 My Volkswagen Story
by: Patrick Sills
As a member of a car club I often wonder what inspires others like myself
to join such an organization.
Certainly the camaraderie, the sense of
being part of a big family, is an important factor. The club I belong
to is devoted to all Volkswagens, old and new. The question for
others fascinated with these cars is, What got us interested in
Volkswagens in the first place? There are probably as many stories of
inspiration
as there are dandelions in my front yard every Spring. With that
said, here is mine.
I was born in 1959, and my memory goes as far back as 1962, when
I was about two and a half years old. In those days generally only one
parent was the breadwinner, as was the case with my father. We only had
one car, and besides, my mother didn't know how to drive. The car we had
was a 1957 Oval Window Beetle that was purchased "new" in Kansas
City, Missouri. I say "new" because at that time there were
waiting lists much like there would be forty-one years later when the
New Beetle first hit showrooms. Back in 1957, my father's 1946 Chevy was
worn out and he started his search for a new car. He became interested
in Volkswagens after reading about them in the popular publications of
the day.
A good ten years before hippies would exercise the concept of nonconformity,
my father decided that he wanted a car that would stand out from
the usual gigantic, tail-finned, gas-guzzling dinosaurs that roamed the
streets
during that period. It cost less,too. For a tad over $1700 he acquired
a salesman's demonstrator with just a few kilometers showing on
the odometer. Yes, kilometers (for those of you US readers). This was
a European-spec
model, complete with semaphore turn-signals (literally, for those
not familiar with Volkswagens, an arm that flapped out of the side of
both
doors that flashed, indicating which direction the driver intended
to turn)as well as one-piece bumpers. (US-spec models had overriders.)
Thanks
to my father, I knew the difference between miles and kilometers
by the time I was just five years old. It was amusing to watch my friends
gasp
as we would cruise down the highway at 62 miles an hour while they
thought we were going 100.
It would be many years before I would start driving, but I knew
that I would be driving a Volkswagen someday. When I was in elementary
school in the mid and late 1960's, the Muscle-Car Era, the boys in my
classes would argue which cars were better, depending, of course, on what
their fathers drove. Most of the time it was Mustang vs. Corvette vs.
Charger vs. GTO. I got many laughs when I contributed Volkswagens to the
debates, but I didn't care. I thought the "bug" was better-looking
than any of those cars, and I still do. I didn't and still don't care
about 0-60 times. It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
and VW owners can all concur.
Sadly, in 1970, after 13 years of dependable service and about 257,000
kilometers (160,000 miles,) my father had decided that it was no
longer cost-effective to keep the car. Many trips to Oklahoma and the
perpetual road salt that covered highways during Midwest winters had taken
their toll, and when the amateur patching of bodywork no longer helped
it was time to say good-bye to our Beetle. A salvage yard offered a mere
$25 for the VW, so my father gave it to a friend to use as a parts car.
I vividly remember fighting back tears as the friend gave us a ride back
to our home. It was as if we had lost a member of the family, and
as far as I was concerned we had.
I got my Drivers' License in 1976, but I was in a hand-me-down Ford
Maverick. Considering the manner in which I drove at 16, it's nothing
short of a miracle that I am alive to tell this tale nearly thirty years
later. Moving on to 1978, I at last had my own Volkswagen, a 1971 Super
Beetle. In the early 1980's I had two more Beetles. In 2000, after trying
various other makes I longed for a VW again and bought a 1996 Golf, followed
by a 1969 Beetle three years later. Up to that time I was the only member
of our VW club who did not own a classic air-cooled model from the early
years. In nearly 46 years of life in this world, I have calculated that
22 of those have been with a Volkswagen.
I have reached the point of no return now. I will always own a VW
of some sort. My 8-year-old daughter has already picked her first car;
a New Beetle. Kids have a tendency to change their minds quite often as
new interests are acquired, but in this case, I don't think she will.
It runs in the family.
Pat Sills is an avid Volkswagen enthusiast and writes articles and
feature stories for his club's Newsletter. His first novel, REUNIONS,
was published in March, 2005. Check it out at: authorsden.com/patricksills
Photo courtesy Authorsden.com & Patrick Sills
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