Car #2: April 1988 - June 1990
1970 VW Bug

TALL KID IN LITTLE CAR


When I got my bug, it was in terrific shape. That only lasted two years, the way I drove this thing. I'd take it 70 MPH in 25-zoned backroads. I drove over a 2-by-4 in the highway and popped my fender clean off. I actually drove it backwards down a cliff once (a long amusing story best told over beers).

In the end, I traded with my Dad: the car for a PC computer for my video store (a 286!!). The PC was worth $1000, so I said "what the heck." My Dad needed a hobby anyway, and figured he could repair the Bug for resale. Sure enough, within just one year, he resold the car for THREE GRAND, and by then the PC wasn't even worth its weight in wet badgers. Good on ya, Dad!

He told me it was a miracle he got anything at all, since the engine had to be completely replaced. "Did you ever even change the oil?" he asked. "Change it into what?" I said. Driver's ed never teaches you about oil changes. As I recall, my argument was something like, "but this car is water-cooled; it doesn't even need oil, does it?" This car never had a chance.

DAMAGE INFLICTED:
Blown tie rod, dents in both bumpers, popped off rear fender





Copyright © 2006 David C. Lovelace