BrewDub

09/04/2026

After rescuing this split window bus from the swampy Florida woods where it had been sitting for 27 years, it’s pretty cool to start officially documenting exactly what this Bus is and how it was originally configured.

I received the official Volkswagen Certificate and Data Sheet for my 1961 Volkswagen SO-23 Subhatch Westfalia, and we open it up and go through the original production details, specifications, and history of the Bus. Check out the full video on YouTube

09/04/2026

Birth Certificate reveals a little more history on my ‘61 bus

Today we’re in the garage, but we’re not doing any metal work on th...

09/02/2026

Cruising through Philly in a 1971 VW Bus through the narrow streets, old brick buildings, colonial-era history, rowhomes, churches, corner shops, and that mix of past and present everywhere you look.

Philadelphia is one of those cities where you can feel the history around every corner. Independence Hall, cobblestone streets, early American architecture, and then somehow, right in the middle of it all, cheesesteaks. LOL

Driving Alfonso through a city this old made the whole thing feel even cooler. A 55-year-old Bus rolling through streets that helped shape the country.

Old Volkswagen. Old city. Good food. Great day.

09/02/2026

Ready for our next stint! 🚐✌🏼

MA ➡️ NY ➡️ VT ➡️ NH ➡️ MA

More backroads, more places to explore, and hopefully plenty of new stories along the way.

And it looks like temps will be staying BELOW 80°! 🙌🏼 After the heat we’ve already put the bus through, we’ll happily take it. 😂

New England, here we come!

08/31/2026

One of the coolest parts of this hobby is seeing the next generation pick it up. Jeff talks about working on motors with his son, passing along what he’s learned, and watching him build his own experience with these old Volkswagens.

That knowledge has to keep moving forward if we want these cars to stay on the road.

🎙️ Hear more of Jeff’s story on the latest episode of VW Garage Talk, available now wherever you listen to podcasts

08/31/2026

Our Amtrak Auto Train Experience: Part 3

After our overnight ride on the Auto Train, we woke up in Lorton, Virginia, ready to get the bus and start the Northeast part of our road trip.

We got off the train, headed into the station, and watched the unloading process begin. Priority vehicles came off first, which immediately had us debating whether that extra $100 would have been worth it.

Angie was really excited to watch Alfonso come out of the train car, so we stood outside and waited.

And waited.
We watched car after car come off.
Multiple train cars.
Double-decker cars.
Top and bottom levels unloading one by one.
Still no Bus.

Then Angie’s phone rang. It was Amtrak asking if we were inside because they had been paging us. We were told to go to the caller station, where the gentleman announcing vehicle numbers asked if we were number 61. We said yes.

Then he told us, “They can’t get the bus out because the key is broken.”

And handed us our key. Mangled. Twisted. Nearly snapped.

One of the employees asked if it had been like that before. “Absolutely not.”

They handed Craig a pair of pliers to try to bend it back, but thankfully we had a spare key hidden in the magnetic box on the bus. Craig explained where to find it, and a few minutes later, an older gentleman came cruising out in Alfonso like he had been driving old Volkswagens for years.

There was a line of cars stuck behind our bus waiting to be unloaded, so we were relieved to see Alfonso finally roll out.

After a quick insurance claim, we got back behind the wheel and officially started our Northeast journey.

Would we take the Auto Train again with a 1971 VW Bus? We’ll talk about that soon.

But Alfonso made it off the train, the spare key saved the day, and the road trip continued.

08/30/2026

Around 125 vehicles, roughly 67 of them Volkswagens… and after all those cars, Jeff still has a pretty simple approach: keep them as close to stock as you can.

In the new episode of VW Garage Talk, we hang out in Jeff’s garage and talk about the VWs he’s owned, what he’s learned over the years, and why he still trusts the original Volkswagen setup.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode of 𝐕𝐖 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

08/30/2026

New episode of VW Garage Talk is up!

This time I’m hanging out with our friend Jeff in his climate controlled garage, talking about a lifetime of Volkswagens, rare cars, restorations, old-school VW knowledge, and a whole lot more.

Jeff has owned around 125 vehicles, including about 67 Volkswagens, so there are plenty of stories in this one. We get into his Karmann Ghia, Brazilian Bus, early restoration research before the internet, passing air-cooled knowledge to the next generation, and even what happened when his garage took on more than two feet of water during a hurricane.

It’s a good old-fashioned garage conversation with a lot of history mixed in.If you watch it, let us know which story or car stood out to you most.

🎙️VW Garage Talk Podcast | Tune in on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5tq8QQ7lQXQKjYKlOIjdpX

What happens after decades in the Volkswagen hobby and more than 60...

08/27/2026

Our Amtrak Auto Train Experience: Part 1

We knew taking our ‘71 VW bus on the Amtrak Auto Train was going to be an adventure. We just didn’t know the adventure would start before we even got on the train.

The night before we left, Amtrak texted us to say the A/C was out inside the Sanford, Florida station, so check-in would be delayed by an hour.

We drove about 2.5 hours to Sanford. As we got close, the GPS told us to turn right into the station in 0.4 miles.

Then we saw the line…

Cars were stretched all down the side of the road, and we assumed they were all waiting to board the Auto Train too. So we got in line.

And sat.
And sat.
And sat some more.

As we sat, the temp kept raising. It was 97 degrees outside, with a real feel of 112. Alfonso is many things, but air conditioned is not one of them.

Because the line barely moved, we had to keep turning the bus off, coasting forward a few inches, starting it again, and repeating the process. By the time we finally reached the check-in gate, we had been waiting about an hour and a half.

Once we made it through check-in, we pulled Alfonso into the queue, turned him off, left the key in the ignition, and headed into the station.

A little while later, we watched one of the younger employees get into the bus to move it.

It looked like he stalled it.
Then tried again.
Then drove it into a corner and sat there for a bit.
Craig eventually walked over and asked if he needed help.

Turns out, he just needed a quick lesson on how to put a classic bus in neutral. After that, Alfonso was on his way into the train car.

We’ll save the actual train ride for Part 2…