Tuesday, December 5, 2017

My first car

Sometimes circumstances lead you to someone who will have a lasting impact on your life though you only know them for a brief time. This is one of those stories. It came about because of my first car.
Many my age tell stories about great first cars; a Camaro, Mustang or Firebird, a VW bug or some kind of muscle car of the day like a GTO. My first car was a VW Squareback, a little station wagon that never shows up at classic car shows today. I was stationed in Spain (1980) at the time and bought it from a young couple on base who may have known the engine was on its last leg because shortly after I bought it, the engine blew. It had a fuel injection engine and was going to cost a small fortune to repair. My heart sank.
Then I heard about a VW guru on base who was a civilian contractor for Rockwell named Nim Wire. Yes, that was really his name. He was rather intimidating looking with long grey hair and an equally long and bushy grey beard, piercing eyes and a droll style of talking.
"Can you fix it?"
"No, but you can." He answered.
"Me? I never worked on an engine."
"I'll tell you what to buy. I'll tell you what to do."
"Can't you fix it?"
"No, but you can." He insisted.
And so, Nim Wire guided me through the process of tearing apart the engine and converting it  from fuel injection to a carburetor engine using a kit he magically knew about. While waiting for the kit to arrive, he gave me a book to read that I believe was the first Idiots guide to anything that was ever published; "The Idiots Guide to Volkswagons". On one of the opening pages was a drawing of a tool with a caption, "This is a wrench."
The base had a really cool garage where we could rent a stall and sign out whatever tools we needed. Nim would stop by every so often to tell me what to do next, then leave me to the assigned tasks. He loosened a few tough bolts for me, but he remained determined that it was my job. I tore that whole engine apart, using the kit, and put it all back together as carefully as I was instructed.
No one was more surprised than I was when I turned the key and it actually started.
The engine in the back cargo area was originally covered with a removable lid but the carburetor extended up too high to replace the lid. I didn't care that it look weird and sounded loud inside. it actually ran! For decades I continued to work on my own cars, largely due to learning from Nim Wire. I never saw him again but I have never forgotten him.
What happened to the car? Well, not so very long after that I bought a moped for transportation. And, of course, I have a moped story or two --- another day.