My Addiction's Beginning

by Russ Fort
(Nanaimo BC, CANADA)

My first VW memory is of my favourite auntie coming to visit us in her beetle. It was that boring beige colour with a fuzzy white sheepskin steering wheel cover and sun-rotted seats even though it was under 10 years old. My auntie had owned it since it was two, buying it from my Granny! As a kid it was great fun to ride in the beetle as it took us many cool places including ferry trips to Gabriola Island and Vancouver! Later it was passed on to my sister as her first car, soon to be repainted bright metallic red and christened "Ruby". Five years and many adventures later, "Ruby" was passed on to me for the princely sum of $300! By now the once bright red had faded to a nasty metallic pink! Dear old dad supplied a new deep green paint job and of course some used 70's mag wheels were installed! Now the family bug really felt like mine and I was incredibly proud of my first car! It, of course, provided reliable transportation through high school, jobs, university, and beyond in all seasons.
Snow covered roads were nothing for the mighty bug, but the permanently fogged-up windows in the winter were not so much fun. Front seat passengers had the job of using the small scraper that always sat in the grab handle above the glove box! Despite great care, after 17 years of winter use in my ownership, the dreaded rust-bug had chomped deep. I told myself that the day the seat fell through the floor I would stop driving it. This finally happened in 2002 and has been sitting in the backyard ever since. Even though it isn't really worth fixing, I cannot let go of something that has been part of the family for over 40 years! Long live the VW Beetle!