- January 6, 2026
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Ginger Galloway, 54, founded Pinstripe Marketing & Interactive in 1998. The marketing firm focuses on business-to-business and professional services industries, such as law, finance, health care, architecture, engineering and construction. Based in St. Petersburg, Pinstripe handles brand strategy, content, public relations, digital marketing and design needs for clients.
Volkswagen Collector. Whenever Galloway is off the clock, she can often be found under the hood or behind the wheel of one of her three vintage Volkswagens: Blanche, a 1978 triple-white convertible Beetle; Rogue, a red 1973 Baja Bug; or Piper, a blue and white 1977 bus. Galloway’s love of vintage Volkswagens led her to join Local Volks, a Tampa Bay area VW community that gathers weekly on the Dunedin Causeway, participates in local car shows and spends weekends camping and cruising in their beloved cars.
Under the hood: Galloway’s love of Volkswagens can be traced back to her St. Petersburg childhood. When she was a teen at Boca Ciega High School, her best friend’s father owned a Tampa Volkswagen parts shop, called Butchers’ Parts for VW, and often invited Galloway to tinker around with them under the hood. For her friend’s 14th birthday, he was given a Volkswagen Beetle shell and a shopping cart, Galloway says, and thus their joint venture began. It took several years and some help from dad, but eventually the two teens built — and caught — the bug. “That experience, just getting to be a part of it and being around Volkswagen all the time I just grew up knowing that these are the coolest cars ever made,” Galloway says. “Of course I grew up with Herbie the Love Bug too, which only made it that much cooler.”
Bit by the bug: Galloway remembers the day she saw her own true love bug. It was Christmas, and her best friend’s sister had driven home from the Panhandle for the holidays in a beautiful, triple-white convertible Volkswagen Beetle. “That was it,” Galloway says. “That was the one.” Of course, her parents thought otherwise. “They were like, ‘absolutely not, you need a newer car, something more reliable,” she says. Instead, Galloway’s first car was a 1998 Dodge Daytona she drove “until the wheels almost came off.” Still, Galloway dreamed about that car for the rest of her life until, in 2018, she finally found Blanche — a triple-white convertible bug of her own and her first Volkswagen.
Double trouble: Blanche led Galloway to a new world: the Local Volks — which led to a new set of wheels. "They are truly the sweetest, coolest most down to earth, salt of the earth people you’ll ever meet,” Galloway says, “but hanging out with them, I realized that you’re allowed to have more than one.”
Full throttle: Next came Rogue, a rouge colored Baja Galloway purchased near the beginning of the pandemic as a more personalized project than baking sourdough or playing with puzzles. And, of course, any good VW collector has to own their own, iconic bus, she says. In 2021, Piper — short for Sandpiper — was added to Galloway’s fleet. The classic VW bus has a backseat that reminds Galloway of a cozy diner, she says, with two benches facing each other and a small table in the middle. “Sometimes I’ll go to the beach and open up my laptop and just work from right there in my bus,” Galloway says. “It can also be a truck if you need to haul stuff, or a camping tent if you’re out with friends. It’s really the most versatile, and it’s got the most personality.”
Hot wheels: Herbie the Love Bug isn’t Galloway’s only VW celebrity crush. Her own Piper, the blue and white 1977 bus, landed a starring role in a 2023 made for Lifetime TV movie called Spring Break Nightmare, filmed in and around St. Petersburg, she says. Piper is driven by the villain of the movie, a handsome yet dangerous surfer dude who kidnaps a competitive surfer named Kayla with help from his friends, dramatically tying her up and throwing her into the back of Galloway’s bus before slamming the door. “I kept watching this movie going, ‘Hey! That’s my car! She’s almost 50 years old, be gentle!,” Galloway says.
Pedal to the medal: Piper also plays a starring role in a music video for the band Algorithm, and Galloway’s other vehicles have been included in various photo shoots, she says. “I try to get them to earn their keep because they are expensive little divas, constantly breaking down,” she says. All three have also made appearances at Bug Jam, the largest Volkswagen show in the Southeast, held in Dade City every year over Veteran’s Day Weekend. Local Volks, which has a large presence on Facebook, always wins the biggest VW club, Galloway says. And while she doesn’t normally enter her cars in competitions, she can’t help but brag that Rogue once won second place in the overall VW Baja competition at the prestigious festival. “So now she’s got her trophy too,” Galloway says.
