A VW Story: Air-Cooled Dream Goes Full Circle

During my senior year of college in 1987, my dad gave me some money to buy my own car. I can only guess that he got tired of me constantly tinkering with our family car and borrowing it to drive to school and other curricular (and extra-curricular) activities. I’ve always liked the Volkswagen Beetle, especially Herbie the Love Bug (from the 1968 Disney movie), so I immediately perused the Classified Ads section of the newspapers and asked classmate and friends if they know of a nice Beetle for sale, keeping in mind the modest budget that my dad gave me.

Mind you, this was way before Facebook Marketplace and other online vehicle sales portals, so it was pretty exciting for me, a then-22-year-old college senior, to look for my first car. I had to manage my time – attending classes, doing the required schoolwork, completing projects, theses, and presentations, keeping my grades, and doing my assigned household chores – all while searching for a nice, reliable, and presentable Beetle that I can call my own.

The Red Beetle

After some time, I finally found one within my budget – a red 1965 Beetle with bug-eye headlights, over-rider bumpers, steel rims with hubcaps, and a cream interior. The body has some rust; the driver’s side running board was dangling a bit; the chrome had minor pitting; the tires show some tire rot and may need replacing. The interior was original and complete, although a tad worn, but I particularly loved the white knobs for the controls that matches the white steering wheel and shift knob.

Unfortunately, my dad did not approve of my choice of a 22-year-old Bug. He was reminded of the near-fatal vehicle accident that my cousin’s husband had when he was pinned inside his 1968 Beetle after a hard collision. (To be fair, it was not the fault of the Beetle. My cousin’s husband was drunk when he got into the accident. Tsk, tsk…)

The Yellow Brasilia

I shifted my search to another VW that was a bit more modern and found a yellow 1977 VW Brasilia 2-door. Like any 10-year-old car, it was not perfect but it was within my budget. The driver’s floorboard had a hole that needed to be patched up and there was a square space in the dashboard where a radio used to be. My mom went with me to look at the Brasilia and she turned out to be an excellent negotiator. She got the price down so I can have some money left over for the rust repair and for a nice AM/FM cassette stereo as well.

That reliable yellow Brasilia got me through college, numerous dates, and wild parties. After graduation, I drove it to Review School, the Mechanical Engineering Board exams, several job interviews, and then used it as my daily driver during my first job. When I earned enough money, I had the 1600cc air-cooled boxer engine overhauled and added some performance touches such as dual carbs, ported and polished cylinder heads, balanced and lightened crankshaft, a hotter cam, headers and free-flow mufflers.

Dashed Dreams

I was given a company car in my next job, and the Brasilia sat unused and was seldom driven. The body was beginning to rust but I let it because I was saving up for a Porsche 911 (930 Turbo) fiberglass body kit that a local maker was introducing. However, that local maker was sent a Cease and Desist Order by Porsche AG so I shifted my plans to hopefully import a fiberglass Porsche Speedster body kit to place on my Brasilia’s floor pan while I continue to soup-up the engine.

Unfortunately, my mom only saw an unused, rusty car parked under her favorite kaimito (star apple) tree in our front lawn. When I came home after a week-long company provincial assignment, my Brasilia was gone! My mom sold it to my cousin, who was so impressed with my Brasilia’s acceleration and power. I didn’t want to go against my mom’s wishes nor disappoint my cousin, so I just let it go. Besides, I was driving around in an air-conditioned, comfortable, late-model, front-wheel drive Japanese sedan so an air-cooled VW became farthest from my mind at that time.

Renewed Admiration

In mid-2018, I helped restore the cream 1973 VW Beetle 1300S of my late dad’s friend. After the Beetle was done in early 2019, I drove it from the shop to the residence of my dad’s friend and it sort of reignited my admiration for air-cooled VWs. My dad’s 80-year-old friend loved how his cream “baby” turned out after its restoration and, out of gratitude, he gave me his other VW – a green 1974 Super Beetle 1303S – which I kept and now slowly restoring, mindful of my current modest budget.

It took 32 years (1987 to 2019) for my personal air-cooled journey to come full circle – from that red 1965 Beetle to my green 1974 Super Beetle, with my yellow 1977 Brasilia in between, albeit all with modest budgets. My son is now 20 years old and he wants to drive the Super Beetle. I’m inclined to let him have it as his first car, just like my dad did for me 39 years ago.

I’m now 60 but I would still like to find a nice red 1965 VW Beetle, complete with over-rider bumpers, steel rims with hubcaps, tires with a white stripe, and an original cream interior with white steering wheel, shift knob and control knobs. My dream is to drive it to local VW events together with my wife in a convoy with the green Super Beetle driven by our son with our daughter in the front seat.

And God willing, I hope to have more fun drives with a lil’ red Bug that is old as I am.