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Murray7010- I'm Murray Wilson, also known as Chocolate Rain!! Volkswagens have been a hobby of mine since I was 14 back in 1998. I was into Chevys and low-riders super crazy back then when my stepfather approached me with the notion of restoring a car for me to drive. I quickly blurted out the idea of an Impala!! It was even more quickly shot down and he asked me, "how about a Bug?" I looked at him like he was crazy and his response to me was NO CAR AT ALL! A few apologies later and after doing some research on the VW brand, I was actually interested. Weeks later, we purchased a 1-owner 1961 beetle sedan out of the Penny-Saver. By the time I reached my senior year (2001), we had managed to fully restore the car and I was driving around with all the rest of my VW friends. In the 3-4 years passed the initial resto, I had managed to lower it, replace the OG 1200cc with a super-duper 1600 single-port, added a sound system with 3 12 inch subwoofers behind the back seat, and a bunch of other accessories to include Hawaiian-style white window rubber (Don't judge me!!). I left Southern California when I joined the Air Force in 2004, and had to sell my 61 Beetle.... Fast forwarding to 2008, I left active duty to pursue a career as a federal civilian firefighter in Texas while continuing my career within the Air National Guard on a part time basis. The first order of business with my newfound freedom from active duty was to get back what I had to give up - AN AIRCOOLED VW!! I was only looking for a 1954-1955 three-fold oval ragtop when I stumbled across an add for a 1951 Beetle Deluxe on TheSamba located in Austin, TX. With the add being only minutes old, I quickly began to harass the owner via all forms of communication, all-the-while, expressing my interest in the car. A week later, in June of 2009, I went down to see it and made a deal right there on the spot, making me the new owner. My 1951 Deluxe Beetle was built in April of 1951, a mere two days into the introduction of the crotch-coolers. Originally a hard-top sedan, a 1950 split window was the donor for my 3 fold ragtop clip installed by a previous owner. I bought the car with a dual port 1600cc in it. Since I have owned the car, minimal work has been done cosmetically. I have spent most of my time making the car look more correct such as sourcing the correct front seats for the car. Other funds have been spent on my continuous affair with the replacement motor, a 2109cc power plant. The last major change was adding the South African (Rostyle) Wheels and swapping from 44 IDFs to 48 IDAs. Besides updating some electrical stuff here and there, I simply just enjoy the car. I don't own a truck or trailer, so this car is driven EVERYWHERE it goes! I'm always hanging with the Dallas and/or Houston Chapters, but the Austin Chapter is the one I belong to. Other than that, the rest of my time is spent looking at Split-Window part prices and crying next to a tissue box.... Honk if you see me in these streets!!

TECH SHEET

2109cc

Auto-Linea Aluminum Case

94X76

8.1:1

H-beam Rods

Lightened Flywheel

42x37.5 heads

120 Cam

48 IDAs with Berg Linkage

MSD Ignition

A1 Sidewinder Exhaust