Automobile Blog February Archive

The Green Turtle

By Car-Addict at 02/20/08 20:11

Do not be confused. This is not a biology post or an entry related to animals, well at least not with true animals. What I'm talking about here is not actually a turtle but a beetle. Yes, a beetle.

One of the very famous, and should I say, most in number cars in the Philippines is the Volkswagen Beetle. True, everywhere you turn, theres a Volks Beetle, or what we call here as Turtles, because they look more of a turtle to as than beetles haha. After the ruling of President Ferdinand Marcos, thus terminating martial law to stabilize the country, the citizens gave themselves a gift by buying these cars. They said buying cars will help them ease the pain and memories of the past regime. Volkswagen, brave enough to continue selling cars even at the peak of the revolution enjoyed the rush of people.

The most famous color for this is green. Now you got the idea for the title eh? It seems like every family has one beetle. If you haver a nice car, be sure you also have a beetle. That was the rule. Before.

The ruling of Volkswagen Beetle was long gone. People now despise the sight of them, they totally forgot about the beetle, except for some 'living' fanatic for this car.

It may have been the longest model craze in this country but the sprout of newer innovations, bigger brands, and more expensive ones ruined the career of the turtle. People now go for the stylish sedans, shiny sports cars or big utility vehicles.

To commemorate the Beetles and the 'help' to the people, Volkswagen will organized a Beetle gallery they named after the Filipino term for this car, "Bale Of Turtles Galleria - Rise of the Beetles". This will be held on SM Cebu Activity Center on the 28th of February. This will also showcase the newer versions of the beetle and other cars of Volkswagen.

Come and join us.

Mr. Dok's Car Collection

A 1970 Mercury, 1971 dodge Polara, 1967 GMC Truck and a 1965 Chevloret Nova. Car brands and names I definitely will never forget. All these antique cars are found under one roof, under one garage. I saw this, all-together during one summer of 2005. They are all owned by Mr. Dok, as what the owner is usually called.

Aside from his antique collection, he also owned a new Mazda 3 and a Toyota Fortuner Sports Utility Vehicle. They are all stunning, and I was drooling at the sight of them.

I remember once Mr. Dok allowed me to join him in his weekend road trip using his 1967 GM Truck. I really enjoyed it. Despite of the age, the car still runs smoothly. The seats are still comfortable to sit in considering the cars parts were all genuine and none of it has been replaced although you can see a mark of a newly repaired window shield. It was a two hour drive from our base location to our head destination and back to the base again.

Mr. Dok rarely use his antique cars. His cars are very precious to him. Last year, 2007, Mr. Dok gave 2 of his collection to his older brother and the other 2 were donated on a local museum. Its a really hard decision for him but he needed to do it, for he and his wife decided to migrate on another country.

I really looked upon his courage to do such thing. How he cared for his cars throughout the years is truly commendable. Really, there is no one I know that can equal Mr. Dok's character. No one can be better than my father.

Antique Cars

Antique collector for antique cars? Then crave your heart out as I list down the available antique cars for hire.

• 1971 Austin Taxi
• 1957 Chevy Bel-Air
• 1963 Bentley
• 1957 Ford Truck
• 1929 Studebaker
• 1972 Rolls Royce
• 1963 Mini-Mirror Stat Wagon
• 1964 Morris Minor Estate
• 1958 White Chevy

Are you drooling now? Those are just few of the available ones. To see them with photos, click the link below.

Link: Antique Car Hire @ AntiqueCarHire.com, USA