By Doug Hill
The Norman Transcript
NORMAN — When Christina Oreb first started the 1987 Volkswagen Westfalia Vanagon she’d just purchased, a cassette tape had been left in the deck.
“It immediately began playing ‘On the Road Again,’” the Norman film actress said. “So I knew, then and there, this VW’s name was Willie Nelson.”
Oreb bought the vehicle in 2004 from its original owner.
“For years after I bought it, he would come by and give me advice on what anti-freeze to use and things like that,” she said. “He definitely had an emotional tie to the car.”
Oreb reports people honking and waving at her when she drives it.
“Something about this VW just makes people happy,” she said. “My mom, who is directly from Croatia, thought this car was absolutely ridiculous and gave me so much crap for buying it.”
But something magical happened when Mrs. Oreb sat in the vehicle’s dining room for the first time.
“The second mom got in the back of it she laughed her a-- off,” Oreb said. “She was just happy. It tends to attract people and just fills up with happiness.”
Oreb said that one of the Westfalia’s utility advantages is that it can double as a motel room right in the drive-way when her condo is at capacity.
“I’ve driven it to Austin to see rock shows once when the A/C wasn’t working and we felt like straight-up hippies,” she said. “It’s rare to see another one and when I do, like at a gas station, we have to check out what the other one has, because they were all so different.”
Oreb’s version is upscale.
Westfalia-Werke is a van conversion company that contracted with VW for many years. There’s an integrated kitchen with cabinets, bedding, a propane stove and water reservoir with a sink.
Bedding, small refrigerator and air conditioning make this a cottage on wheels.
A built-in 110 volt electrical system allows the Westfalia to be plugged into an alternating current power source. The pop-up camper top and sky light add to its Spartan aesthetic.
Not as sophisticated as the BMW Vixen, this Westfalia is closer to camping than staying indoors. There is no lavatory.
“Honestly, most of the camping I’ve done is in yards,” Oreb said. “But my nieces and nephews adore this car. When I pull into their driveway in this they flip out.”
The vehicle has a standard transmission, which helps keep it off-limits from teenage relatives who’d love to cruise with their friends. “When my brother turned 16, he wanted to get his hands on this car so bad,” she said. “But he has no clue how to drive a stick.”
Oreb’s family is Croatian-American, with extended relatives still in the southeastern European republic.
“Our family’s automotive tradition is absolutely German cars all the way,” she said. “We’ve always had Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagens.”
She said that’s mainly what you’ll see today on the streets of the capital and largest city Zagreb.
“All my Croatian friends have mainly Mercedes,” she said. “We did own a Peugeot one time but that was unusual. My parents have even shipped cars from Europe to here because they believe in German engineering.”
Oreb’s parents live in Oklahoma.
Her mom works in commercial real estate and her dad’s a hospital administrator. She works with her mom on projects all across the state.
“My dad taught me to drive,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to start driving until 17, because my sister got into six car accidents the first year she was driving. Knock on wood, I have never been in a car accident where I was behind the wheel.”
From the outset Oreb learned to drive cars with standard transmissions.
“I think, when you drive a standard, you’re a better driver,” she said. “Dad has always thought that’s the right way to learn to drive a car.”
She still prefers the stick shift and clutch action that even her new car has.
“My mother hates it. She said, ‘Why on earth would anyone want a standard transmission?’”
Oreb said driver control and interaction with the car are what make the stick shift preferable.
“No one my age knows how to drive one, which is absurd,” she said. “Even guys I know can’t drive a stick.”
In addition to Willie Nelson in the driveway, there’s also a 1981 Mercedes 380 SL and 2006 VW GLI named Maggie May.
“The 380 SL’s name is Grace Kelly, because I’ve always thought if Princess Grace was a car, that’s what she’d look like,”Oreb said. “She has chocolate brown leather interior and cream colored exterior with a hard top, but also a soft top that matches the interior.”
The 380 SL was her main ride for nine years. She had a pair of diesel VW Jettas in high school.
“One of them was so loud, they’d sometimes ask me to turn it off in the drive-through,” she said. “’Miss, we can’t hear to take your order.’”
Fuel sipping VWs are fine, but Grace Kelly more accurately reflects Oreb’s personal style.
“It took me a long time to get used to the idea and find a newer car,” she said. “But when I did, it was, ‘Oh my God.’ I’ve been missing out on air conditioning, modern brakes and other little things that work properly.”
Love for Grace Kelly’s beautiful lines and emotional attachment in general made her difficult to leave for the more mundane albeit reliable GLI.
“My dream car would be a white 1960 Mercedes Benz with red leather interior like Marilyn Monroe had,” she said. “They had it on display for a while at the Mercedes dealership in the city.”
Oreb’s acting career has notably included working with Oklahoma City film director Mickey Reece.
“We have premiers here in Norman at the Opolis,” she said. “Mickey is a good musician, but he loves making movies the most. I play a Croatian gypsy fortune teller in his new movie ‘Airmen’ that’s coming out soon.”
Naturally, Oreb was able to draw on her heritage.
“Mickey had never heard me mimicking my mom’s accent,” she said. “He said, ‘You never told me you could do that. So much potential!’”
“Cars represent freedom to me,” Oreb said. “I love road trips and listening to music with the wind in my hair.”
Her longest auto journey to date has been the 2,200 miles from St. Louis, Mo., to Anacortes, Wa.
“I got a ticket driving in Europe once,” she said. “When you get a ticket in Bosnia, you have to pay cash right up front.”
Oreb’s cousin Carlo had warned her the police go after Americans.
“They just pull people over constantly and then figure out what to fine them for,” she said. “Carlo was so mad because they opened his trunk and ticketed him for not having a reflector on the inside lid.”
Theme songs for Willie Nelson and Maggie May (Rod Stewart) are obvious, but Oreb chose one on the spot for Grace Kelly. “I would say it’s ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel,” she said. That’s the one with lyrics, “Slow down you’re doing fine/ you can’t be everything you want to be before your time.”
Grace may have slowed down a bit, but she’s definitely not past her prime. All she really needs right now is a new windshield. It’s a little cracked.
Willie Nelson, on the other hand, needs nothing.
On the afternoon I met him Oreb was entertaining friends, one of whom was returning to her home in Sweden the next morning.
The Vanagon’s side door was opened and a vase of flowers graced the dining table.
A magnum of champagne appeared and, as if by magic, an impromptu cocktail party was in progress. Willie set about doing what he does best: making people happy.
Have you seen a cool car around Norman? Writer Doug Hill’s always on the lookout for future Dig My Ride columns. E-mail him at Hillreviews@hotmail.com.
