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.


notice the snow, we were fearless

notice the dented fender, my friend's father backed into the Bug while we were in Cadiz, Ohio


Comments