It Nevers Rains on Their VW Beetle Parade

On what was billed as “Classic VW Cruise Night” in Shorewood, a classic summer rainstorm moved through the Village instead and caused Thursday’s program in Towne Center Park to be postponed.

Or much of it.

Elwood’s Dan Nocher, 63, and his brother, John, a 55-year-old resident of Montgomery, still pulled in the parking lot and still showed off their vintage rides to the few die-hards that braved the elements.

John’s chestnut brown 1974 VW Beetle was sparkling clean following the showers. He has owned the vehicle for two years—and has spent nearly half that time restoring it to its current state.

“I had a 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon—that was my first VW,” he said. “And I totally redid that also. I sold it this past winter to young a fellow. He’s going to go camping with it. I really don’t do camping anymore. So, I decided to build a ‘74 Beetle.

“I guess everybody has a story about Beetles. My story? Actually, back in high school we built a Baja—or a dune buggy from scratch as a project. My friends had Volkswagens all through the years.

“It’s kind of an economical vehicle today that you can restore. It’s not expensive like for a Chevy motor or something like that. For what you’ve got in a Chevy motor, you can build a Volkswagen basically. That’s why I got into it. It’s a hobby.”

John and Dan are members of the Harsh Winters VW Club, a club with about 80 members throughout Chicagoland, and are preparing for an Aug. 25 show at D’Arcy Motors in Joliet, proceeds to go to Gigi’s Playhouse to fight Down Syndrome.

John is a retired carpenter. Dan is a technician at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont. He drives a born-again 1972 VW Beetle—lime green in color.

“Yeah, this is a born-again Beetle,” he said. “A lot of people are into doing that. This is what we call a ground-up restoration. The chassis and the body were split. New pans were put in, a new interior, a new engine, a new transmission.”

His brother assisted him during the restoration project—like it or not.

“He needed a little therapy on his shoulder from an operation that he had,” Dan Nocher said. “So, that would keep him from getting stiff when he was sanding the body down.”

Denise Schmidt, director of the Shorewood Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday's program—which was to feature the music of Shin Dig—will be rescheduled. Next week’s program—Christmas in July—begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (July 25) in Shorewood’s Towne Center Park.