Hi, everyone. We did it. We did it! I cannot possible express my thanks in words. When I first came up with the idea for restoring a car through Kickstarter I was certain it would be an entertaining lesson in Internet economics. I certainly hoped for the best and, surprisingly, we squeaked in to a victory in the last few hours.

I believe it goes without saying that this dream of mine will be fulfilled because of all of you and your generosity. It still hasn't quite sunk in that it is complete and that I'm finally going to be able to restore this little family car so that my family can enjoy it as much as I did growing up. And eventually my grandkids might enjoy it or even my great grandkids.

Over the last few months I've met lots of new people. I've talked with people from Kenya, people who love Volkswagens, people on blogs and Twitter, and even Volkswagen themselves. I was positive car dealers were only out to make a buck, but the Seattle VW dealership Carter Volkswagen proved me wrong and blew me away with how eager they were to help.

I also really want to thank those that know me personally and contributed. I think it says a lot that you probably don't care about cars but recognized a dream and contributed because of it.

So what now? Amazon, which handles the money, has it in holding for two weeks. After that the money is transferred to me and I take off to Aruba- err, just kidding about that. I'm actually planning to either put it in savings or a CD to collect interest on it while I work on everyone's rewards they are owed over the next few months. Once that is complete I will officially withdraw the contributions and put them toward restoring the VW. All during that time I plan to keep this Kickstarter profile updated.

I will be contacting each of you over the next week to get the information I need to complete what is owed to you. So keep an eye out! I look forward to talking with everyone.

Thank you all again. As I've said, it's hard to convey my appreciation and thanks.

This has opened a huge door of opportunity for me.

Thank you.

Rick

Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to gooooooo...

This is it.

We're down to the last day. In the next 24 hours, I have to raise at least $60! That's doable, right? Tweets have gone out far and wide across these Internets we share and it may be one last push that's needed in order to make my little dream become a reality. A lot of you have donated a charitable sum -- I was expecting a lot more smaller donations than larger ones, but you pulled through -- and it only makes sense to want to collect on the things you're looking forward to. If the project fails, however, (even at 97%!) then all this work and effort evaporates.

Pretty soon the project will be listed on the first page of the "Ending Soon" projects. I'm hoping this helps with those last few funds we need. However, a shoutout on Twitter or Facebook wouldn't hurt. As soon as I'm done here that's exactly what I'm going to do.

You can bet my wife and I will be watching this closely in anticipation of its finish tomorrow. What an exciting 24 hours this will be.

Thank you again to everyone that has contributed! It means so much to me that you're willing to help me with this.

Rick

We're coming in just over two weeks left on the project and nearing that completion goal happily. Many thanks to those who've recently contributed through discovering the project on Kickstarter or from tweets on Twitter. I've been eagerly watching the project move around from person to person there as online magazines, people who liked the video, and even Volkswagen themselves have gotten in on the act to get the word out.

The project has officially entered the first fifteen pages of "Ending Soon", which is exciting as the closing draws near. I'll be honest that I wasn't sure if I could get my little car saved when I started this. I had passion for it, I read the Kickstarter developers blog, and I made (or tried to make) frequent posts without spamming my backers (sorry guys -- really trying not to keep bugging you!). With the end now in sight I am confident that we'll make the goal and a fun piece of the past will be saved.

I want to reiterate my thanks to everyone. My backers, my supporters, everyone on Twitter, and everyone here on Kickstarter.

The kind folks at Kickstarter gave me some more invites, so if you'd like to start your own project, just let me know! I'd be happy to pass some of these around.

In my last update, I asked that any potential questions be redirected my way to be addressed specifically in my next update. As such, here are a few I've received:

How much mechanical experience do you have?

I'd definitely say I'm a nerd at heart: I know about the CSS3 transition, historical battles and their outcomes, and the types (and class) of ships throughout the Star Trek series. But I've always considered myself pretty mechanical, too.

I've spent some time with this VW as I was growing up. I remember helping my dad rebuild the engine a couple of times when I was a kid, even if it was just holding a flashlight. He would show me how to change nuts and grease gears. I've always been interested in automobiles (my first word was "car") and with the knowledge he gave me I went on to play with my own vehicles as an adult. Now that I'm working on the VW again, I'm finding it an extremely easy-to-assemble and well built machine. Everything requires either a screwdriver or a wrench.

It's tough sometimes, but it always seems to come together in the end. I'm up for the challenge.

Can you really deliver on design?

In practice, I've been working as a designer on and off for the better part of a decade. My first real gig was doing print and web design as an intern in college when my instructor (who was heading the internship) and a couple of coworkers and I struck out on our own and started a start-up. It was good experience and taught me the value of a strong sales team.

Currently I'm a designer working for a studio in downtown Seattle by the name of Bullseye Creative. In my time here, I've worked with clients such as Microsoft, Seattle DOT, the City of Redmond, and Titan Outdoor. This last week we finished up a huge project with Emerald City ComiCon, which (with our help) more than tripled its attendance this year.

You can check out Bullseye at www.bullseyecreative.net

It's just a car. They pollute. What's the deal?

There is something about the simple elegance of an automobile that I think captivates the imagination, though it's a hard trait to define in speech or prose. They are a relatively new device originally created to reduce livestock maintenance, go further, and travel faster than what was, 150 years ago, undreamed of.

They are, in short, a marvel of human ingenuity.

And like much of human ingenuity, they are at the expense of the environment. It hasn't been until the last decade that significant strides have been made to finally reduce their footprint -- even the phrase "carbon footprint" predates these efforts. The Volkswagen was developed at a time when little consideration was given to emission standards, and yet it remained a thrifty car with good gas mileage. To be fair, it gets better miles-to-gallon than my economic commuter car (series 2001) gets. It continues to exist as a green car even in this age of hybrids.

However, my goal isn't to drive the VW. It's to restore it so that future generations can enjoy it the same way we might enjoy a Model-T. It will be a fun novelty of the twentieth century -- a century that is slowly drifting away.

This Volkswagen is a keepsake, and it's one near-and-dear to my heart. My hope is it will evoke a feeling of nostalgia for everyone, of any age, that sees it driving down the road. This is a Kickstarter project of smiles and waves for future years.

We're in under the two-months-to-go stretch!

I'm hoping to get over to my parent's house this weekend (where the VW is sitting) and try to vacuum the inside out and wash off whatever things have grown over the winter. I also need to assess the damage the bullet hole in the roof has left the interior floorpan. I'm not exactly a motorhead, so I'm not sure what steps I will need to take in replacing only part of the overall floorpan, especially without welding anything.

Perhaps it's time I learn to weld?

As the project runs this month, I'll be preparing for the final month of updates and pushes to friends and family to help with saving this little car. I'm also gathering the sorts of supplies I will need in order to fulfill funding promises such as postcards, ideas for notes, and web/print design tools. (Upgrading to CS4 hopefully -- it's long overdue!) I'm also working on revamping my online portfolio, which is a little sparse after landing a full-time job in September. I'll be honest that I'm worried that with my portfolio "under construction" that I'm losing potential backers. I'd be happy to show anyone samples of my work if they are considering backing this project but unsure of my talent.

I've had a few questions come in and I'm eager to answer them. I'd like to use this update as an opportunity to request other questions be thrown in my direction regarding the car, it's history, my plans for it, and personal questions. I'll post all the answers in my next update.

Until then, thank you again for all of my backers! I appreciate your faith in helping me achieve a dream.

Rick

I'm really surprised at how daunting this project is starting to seem. And not that I feel working on the car is: the Kickstarter Project is what I refer to! I've grown up tearing things apart and putting them back together as far as I can remember (usually electronic in nature) and I love it. What I wasn't expecting is starting a Kickstarter project to be quite the challenge it is.

I've noticed that I've had heartburn every day since starting the project three days ago. Usually while I'm thinking about the project itself. Is Kickstarter giving me an ulcer? Possibly. But it's an Ulcer of Joy (that's a wince-inducing term).

What it really comes down to is a judgment by peers -- peers over the internet -- who I can't see, can't shake hands with, nor communicate directly with. I feel vulnerable in trying to offer them something amazing in an attempt to fund something. With REAL money. With THEIR money. I worry myself sick that I'm not living up to my donators' donations. When I take a step back, I know that I'm skilled and perfectly capable to live up to my funding promises, but I still find myself wrought with concern.

I've worked in sales long enough to know that honesty is the best way to work with someone. Don't treat them like a customer, treat them like a friend. I wanted to post this update specifically to let everyone know how grateful I am for your support so far ($140!!) and that you're helping to make a dream come true. Also know that I care so much about you that it's giving me heartburn.

Thanks again, everyone. This is going to be a fantastic ride.