THE BUG
When I graduated from college, I bought a brand new VW Bug. It cost $1600. It listed for less, but I paid extra for a radio and undercoating. I put down $200, my pop paid the rest. When I got a job, I gave him $200 a month and it was fully paid for by Christmas.
My 1968 bug had 53 horsepower and could reach speeds of almost 65 MPH…80 if going downhill. The air cooled engine never overheated. The rear engine positioned extra weight over large (for the size of the car) rear drive tires, giving it excellent traction in the snow. The Bug got me through high water (they claim the damn thing could float) and heavy snow. I never got stuck.
The best thing about the Bug was it was a friendly car. It was cute. It was unintimidating. I was never challenged to drag race at a stop light. The Bug had a friendly horn, a cute little beep-beep. I used the horn often, and no one ever shot me that middle finger salutation.
My Dad bought a VW Bug in 1955. There were almost no Bugs on the road in 1955. Whenever you did pass another Bug, both cars would respond with a beep-beep greeting. In 1968, when I bought my Bug, there were millions on the road. I passed other Bugs all the time; still the beep-beep tradition was followed.
I think the best thing about my Bug is it was an anti-road rage car. It was impossible to get angry at the Bug. When I went up a hill and couldn’t go faster than 50 MPH, the cars behind would never get angry. They knew it was not my fault, it’s a Bug!
I miss my Bug; I sold it for $50 when it was twenty four years old and it was still running as good as ever. Well almost as good as ever. To this day I am still sorry I sold it.
The world was a better place when the Bug was in production. With the Bug off the road, driver courtesy has disappeared. The road has not been the same since the piece-sign painted, plastic-daisy on the antennae Bugs left it.
My roots are half German. I am told the German people are a strict, rigid, serious people. The Bug was the exact opposite of those stereotypes.
Germany gave us Hitler, but it also gave us THE BUG.
Beep-Beep!
a re-run from February 2015
My roots are German too with some Swedish thrown in and I remember bugs, but here in Australia they were called Beetles. There are new versions of Beetles here now, but they look too different, not as friendly as the originals. We never had a bug/beetle, but when we had four small children, we had a VW Kombi, with 2 wide bench seats behind the driver, so each child had a window seat with plenty of space between so there was no fighting.
ReplyDeleteI envy you. I never owned a Bug but always yearned for one. A friend let me drive hers occasionally but she refused to sell it to me... grins.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the punch buggy thing that became popular in the 90's, but now that you mention the beeping, I think I get it!
ReplyDeleteMy folks got one, used, in the late 50's. It went to the farm with us when we moved and no, it NEVER got stuck darn it. We made it to school down those country roads every single day and the neighbouring farm kids went with us. No bus? No problem! We had a Bug.
ReplyDeleteOh the memories ... it was a very nice and friendly car. In the UK it was called the VW Beetle. The air cooled engine was clever, as well as having it in the back.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you.
What a great post on the Bug. So spot on too. I remember the beep beep.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and week, Joe. 😎
We had a couple through the years and I miss mine too.
ReplyDeleteThey were so worth every penny, we have a gentleman who lives near us who keeps his mid-60's Bug in perfect condition and we all love seeing it.
ReplyDeleteI also regret selling our bug in 1978. Romeo had put in a slighter more powerful engine in it. I recall having to remember to turn off the radio, or the battery would be dead in the morning. One day I discovered the shell remains of a cicada right on top of the steering wheel.....the bug wanted to take a joy ride in the Bug...haha
ReplyDeleteYou know I am smiling big time now. I totally LOVE that little car and like you am sorry I sold mine. You may have a good point about the lack of road rage. Bugs didn't foster anger, they just made even the grumpy smile. With the engine in the back, at high speeds they almost became airborne. But I remember the coolest commercial years ago. The announcer says, "Do you ever wonder how the snowplow driver gets to the snowplow." Then he gets into his Bug and heads fearlessly into the snow.
ReplyDeleteGotta Love em.
The Bug always made people smile. We need it now more than ever. It went out of production once before and just maybe, it will return agin in the future.
ReplyDeleteI never had a Bug, or a Beetle, but I did buy a VW Quantum station wagon in 1986 when we moved to Mexico. Between Zacatecas and Saltillo there's a stretch of highway that is straight as an arrow for 40 miles or more. I could get the Quantum over 100 mph there, bragging to SWMBO "German engineering!"
ReplyDeleteVW Bug was numerous back then, and now they are rare.
ReplyDeleteWhen my daughter was about 18, she had a view of herself, driving a robin egg blue Bug convertible, her blonde ponytail blowing in the wind.
My college roommate had a dark green bug. I can still hear that horn, while reading your post.
ReplyDeleteI recall in late fifties early sixties a frugal large over 6 foot tall musician friend who unfolded daily out of his bug which he drove half way across the U.S. Midwestern state to join the quintet on a live morning TV show — the bug a rare sight at the time. Fast forward to 30 years ago — whizzing up an L. A. Calif. area with my Dtr and her then boyfriend in his German make car as suddenly a number of bugs went flying past us. “A bug run!”, he said. I’d never heard of such a thing but apparently a popular activity among bug owners. Probably much easier to organize with digital now, if they still have bug runs.
ReplyDeleteIn Germany, they are called "Käfer." Which translates, logically, to "Bug." Never had one... :-(
ReplyDelete