Sparkie the Amazing 412

[raykinsella]

Hi Max - I just got a message about your post here. Did you know Julie? Sparkie is still doing great, runs and looks perfect. I still think about Julie whenever I'm driving Sparkie. I had it in a VW show in Seattle this past summer, and several people recognized Sparkie and had known Julie. As usual I was the only type-4 and was lumped in with the dozen type-3s that showed up, and I didn't win anything...

[Max Welton]

I did know Julie. We were both in the club that became the Better Late Than Never (BLTN) club in the San Jose / Sunnyvale area. In fact some of those pictures at the bltn link I remember taking myself. I very much regret missing that second Berg cruise to BC, it was her last. I miss her still.

Max

[raykinsella]

I have that page bookmarked. I met Julie on that 2003 Cruise when they came through Seattle. There are three pictures of us together on that page, about halfway down. That is my metallic-blue 412 alongside Sparkie. On that day Julie took a magnetic "BLTN" emblem off Sparkie's glovebox door and gave it to me. I put it on my 412's glovebox door. It was wonderful meeting Julie that day; I had no idea of her illness. Sometime in early 2005 Julie's father David called me about Julie's death ( I had first learned of it right here on this website ) and the matter of Sparkie. I took my young daughters down to the Bay Area on the train and met David, stayed with him a few days. He had Julie buried in his native Pittsburgh and was moving back there himself. My buying Sparkie paid for her funeral expenses. I promised David I'd take real good care of Julie's car; that meant a lot to him. When we got home to Seattle I took that BLTN emblem from my other 412 and put it back on Sparkie, where it remains to this day. As I've said before, it remains a huge honor to be the caretaker of Julie's legacy. I hope that everybody who knew and loved Julie will know that Sparkie lives on in her memory.

[Max Welton]

From your earlier post I figured that might be you in those pictures. Very cool. And well done.

Max