Volkswagen Spider A Real Attraction-Getter

Volkswagen Spider A Real Attraction-Getter AG WORLD 30-6-21 You're all familiar with the Volkswagen "Beetle" but have you ever seen a Volkswagen Spider? David Holst and a group of relatives built a 40-ft. wide by 10 ft. high monstrosity. "I have a cousin who works in the oil and gas industry, so that's where I got pipe for the legs. My uncle, Carl Holst, is a welder and he was the brains behind the construction. He figured out all the measurements for the design." Holst says he worked together with his uncle, aunt and cousins to complete the project in four or five weekends. It was an enjoyable family effort for the six of them. Cost was about $500 for pipe and welding rods. Holst, who was an auto detailer at the time, was able to trade his services for the early 1960's Volkswagen body. He says the old Volkswagens are easy to work with because they have more steel in them than the newer models, thus making it easy to find welding points. The first thing the crew did was to remove the beetle's underbody (wheels/axles), motor, and power train. They left the windows in and spray painted everything black. Four sections of heavy, 6-in. gas line pipe were welded to the underside of the car to provide the eight points from which the legs extend. The first vertical section of the legs are also made with the thick 6-in. pipe, while the next three sections used only 4-in. and 3-in. pipe, tapering down to the ground to give a more realistic look to the legs. All eight legs touch the ground, with each of them at different angles, so it looks like it's walking. After the first four sections of pipe were welded to the bottom of the car, Holst's uncle used his front-end loader with the addition of two long pipes on the forks, to hold the car body off the ground. Then he went around with a ladder and welded on the rest of the sections. When it was complete, the family positioned the giant arachnid at an angle to the highway, and close to the house to deter vandalism. "After it was finished, I came home from work one night to find a bus parked along the side of the highway in front of the yard with about 48 Chinese people and the bus driver all standing there taking pictures of it," Holst recalls. It certainly does attract people, and everyone knows where it is, he says. Since Holst is now in the car sales business, he sometimes parks three vehicles underneath the spider to get people to notice them. "I'm planning to get a solar panel to power the headlights dimly for the first half of the night, so nighttime traffic can enjoy it, too," he says. "My brother has a bunch of rope lights that we could also string down the legs for Halloween and Christmas." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Holst, Box 337, Boyle, Alberta, Canada T0A 0M0 (ph 780 689-2365; detailer80@hotmail. com).

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