Yes, this is a toy car. When I saw it in a store several years ago in Las Vegas, I knew that I had to have it. For any longtime readers of this blog and it’s previous iteration, you may know my long history with the VW Bug.
When I was a little kid in the early to mid-70s, I loved Beetles. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to have one when I grew up. Then they stopped making them and I was crushed. Like a bug.
I grew up and bought my first car, a Nissan Sentra. Then VW started making the New Beetle. I was elated! After a good solid 12 years, my old car started dying and the only car I wanted was a Beetle. In late summer 1999, I bought a 2000 New Beetle. I was overjoyed and loved that car!
Me and my Bug had many adventures together over the years. The longest drive was to Montreal. One of the funniest stories, except for the blatant sexism, was when I had to get a Bug Jump. Here’s an excerpt from that blog post.
In all the scenarios for my battery deciding to die, this was one of the best. I went back inside and made some phone calls while waiting. I was told that someone would be there within forty-five minutes. They arrived after forty minutes. Shocking!
So I walk outside and the guy takes my keys, opens the hood and starts looking for the battery. He starts making comments about Beetles and says he doesn’t see the battery. He says it must be in the trunk, I said, “No, it’s a new Beetle.” He ignores me and calls me “sweetheart” whenever he refers to me. He’s not condescending about it, just matter of fact and kind of cute, so I let him keep looking and of course he doesn’t find it.
He calls in to headquarters and says he has a Beetle and can’t find the battery. I tell him again, “It’s a new Beetle.” He ignores me and keeps talking to the guy. He seems to be on a two-way radio, because I can hear the other guy saying, “We have a Bug jump!”
He could have saved himself the time by listening to me, but at least I got a good story out of it. But I digress. So all was well and good for the most part with my beloved Beetle until around 2013, when things started to go very wrong. I stopped making long drives, because I was too nervous driving it. It started stalling. I noticed similar stories from other people with Bugs purchased around the same time as mine. People were giving them up. I was so emotionally attached to the idea of it and I didn’t want to give it up.
Then things got real. Real dangerous. The car gave up the ghost at the end of 2013. I started 2014 by getting a Toyota RAV4. My 20th century self would be shocked. I realized that I loved the car way more than the car loved me. I needed to get over my attachment to things. Although truth be told, if I ever came into a lot of money, I would get one of the old Bugs and get it souped up.
So what prompted this post today? I just learned that VW is stopping production of the Beetle again. But I’ve seen this story play out before. That saying “the more things change the more they stay the same” is a saying for a reason. It’s true. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the Beetle comes back again in another 20 years or so. We’ll see.
