Kyle with his 1986 Volkswagen Jetta

Concerning transportation, car enthusiast, author and automotive writer Kyle Busch began on the ground floor, literally, at the dirt, mud and asphalt. In 1975, at the age of 15, he purchased his first car – a used 1968 VW Beetle. During the ’70s and ’80s, American, Japanese, and European vehicles sharpened and refined his understanding of automobiles.

In 1991, Kyle bought a used car that a private owner had driven 82,000 miles. A short time later, he landed a job that included a company car for traveling a seven-county territory. During the job interview, however, his supervisor forgot to mention that new employees were required to drive their own vehicles during the first year on the job.

Since he needed the job, Busch started driving his car 500-800 miles on back roads and interstates each week and after six months (he was paid mileage when driving the vehicle for work), the automobile paid for itself.

After a year on the job, Busch decided to keep driving his car for work and eventually, it returned many times its purchase price.

1986 Volkswagen Jetta current odometer reading - over 510,000 miles!

In 2002, Busch was a guest on The Elaine Smith Show (Olympia, WA). Rather than flying from the East to the West Coast, Kyle drove cross-county and back covering 5,540 miles in seven days. At the time, his car had 325,000 miles on the odometer. His car now has over 510,000 miles (816,000 km) on the clock.

Kyle’s automotive articles have been featured in numerous media sources including the internationally syndicated Parent to Parent newspaper column. He has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, Southeastern Public Radio (Montgomery, AL), The Driving Force on Wheels (Detroit, MI), and Bankrate.com (North Palm Beach, FL). His book has been featured on MotorWeek-Maryland Public Television.

Since 2008, Kyle has been an automotive writer for the San Francisco Examiner.