Biff Smith, a Sun City resident, caught the bug love.
As a Volkswagen connoisseur, he catalogs the value of one of the oldest nameplates in automotive history still in use today. This all began when Smith’s wife, Nan, enrolled in a lifestyle presentation of Kiddieland. Kiddieland was an amusement park located at the corner of North Avenue and First Avenue in Melrose Park, Illinois.
Smith said, “Nan dragged me to that event that initiated a chain of events. Cheryl Brown was the presenter for the class. She had a slide show and on one of the slides, there was photo of The Kiddieland fire trucks. Kiddieland had a fire truck that was used to pick up birthday party guests at their homes and deliver them to the amusement park. When the truck wasn’t picking up party goers, it was used as a ride in the park.”
Biff Smith
Smith said, “The fire truck was incidental to the presentation, but it spiked my interest because it was a Volkswagen. I talked to her after the presentation and she told me she knew who owned two and it was for sale. He had purchased the trucks when the park closed in 2001 and was storing them.”
The Kiddieland fire trucks were constructed from the working-class models of the Volkswagen line. Tall versions were used for nurseries and clothes cleaners, and even special adaptations for medical use. The Kiddieland fire truck had a Volkswagen basis underneath.
Smith said, “I didn’t have the place to store the trucks and was not in a position to buy one, but I knew someone who would be interested through my work in researching Volkswagen, Randy Carlson.”
Carlson is the owner and founder of Carchaeology.com, Oldbug.com, and Californiacar.com, and he has been recognized in Southern California for his activity in the automotive industry since the 1980s and is an automotive collection specialist.
Smith said, “I talked to him and he said, I’ll buy one and I have a buyer for the other one. Robert Skinner, of Skinner Classics, has been working on air-cooled VWs since his early years. From the very first day began driving one, his passion is anything and everything Volkswagen.”
How did they get them to California?
“Robert just happened to be going on a buying trip in Midwest and agreed to pick up the fire trucks. The trip back along Route 66, across the country was tracked and advertised as a ‘Big Surprise.’ Along the route, they stopped and took pictures with little teasers showing a corner of the truck. They were headed to Long Beach for the Southern California VW Week.”
What happened when they got there?
Smith said, “Everyone went crazy, there are a lot of Chicagoans transplanted to California and they remembered the fire truck, some of them had even taken a ride in. The fire trucks were the hit of the show. The trucks are used for parades and shows currently. And all of this happened because Nan dragged me to a presentation.”
Currently, Smith is still on the lookout for his own Volkswagon.
“I hope to have one. I had one when I was a teenager, the Beetle Back in the day, Smith used to attend Kiddieland himself.
“Yes, we lived near there, but I never got to be picked up by a fire engine for a birthday party.”
