Bought my 15 year old his first car this last weekend.

What a great Father/Son project! Having him be hands-on with the project will certainly teach him the value of what he has.

I will admit.... and not to be the Debbie Downer, I could be a shame to have a vintage car like that and have a zero-time driver learn the life of driving/parking/turning without damaging it.

I'm sure your son has his head on straight, otherwise you wouldn't have selected a car like that.

.... Always remind him that his car doesn't have airbags, so he'll be alert at all times.

 

Am I the only one who wants one now? I do need a new dd...

 

That is one awesome first ride. It's going to look awesome when he gets it like he wants it. Make sure and do a build thread for it so we can see what happens with it.

 

I was kind of thinking the same thing. lol

 

That's very cool. Enjoy the project.

 

Awesome first car! That gives me some ideas for my daughter in 5 years.

 

Das awesome. Def. need a devoted thread to the build on here. Best of luck!

 

Lucky kid. Great Dad. Adopt me.

 

OP, I see the CA plates and your profile says OC so I am guessing Orange County... My brother I law restores VWs in Inglewood not to far from LAX. Let me know if you get stuck and want me to make an intro. Great story and great job Dad!

 

Sweet ride! Lucky kid!!

My dad let me have his 68 Bug convertible when I turned 16. I think he just wanted me to work all the bugs out of it! It definitely was a conversation starter everywhere I went. Working on it with him created a bond and gave me an appreciation of working on vintage cars.

 

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I am really looking forward to this over the next 10 months.

Ventura Super Magna - Thanks for the offer. I appreciate it.

My son has been riding dirtbikes since shortly after he could walk. I think that helps make the transition to automobiles. His motor skills are excellent and his looking ahead and anticipating lines as you ride a dirtbike translate well to looking out for others and being defensive. Piloting a different kind of motor vehicle for so long before getting behind the wheel also helps with spacial awareness when navigating parking lots etc.

 

Me and some friends I've been riding with since I was pretty young were talking about this very thing. Definitely helps with many aspects of driving, throttle and brake control, scanning your surroundings, handling emergencies. Im sure he'll do great. I got my first truck at 15 as well, no doubt he'll have many good times in the new car!

 

Great first car to learn on. My first car was a VW Bug. Simple wiring, motor and tranny super easy to pull and work on.

 

I saw a nice notch type III the other day. It almost made me want a VW. Maybe someday I will buy a classic.

 

Nice choice! Just a word to the wise; always remember that the engine is inside the car.

Why yes, there is a story to go along with that comment. Thanks for asking. Way back when I was a car mechanic I worked for a while in an indy shop with a guy who fancied himself a VW expert. We got a Squareback in that wouldn't start. He opened the hatch and pulled the engine cover. I was manning the controls up front. He pulled the fuel line, said 'crank it over', and sure enough he had fuel flowing. Onto the top of the flat four engine. He reconnected the fuel line, pulled the coil wire, said 'crank it over', and sure enough he had spark. I knew this because the fuel on top of the engine ignited, scorching the VW expert's eyebrows and nearly setting fire to the headliner. As it was the headliner was irreparably damaged.

 

Where's that build page?

 

Going to start one soon. Planning it out and gathering parts right now. Should kick it off in the next week or so.

 

Just ran across this...congrats to you and your son...sounds like an awsome project and what a great looking car.

 

That's a bit unfair, I'm sure he would have appreciated any gift from his father...just saying.

Amazing car though OP love the color and if you get it anywhere close to the inspiration, he will have one of the sweetest cars in the lot!