More than a Bug club - VW owners invited to meet next Sunday

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

Capitalising on the Volkswagen brand's heightened profile locally, following the German company's Super Bowl ad which featured actor Erik Nicolaisen using a Jamaican accent, Norman Foster of The Jamaica VW Club has arranged a meeting of VW owners to acquaint themselves with each other. The meeting is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, at Country Farmhouse, 3 Deanery Road, Vineyard Town.

"It's a calling of all VW owners. It doesn't matter if it's an old bug they have or a new Amarok. It doesn't matter, as long as it's a VW," Foster said. "What I'm trying to do is get all of the owners together. This is not a club as yet. I founded the VW club way back in 1998 and that is still in existence, but what I'm trying to do now is to get all VW owners together ... So we can have a nice little get-together, get to know each other and see where we go from there. Do we form a club or do we just be a group?" he added.

Motivation

Foster, who has been an admirer and collector of the German-engineered vehicle for decades, explained to Automotives that he was motivated to seek greater attention for VW after the brand was poorly represented at a recent car show. "I went to a car show on Ash Wednesday and I was a little disappointed that I saw all of the Hondas and other various groups there, but the only representation that the Volkswagen had was two dune buggies," he said.

Foster also argued that the VW has a special place in the history of the automobile in Jamaica and wants younger persons to know this. "I think everybody should know that, especially people growing up in Jamaica, that the VW was our vehicle. That's the first car I learned to drive on. It was a VW bug way back in the '60s. A friend of mine had one, and that is what we would pack up in on a Saturday night," he said.

And Foster made it clear that he is an experienced driver of Volkswagen vehicles and admitted that his admiration for the brand is unwavering. "I think I've gone through five bugs. I have driven other vehicles, but I keep going back to the VW. I just love them. I love the make and I love the simplicity of the engine. I presently own a 1972 bug; that's my classic, and I have a Great Wall Deer for daily transport," he said.

He also empahsised the significance of Volkswagens in Jamaica by noting Bob Marley's fondness of the brand. "I'm still trying to get a picture of him in that VW van, so that I can add it to my page," Foster said.

Foster said he enjoyed watching the Super Bowl VW ad, which created some controversy among Jamaicans, from the first time he saw it. "I love it. Loved it. We have all three versions on our Facebook page, the original and the Jamaican ones. It's a happy commercial and it does depict Jamaicans as the happy people that we are. We are a no-problem country. We're that sunshine on a cloudy day," he said.

Volkswagen owners and other admirers of the brand are urged to visit 'Volkswagen Owners Of Jamaica' on Facebook.