What would you do with an extra twenty to thirty grand? Take a trip around the world? Use as a down payment for a house? Buy a new car? How about restore an old one? That's roughly the amount world-renowned West Coast Classic Restorations (WCCR) charges to transform a rusted out vintage Beetle into a show winning, trophy car.

It's interesting the way some people progress through the VW hobby. Time and tastes evolve inevitably, and many times the fire of youth is replaced with more conservative values reflected in a given enthusiast's choice of project platforms. Take Southern California-resident Robert Reese as an example. In his youth he was an avid proponent of street performance, but lately his tastes have shifted toward the vintage end of the hobby. Where once he got his kicks from ripping down the street in a holistically modified Cal-Look racer, he now derives far more pleasure from cruising that same street with a modest 25 horses under the decklid.

On a glass-bottom boat tour you're likely to see some fish, no doubt; and depending on where you are touring, the odds are good you'll see one or two types of fish dominate the waters around you. In Southern California you'll see Snapper, while in the waters off the East Coast you'll likely see Cod swimming around you. The funny thing is that all the fish look the same, but if you fix on one and really look at it, you'll notice subtle differences, small stripes or a dot pattern the other fish don't have or different color eyes and smaller fins. Suddenly, a school of fish lose their anonymity and become several hundred individual fish merely swimming together. However, in our industry, at our shows and in this magazine, the dominate school of fish is the Volkswagen Beetle, each one looking exactly like the other but individual enough to have personality, charm and a certain level of appeal all on its own.

For me, patience isn't a virtue I practice on a regular basis. When I want something, I want it right away and I want it just right; it has to be a vision of perfection in order to make me happy. Although perfection is stamped all over this '66, Tom Enriquez of Hacienda Heights, Calif., has that one thing that makes it easy to come by: a willingness to take it all in stride. He wouldn't even consider this project as finished, saying "I'm still working on it."

The craftsmanship involved in the construction of some custom VWs doesn't cease to amaze us. Not surprisingly, a small fringe of our readers will always find something to hate about these unique creations. While they politely acknowledge their disdain, we like to keep an open mind and show the diversity of the Volkswagen hobby in our pages. After all, VWTrends wouldn't be of interest for long if it only featured 100 percent stock VWs...

Easily the most utilitarian of the original VW models, the Type II, or "Bus" as most of us know it, enjoys a niche all its own in the world of automotive enthusiasm. While the Beetle's universal appeal lies simultaneously in both its role as a historical icon and a shoestring-budget hot rod, the Bus exudes an aura of appeal that even its most enthusiastic supporters can't exactly put a finger on. They like them because, well...because they're Buses, and there really hasn't been any other vehicle quite like them in the annals of automotive history. One such enthusiast is Valencia, California, resident Dane Gladden, owner of this fine 1958 23 Window.

With an e.t. of 8.96 at 155.87mph, this car is the quickest VW in Australia. Owned by Rod Penrose from Kembla Grange in NSW (New South Wales), the record was set in November 2001 when Rod ran that time at Victoria's Heathcote Park Raceway.

We can already hear it. The story you are about to read is going to upset some of our readership; but in all honesty we don't care. After all, we have taken a few risks in the past by running features of "cosmetically challenged" VWs (check out last month's ratty 1950 Split), and reporting on import races for example. As controversial as these two subjects might be, the response from our readers has been excellent, so we will continue to show cars you won't see in other Volkswagen magazines. Like it or not, our job is to present all facets of our hobby. This includes a new (or is that old?) breed of Bugs, which could have been built by inventive Hot Rodders about half a century ago. They look mean, they are loud, and they display a tough attitude. At VWTrends, we simply call them Hot Rod VWs.

It's been said before, but the Beetle's universal charm is nothing short of amazing. The car's appeal transcends boundaries across the board, both within the realms of automotive enthusiasm and without. You could be a dyed in the wool muscle-car fanatic, a classic car nut, a Japanese import freak or you could not like cars at all yet somewhere in the pit of your heart there's inevitably a soft spot for the VW Beetle.

Some rides featured in VWTrends have left their mark on the Volkswagen scene. One such vehicle is Fred Hidalgo's Stink Bug . This gearhead/artist put his imagination to work and turned up with what many deem as one of the most influential Hot Rod VWs to date. He has inspired quite a few enthusiasts indeed, including Martin Smith. It comes as no surprise, considering Martin works at the famous Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California--he is the Chair of the Product Design Department and came in contact with Fred who was a student there. Both guys are Hot Rodders at heart. Soon, Martin took interest in Fred's project car, the aforementioned Stink Bug. It definitely appealed to Mr. Smith; so much so that he decided to undertake the construction of a Hot Rod Beetle of his own design with help from his sons Noah and Matt.

As you've read in the previous pages, the Hot Rod culture is alive and well in the VW community as well as staying put in the V8 crowd. But it's not only a requirement to have a Rat Rod to drive down the street, it's imperative to look the part. Usually this style comes with the territory--you like the cars, you like the style, so you embrace it--but for those of you with a neo Rat Rod in your garage and just nothing to wear when you cruise in it, then peruse these next pages and visit the stores for your new duds.

The Volkswagen world is quite diverse, and the more you look into it, the more you realize that there were more than just Beetles, Ghias and Buses built back in the 1960s, and not all VWs produced rolled off the assembly lines in Germany. As Volkwagens spread across the globe, production facilities outside of Germany were built to satisfy demand. Many of these started out as little more than warehouses where German made parts were assembled into running, driving cars. As time went on these satellite factories started producing parts and vehicles themselves, mostly the standard VW models, but on rare occassion they ventured off to build something different. Such was the case with Volkswagen of Australia in the mid-1960s and the Volkswagen Country Buggy you see before you here.

Smoking tires and a pile of rubber: an image most wouldn't expect from the wheels of a typical Volkswagen. Nevertheless, it's the most vivid memory I have of this wonderfully equipped '62 Beetle; a far cry from anything typical.

In case you haven't noticed, there's a war going on at dragstrips across the country, and vintage VW drag racers are embedded firmly in the trenches. Not that VW drag racing has ever gone away, but compact car racing--billed under the catch phrase "import drag racing"--has become a huge sport all across America, and it's breathed new life into the sport of building and racing vintage aircooled VW racers.

Since 1978, Volkswagen has been quietly turning out brand new aircooled Beetles at their plant in Puebla, Mexico. This state-of-the-art plant, with 14,000 employees, has produced 1.7 million Sedans to date. The "Sedan" (its official name in Mexico), is only produced for the local market and is not exported. They also produce the New Beetle and New Beetle convertible model, which are exported to Europe, the U.S., and other parts of the world.

Talk about a strange bird. From the front, it could almost pass as a Type III sibling, while the rear has definitely some traits in common with Type IIs. The vehicle is called a Volkswagen Fridolin, a.k.a. Type 147, and came out of the Westfalia production line in fairly limited number--6139 to be precise. The majority ended up being used by the German and Swiss post office, as well as various local government services. Finding one today in decent shape proves a challenge, and only a handful of VW fanatics have made a point of restoring them. So imagine our surprise when we discovered John Solana's '71 Frid', not only looking better than new, but also converted into a tasteful hot rod!

Driving through Yucaipa, Calif., a small desert town just inside the San Bernardino county line, you wouldn't know it but you are within a stone's throw of one of the best kept secrets in the Type II community, until now that is. The mammoth blue steel building in the center of five mostly overgrown acres could be most anywhere in the country and could house any number of things. There's no sign on the property and you wouldn't know the name of the place from driving by. Then again, just take one look around the grounds around the blue building and you can't be anywhere else but in a Volkswagen sanctuary, the country's Mecca to vintage Transporters. Littered everywhere is anything and everything related to old Type IIs, from countless Bus carcasses and potential restoration projects to the most minute of parts, 36-horse engines, coveted corner windows and donor parts.

Watching the crowd applaud and the judge hand you the award for Judges' Choice is something for which many vintage car owners strive. This dream happened for Brad Warren of Decatur, Illinois when he debuted his 1963 Split Window Bus at the 1999 The Real Source's Beetle Funfest. He was the first ever to achieve this prize from this inaugural event. His Type II went on to win both Judges' and President's Choice in 2003 at the same event. Just a few miles down the road, in the little town of Effingham, Illinois, was where the little Bus began its story. Robert LeCrone, a local Illinois tool and die maker, originally bought this Bus right off the lot in 1963 and maintained it as his daily driver for nearly 30 years before his death. In the early 1990s the Split Window found its second owner and finally came to rest with Warren in 1997. Thankfully the original owner was a perfectionist and the harsh Midwestern winters hadn't eaten away at the original metal parts.

I'm shocked sometimes to hear that people are living out there in this VW world of ours with only one Volkswagen in their garage or only one VW in their name, yet there's clearly plenty of room for more. They've got two- and three- and sometimes more-car garages filled with wasted space. Or worse yet, that extra space is filled with a wretched Honda, a mountain-going SUV or a pile of dirt bikes.

We waited for six weeks in Cairo for Libyan visas that were never issued. The saga of our Libyan visas was a long, sorry tale of dishonesty, incompetence and sheer bloody mindedness. While we waited for the contrary Libyans, we made a couple of tours out of Cairo to escape the filth and chaos of Egypt's capital. First we headed south into the western desert. Between the oases of Bahariya and Farafra we left the paved route and headed out into the sand in search of the New White Desert, an eerie place of fabulous giant chalk sculptures. The local guide who led us there in a 4x4, said our bus was the first two-wheel drive vehicle he had ever seen in the White Desert.

We spent an extra day at the halfway point of Marsabit so we could have the damaged bodywork welded up. On crossing into Ethiopia at Moyale we were overjoyed to find an asphalt road all the way to Addis Ababa, but we later discovered there is not a single tarred road in the entire country north of the capital, where the roads are no better than the Trans East African Highway.

In Botswana we took a four-day safari in the unique and unspoilt Okavango Delta in mokoros (dug-out canoes). In Zambia we visited the overwhelming Victoria Falls, and spent a week on a desert island paradise on the Zambezi River called Jungle Junction, which is where we were on September 11. And even on an isolated paradise island with no electricity, the news did not escape us. In Malawi we climbed Mount Mulanje and went scuba diving on Lake Malawi at Cape Maclear, and spent a few days at the marvellous Kande Beach.

Ever since I learned as a schoolboy about the British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes and his vision of the Great North Road from Cape to Cairo, I have dreamed of driving the length of Africa, earth's second largest continent. Like many dreams, it seemed no more than a fantasy until, a little over a year ago, I was retrenched when my dotcom employer closed down suddenly.

As an auto body parts salesman for Ford, Paul Amicone of Ambler, Penn., is around cars for most of the day, but for the rest, he's around Volkswagens. Since he was roughly 15 years old, Paul has always wanted to build a Volkswagen that would turn people's heads, and he began by buying parts, anything he could get his hands on. Through high school and into college, as money got tighter and tighter, his choice of cars became more limited. He owned several Beetles, a 21-Window, a '67 Camper and a late-model Bus, each one having unique problems that kept them from the perfect car he dreamt of. But his enthusiasm for old aircooled VWs never left him. The perfect car was still out there.