Experiences of classic car users as retro leisure participant: Volkswagen Beetle (Vosvos) special interest group

Retro leisure time refers to the leisure time activities participated through the revival of a past leisure activity or through a retro product or service. This study aims to understand and explain the participation behaviors of the interest group members of Volkswagen Beetle (Vosvos) classic car participated in retro leisure activities. The current research is a case study of the qualitative research designs. Data collection was performed through interviews, participant observations, document analysis and researcher diary in 2020-21. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis method. The results show that the users of classic Vosvos cars are a group of "serious retro leisure" activity participants that ascribes identity to Vosvos, draw attention, characterize themselves, give meaning to Vosvos, put the participants to expense, and feel good. The participants started to be Vosvos users resulting from their inherited interest in the user profile from their family and childhood, and curiosity about the past. The primary reasons holding the participants together are cooperating, attractiveness, feeling good, socializing, feeling nostalgic, and having an emotional connection and passion with the Vosvos. According to the experiences of classic Vosvos car users, they are a group of retro leisure activity participants who connected passionately, socializing through their hobbies, experiencing nostalgia, creating special connections, becoming experienced in the subjects like technique and maintenance, and have a high level of cooperation. For future research, it is recommended to conduct research on different retro leisure activities such as atari, remastered and street games, Halloween celebrations and retro sports. Key words: Nostalgia, Authenticity, Case Study, Serious Leisure, Postmodernism