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Thursday, 17 May 2007 11:07

Bug Bit!

The VW Beetle is where it all begins and ends for me.

Old Jack

When I was very young, I remember seeing my father off to work as he drove away in, what seemed to me, an ancient 1948 Kaiser.  For years, that old Kaiser mystified me and was my father's "work car" for as long I as I could remember.  However, in the fall of 1964, my father changed jobs and the driving days of the Kaiser were numbered.  Now faced with a daily commute of about 80 miles per day, he knew that the old Kaiser would not stand up to driving.  Already, parts were becoming difficult to find and my father did everything he could to keep the old behemoth running.

Knowing that he would need a newer car to drive, my father set out to find just the right car to replace the Kaiser.  This was a family decision as my father's new car would also serve as a second family car.  It had to be newer, reliable, practical and serviceable.  As he shopped around, the one car he swore that he would never own on a bet was the humble Volkswagen Beetle.  As fate would have it, this was the very car he decided on!  After test driving several models of cars, my father chose a 1961 Volkswagen Beetle sedan.

Over the years, my family came to loving recall this 1961 Beetle as "Old Jack".  My father drove it daily to and from work as I was growing up.  The miles were quickly put on that little car as he meticulously maintained it.  At first, it took a while for my father to learn the proverbial "ins and outs", but in time it was an investment that more than paid for itself.

During the mid-1970s, when I got old enough to drive, my father showed me how to drive in "Old Jack".  Before we started out, my father told me:

"Treat him like an old man and don't wind his tail."

This stuck with me for two reasons.  First, Old Jack was approaching the 200,000 milestone on an engine that had not been rebuilt over 100,000 miles earlier.  Second, Old Jack was not a race car and I knew it.  It was built for economy - not speed.  Nevertheless, Old Jack became my first car and I had a blast driving him.  Then again, I guess my father figured that I could not get into too much trouble driving Old Jack.

Even after a decade as a commuter car and surviving my fledgling teen-age driving habits, Old Jack continued on.  My three younger sisters all took turns learning how to drive in Old Jack - with my oldest sister, April, favoring this aging family icon the most.  Still, even after this, Old Jack continue to serve as my father's "daily driver" until he and Old Jack retired in 1985.  Old Jack was given to me during that year for restoration.

In 1989, I fired up Old Jack for the last time.  With over 214,000 miles logged, I took Old Jack for one final drive around the neighborhood before completely dismantling him for a thorough and total restoration.  In checking with the Volkswagen archives, I discovered that all the production serial numbers matched - uncommon for a Volkswagen Bug because engines and parts are fairly interchangeable.

The Projects

Shortly after beginning restoration work on Old Jack, I started looking for "project" Beetles.  There was something about taking a "basket case Beetle" and restoring it to running condition that intrigued me.  Old Jack was a "restore to original" project, but I wanted a daily driver.  Well, one project led to another.

I began with a 1970 Beetle sedan.  My wife was a bit skeptical when I told her that it needed an engine and some work.  She was horrified when I dragged home little more than a shell of a car.  A few months later, I had it running and in drivable condition much to her amazement.  Unfortunately, it did not stop there.  Over the next few years, I took on several more projects - 1968 Beetle Sedan, 1971 Super Beetle Sedan and a 1976 Beetle Sedan.  By 1991, I was getting to the point where I wanted to have only one project Beetle.  Preferring the 1976 Beetle, I reduced my "inventory" - keeping Old Jack and the 1976.

As fate would have it, the 1976 Beetle was wrecked when a neighbor's truck got away from him and slammed into the side of my 1976 Bug.

"Battlescar"

Out of the insurance settlement, I bought a 1975 Beetle Sedan in 1991.  This was my first Beetle that I did not have to put together before I could drive it.  From the beginning, I suspected that the car was not "original" and soon figured out it's history.  Still, it was a great car.  For a decade, I drove it to and from work and averaged about 25,000 miles a year.  I began calling it "Battlescar" because it always seemed like a battle driving the Seattle area freeways.

The previous owners said the car had 60,000 miles and bought it from the grandson of a little old lady who only drove it to church on Sunday (right).  I suspect that 160,000 miles was more like it.  Because the car was equipped with "smog controls", there was a box on the speedometer cable that "slowed" the odometer by .15 miles (1-1/5 tenths) every mile.  When I finally retired Battlescar, in 2001, I calculated that it had been driven nearly 320,000 miles and I put more than half of those miles on it!

Below are a few pictures of my "hobby"...

	I have always been around Volkswagen Beetles.  I grew up with the 1961 Beetle my father bought in 1964, but I was "Bug Bit" real bad a while back and this photo proves it!  Shown here are four of the six Beetles I have owned: 1961 Standard Sedan (light blue, left center) 1970 Standard Sedan (dark blue), center foreground 1971 Super Beetle Sedan (Yellow, left center and right of the '61) 1976 Standard Sedan (Silver, in front of the garage)
	This photo was taken a short while later when I was putting a rebuilt engine in the yellow 1971 Super Beetle Sedan.  At this time, the 1961 Beetle (foreground) was running and 100% functional.  The 1976 Standard Sedan (at left in front of the '61) just received a fresh Fuel Injected engine I rebuilt and installed without manuals!   As you can see, a freshly rebuilt engine sits on a dolly behind the yellow '71 Super Beetle. While this hobby always kept me busy, it really "bugged" my wife as I was always looking for yet another project to drag home.
	This is me behind my first "project" Bug (1970 Sedan) working on the engine. At first, my wife was a little skeptical when I brought this car home.  Yet, I pieced everything back together - scrounging a part here, cannibalizing a part there. It was not a "show stopper", but it made a great daily driver to get me to and from work!