Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Did you see my vlog that featured a scrolling list of the different cars that I’ve owned over the years? One of the marques missing from my earlier years of driving and collecting cars is Volkswagen. For some reason and I don’t know why (but have an idea) there were no Volkswagens on that list until Mary and I were married. So here’s where we pick up my VW history to date…
As he started his new family, Mary’s father bought a brand new 1954 Beetle and somewhere I have a photograph of her as a little girl with her Mom and Dad standing next to their brand new VW. If I can find it, I’ll add it to this post. As the family grew, her Dad replaced that Bug with a 1957 Bus that was used to haul her (ultimately) eight siblings around.
Before Mary and I were married neither one of us owned any kind of Volkswagen but since then we have owned four. The first was a used first generation white VW Cabriolet that costs us more in repairs and maintenance in the few years we owned it than the car’s purchase price. Mary loved that car. The next VW was a new 1999 New Beetle for me but it started falling apart almost as soon as we bought it but all repairs were under warranty. It was followed by a new limited edition 2002 VW GTI 337 that was fun to drive for both of us but also subject to many warranty repairs from the dreaded 1.8 liter engine coil problem to power window glass that dropped into the doors… and stayed there.
Then a few years ago, I found Mary a lightly used 2016 Beetle convertible that has been (knocking on wood) the best, most reliable and economical VW that we’ve ever owned, which brings me to… Volkswagen Beetles and Buses
Look for a review of this new book, real soon now.
- Volkswagen Beetles and Buses
- Hardcover: 176 pages
- Publisher: Motorbooks
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0760367663
- ISBN-13: 978-0760367667
- Price: $39.77 (Amazon Prime, as I write this.)