MY 1961 VOLKSWAGEN BUG

Lou just bought a brand new blue 2015 Mustang last week! It is a really cool car with all kinds of bells & whistles. It got us talking about all the cars we've owned in our lifetimes. Hands down, my craziest car ever was a used 1961 Volkswagen bug. Back then no one called them a beetle, they were VW bugs.

Since I didn't get my driver's license until my 16th birthday in March of 1966, it was about 10 years old when my ex-husband & I purchased it for $400. To trick it out a little, I bought one of those covers that laced around the steering wheel & spray painted the wheels lime green to make the black car stand out. If any of you ever owned an ancient VW, you know they were unique cars - & not necessarily in a positive way. Yes, they got good gas mileage & were super cheap but they also had numerous quirks & gimmicks that made driving a real adventure.

My favorite idiosyncrasy by far was the reserve gas tank. My little black bug didn't have a gas gauge. I guess the Germans in their infinite wisdom didn't see the need for a gauge when you had the reserve tank. This was a separate container next to the regular gas tank attached by some sort of hose or something. When the gas tank ran dry & the car began to sputter, you took your right foot & flipped a small metal lever on the floor near the gas pedal. This allowed the half gallon of gas in the reserve tank to flow into the main tank. You had to immediately start pumping the gas like mad to get the engine fired up again. And you had about 10 - 15 miles to find a gas station & fill up. A lovely invention!

Another feature that added to my anxiety was that there weren't door locks on the inside. If you wanted to lock the doors, it had to be done with your key from the outside. Wanting the safety of locked doors, I developed the habit of unlocking the door with my key then locking it again while it was open so when I was inside the door was locked. The interior door handle would open the door but it remained locked from the outside if closed again.

One morning on my way to work I grabbed a bag of garbage to chuck in the dumpster at the end of the parking lot. It was windy & raining as I jumped out to dump the garbage. In that couple of seconds, the door blew shut. Damn it, damn it, damn it - the car was running & I'm locked out getting drenched by the minute. My husband had already left for work with the extra key. Double damn it! Fortunately I noticed that the small triangle shaped wind wing (if you are too young to know what that is, Google it) was not locked. I was able to push it open, then using some contortionist skills managed to twist my arm far enough through the small window to grab the door handle. That afternoon I purchased a magnetic key holder, had an extra key made & hid it under the fender.

Speaking of driving that car in the rain, the wipers had one speed - approximately once every 4 - 5 seconds the tiny wipers would slowly swipe in front of my face. The windshield would immediately fog up in the rain. If it had a defroster, which I doubt, it didn't work. In the winter I kept a box of Kleenex in the front seat so I could grab one & wipe the inside of the windshield in order to sort of see out. Plus the heater was useless so I kept a small afghan in the car to cover up with in the cold. It's a wonder I never got in a wreck with that car, but I didn't.

If you have ever driven an old VW shifting it into reverse was a real art form. The small gear shift had to be pushed straight down, then moved to the left & up. You needed a great deal of strength to push that lever down. I developed a technique were I would slam it down hard with all my weight which sometimes worked. I can't remember how many times I looked behind me to back up only to have the car lurch forward since I wasn't in reverse. Hmmm, maybe that's where my habit of swearing profusely while driving started????

Years ago I recalled reading the requirements on a "Learn to Juggle" book. It said if you can find reverse in a Volkswagen you can learn to juggle. I decided right then & there I'd never be a juggler.

On a perfectly flat road you could eventually get the car up to 60 - 65 miles per hour but on a slight incline, the top speed was about 50. Good luck attempting to drive up a steep hill - you'd be in 2nd gear chugging along at about 10 mph. I had heard that people often put sand bags in the front trunk (engine was in the rear) to give the car more traction & weight. I was a believer after driving across the San Mateo Bridge one day when a gust of wind literally moved my car into the next lane! Scared the crap out of me!

We only had that car for a few years & it served its purpose of getting me to & from work. In hindsight I enjoyed the quirks & craziness of my black bug with the bright green wheels. But I was thankful to survive it & not at all sad to see it go when we upgraded to a brand new 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit when I found out I was pregnant!