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When I was three years old (I am about 10 now), I was just one of those boys who liked cars. That changed when my dad gave me a pink Volkswagen Beetle. I found it so cool. It was the only car that I truly liked. Over the next five years, I started to collect more models of them. Eventually, I decided that I wanted my own Beetle.
I started to look on Craigslist and I found an ad for a gold 1973 Volkswagen Beetle with a sunroof only 30 minutes away from my where I live. But since I’m young, I didn’t know to ask questions like “Is there an engine,” etc. The pictures didn’t show much, but I was interested. The only downside is that they were asking $500. When I saw that it was a 25 day old post, I was hopeful! I contacted them and asked what would be the lowest price they could take. They said $100. I told my dad and he said we might be able to go look at it one weekend, and we did.
When we got there to look at it, it was so cool to me, because it might be my first car. We got there to meet the guy and I saw that the Bug was next to some trees and it had no back end, because he cut it off to get the engine out. But he had the back end inside the car. When we got inside the car, we saw that there were no rocker panels and floors. My dad mentioned that it would be my first car (really tinker toy) and the guy he said, "You know what? I’ll let him have it for $50 and you guys can take it home.”
I asked if there was a title for it and he said it was with his brother. The car sat for 20+ years in his brother’s barn and he gave it to him for the engine. I kept looking at the Beetle and saw that the sunroof was fully functional, but there was no front hood or deck lid. Then I asked if he had the motor and he actually said yes! And asked me if I wanted it and I said sure. It was in his barn. We took a ride in his golf cart and go to the barn, where we see that its mainly the engine block, but it did have a small box of parts. We went back the next day to get it. We handed him the $50 and I filmed him putting the car and my grandpa’s trailer. I even created my own YouTube channel for my VW videos. I had the 1973 now for awhile until I sold the engine for $30 and chassis for $60, so once again I had no Volkswagen.
Then I found a parts ad for a 1974 Bug and I talked to the guy, who still had it. I asked him how much and he said $700. My dad and I went to look at it and when my dad told him it was for me, he said I could have it for $100. Just before we went to pick it up, the guy called my dad and he said that his brother wanted to keep it. So we moved on.
Then I found a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle just an hour away for $2,000. Seven days later, I saw that it dropped to $1,000. The description said it sat for 14 years and the owner wanted it gone. We went to check it out and I asked if she would take $500. She said yes! It had been a one owner car that the 64-year-old woman’s parents bought new in 1968. Her parents passed away 15 years ago and her brother from Florida never came to claim the car. So that’s my current project
By the way, the guy with the 1974 called me back and we ended up buying that VW as well. I sold the chassis for $400, which is going to my 1968 Bug restoration and I’m keeping the body from it as a backyard accent. That is just the short story of the starting of my Volkswagen Beetle addiction, hope you enjoyed.