Joyce & Allen K. are our members to be highlighted in our member Spotlight. Ever faithful, they have attended or taken part in 19 club events since they joined a little over a year ago. If you do not see them, something serious has kept them from it.

Allen & Joyce at one of our “Dubz at Dyers” cruises

Allen is a native Memphian and Joyce has lived here since she was 9-years old. They married a little over 19 years ago, after meeting at Joyce’s employer, Memphis Alarm. Don’t do any math, but at that time, Joyce was already a 12-year veteran of the firm. Allen is employed by Rapid Cartage, a division of Volunteer Express, where he is a big-rig driver. He started driving 19-years ago, or so, after teaching himself to drive. You see, he worked a weird shift as a supervisor where he sometimes found himself with some spare time. So, hey, lets go play with the company semi out in the lot and adjoining field. Hey, that’s a lot of fun! So, months later, when the company lost one of their drivers, Allen said, “Put me in coach!” After testing his abilities, they DID! But he wouldn’t tell them how he picked up his new skill. That was the beginning of his current ca-reer.

Joyce and Allen’s only child is a Labrador Retriever / Pit Bull mix, named Leuca. He’s so spoiled.

Their other baby is their 1969 Baja Beetle. But first a little VW history as it applies to Allen. Like many, his love for the little air-coolers began in high school. His first Bug started out as your ordinary 1970 blue daily driver. Well, as luck would go, it was wrecked and totaled out for $700. But Allen managed to keep it by buying it back cheap. He then took $400 of that $700 and bought his first Baja body kit. He got Paul Hilton to build an 1835 cc motor and Kenny Faulk a close ratio transaxle. He then proceeded to make his dad upset by beating his Ford F150 in a drag race. Bad news was that somebody stole his fast motor when the Bug was parked at a friend’s house. Drat! But not to be undone, he talked his brother out of a red ’65 Beetle and he was back on the road. He had to part com-pany with his 2 VWs after high school when he needed the money to support a move to Jackson, MS. Many, many years would pass before another Beetle would sit in his driveway.

Fast-forward to 2006. The longing for the familiar sound of an air-cooled VW returned … maybe one with a stinger exhaust. He saw the prices on them spiraling up and up and figured he had better jump back in before they got too rich for his blood. He found his Baja for sale at a VW shop near Decaturville, TN. Well, actually, what first caught his eye there was a VW kit car, similar to a Bradley, but more like a Ford GT. I’ve never seen one of those. He loved it, but Joyce didn’t quite agree. So, the negotiation began and he bought his ’69 Baja.

It has a 1641cc motor with 1.25:1 rocker arms and Allen added some retro chrome rims to remind him of his first Baja. It also has disc brakes and HD transaxle mounts. If he could do anything, he would give it a nice paint job; not show quality, just nice; and a new interior.

Allen (left) receiving his trophy at our show last October.

Speaking of wheels, bet you didn’t know that Allen can ride a unicycle. At a much younger age, when bones mended quicker, he began playing with one, just riding it a couple or three feet. It took 6-8 months for him to reach the 5’ barrier; then he was gone like a streak! That was 20 years ago, but he can still do about 100 yards on one… just like … riding a bike.

Allen is sort of a home handyman too; after all he has a background in the building trades. He was even a cabinetmaker at one time. He’s done roofing and even built Morgan buildings. Heyyyyyy … I wonder if he does re-models or garage additions? 

They both" like boating on the “Big Muddy” in their ski boat that Allen bought cheap and used his skills to make sea-worthy. What a guy. And while Joyce is relaxing with her books, he has been known to sneak off crank to up his hobby CB system with one of those gosh awfully big (37’) beam antennas. Ooops, I think I’m picking him up on my Laptop. Smile. Bowling is another fun thing for them, though they don’t get to bust the pins as much as they would like too. I guess we all get that way with time. But, hey, we all still have our reality TV shows & soap operas … and don’t forget the speed channel!