Hello All – My first name is Hartwell. I have had an interest in cars and mechanical systems my entire life. I have gone through several phases (1/4 miles cars, corvettes, cruising motorcycles, etc.); however, my air-cooled VW experience is limited to driving an old Bug while in high school. I moved from Texas to Gig Harbor, WA several years ago; sold off almost the entirety of my shop tools/equipment; changed my life completely; and moved aboard a 37’ sailboat; frankly, I love it; but, my car itch was not getting scratched.
Washington has great roads for driving and the weather is actually beautiful more of the year than I realized before moving here. I decided that my next phase would be a weekend cruiser, occasional work car; a good performer, but not on the edge of reliability and reasonable drive-ability to achieve modest to good performance; and, a fun car. I decided on a Speedster replica last year and started snooping around this site, eBay Motors, and various Google searches. I learned a lot; sat in a few cars that I found available in Western Washington; had some informative conversations with Troy Sloan; and eventually purchased a car from a SOC regular, Chuck Martin. The car was not exactly what I wanted, but my budget allowed for some changes, and, as described, I thought that it would be a great start.
I had the car shipped to Special Edition from Pennsylvania and asked Carey to give it a thorough inspection; and then we would plan the work to be done. Carey sent me a 29 page document describing his team’s findings (when they say thorough, they really mean it!); some just minor cosmetics, some “might want to keep an eye on”, and some “you better get this fixed”; nothing hugely surprising, typical stuff. Given that I live on a boat and I have no garage/shop to be able to work on the car, I wanted a car that was very sound. When not using it I would store the car in a nearby storage unit, where I can do basic/minor work (valve adjustments, oil changes, cosmetic things), but no serious work. So, I asked Carey to address everything on the list; plus a few other things I wanted done; disc brakes & wide 5’s all around, remove the air conditioning system, GT mirrors, remove most exterior trim. While disassembling the car Carey noticed that the leather faded quite a bit on the dash and seats, so, we changed the leather; Carey threw in the more authentic seats, door panels and dash.
The car arrived at Special Edition in late February and I told Carey that I wanted to drive it back to Washington during the Memorial Day break. My girlfriend and I flew from Washington to South Bend on Thursday, May 26th and took a taxi to the Scottish Bed & Breakfast in Bremen. The Scottish B&B is just outside of town, so, Brenda (the Scottish B&B owner) offered to take us into town for dinner. As we drove down the main street, we looked down Liberty Street; Brenda said “Hey, Carey is still at work, that’s his white truck, do you want to stop by?” Sure! So, we weaved her mini-van through a few parking lots and came out onto the road behind Special Edition just in time to see Carey executing perfect tire screeching burnout in a beautiful merlot speedster; my car. That was the first time I saw the car in person; I immediately loved the car and thought the guy behind the wheel was pretty cool too.
It was around 6:30 PM; Carey and his team were doing some final touches on the car; Carey took the time to give me a tour of his entire facility; and then we drove the car around the block a few times; it took a few minutes getting used to the clutch and brakes, but it was a blast.
The next morning Brad picked us up from the Scottish B&B at 9:30 AM; we had to wait until 9:30 AM, because Brenda does not serve breakfast until 9:00 AM and she said that if we missed breakfast, it would be the biggest mistake of our lives; she was not joking, the breakfast was memorable.
After arriving at Special Edition, the first task was stuffing our luggage into the car; we packed lite, but, it was still a chore; in the end, it all fit. After the first stop my girl decided to put her bag on the floor of the passenger side of the car; there was so much room, plus she used it as a foot rest; stayed there the rest of the trip. We left Carey’s shop and Bremen, IN at around 10:30 AM on Friday, May 27th. We had no defined plans for stops or timing; our only plan (per se) was that we had to be back to Gig Harbor before Monday, June 6th and we wanted to see the Black Hills and Yellowstone.
Our trip took us through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington; a total of 2,935 miles. We drove about 850 miles on interstate highway and the rest on secondary highways and two lane blacktops. Most days were cool, clear and dry; however, we did have some cold and rainy spots. We saw parts of America that were surprising, impressive, inspirational, humbling, and just plain stunningly beautiful. I cannot say that there was one single thing or part of the trip that absolutely stands above any others; it was just great from beginning to end; except, maybe, watching the Naval Station Great Lakes Band perform on the Mt. Rushmore stage on Memorial Day; that was special. I could go into more detail, but this not a travel blog.
The car – well, it was the best part of the trip. It performed very well. The first few days I was somewhat apprehensive and concerned, so, I kept the speed low (55mph – 60mph); by the 5th day on the road, I had no trouble cruising at 65mph – 70mph. I did not keep track of fuel consumed or mileage; but I did learn not to pass an opportunity to top off the tank in those remote areas of Nebraska and Wyoming. I did have to add a little more than 1.5 quarts of oil. I love the fuel injection; the engine cranked and idled with little and most times no throttle attention. The power is pretty exciting and the car handles well on the twisty mountain roads. After the first few days I began to get embarrassed by all the attention we were getting; thumbs-up, horns, “hey, nice car”, etc. It leaks like a sieve in the rain and the interior doesn’t warm up, but I don’t care; I love it!
In summary; I am very happy with my new car. Carey Hines and his team are the best! Although she does not share the same appreciation for cars as I and will never know these words were written because she does not read this blog (I did tell her how much I enjoyed her being with me), my sweetheart, Shirley, was the best travelling companion I could ever have dreamed of having with me on this trip; never complained about her hair; just covered with another wrap when cold; and genuinely enjoyed the entire journey.
I guess I am part of the madness now; I welcome the condition.
Hartwell
Ray 
