Dad’s Car
Dad’s Car is a photo book created for my Storytelling unit at university. I decided to share the story of James Wotton and his dad, John Wotton, through his 1967 Volkswagen 1600 TL Fastback. The book consists of 34 uncoated pages to reflect the classic and nostalgic themes of the story. Its A4 size allows the reader to appreciate the small details of the car, which the story is drawn from.
James Wotton is very much like his Dad.
“Whatever we do, we get into…you can’t just dip your toe in”.
“It’s my Dad’s fault”.
John Wotton always owned Volkswagens and helped his son James get his first car, a 1974 Beetle, from the top of their road. They soon found that it needed some welding work…and then a bit more…and a bit more. At the time, James was an apprentice and couldn’t afford to pay for the work to be done. So, he borrowed a welder from a friend and learnt how to repair it himself. As his skills grew, he gradually undertook work for other people. James is now a Classic Volkswagen and Air-Cooled Specialist based in Welling. He never thought he would end up working in a garage or mechanics, and can’t believe how his Dad’s love for Volkswagens has shaped his lifestyle.
“I can’t believe how cars have become a part of my life”.
John worked as a toolmaker at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. James’ Grandad also worked there, to whom John would typically pass on his Volkswagens. James believes that his Dad wanted a Karmann Ghia, but he got talked out of it because his Grandad wanted a Type 3. Then one day, John went to a dealership to buy a new horn for his ’64 Beetle. That’s when he saw it sitting in the showroom. A 1967 Volkswagen 1600 TL Fastback based on a Type 3 platform; two years old and only one owner from new. Before he knew it, he had traded in his Beetle, and the Type 3 was his. “I’ve still got the bill of sale in the glovebox”, James stated. A 50-year-old piece of paper kept in pristine condition.
The Type 3 diversified Volkswagen’s product range but retained many of the Beetle’s key engineering principles. Its concept was a family car as it offered more passenger and luggage space and a larger engine. John bought the car roughly two years before James was born.
John restored many mechanical devices such as pianos, wind-up clocks, jukeboxes and radios. James has fond memories of helping his Dad collect the pianos and having an old-fashioned 50s jukebox in their front room that he had restored. “He always had to be doing something”. Whether that was repairing, restoring, or just something mechanical, James would be next to his Dad, watching and helping. “I suppose a few of my Dad’s interests have transferred over to me”.
“We’ve always been into engineering and interested in how things work”.
James’ fondest memories of his Dad were made at Volkswagen shows. Once he had got his Beetle, he followed his Dad to a multitude of events. James recalls Volksfest as being a particularly special event, where both of his parents would drive up so that they could take a couple of his cars. James’ eyes were opened-up to drag racing at this show, which he pursues today in his 1956 Oval Beetle within a drag racing club called Outlaw Flat Four. At each show he and his Dad went to, James would go off to look at the lowered, modified cars while his Dad appreciated the standard, original cars. James admitted that “there’s a lot to be said for the standard vehicle”. “My Dad was very much about keeping the vehicles as they were intended to be”.
James always wanted his own Fastback and had intentions of modifying it significantly when he did. His wish has since come true, but he has decided to honour his Dad’s values and keep the car as original as possible. Nonetheless, James has added his own touch to it. His modifications have included lowering the front, changing the steering wheel to a wood-rim EMPI GT, installing a Gene Berg shifter and adding a set of Porsche 914 2.0 litre Fuchs alloy wheels, “just to give it a bit of attitude”. He has kept his alterations subtle, despite feeling that the car would look great slammed.
“I think he lost a bit of interest in my beetle when I lowered it…he wasn’t very impressed about that”. “His words were ‘If it were meant to be like that, the factory would have done it like that’”.
“Everything is kept so that the car can be put back to exactly how it was”.
James has been carefully storing all of the original parts from the car. This is with the intention that they will be re-installed so that through his Dad’s eyes, the car will be exactly as it should be. He plans to have a few years of fun in it before giving it a sympathetic restoration. This will involve replacing and fixing the parts that need to be, while those that have survived the test of time will be left alone. The reason for this is to retain the car’s originality while making it a dependable vehicle that he can pass down to his daughter, Aimee. The chassis will be thoroughly restored to almost better than new along with an external respray. The respray will forgo areas that have withstood over 50 years of use, such as under the bonnet and the fuel tank. Other original parts such as the dashboard, inside paintwork, boot-lining and head-lining will also be left alone.
To James, the front wings are two significant parts of the car. “I can remember going with him; I must have been about five years old, to a place in Dartford called Drakes to buy two new front wings”. James recalls his Dad having a trailer on the back of the car which he used to transport the parts. “My earliest memory was standing in the back of that trailer as my Dad put the wings in it”.
James had struggled to pull the car out of storage. He had tucked it away for two years – the longest it had ever been left. “Whenever I got that car out, something happened”. Whether this was a scratch or a dent, James felt it was safer not in use. Even so, he knew this was unfair as the car’s purpose was to be driven and enjoyed. “Now it’s at home, I’m going to make a point of using it…I want to get it going again”.
James could never sell the car. He considered it once purely because it wasn’t being used, but he couldn’t do it. “It’s my personal memento of my Dad… it’s the one thing that I’ve got that reminds me of him”. It will be the car that always stays.
James strongly feels that the car has made as big a mark on him as he has on it. The car is a reminder of how his Dad has helped guide and influence his life.
John Wotton passed away at age 62 when James was just 24 years old. “I would love him to see what I’ve achieved”, James said. “That’s my drive. Everything I do with Volkswagens has a drive for sentimental reasons towards my Dad… It’s his fault that I’m into all of this”.
Upon asking James to describe the car in three words, he could only say: “my Dad’s car”.
