The History of All Histories ...

Around the same time that my parents acquired Oskar, they also purchased Gypsy. Gypsy was special. Although ugly, she had a complete interior, although it needed a lot of love. At some point after getting her, mom and dad got a wild hair that they wanted to restore her. Although I had moved out by this time, I was always over at their house and helping through the restoration process.

I remember helping to install new veneer paneling on the sink and fridge. I also install the stereo, which of course had kick-ass bass! My parents initially painted Gypsy in a tan and white theme. However, the bodywork that was done was so poor that they were highly criticized at the first VW show they attended. Shortly after, they discovered that a lot of bondo was used, when a large chunk fell off.

They located another body shop after a ton of research. The finished product had minimal bondo and was CLEAN. Seafoam green over white, with pearlescent and black bumpers. My parents drove Gypsy all of the west coast and the southwest to attend the various VW shows from Medford, OR., to Phoenix, AZ. When they entered, they entered Gypsy as a daily driver. And yes, it was a true daily driver ... unlike those who claimed daily driver, but only drove their Type 2 into the competition from the trailer that they used to bring it to the competition. 

My parents won several awards during their travels and had their camper pictured in Hot VWs and VW Trends a few times (although never featured). I was fortunate enough to tag along on a trip to Medford, San Jose, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

Gypsy was one-of-a-kind. Unfortunately, my parents made the decision that it was time to switch to automatic transmissions and Gypsy found a new home, I believe in Nevada.