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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Inspirational
- Subject: Biography / Autobiography
- Published: 09/30/2020
Beetle Stories...not those Beatles!
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United StatesAloha All,
On my walk today I went by a VW Beetle with Surfboards on top. It is in primo condition. Not customized at all, except for the surfboard racks on the roof. It doesn’t have a bit of rust on it anywhere, and the interior is pristine. Just a plan old VW. But then the memories hit…
1) Riding in George's beat up old red 1963 Beetle. George was the first of us to own a car. He had a VW Beetle. No floorboards. He had a piece of cardboard on the Driver’s side Floorboard so he could use the clutch. On the passengers side, you sat watching the red bricks of the city streets slowly pass under you…and in the suburbs - asphalt. Funnily enough, you would get sea sick if you looked down at the missing floorboard to long. And many a shoe was lost to folks who forgot and accidentally put their foot down. LOL.
2) Over in Germany, I got to use my buddies VW Beetle for six weeks while he was gone on Leave. It wasn’t anything special, but it had floorboards! Well, it was winter over there then, so I had to use the heater. And you learn why the old joke about VW heaters is so popular among Beatle Owners. What’s the joke?
A guy is taken to the emergency room. He has second degree burns on one foot. The other foot has severe frostbite. The Doctor takes one look and says: “Oh. A VW Beatle Heater injury. “
3) When I was in Junior College a running buddy offered to let me buy his VW Beetle: “Try it for a week. If you don’t like it, I will sell it to someone else.” Well, I had just broken up with my Old Girl Friend. I had no job except for my Army Reserve check once a month, and my GI Bill stipend. He wanted only $300 bucks for the darn thing. It had floorboards…so that was impressive. And the stick shift wasn’t made from an old yardstick like George’s VW. LOL
It worked fine for a day. The next day I had to jump the battery. Three times. I bought a new battery. It worked fine…for a day. Next was an alternator. It worked fine…for a day. Then the belt went on the engine. I replaced it too. It worked fine…for a day. Then reverse failed. Every time I wanted to back up, I had to get out and push. That worked fine…for a day. A week later I gave him his car back. He was honest, and paid me back for the battery, alternator, and the belt drive. I also had polished and waxed the whole car- and detailed the interior.
He thanked me for prettying the darn thing up. He sold it that afternoon for $1,000. He gave me a $100 for making the car “sellable.” LOL
4) I dated a girl for a while. She went to Miami of Ohio. She had the cutest little dark green VW Beetle. And like everything that girl owned, it was immaculate. She dressed like a magazine photo op was about to happen. Her apartment looked like it came out of a “Better Homes and Garden” add. She wasn’t a perfectionist, but she kept everything neat and presentable around her. She was one of the most organized folks I ever had the pleasure of meeting, let alone date.
She would drive up to Cleveland to get me…and then we would take that green VW all over the place. She named her: “Emmy”. Which was short for Emerald, which was the color of the car. I waxed the car for her birthday, and you would have thought I bought her a diamond ring. She made me hop in the car, we drove to her parents house, and she had her Dad, Mom, and her two big little brothers (who were way bigger than me!) come out and admire the Wax job and the polished interior. I can’t fix anything mechanical at all…nor can I use tools.
But to me, cars are just like my old boots and dress shoes in the Army…I can spit shine better than just about anybody. Same with detailing a car…when I waxed your car…it shone. When I did interiors, I shampooed and shined the metal parts. When I was done with a car…you could put it in a showroom. And it might take two days to finish making it shine!
We broke up (not really, we just became friends) and she would have me detail her car every semester…and she paid me with dinner and some cold hard cash too. I bet Emmy still runs.
And last, but not least, I was in the Army in Hawaii and my roommate had a beat up old orange VW Beetle with a Blue hood from another VW on the trunk. Which was the front of the car, since the engine was in the back. He called his VW Beetle : “Pusher”. I soon found out why. You had to push it to get it into gear…so no charge for the ride into Wahiawa Town to go to McDonald’s - as long as you pushed the car to start it. On the Pali Highway, well, you might have to get out and push it up over the ridge…it didn’t do well on hills. And like my friend in Germany’s Beetle, no reverse. So you had to push it into parking spots.
So there you go. All these memories from just seeing a Cherry VW Beetle Surf Buggy in a yard this morning. Pics below!
Smiles, Kevin
Beetle Stories...not those Beatles!(Kevin Hughes)
Aloha All,
On my walk today I went by a VW Beetle with Surfboards on top. It is in primo condition. Not customized at all, except for the surfboard racks on the roof. It doesn’t have a bit of rust on it anywhere, and the interior is pristine. Just a plan old VW. But then the memories hit…
1) Riding in George's beat up old red 1963 Beetle. George was the first of us to own a car. He had a VW Beetle. No floorboards. He had a piece of cardboard on the Driver’s side Floorboard so he could use the clutch. On the passengers side, you sat watching the red bricks of the city streets slowly pass under you…and in the suburbs - asphalt. Funnily enough, you would get sea sick if you looked down at the missing floorboard to long. And many a shoe was lost to folks who forgot and accidentally put their foot down. LOL.
2) Over in Germany, I got to use my buddies VW Beetle for six weeks while he was gone on Leave. It wasn’t anything special, but it had floorboards! Well, it was winter over there then, so I had to use the heater. And you learn why the old joke about VW heaters is so popular among Beatle Owners. What’s the joke?
A guy is taken to the emergency room. He has second degree burns on one foot. The other foot has severe frostbite. The Doctor takes one look and says: “Oh. A VW Beatle Heater injury. “
3) When I was in Junior College a running buddy offered to let me buy his VW Beetle: “Try it for a week. If you don’t like it, I will sell it to someone else.” Well, I had just broken up with my Old Girl Friend. I had no job except for my Army Reserve check once a month, and my GI Bill stipend. He wanted only $300 bucks for the darn thing. It had floorboards…so that was impressive. And the stick shift wasn’t made from an old yardstick like George’s VW. LOL
It worked fine for a day. The next day I had to jump the battery. Three times. I bought a new battery. It worked fine…for a day. Next was an alternator. It worked fine…for a day. Then the belt went on the engine. I replaced it too. It worked fine…for a day. Then reverse failed. Every time I wanted to back up, I had to get out and push. That worked fine…for a day. A week later I gave him his car back. He was honest, and paid me back for the battery, alternator, and the belt drive. I also had polished and waxed the whole car- and detailed the interior.
He thanked me for prettying the darn thing up. He sold it that afternoon for $1,000. He gave me a $100 for making the car “sellable.” LOL
4) I dated a girl for a while. She went to Miami of Ohio. She had the cutest little dark green VW Beetle. And like everything that girl owned, it was immaculate. She dressed like a magazine photo op was about to happen. Her apartment looked like it came out of a “Better Homes and Garden” add. She wasn’t a perfectionist, but she kept everything neat and presentable around her. She was one of the most organized folks I ever had the pleasure of meeting, let alone date.
She would drive up to Cleveland to get me…and then we would take that green VW all over the place. She named her: “Emmy”. Which was short for Emerald, which was the color of the car. I waxed the car for her birthday, and you would have thought I bought her a diamond ring. She made me hop in the car, we drove to her parents house, and she had her Dad, Mom, and her two big little brothers (who were way bigger than me!) come out and admire the Wax job and the polished interior. I can’t fix anything mechanical at all…nor can I use tools.
But to me, cars are just like my old boots and dress shoes in the Army…I can spit shine better than just about anybody. Same with detailing a car…when I waxed your car…it shone. When I did interiors, I shampooed and shined the metal parts. When I was done with a car…you could put it in a showroom. And it might take two days to finish making it shine!
We broke up (not really, we just became friends) and she would have me detail her car every semester…and she paid me with dinner and some cold hard cash too. I bet Emmy still runs.
And last, but not least, I was in the Army in Hawaii and my roommate had a beat up old orange VW Beetle with a Blue hood from another VW on the trunk. Which was the front of the car, since the engine was in the back. He called his VW Beetle : “Pusher”. I soon found out why. You had to push it to get it into gear…so no charge for the ride into Wahiawa Town to go to McDonald’s - as long as you pushed the car to start it. On the Pali Highway, well, you might have to get out and push it up over the ridge…it didn’t do well on hills. And like my friend in Germany’s Beetle, no reverse. So you had to push it into parking spots.
So there you go. All these memories from just seeing a Cherry VW Beetle Surf Buggy in a yard this morning. Pics below!
Smiles, Kevin
Gail Moore
09/30/2020I love your story Kevin and have many VW stories.
Best one.....
Picked a nice red one up for $100 from a friend. Had nice sheepskin dash. She had spent hours gluing it on.
Parked it out front of the house.
Came home just in time to see 4 big burley guys preparing to put it into a junk truck.
It was the annual inorganic collection time.
They apologised and laughed all the way down the road. :-)
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Kevin Hughes
10/01/2020Gail,
That's hilarious! One of my buddies keeps his car mechanically in tip top shape...and the driver's seat. The rest of his car looks like a beat up old junker. He says it keeps People from stealing his cars! LOL
You gotta love sheepskin. LOL. Smiles, Kevin
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