When I want to explain why I chose this special car, I have to think back very far:

THOSE DAYS, when three year old Tilman was walking on his mother´s hand, she used to show him the cars parked in the curb and explain him the different makes of cars...

Later in 1984 we got our new Golf (Mk. II), and while waiting for delivery my parents for one week had a Santana as a replacement. Most fascinating feature on this car to little Tilman was the power antenna...

Well, in the years afterwards, everytime when the big sedan from Wolfsburg was seen anywhere, somebody said "look, there´s a Santana". All this was shaping...

Later I built my own little car. On base of a "kettcar" (pedal-powered gocart) I constructed the VW "Chest", first in an open, later in a closed version. Until I became too heavy for it, this car enlightened my free time - and helped to keep the school marks in check as well...

Having grown up (1,85m) with different types of cars, as soon as I had my driving license with 18 years, I needed to have my own car.

Of course it had to be a Volkswagen - there is nothing better. But what kind of VW? First there was the thought about a Golf like my father´s, but, on the other hand: One Golf we already had in the family...

So somehow it happened: I remembered the Santana, not having seen one consciously for years. And after obtaining some information I found out that holding a Santana would not be much more expensive than a Golf - in fact, the price to buy a Santana would be even cheaper (in 1997).

When taking my driving lessons I started to make notes about Santanas seen in traffic on "Santana´s List" . (Thanks to Mr. Haas for writing them down when I was at the wheel!)

After I had my driving license I started to stick "Wanted! Santana..." messages to every Santana in good condition I found. Well, not to everyone: I did not put them on five-cylinders, they would have been to expensive...

One month after having passed the test an drving my mother´s Polo it was parked in front of our house: My Santana.´

No car for showing off, but one where one could count on inner virtues. A "pensioner´s heap" was one of the more friendly remarks my schoolfellows made about it. But still, when after school they squeezed into their Peugeots, Corsas oder Seat Marbellas that where new and expensive compared to my LX, I got this certain grin on my face...

And nobody had a car as rare as mine...