Temple man's VW affection started 25 years ago

TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — On Memorial Day weekend, Brent Brendemuehl slid several homemade bread loaves into his 1981 Volkswagen Bus. On a warm day, it's the perfect temperature for the dough to rise before baking.

Brendemuehl found "Mr. Bus," as his 10-year-old daughter Becky calls it, in 1991, sitting on four flats in a vacant lot, used for doghouse and tire storage.

Brendemuehl traded a couple of baseball cards — including one Ted Williams — and brought the neglected orphan in for rehab.

Today, "Mr. Bus" travels to Volkswagen events across the state, outfitted with a coffeemaker, stove, oven, pantry and bunk with curtains. The air-cooled, 1,641 cubic centimeter engine and four-on-the-floor transmission propels the bread-shaped vehicle down the road at about 55 mph cruising speed.

"They don't like to even see me on the interstate in this. I can remember the last time I went through Austin, going to Fredericksburg, I got flipped off more times," he said.

Brendemuehl's VW affection — or affliction, depending on how you look at it — consumes his double garage. Tiny transmissions, engines and mufflers sprawl across the back floor. Unassembled plastic models, still in the box, and matchbox cars fill overhead shelves. His '64 Karmann Ghia restoration project and a fully restored '65 red Beetle convertible occupy places of honor, backed inside the garage. The new generation VWs — Jetta, Cabriolet and Passat — all sit outside.

Brendemuehl says he doesn't know how or when the VW bug bit him. Maybe it was the dune buggy, stolen from him more than 25 years ago, that he never got over.

"Some people tell me there's a 12-step program for me out there somewhere," Brendemuehl said. "I keep wondering why I even need it."

His wife, Kyung, may disagree.

"The year I took Christmas lights, put them in a VW logo, she put her foot down on that one," Brendemuehl said.

It's been a quarter century since he bought his first VW. About five years ago, Brendemuehl approached the Tranum Volkswagen dealership in Temple, seeking a sales position.

"Brent knew so much more about Volkswagens than any of us would ever know," Jim Tranum, dealership president, said. "We turned him loose: What do you want, Brent?'"

One thing he wanted — used Beetles. Tranum remembered Herbie, the VW Beetle in "The Love Bug," and trusting Brendemuehl, he gave him the green flag.

"Brent had us go and buy several of those things and sell them to customers," Tranum said. "Some had (racing) numbers on them, some didn't."

Dealership principal Anna Kessler recalls when Brendemuehl surprised a 4-year-old girl with a toy red Beetle convertible that matched the one he sold the girl's mother.

"Every customer is a friend," she said, regarding Brendemuehl's approach toward his job.

Brendemuehl sold almost 500 Volkswagens before he switched to the finance department at Tranum last month.

Out at Lake Belton, Brendemuehl is instrumental in an annual fundraiser for the Morgan's Point Resort Police Department.

The Volkswagen Bus weekend celebration — with an auction, show, barbecue and camping at Oakmont Park — has raised more than $15,000 in five years.

"He's my right-hand man," said Paul Smith, event organizer and 1961 single cab VW pickup owner. "He's helped with registration, kids games, coloring contest."

This camaraderie, or cult following, among Volkswagen lovers, is part of the VW lifestyle, Brendemuehl said. Volkswagen drivers typically wave at each other.

Riding down a backroad near his Hewitt home, the Bus's engine hums along at about 45 mph, the ride smooths out, and Brendemuehl gets the itch for a road trip.

"I could drive this all day long and this thing wouldn't miss a beat," he says. "My daughter's and my favorite movie is 'Field of Dreams.' They drive that Volkswagen bus from Iowa to Massachusetts."

And it doesn't hurt if "Mr. Bus" smells like fresh bread.