I wish when someone who loves these cars found one in a salvage yard or somewhere else they could send them to a warehouse for safe and clean storage for those who will use the parts to save another 411/412 or keep the solid ones for future restoration!
I still kick myself and think most days about my old 412 2door 1.8L which I sold cheap when all she needed was a rebuilt engine or valve job! She then went to California and the last I heard was in a accident when the police called me to ask if I still owned her. Then I did a title search and it was titled in fla to a Tom Smith but the last address in Daytona was no longer!
When I found this one on TheSamba from Dan Jarvie I jumped at it and didnt care what shape she was in or how much just that I loved these cars and she was coming home! I always try to tell anyone if I find or see parts somewhere or cars but I know how it gets when you tell everyone about paradise!! Some people want to make a parts car out of a good car just for a some part when there are other means! I would be nowhere on my car if it wasnt for Ray's advice and the parts made available to me! I appreciate everyone who makes these rare parts avaiable! Thanks again, Bill
raygreenwood wrote:Yep...same here. The few places I don't tell anyone about....would be very hard to find. They are kinda off the map. One of which is so hairy...I don't go there in the summer. Only the winter...else you will get killed by snakes, bugs, spiders, rats, dogs...or maybe just break a leg by tripping over old oil well heads in the waste high grass. As you noted...all else is fair game. Ray
LOL... there is one place I go to that has a bunch of dogs... they sort of sit in the middle of the property and would honestly attack you if you approached them... I have gotten quite a few T3 items there and a couple spare (original 1970's era mounted on rim) tires in a pinch before... dirt cheap stuff and I bet you NO ONE that reads this forum has a clue where this place is... same goes for a place that has a rabbit way in the back lot that you would have to take a boat to... well maybe not quite... but if it has rained at all within the past month you need to have boots past your knees to get to it... i have never bothered... just got some parts off of a ghia there... the beetle was only a shell :-/ there is a place in middleburg that i bought a couple whole cars cheap... i went back for a beetle, but it was only half left... literally... the rear half... i didnt get to save it in time was a nice carbed rabbit there too... got bought out by someone else... i missed out on the 914 in that deal too but i think several people on this forum know where i am talking about... aircooled stuff is hard to come by where i live... there are a couple of "vw specialists" that raid all the parts... they probably sell them as new too!
I'm working on getting this place on the map,so the owner might make a little money off the parts before they rot away. It has foreign cars that date from the 50's up. Saab's...mercedes..BMW...a couple of original Mini-coopers (one with a tree growing through it). About 20+ complete fastbacks and squarebacks....about a dozen busses... late 50's early 60's, loots of gas heaters several type 4's, bugs dating from the late 50's onward. Some splits some ovals...few left. Some just rusting barely recognizable piles. Just piles and piles of slowly corroding parts , broken motorcycles. Concret dragons teeth with well heads sticking up Then there are the rows of American iron....dating from the 30's on. Lincolns...a couple stuebakers, crosleys, cadillacs, fords.
Its not really an operating junkyard. Hasn't been for a couple decades at least. Its in the middle of an oil field. About 80+ VW in all. About 150 cars left on maybe 10 acres. The owner lives close by. Its a god-awful place, but.....its worthwhile sometimes. The owner owns a shop, has numerous customers...like me...who could just as easily pull up and walk in and take what they want in broad daylight...but don't. We drop by , say hello, buy him some coffee or a beer. Tell him what we need and what we think its worth. We strike a bargain, we go and get the parts. Other people don't ask. The bullet holes and warnings on the fences...keep most of what few others even know about this place...away. Whenever someone is looking for something difficult, I check here. I have only actually "sent" a few people to this place in the last 10 years. There were times I was scared to show up here. Nice guy that owns the place once he knows you are alright...and when you can find him to ask.
If you tried to go into this place at night, you would probably die from something. Its strange, over the years, old carpet has been collected. What few roads/aisles there are...have carpet laid over them to keep the weeds from growing. Effective...but god-awful nasty. You can see spots where the rats and snakes have been crawling through/under the carpet. Best to go here when is 30* F outside. I will try to send as many people who need things from this gent as I can. Ray
Hmmm... interesting bit of info in here. I don't know if you read my other post about getting the 411's/412's, but now I feel kinda bad cause I was going to offer my friend pretty much nothing for them. He has done very little with VW's for about 20 years, though he still seems to acquire them occasionally as people know he has room for their castoffs. I bet some of the other air-cooled cars he has have been sitting for 30 or more years. I just don't want to see them rust into the ground once I found out exactly how rare they are. I drive by them every day and I just feel like I want to rescue them all. (Haven't seen a 412 actually driving since I was a child in the early '80's). Anyway, if you doubt my commitment once I buy a car, don't. I bet I've spent $1500-2000 already on my $300 '85 Golf with much more work planned (and it was in decent running shape when I got it) and this is just my beater/daily driver! I highly regret selling my old BMW 320i that I had about $10k into which my dad and I rebuilt. My brother's friend wrecked it, then drove it into the ground. I'll never make that mistake again!
With that being said, I think I will still customize the 412 if I can get it. I just can't help it! Of course, I would never actually cut up the body or anything like that. I'm a designer and doing something like to somebody else's design that is just plain disrespectful in my opinion. Customization/"restovation" of these cars could be a good thing for their preservation.
I have no problem with a sweet looking lowered 412 with porsche rims.. sweet, its when you start putting hydraulics and wood on them that I have to say ICKY!
Some people want to make a parts car out of a good car just for a some part when there are other means! I would be nowhere on my car if it wasnt for Ray's advice and the parts made available to me! I appreciate everyone who makes these rare parts avaiable! Thanks again, Bill
was a nice carbed rabbit there too... got bought out by someone else... i missed out on the 914 in that deal too 
