It's a growing trend we can't continue to ignore as more and more ladies are getting their hands dirty. The days of worrying about broken nails and imperfect makeup are over for these car-crazy ladies, who've even taken their passion a step further. Take Melissa Welsh of South Hampton, PA for example. She became a licensed auto technician to pursue her hobby.
"I went to school for 18 months and worked in the field at two repair shops for over two years," Melissa began. "I quickly learned you can't turn your hobby into a career. Working on big-ass trucks and picking up parts twice the size of me, I got tired of it really quickly, so I decided to take a break from it."
Currently a full-time waitress in her early 20s, Melissa's education wasn't in vain. She still entertains the idea of returning to be a full-time mechanic if it involves performance Volkswagens. But for the time being, she continues to build her own VW project cars for the pure enjoyment.
She already has four cars under her belt, including a Corrado and two Mk2 GTIs. But don't imagine these were sissy-built with bolt-on parts and furry animals in the rear window. The caliber of her project cars is quite phenomenal: both GTIs featured VR6 swaps Melissa did herself. In fact, one was a 3.0.
Melissa wasn't limited to VR6s either. Her Corrado managed a 1.8T with a big turbo. Unfortunately, the aforementioned cars were sold into the wrong hands and no longer exist. However, Melissa's fourth project, this stunning '08 Rabbit, promises to be more reliable, edgier and cleaner than the rest.
"When the Rabbit first came out, I hated it," Melissa admitted. "They grew on me, though. I didn't care about the turbo in the GTI because I just wanted a nice daily driver I wasn't going to modify. Well, I wasn't going to modify it but I'm addicted to building VWs. I can't stop," she confessed.
Having knowledge and experience, Melissa easily modified her Rabbit without a great deal of help. The only tasks she out-sourced were the bodywork and upholstery.
To the uneducated eye, this Rabbit looks fairly stock but it's been simplified and outfitted with plenty of Euro flavor. Melissa delivered the Rabbit to D&D Custom, where the body was smoothed. Demonstrating that less is more, the side markers and emblems were shaved. To eliminate the notch left by the front badge, the bumper and hood were filled and resprayed. A clean badgeless grille completes the front fascia.