Who is Sharkey?

I advertised in the local Buy&Sell classifieds newspaper that I was looking for a pre '65 VW Beetle. I like the look of the early 6 volt cars (streamlined headlights, smaller tail lights, etc.), and the pre '65 Beetles still had the smaller door and quarter windows that showed the car's true age. The very first reply I got was perfect for me, but I didn't have the money I needed at the time to pick it up. I looked at a few more in between, but began to think that the first offer was still the best. Alas, I had misplaced the phone number of the person that made that first offer and I waited nearly four months until he finally contacted me again. This time, I didn't let the opportunity pass me by.

The owner had two project cars underway at the same time: an early sixties Chevy pick-up and a '63 VW Bug. It turns out that the owner could only finish one of his two projects and decided to put the Bug up for sale to finish the truck. He definitely knew his stuff when it came to restoration, but didn't have much of a clue about restoring Volkswagens specifically. He had made a few "modifications" that would make any vintage VW fan cringe (like the fact that a lot of the dash was outright missing) but the damage was done and there was nothing I could do about it. The car had already received a major pampering with regards to bodywork, in an attempt to straighten out every ripple or ding. Prior to selling the car to me, the previous owner had worked out a deal with a bodyshop that they would handle both the bodywork and paint. So, for me to get a good deal on the car, I had to agree to let the bodyshop paint it. The only real problem I had with the bodyshop was that discount jobs like mine are not given any sort of priority. Basically, I got a $1,500 paint job for only $1,000 (and they painted a few other items like the mirrors for free) but it took them about three months to get around to it. No big deal... I didn't have the money to make it mobile anyway (the car came without an engine). The picture shown here was taken right after I brought the car home from the bodyshop.

Unfortunately, I got laid off shortly afterwards due to a lack of work (and from a number of jobs since then), resulting in a lengthy delay regarding completion. I am getting close, however. Plans call for a 250+ HP turbocharged 2161cc motor with alcohol injection, which will end up comprising nearly two-thirds of the total budget of the car. The motor was acquired over the summer of '98 and the tranny was installed in the fall of the same year. The engine should be installed by the time you read this. This image was taken prior to installing the tranny and was one of the last pictures taken before I buttoned her down beneath her car cover for the winter.

Back in the summer of 1997 I contacted Volkswagen in Germany to determine when my car was built (sadly, they do not offer this service anymore). Within a couple of weeks I was sent a rather pleasant letter, detailing much of its history. As it turned out, my '63 was 'born' on November 15th, 1962, and was delivered to Canada on December 12th of the same year. For her 35th birthday, I decided to christen my car "Sharkey".

That's right, Sharkey is a she. Now don't go a thinkin' that I'm some sort of lonely, horny bachelor that would rather spend money on a car than a woman. I'll be happy to shift some of that attention to such a person when the right one comes along— and she's going to have to be willing to accept Sharkey as "the other woman" or she's gon-zo ;-)

Why the name "Sharkey"? Well, I occasionally play roleplaying games with some friends (it exercises the mind— so sue me). Sharkey was the name of a car that one of my characters owned. The vehicle was so special and unique that the car went by the name "Sharkey" while the character was known as "Sharkey's Machine" (based on the title of an old Burt Reynolds movie). Sort of a "Bob" and "Bob's jockey" scenario. Weird huh? Welcome to Nerdsville.