Where Beetles are always fab

JOE KNYCHA FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Arno's Auto Service near Georgetown has been repairing Volkswagens since 1965.

Joe Knycha

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

A 1980 Rabbit that accidentally started itself and drove into the shop door was just one of many Volkswagens from that era to create all kinds of anxious moments for their owners.

Self-starting Rabbits, Jettas and Sciroccos at that time were not uncommon, recalls Bill King, proprietor of Arno's Auto Service in Glen Williams, just north of Georgetown.

It was due to a short circuit in the fuse box, says King.

Water entered the engine bay through the fender-mounted antenna, followed the antenna cable to its low point, then dripped on the fuse box directly below that housed the starter circuit.

If left in gear, "they'd drive themselves right out the door."

It was a notable design flaw in the much-vaunted history of German engineering and rather than admit it, many VW dealers and mechanics at the time explained the issue away, citing faulty electrics.

King soon learned to not leave any of those cars parked in gear, either in the shop or outside on the lot, and advised customers to do the same.

"The diesels were even worse," he says. "They had so much torque, they'd turn the tires at idle and away they'd go."

Georgetown was "a small community in the sticks" when Arno Veuhoff set up a shop there to service Beetles in 1965.

Today, it and neighbouring Glen Williams, where the shop that bears Veuhoff's name is now located, are modern communities with sprawling subdivisions and all the hustle, amenities and strip malls that serve growing populations everywhere.

As the communities diversified, so did Arno's, which today addresses the mechanical repair and routine maintenance of not just Volkswagens but Porsches, Audis and other European imports.

"We started servicing just Beetles, there was that much demand then," says Veuhoff.

At the beginning, "we had so much (Beetle) work that we couldn't make time for anything else. On Saturday mornings, customers would be lined up out to the road."

Many of the children of those owners eventually became customers themselves, he says.

Veuhoff and King also took a diversified approach when they started selling used cars, specializing in Volkswagen models, then other German makes and eventually all European cars, more out of necessity than brand loyalty.

"People want variety."

They got out of selling used cars when Arno retired in 1999 and Bill bought the business. Once again, he finds, there is more than enough service work to keep him and son, David, occupied.

The appeal of Beetles for both Veuhoff and King, at least initially, was in their absolute simplicity, says Veuhoff. They were also cheap and parts were readily available.

"It was a very simple and easy car to work on."

It was also light and easy to push if it got stuck, and being rear-wheel drive, with the engine in the back, it went through deep snow with ease.

The Beetle's air-cooled engine was compact and lightweight, Veuhoff recalls. "Swapping motors was easy and you could do it yourself."

That's not the case anymore, says King. Average owners can no longer work on or maintain their Volkswagens, or any other European car themselves, because the vehicles have become highly sophisticated machines.

King admits to directing most of that work to David, who he hopes will take over the business when he decides to retire. David also inherits much of the custom work that comes in.

Even today, David says, Volkswagens are easy to work on and service compared to some other brands, even with all the electronics that they employ. It comes at a cost, however, and David is constantly upgrading his knowledge through courses.

David's passion for Volkswagens runs deep, having worked at Arno's "since before I was a teenager. I like their quality, the way they're made and the engineering that goes into them."

His current customizing project involves his other passion, drag racing.

He is currently "boring out" a 1.8 turbo engine and installing a bigger camshaft, before bolting on a larger turbocharger.

"The goal is to make it a 12-second (quarter-mile) car."

And this one, he promises, won't start by itself.

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