By the time we got to Woodstock

We were half a million strong

And everywhere there was song and celebration

And I dreamed I saw the bombers

Riding shotgun in the sky

—“Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell

No one really knows since they lost count almost as soon as the gates opened, or were overran—take your pick—but an estimated 400,000 people or more attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August of 1969 at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York, more than 60 miles away from the actual Woodstock, New York. We’ll spare the joke about only 2,000,000 people remembering having gone there, but that point is relevant to our story.

The legacy of Woodstock continues to fascinate Americans, even those weren’t even born in 1969. Take Stephen Paris, a first-year cadet (a.k.a. fourth class, a.k.a. freshman) at the State University of New York Maritime College in The Bronx, New York. As part of his American Civilization II course, Stephen and a classmate, Salvatore Macaluso, began a project to track down cars that actually carried concert goers to the festival. More specifically, they are trying to find any Volkswagens that might have been there, be they Type 1 sedans, Type 2 microbuses or even the sportier or more square variants of the world’s most-loved air-cooled car.

Seeking the original cars that represent the era of expression, peace and free love.