Restoration projects, especially vintage vehicles, are the ultimate labor of love. You pour your heart, soul, time, energy, and hard-earned money into them, but along the way you learn new things and end up with a one-of-a-kind final product that will be treasured for years to come.
No one knows this better than Dr. Aubrey Young, DMD, the owner and orthodontist at Young Orthodontics. Outside of her life treating patients and running a successful orthodontics practice, she has spent the last three years working with experts to restore “Em,” a 1966 VW bug. Working with Doug's Buggs and Bunnies, a VW parts, service, and restoration center in Mesa, she helped to take Em from drab to fab.
“This is my first restoration project but doing these types of projects runs in my family,” Young shares. “My dad restored a Model T and he uses it as his city sleigh when he plays Santa during the holiday months. He has helped friends and family restore many old cars, and my whole family likes using their hands and imagination to create. My dad also built his own ultralight airplane, and my brother has restored two sailboats.”
Young shares that it started in childhood—she always dreamed of having a VW bug.
“As long as I can remember looking at cars, the VW bug has always been my favorite,” she says. “When I was young, I always said that my bug would be pink with purple polka dots. My taste changed over the years, but I still never gave up on the dream of owning a classic bug. Like the VW bug, I favor all things classic and feel like I have an old soul… Some will even describe me as being a bit of a hippie at heart!”
To go with her vintage soul, at Young Orthodontics the team and her patients wear tie-dye; she even gives all her patients their own tie-dye shirt to wear to their appointments so they can match the team.
“Tie-dye is cheerful and keeps the vibe in our office upbeat,” she says.
Young shares that Em was bought in its original condition in 2017. She would take Em out for joyrides on the weekends until, one day, it wouldn’t start. Young then connected with Doug's Buggs and Bunnies and discussions began about what needed to be repaired just to get her back on the road for joyrides—but then her imagination took off.
“Three years of restoration began from the frame up,” Young explains. “Everything that could be saved and restored was, and everything else was replaced. I wanted to make Em my daily driver, so we added air conditioning. An engine with more power was needed to be able to run the air conditioning. Picking all the colors took the longest. After it was fully painted, I had them re-do it. But I love the color so much and it ‘just happens’ to match my Young Orthodontics logo perfectly.
“I owe all of Em's beauty to the folks at Doug's Buggs and Bunnies in Mesa for the amazing restoration job. I just helped pick everything out. I would have loved to have done the work myself and perhaps one day when I have more time, I will get the opportunity to restore another car,” Young says. “One really amazing part of the car is that my dad made the gear shift knob. It is shaped like a molar tooth. He used the lost wax technique to create it. He carved the tooth out of a piece of wax, then mounted it in plaster. Heat was used to melt out the wax, and then he had a mold to put the melted acrylic into. He dyed the acrylic the exact color of the car and worked with the shop to get the right threads put into it. It was an amazing surprise that he gave me the Christmas before the car was finished. He coined the gear shift knob my ‘blue tooth.’ I have been able to drive Em now for almost 1.5 years back-and-forth to the office and around town running errands. I know I drive slow... apologies! Her top speed is 55, and I never take her on the freeway!”
To those looking to have their own restoration done, Young has some tips.
“If you are mechanically minded and have a garage, I think doing the restoration yourself would be amazing so that you know how everything goes together and you can really create a perfect outcome,” she advises. “If you just love old cars and you have a vision for your dream car, then find a great restoration shop that will share in your vision. I made frequent trips to the shop to see the progress and to continue to make the thousands of decisions that can be made when you restore a car. Make great relationships with your shop owner and their employees—the folks at Doug's Buggs and Bunnies are now like family to me!”