Love for Volkswagen Unite Vw Owners in the Philippines

Vintage cars ageing twenty to forty years old still roam the streets today in the Philippines. And you can see them either restored in their original state, modified or customized. And the possibility that one of them is a Volkswagen is high.

Volkswagen is a German word which means “people’s car” and considered to be a classic car which was conceived in the year 1934 by Adolf Hitler. It was later immortalized by Walt Disney as “Love Bug” named Herbie, the Beetle that has a mind of its own. A series of four films was produced starring the Beetle.

The Philippines is a great market for Volkswagen auto parts like Volkswagen oxygen sensor especially since some of the VW that still roamed the country are old and requires for lots of replacement parts. At present nobody knows how many Volkswagens in the country are still roadworthy. The last Volkswagen sold in the Philippines was in the year 1974, the very same year that Volkswagen People’s Car closed ship that is according to Jesus Layan which was then an inventory staff of the company. The Volkswagen People’s Car was then occupying the building on McArthur Highway in Matina.

The building that used to be a showroom for the remarkable Volkswagen cars is now owned by Davao City Water District. Jesus Layan has also continued giving VW auto services at his Transworld Services shop located at the Buhangin Diversion Road near Green Heights Convention Building.

The Volkswagens roaming the Philippine road comes in variants like the ever popular Beetle, Brasilia, the “Sakbayan” a Filipino buggy version, the rarely seen Karmann Ghia coupe and the Kombi van. There are also some contemporary versions like the Polo, Passat, and the new Beetle.

Volkswagen owners in Davao even formed a “Club Vee Dub Davao” which is an association of VW enthusiasts. The association was founded in 2004 by four avid VW owners namely Michael Angelo Aportadera, owner of a Kombi and two Beetle units and Charles Reginald Reyes, who owns a Herbie look alike complete with racing stripes and the ever popular number 53.

The main objective of the club was to build camaraderie in which members will be ale to share their ideas on how to keep the Volkswagen legacy plus engaged in various VW related projects. The club also has tie-ups with other Volkswagen clubs around the country.

In the year 2006, president Engineer George W. Arquiza who owns 13 Volkswagens has organized Bug Runs which include activities such as motorcades, tree-planting and coastal clean-up, educational trip to the Philippine Eagle Center for the benefit of the Bantay Bata Wards plus some drag racing and slalom.

The new overall president of the association of VW owners in the Philippines is Mr. Ricky Jimenez who is an environment advocate and owned a modified 1981 Beetle. His 2007 agenda include: the registration of the club with SEC, create a committee that will be responsible for various activities such as those pertaining to socials, sports, VW car shows, educational trips, membership recruitment, quarterly publication, races, out of town trips and other pro-environment projects.

Club members are also thinking of creating their very own personalized eco-Tshirts with their car’s picture for design plus some catchy environment-oriented slogans like for example: “This Bug is resistant to aerial or boom spraying. This VW is environment-friendly. It tells the owner to plant trees” and many more.