Spotted outside Schwen's auto parts shop on Monona Drive on Thursday afternoon, this old-school Volkswagen microbus.

It doesn't have the safari windows but it does have the split wind screen and sliding side windows. The cargo door's split, too, not sliding, and the air intakes are louvers in the lower half of the body instead of the big, open scoops VW would put in the upper rear wings later on.

The headlights are recessed and the big, silver VW on the front is smack dab in the middle of that iconic dart. I'd love to have one of these in my driveway, but I'm pretty sure I don't make enough money to buy one even in this condition ... which is pretty good, really. Patch up the rust and it'd be gorgeous.

Although some of the softer stuff has been lost, most of the really important things are there. It wouldn't take too much to make this over into a like-new Veedub that would turn heads, not that it doesn't already.

I was a little surprise to see the the bucket seats. I expected something this old-school to have a bench seat in the front.

See? Still in great condition! Well, except for that passenger seat, but the driver's seat looked fine. It was all I could do to keep from slipping into it, just to get the feel of the wheel again, for old time's sake.

BMW on Dayton Street

Why do the old BMWs look so much classier than the sleek, modern models? I'd rather drive this than anything BMW is putting on the road these days.

I used to drive one of these. although I never had the artistic bent that would have let me decorate it as lavishly as this and didn't have any friends at the time who would have done it for me.

Mine was a few years older than this model, but had the pop-top.

This one's been very nicely cared for. Besides the paint job, the body's in good shape and the interior appeared to be very well-preserved; not a lot of wear & tear evident.

I'd love to have one of these again, if only I had a place to garage it in the winter.

Mini Cooper, the Original

Seen in the parking lot behind St Vincent de Paul's over the weekend, dwarfed by a mid-size Ford Focus.

Everybody needs a hobby, I guess.

“A Silly Bug For You”

Spotted on Owen Road, this matt-black Baja Bug.

Hellooo Monona!

This old Willys was in the parking lot at the Monona farmer's market last weekend.

I've never seen one like it before, but knew as soon as I caught sight of it that it was my kind of car.

You might be driving a piece of junk if ...

... it is more rust than rust-colored.

Purty Car

This gorgeous Mustang was hanging out on the street in front of the Inn on the Square. Consensus among the folks who stopped to drool over it while I was snapping photos was that it was a '67. I nodded like I knew.

If any of the windows of your car are "temporarily" covered in plastic, tape, or any combination thereof, you're probably driving a piece of junk.

Good Times

My first car was 1969 VW minivan. It cost me just $500 and was in a lot worse shape that this one, which looks remarkably well-preserved, but it was my first car and I still remember it with a lot of affection, even though I spent a lot more time fixing it than driving it.

While I was taking these photos, a fellah passing by stopped to get a good look, too.

"Brings back some memories, does it?" he asked, so I told him about my first car.

"I crossed the country in a van like this one," he said. The way he said it, he could remember it like it was the other day. "It wasn't mine. I borrowed it from a friend."

Sometimes it seems like everybody's got a Veedub story.

I had two other VW buses and a Beetle, and I miss them all.

Tailgater's view of a 1932 Ford roadster parked in a yard along Broadway in Monona.

Sure, that looks safe ...

I spotted this guy on Carroll Street yesterday morning, giving a whole new meaning to "double parked."

Punch Buggy
Seen at the Monona farmer's market this weekend.

There's no finer summer convertible than a Veedub.

The interior's a bit rough ...

... but it's still a happy-looking Volks.

I've owned two old microbusses, the newer camper-van and one bug,
and they'll always have a soft spot in my heart.
I can't help stopping to take a close look at a Volkswagen
wherever I see one.

I can't reconcile my delight of old cars and trucks with my despair that there are too many cars and trucks in the world. Keeping the old ones around would seem to be nothing more than adding to the mess. But the nostalgia I feel for a dolled-up show piece like this is undeniable.
I spotted this old Chevy off Bridge Street in Monona.

A beige Thunderbird?

Ceci n'est pas une pickup truck

There aren't a lot of teeny-tiny pickup trucks around any more, so when one of them shows up at a local parking lot, it's eye-catching, particularly when it's painted pink and is parked alongside a bulked-out SUV.

To make it appear even smaller than it already is, the owner had taken the trouble of dropping the suspension as low as it could go. The truck's frame was about three inches off the ground.

Punch Buggy

Spotted this one on East Wilson Street yesterday. A well-used bug; note the t-shirt seat covers and the shredded rear seat. The lenses on the rear lights were dated 1970, but even with all those years (and no doubt plenty of mileage), this bug's in pretty good condition. Wonder just how many winters it's tramped through the salt-soaked slush of Madison streets?