Photo page

I was lucky enough to pick the car up right from the railyards just north of Toronto (June/98), and drive it back to the dealership in the West end!

My Beetle as it arrived at the dealership still in its wrapping. The interior is wrapped, too. More wrapping on the back.

An after shot showing many custom accessories added... leather seats, aftermarket sunroof, nice alloy wheels, Perfect Fit bra, trailer hitch, rear foglight, stoneguards on front lights...

An early modification was the Webasto power sunroof. Its poor fit to the roofline was a main reason I ordered a new 2001 NB!

Another view of the Webasto roof, you can see how the frame is peeling, and the curvature of the roof isn't perfect. I'm going with a factory roof in the new car.

A useful modification was this temperature guage which mounted on a stand with the bud vase.

Another neat addition was this leather seat kit by Classic Soft Trim. They even embroidered the NB logo for a nice touch! With the tan interior, and black seating, it reminded me of the inside of a peanut, hence the name!

To match the leather interior, a leather steering wheel cover and shift lever boot were added. Another classy touch is the billet aluminum bud vase.

To haul the Bubblecars, a Draw Tite trailer hitch was added... it's a nice neat package. (Note the NB logo on the hitch cover.) For additional safety, a rear foglight was added, and a proper European headlight switch. It's come in handy in a couple snowstorms and in heavy fog.

Peanut gets his first (and last) booboo!! :( The day before he is to be traded in on the new Bright Blue, with over 114,000 km and being kept in perfect shape, somebody wallops his driver's door by backing into it! Fortunately, the person left her name.

An interior shot of Peanut with the nice two-tone interior.

On our way to Roswell, NM in 2000, we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, TX. Peanut is the first car.

Brand new TSW wheels were added the first weekend of ownership.

Sweetie's first show, with PIP roof rack, in Auburn Hills.

In October /02 I found somebody selling their fabulous sport seats from a special edition Snap Orange New Beetle!

In May /03, I painted and installed these neat eyelids.

Caractere rear valance was added in August /04 to compliment the Projektzwo 18" wheels/tires. Looks HOT with the lowered shock/spring combination, and handles better too! That's it; that's all I'm doing to Sweetie... ya, right!

Smaller performance muffler and pipe was added in May. 08 to make the center tip functional.

What can be better than one New Beetle except 2 New Beetles! Purchased November 2004 is this 2002 Red Turbo S. These were never sold in Canada, so I imported one to be used for work.

Note the different front and rear pieces. These are stock on the Turbo S, along with a 6-speed manual tranny, sport suspension, black interior with aluminum trim pieces, leather sport seats, and a 180-hp turbocharged gas engine.

Started working for Nerds On Site... they use red New Beetles (Nerdmobiles)! How cool is that? (Jan. 05)

(Car was sold to a new Nerd in Oct. 05 when I left Nerds On Site, but I've got first crack at it if he sells!)

I organized the Nerds to meet at a drive-in theatre for Canada Day; we made quite an impression.

Well, I bought a smashed Blue Concept NB and swapped out the interior. Looks better with the blue seats instead of orange.

Note the black panels instead of grey, and the blue leather panel inserts. That object in the passenger seat is a very rare

overnight bag with wheels and handle; not many were made!

Sweetie gets rust paint on her, and many people in Roswell are fooled, even though some of the plastic fenders and bumpers are painted!

Sweetie collected bumper stickers along the Route 66 caravan to Roswell in 2007. Note the different tail lights.

Neat shot with desert cactus bushes in the NM desert. Note the flames around the signal light.

An old piece of Route 66 in Illinois runs right beside the newer road.

Some asshole smashes Sweetie's window and grabs my GPS and laptop!

I finally hooked up the "dummy" exhaust tip to a sport muffler (May '08). Sweetie has a sweet sound now and 30 pounds less of muffler!

For her 8th Anniversary (April 19, 09), Sweetie gets new LED tail and brake lights.

Sweetie also gets a Xenon projector headlight conversion with ballasts in April '09. Note the white light and sharp beam cutoff.

It's hard to believe that after a quarter of a million Km (255,000) and 9 years of ownership, I'm still customizing... front and rear drilled/slotted brake rotors with ceramic pads

were added April '10, along with a working (ProParts) A-pillar gauge pod with Revo water temp and oil pressure gauges (Glow Shift oil filter sandwich adapter and 24 Draft Design water temp collar)!

Since installing the gauges, and noticing that the temperature was lower after losing the front license plate (which covered the grille all these years!),

I finally caved and installed a Plate Mate. I'll get used to the look.

Sweetie turns 300,000 km (180.000 miles) end of April 2012, eleven years young!

Well, after 330,000 km, I figured I should put in a different 5th gear (.622) so she would run quieter on the highway, and use less fuel.

Don't ask me why I didn't do it 300,000 km ago! I was kinda considering swapping for a 6-speed tranny, but this will do.

I'm running 1000 rpm less on the highway now (March 2013).

"Sweetie" Nectar, from Israel. They even named a juice after her!

Poor New Beetles! There are some great parts though, wherever this is.

Some of the many New Beetles in Auburn Hills 2001 when they allowed us to participate.

This clay model of the NB was on display in the VW museum in Auburn Hills. It was later cut up and sold for a $5 donation at a vintage VW show in Michigan in May /03.

Try not to get pulled over by this neat NB!! Or, maybe you want to just to get a closer look.

Close up of light bar, and my plush toy (released by the Toronto Police).