That first car smell.....Here we go!

I will always remember my very first car. It was a 1969 VW Beetle. My father and I worked together to make it a reality. I remember driving the 1970 Bus with the entire family out to some location in Washougal to "pick up" a 1962 Beetle from a friend of his (I believe he traded him a gun for the car which was in terrible shape, just for the 1200 cc, "massive" engine.) About 2 weeks later, the engine was mated to the 1969 chassis and it was delivered to our driveway by Bob "the wizard" Taylor. It was a thing of beauty! It was mostly light blue with some dark blue panels. The interior was in fair condition, but the coolest thing was the gravel you could see through the floor boards as you sat in it. Oh, that first car smell. Imagine what some musky "Polo" cologne combined with gasoline and burnt oil would smell like - It was heaven!

The car had sat outside next to the Taylor barn for about 3 years with a blown engine, certain to never see the road again..... But, dad, wanting to add a 2nd car to the household, had seen it while home teaching or something and the dream was born. I must admit that at the time that the car showed up at the house, I had not spent one red dime on the car - dad did not require it. This trend, however, would soon change.

Having in our possession a legal, registered, car with turn signals, horn and reverse, (within a few weeks), we made our way to Longview, WA to take my driver's test. I must admit, (Todd), I passed the very first time! On the way home, dad and I stopped at the local pizza spot in LaCenter and ordered a Canadian bacon and pineapple and 2 sodas to celebrate. I remember wolfing down the teenage fare and having to wait for dad to finish his half. In retrospect, I now realize that this was dad's way of relishing his eldest son's last complete dependency. When we finally got on the road again, dad talked to me about "responsibility, prudence, and blah,blah,blah......" I deposited him at home, kissed my mother and ..... out the door I went! It was by far the best feeling I had experienced to that point in my life - the open road and my ability to point the car in any direction I wanted to go!

Over the next few months of my junior year, I drove to and from school, pausing only long enough to adjust valves, fix turn signals, work on that damnable horn, and change the oil. In short - keep the car on the road.

It should be noted that this car probably had less power than an electric car. It was packed with 40 horses and could only get about 10 to focus their pulling power! In short, speeding tickets were not a major concern. I would spend hours and some money trying to remove dents from the hood and panels learning the art of auto body work. It wasn't pretty. (Add primer grey to the color palette!) Oh the days of dreaming of a one colored car! (Those days, however, would never come)

About 4 months after getting the '69 on the road and most bugs worked out, it became time for me to have my first experience of "being shit upon" by my car. It was somewhere between exit 16 and 12 on southbound interstate 5 that I remember coming up a 2 degree grade just before the rest areas and feeling the shudder and then the very obvious loss of power and needing to pull over. What a sinking feeling! I don't remember much about the walk to the rest area to make a collect phone call to home. I don't remember much about the trip with dad to Rudy's (the new wizard's) shop with car in tow. I do remember the look on dad's face as we were informed in very good germanglish "that would be the end for that bullshit". (I would find over the next few years that this was one of Rudy's favorite phrases.)

To make a long story short, dad had purchased a 1972 bus (in excellent condition) that needed to have a new engine installed and she was good to go! Once the new bus was on the road, I was to get the engine out of the 1970 bus. ( a whopping 1600cc, 56 horse power engine!) I do remember driving the 1970 bus for a time waiting for Rudy to have the time to swap the engine, but it should be known that the change was made eventually (how long - felt like eternity - I can't remember.)

I would drive my beetle most of my senior year. The story of the transition into legend will continue shortly............