Goodbye Beetle
Sad news: Volkswagen has decided to discontinue the
manufacturing of the Beetle. The Bug.
My parents bought a Bug in the early 70s. I remember an
uncle muttering under his breath: death trap. It certainly saw its fair share
of crashes. My mother backing out of the driveway and my brother Tom missing a
curve on his way home from college. I rolled a Bug on icy roads outside of
Chillicothe doing the exact thing, coming home on a weekend from OU.
I inherited the Bug while in high school. It was the fun
mobile. A pumpkin-colored putter that I drove everywhere. My friends were used
to waiting for me to come pick them up so we could go do some crazy thing. I can’t
tell you how many times on a road trip we ran out of gas—and this is a car that
got like 45 miles per gallon. We paid for gasoline from the change in the
bottom of our backpacks. I remember several times I had to get towed or call
Dad to come get me—with a gas can.
There are many pictures from that time in my life where me
and my friend Jane are in a parking lot next to the Bug saying goodbye to
friends. When I moved to Chicago I sold the car—at least I think I did. I
seriously cannot remember transferring the title over. That would be something
totally beyond me. More likely I just gave someone the keys.
I miss the Bug. I’ll miss the Volkswagen Beetle—so many
memories.
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| notice the snow, we were fearless |
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| notice the dented fender, my friend's father backed into the Bug while we were in Cadiz, Ohio |
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