Last Friday, on my way home, I found myself behind this groovy canary yellow VW Van....maybe the bearded young man behind the skinny white wheel thought I was a two-bit PI, snapping photos of his vessel with my Blackberry camera???? Well, that's a PI "cover" if I ever heard of one - a middle-aged woman wearing square-rimmed glasses, driving a Volvo with a plant sticking out through the sunroof (I had to put in on the passenger side floor and it was very tall)...
I have always been a sucker for these vans and one day, I know I will own one...
(for the moment, I am limited to my teal blue Volvo P1800, but that is another story, for another time)...
If I ever write a book (unlikely - I have nothing to say), it will have two of the characters make love in a VW Van. A green one. Not sure why - it's just an image I have in my head.
There is such a mythology associated with this brand and shape, literary and otherwise...still such a solid fan base, all over the world!
Almost toy-ish in appareance, when well looked after, these vans can appear to be made of plastic. In terms of colour palette, the world is your oyster! And what other van has "a face", now really!
Why "Free Love meets Disco"? because these vans were prolific in both the 60s and 70s and are commonly associated with both eras, in popular culture, music and pulp.
Wow, this one would help me transport all (or at least some) of my shoes from place to place!
And here's one in my favourite colour!
Here's to vans with personality (and free love and disco too! ~ wink)!
photo credits - in order of appearance:
AJ, (Flickr members:) Albert S. Bite, mazdamiata, tr33lo, cartype.com, hr wce, Bog Standard,
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I have LONG been a fan of these vans. NO JOKE. In fact, not two days ago my husband and I were both agreeing that it would be fun to have one. Bright orange, please.
ReplyDeleteI know where there is one for sale. :)
ReplyDeleteLove these vans as well. Every time I see one I'm happier. Maybe it's the free love and disco association...either way it works out, baby! Hey, write that book.
ReplyDeleteI try not to use this word very often...BUT
ReplyDeleteit's super CUUUTE!!!
Lovely new week darling AJ!
xo
HAHA i love the description of the PI cover, you make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteBut i love these VW vans. When i was younger my father and uncle always had a VW. Either a VW Thing, or a VW Bug. Never did they have a van but i wanted one. Maybe one day i'll live my dream of living on a beach and owning one, with a surf board as decoration on the roof. My father was a surfer when we lived in Guam and Hawaii but i was never taught so decoration the board will stay :)
I'm obviously soo missing out never having been in one of these (for any reason).
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Oh, I love them too, AJ. Probably because they are from my era ! They are really expensive to buy now. I guess they are collecters items now.
ReplyDelete.... and, do I detect a little personal fantasy going on there ?!! haha. XXXX
Sara: - an orange one would be super-groovy, indeed - we could park next to each other (mine being purple) and that would make a smashing colour combo, baby! oxox
ReplyDeleteMs. Givens - if I were you, I would snatch it - they are getting harder and harder to find! oxoxo
Aurora - you are right, they make one happy - hey, do you have any editing experience 'cos I know I would ramble! oxoxo
Lenore - one of the reasons I love you as much as I do is that you do not use words lightly, and I mean that..oxox
Dionne - wait just a minute..your father-a surfer! Wow, that is just about the coolest thing I have heard in a while.....Guam, Hawaii??? hey, it's never to late to learn, what do you say, you and I in Hawaii taking surfboarding lessons??? oxox
Jan - I would start by doing "the nasty" in one - it will give you a complete experience...oxox
Jacqueline: - they are rare here as well.....and there are weekened retreats for them- that reminds me-I should find the next one, locally - it would be a great place to take photos.....the fantasy, well......maybe! oxoxo
As synchronicity would have it, on Sunday I saw a HUGE caravan of VW Beetles on the freeway. There must have been 40 of them in a row. It must have been a club. Now I get that Beetles are not vans but I tell you this to tell you I have had VW's on my mind.
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