - like the 914, 924, 944 that were great for people who wanted to get into Porsche but didn’t have a black Visa card.

Good memories of when those were only 2 years old... I drove a ‘59 Willys Overland Wagon. Some of my friends dug it, one didn’t, so we went in his parents ‘78 Wagoneer - not much different that yours.

He could blow you away and a ski slope and win gold medals.

1) Sold VWs for 5 long hard years. Was told TDI’s were clean more times than I can remember. I’m sorry for lying to people. My employer made me do it.

Have you ever tried to sing the National Anthem? It’s not easy.