I have owned two VWs, I came close a couple of times but I have never owned a Beetle. The first summer I lived in Florida, I was looking at a Beetle, it was owned by a woman about my age, she agreed to sell it to me. I want back a few days later with cash to buy it, and she showed me what was left of it. Her brother had heard that she didn't want it, so he cut it up to make a dune buggy over the weekend. Oh well, close.
I spent a couple of years trying to find a Beetle Convertible. Most were too rusty to drive, and my then spouse never learned to drive a manual transmission, leading to disagreements, to me not buying the good one I found. Close.
I had a Rabbit diesel for a year or so. It was lemon yellow, and great fun to drive. But, it had been overheated and fried before I bought it, and was a mechanical nightmare. I moved on.
I currently have a VW Eos hardtop convertible. I have had it three years, bought it used with not very many miles on it. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. Especially on a pleasant day with the top down.
So did I travel with any of them? The Rabbit never left central Florida, the convertible I have never left town with. The travel is local. And it does get me around town.
I still would like to own a classic Beetle. They have a simplicity, that is intriguing.
I too love the classic Beetle, but I also loved the newer style that came out in the ´90s (with the flower vase). SG had a red Rabbit when we met. It was quickly replaced with a Jetta. We then bought a gray Rabbit when we briefly lived in LA in the early '80s. No VWs since then. And VW's recent environmental fraud has left a bad taste in my mouth.
ReplyDeleteA Rabbit Pickup just popped up in my FB ads.
DeleteNo air con. Forget a Beetle.
ReplyDeleteHow did we live without it
DeleteMy first car was a 19659 VW Bug, with dark blue body and light blue fenders and actual stripped carpeting inside. It ran like a top until it didn't but then only cost a few bucks to fix. That car took me all over California and I loved it.
ReplyDeletelots of great memories, and simple
DeleteMy brother owned a VW beetle in the 1960s. It was a total lemon.
ReplyDeleteSad when that happens
DeleteI've never owned a VW. In the early 70's I rode to San Diego with a friend in her Beetle. I have to admit that was a very uncomfortable trip. I don't think they were made for long road trips.
ReplyDeleteGermany is a much smaller country
DeleteBalder Half owned a dark blue Beetle (automatic clutch, weird) when he was 16. He tried to teach me to drive in it. I ran it into a small ditch. Cute car when I was small enough to ride in it. Not so cute when one gains so much weight that they're wearing it. I always wanted a red convertible bug with a black interior.
ReplyDeleteA red convertible sounds perfect
DeleteMy parents brought a Beetle back to the States when they came back from Germany many years ago. Fast forward to the 70s, my dad bought a diesel VW Rabbit during the energy crisis. The fuel was inexpensive and the MPG was really good. When I graduated from college, my parents gave a 4-cylinder, stick shift VW Rabbit to me. My first car and I couldn't drive it! My brothers taught me how to drive a stick shift. What a feeling of freedom to have my own car.
ReplyDeleteI like my diesel rabbit, I just couldn't keep it running. My middle brother can teach anyone to drive a manual transmission, he has such patience
DeleteI think I wanted a VW beetle solely because I loved the "Herby" movies.
ReplyDeleteSassybear
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