What A Difference Four Decades Can Make...

 I came across an add for a car. Well, parts of a car, in reality. It's true when you buy a car--any car--you're actually buying many parts that when put together, you get a car. The car I found online had car parts...just not enough for the thing to actually work as a car is intended to do.

What a difference time makes.

The fact that the grouping of car parts cost $500 is what really caught my attention. Any frequent readers of this blog know I'm a sucker for old Volkswagens, and that my first (and many cars after...) was a bug. We called it Greenie and it had tons of personality. It also had a working (somewhat...) engine, a functioning transmission and the ability to move under its own power.

Something the car I found online did not have.

No engine, no transmission, and little more than what you see in photo.

My first car and this car cost the same amount of money. Shocking, I know. Back then, $500 could get you a whole car, one that was legal to drive on the road. You could buy a lot of things for $500 back then. For example, $500 would pay for 1/3 of a year of college--unbelievable, I know. My friend took out a loan for his first car. $500 represented five payments.

I think those days are gone forever.

If I were handy, and had an extra VW engine and transmission and other car parts, $500 might be a good price for half a car that's more than five decades old. Then I could haul it to my house, put in under a tarp or in the garage and hopefully one day, set a goal to put it back together. Then I could say the same thing I said back in 1982..."Oh, this car? Yeah, it cost me $500."

Oh...What Might Have Been

 The family and I climbed aboard our minivan this morning and headed to an event called "Hay Days." It's a chance for the people of our community to gather and enjoy each others's company as well as celebrate the wonderful little town we call home.

Plus, there's a car show.

It's not the biggest car show, but it seems to get bigger every year...this year included. There were many classic American cars, corvettes, trucks, what have you. And they had one Volkswagen Beetle, my favorite car. It was a beautiful car. I took pictures of it as I always do. Every time I see a bug these days it reminds me of my earlier years, back when you could buy a bug for $500 and the bug ran and it was (semi...) reliable transportation.

Too bad those days are gone forever.

I have a picture of my first car. It's a 1965 VW Beetle (we lovingly called "Greenie"...), original 1200cc engine, top speed - 50 m.p.h. unless you drove downhill, or behind an 18-wheeler. 

What if I had kept that car instead of basically giving it away...

Oh, what might have been.

I've thought about this several times over the years. Using the advantages of age, I know keeping that car would have been a terrible idea. Just finding a place to park it would have been a nightmare. Plus, I don't know how long it would take me to get it running and if I did, would I dare drive it anywhere far from my home? 

That car, in the condition at the time I got rid of it, in today's dollars would be worth many thousands of dollars...a far cry from the $500 I originally paid in1982. That sounds great, but I would have paid for that appreciation in other ways. No, my logical mind understands not hanging on to that car was the best decision...

Just my heart doesn't share my brain's reasoning.

Oh, what might have been...I only hope someone took car of Greenie. I'd love to see it at a car show one of these days.

VW...No Problems

 If you've ever owned an original VW beetle, you know the headline of this post isn't exactly true. I've owned half a dozen bugs in my lifetime and to say they're "problem-free" would be a misstatement...

A big misstatement.

Funny how time sometimes erases bad memories.

My first car did not lack for problems. It rarely went over 50 m.p.h. and it broke down more going to and from Utah State University my first quarter of school than making the trip problem-free.

But, man...I loved that car.

The reason this photo caught my attention was because of a conversation I had last month with my car mechanic friend. We were discussing new cars and all the things that can go wrong with them. I told him about my friend who ordered a new Toyota from the factory and he ordered it with manually-operated windows. Yes, the hand roll up/roll down ones. He said he did it because it was one (actually, four...) less thing to break.

My mechanic friend agreed. The more things in a car, the more things that break down. 

Look at that VW photo (curtesy of VWSlut on Instagram...). Yes, it lacks all those things, and all the VW beetles I owned lacked them too. None of those missing things broke down...

Like my friend would say, "No problems."

So...You Mind We Take That Little Car For A Test Drive?

We have teenagers in the house and teenager equals driver, at least it does in the area where we live. My teenagers don't drive. That is something I never thought I'd say about any teenagers, let alone, my teenagers. But, it's the way of things now. Kids these days live in a different world.

But my daughter wants to get her license, and so this weekend I did a little internet search. I found a little VW bug. Let me tell you about this bug. It's a few years older than the car I drive now, it has more miles than my car, but the price listed for this automobile was pretty remarkable.

The write-up of the car in the internet ad said something like, "Imagine driving down the road in this sporty little car."

Well, this afternoon I picked up my daughter from a dance practice (something a drivers license and car for her would no longer require me to do...) and we decided to go check out the car. After all, if she's going to work on getting her license, I thought it would be fun to test drive a car.

We pulled up, saw the car. I wondered what it looked like because the internet ad had only a stock photo. The car looked good--a little beat up, but that's to be expected considering the price. We went inside and were introduced to a salesman. We'll call him Matt.

"What can I help you guys with today?" Matt said in a very non-pushy way. 

"Well, I'd like to show my daughter that little bug you have on your lot and take it for a test drive."

Matt thought for a second, then said, "Well, that car doesn't move."

"Ah, excuse me?" I said.

"Yeah, it starts and you can get in it, but it doesn't run."

"I guess we can't take that one out for a test drive, can we?"

"No, we cannot."

Since we were there, Matt showed us some used cars on their lot that did move and that we could take for test drives. We ended up not driving any of them, but Matt was completely professional. I asked for his card and said goodbye. My daughter and I drove home discussing how people purchase cars, especially when buying new is not an option.

Tonight I told my family of our little adventure. I told them how it was especially funny because the internet ad asked the potential buyers to imagine driving down the road in that sporty little car. I guess if you buy it, imagine it driving down the road is one of the few things you can actually do with it.