This is my 1999 New Beetle (sorry for the bad picutre).  I got in in July 1999, when I went to the VW dealer to lease a V6 Passat.  I test drove the Passat and liked it a lot, but on a whim I decided to test drive the New Beetle.  From the moment I sat in the driver's seat, I had a big smile on my face.  Working the 5-speed through test drive route was a lot of fun.  It seemed as much fun to drive as the 1996 BMW 328i (with the Sport Package) that I was giving up.  By the time I got back to the dealer, I made up my mind to get a Beetle.  The only choice left was picking a color.  I thought I'd want to wait and order the dark blue, but my wife suggested the yellow.  I took her advice and never regretted it.  Yellow has become one of my favorite colors.

After having the car for almost 3 years, I recently started doing some work to it (other than minor styling accesories).  I think I can blame The Fast and the Furious and my brother-in-law for this.  I'm generally anti-rice-boy, but the stuff I saw in that movie was pretty cool.  Then a few weeks ago my brother-in-law gets new wheels, then a stainless cat-back system, then some exterior detailing.  Then I had to get a second tire repaired (it had screw in it), and someone at the tire place finally said out loud to me that my tires need replacement.  There are 60,000+ miles on the original tires, so I wasn't surprised.  This my my excuse to start moving away from stock Beetle.

This site shows what I've done.  Use the menu at the top of the page check stuff out.  Both the site and the car are works in progress, so check back every now and then.

6/28/2002:  Added cat-back exhaust system.  Done through local Meineke, got custom bent 2.25" pipe from the cat to the new muffler--a Dynomax Ultraflow Welded.  Check it out in the "Performance" menu above.

7/6/2002:  Installed Ichibahn foot pedals and shifter knob, and Matrix shifter boot.  Check it out in the "Styling" menu above.

7/7/2002:  Installed K&N air filter.  Check it out in the "Performance" menu above.

7/12/2002:  Got new wheels (R-Tech R50's 18"X7.5") and tires (Nankang NS-II 235/40-18).  Check it out in the "Performance" or "Styling" menu above.