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