My passion was German cars. But when I first got started, I couldn't afford a Benz, or a Porsche.

So I started with a VW Rabbit.

This was in Michigan, home of snowy winters (sometimes 8' tall drifts), and everyone used salt to melt the snow. The combination of snow, ice, and salt made for a perfect oxidizer for cars-- they started to rust when they were less than a year old, if you drove them during the winter at all. Sure, folks used sealers (like Ziebart), but they only delayed the inevitable.

My first bunny (VW Rabbit) I got while in college. Put a nice radio in it, with home speakers on the rear seats (I loved the sound). But the car had rust all over it, so I didn't want to spend too much time on the body-- it was a lost cause.

Thing is, Rabbits were unibody cars-- the body was welded in one piece to form the frame. We Detroiters weren't very familiar with this kind of car construction-- most every car out of the Motor City had a sturdy steel frame with body panels bolted on to it.

While a unibody made the Rabbit nice and light (better acceleration, and gas mileage), it did have some drawbacks. My first bunny lasted me less than a year-- as I was driving it down the highway, I heard a strange "crunch" (like something had broken apart), and then noticed the car was a little wiggly. Still driving 60 mph, I unstrapped my seatbelt and reached over to the passenger side wheel well, where I heard the noise.

I peeled back the carpet to find . . . nothing! The crunch I'd heard was the car body cracking in half-- rust had taken its toll and weakened the unibody so much that when I'd hit the bump, the front part of the car (with the engine and transaxle) had separated from the back of the car (with the seats and rear wheels). What I saw was a big opening-- with highway speeding past!

I pulled to the side of the road, not sure what to do next. After convincing myself that the car was not going to crack any further (I bounced on it), I drove on the shoulder to the next exit, and called my mechanic.

After laughing a bit, he asked me a couple of questions, and suggested I drive it to his shop using back roads, and avoid potholes (!). I got there about an hour later.

We parked the car and stripped it clean. I used the engine and parts on my next Rabbit (that I bought for $80-- actually swapped it for stereo equipment).

I remember when my first bunny had been completely stripped-- one of us lifted up the car by the corner, and moved it! The unibody was that light.

I have lots of great car memories-- very few were racing. LOTS were from old timers that I bought, fixed up, enjoyed for a bit, then sold.

I didn't realize it back then, but rehabbing cars was my entree into fixing up houses. Same idea: You bought something old and rundown that no one wanted anymore, and, with love and lots of sweat equity (and tons of parts), you turned it into something special.

-Russ H.