Anyone who watched ABC-TV in July may have seen some familiar
faces. That
’s because a local Volkswagen club was featured as a part of a
story about production ending on the VW Beetle.
Anyone who watched ABC-TV in July may have seen some familiar faces. That’s because a local Volkswagen club was featured as a part of a story about production ending on the VW Beetle.
The club was started in 1982 by people who were fans Volkswagens, not just Beetles. And according to club member Rick Spohn, the only thing required is to appreciate VWs.
“Members are anyone with an interest in VWs,” said Spohn. “Most members own bugs, but having a bug is not required. As long as someone has an interest they can be involved.”
ABC contacted the club after a story ran in the San Francisco Chronicle featuring the San Martin group. Spohn received calls from two different offices of ABC.
“I got a call from ABC in New York because they saw the story from the Chronicle,” he said. “Then I got a call from ABC in San Francisco. They both were after the same story, but neither of them knew the other had called.”
Once everything was worked out, Spohn contacted some members of the club and had them come to his place in San Martin. Spohn has a horse field that was chosen to be the spot for the filming.
In all, according to Spohn, six or seven different news media contacted him about the VW being discontinued. While he appreciates the club being recognize, he wonders why his club.
“It’s great that we got to do this,” Spohn said. “I just wonder what was going on in the rest of the country that we were the one’s contacted.”
Members of the club brought their cars and lined them up to be filmed by the camera crews. Spohn had contacted 15 members who brought 20 different cars. Each one was from a different year, starting in 1951.
The ABC interview featured comparisons of the different years. They showed different models including one that needed a crank start. ABC asked the members to compare the new bug to the old one.
“They just asked us different questions,” said Spohn. “They got us all in a group and asked us questions. There was a part in the bit where we are reciting how many cars we owned.”
The filming was not strictly limited to Spohn’s house; some of the segment was filmed at San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School. In all, the film crews were there for more than four hours, even though he segment only ran for two minutes.
All the notoriety has not gone to Spohn’s head. While he says that he enjoyed the recognition from the national press, he places the honor more on the other members of the group and the fact his young son was involved.
“It was fun,” he said. “I got to have my son sit in one of the convertibles. It was cool that he got to be there. I am also glad to see the other members. They deserve the notoriety.”
The VW Beetle was created in the 1930s in Germany when Adolf Hitler wanted a car that could be used by all in Germany. Since then, the Beetle has grown popular around the world. Disney even made movies about the odd looking car.
During the ‘60s, the Beetles were known as the “hippie car,” though college students owned them because Beetles were cheap.
The ‘70s marked the beginning of the end for the cars. After decline in sales, the Beetle was limited to Mexico and Brazil. In 1999 the new Beetle was introduced, which will continue to be built. The final Beetle rolled off the assembly line July 30, 2003, in Puebla, Mexico.
The segment ran Tuesday, July 29.
