The "Winter Car"
Temporary mobility was ensured by obtaining a second vehicle.

A 1995 Polo Coupe with a 1,3 liter Diesel engine und 96,000 km (60,000 miles) came in handy.

It also was a fairly rare car because this body style had been discontinued by VW in mid '94. 

However, Volkswagen continued a limited production line at the special request of  Deutschen Telekom until the end of '95.

The car's initial registration was as an "LKW" (the German word for "semi truck") therefore the dark windows in the back and the truck bed inside.

The papers were clear:
"Fahrzeug Typ:   LKW"
"Bauart:               Kasten Geschlossen"
Due to a tax and insurance disadvantage it later became necessary to have the Polo reregistered as a "PKW" (the German identification for a car).

The law allows a different insurance class as well as the tax categorization into a low emissions rate which drastically reduced the cost.
The car gave a cared for impression and ran well. The battery was somewhat worn and discharged which lead to a little bit of trouble starting it up. To our great surprise, everything else worked perfectly and no repairs were necessary.

Oh, and just to mention, the dealer threw in a fresh safety inspection and exhaust gas inspection.
The "Donor Car"
One of the downsides of driving a 20 year old car is that spare parts start to be difficult to come by. For this purpose we bought a second Audi of the same model and turned it into our personal spare parts stock.

It had to be cheap, full of spare parts and have a running engine identical to the one in our car. - I love eBay!
After a 300 mile ride, we loaded our new gadget onto a trailer and brought it home in December 2006.

Besides a rich harvest in spare parts, we primarily valued the learning effect that was associated with the disassembly. Our experience grew with every new piece and part that occupied a new space on the shelf.
And we broke almost nothing!

Whether it was an engine part or a piece of window trim, everything was wrapped, labeled and stored for later use.

Armed with mobility and spare parts, we then started the disassembly of "the real thing".