This is the story about my car. Late last year I totalled my daily driver late-model and decided it was time to get another Bug after 15 years without one. I had them in the past as daily drivers and had been in love with Bugs since I was 2 years old and my mom had a brand new Ruby Red '68. I looked at all the on-line resources and quickly found a suitable Bug on the Samba. I made a deal over the phone and ran up and bought it. It turned out to be a completely original, never molested, never hit original paint paint Ruby Red sunroof bug. Bonuses I found after I got it home was that after we dropped a new battery it ran perfect AND that the car was built a few days before I was born in the last week of October 1966. The car had been used by the original owners for 30 years without changing or removing one thing from the car- and the same with the second owner who collected '67 Bugs who just parked it in his back yard for a decade.
I found a few accessories for the car, but before I had a chance to make it a daily driver my wife said she was ready for a divorce after 21 years AND I was closing my business at the same time after 4 years. It was a difficult decision, but I had to sell the Bug and basically start a new life with what would fit in the back of my work van.
A couple months go by and unexpectedly I was in the position to look for a another Bug, the only thing was none compared to my '67. Either they weren't original paint, no sunroof, no Black & Yellow original plates- and I didn't even get far enough to find out if they were built the same week I was born. So then I see the guy who bought my car is selling his other '67 so he can restore the one he bought from me. I contacted him, but initially he wasn't interested in selling. I told him how much the car meant to me and my son and he finally agreed to sell the car back.
I got the car back last Tuesday, drove it straight to a shop to have a few of the things done I always wanted done the first time. They swapped on the adjustable beam I still had from when I owned it last time and added a front sway bar and gave the car a full alignment. I took it home on Thurday- the same day I picked up a new set of BRMs and had tires mounted and balanced. On Friday I rounded up a bunch of little pieces I wanted to replace on the car and statred to clean it up on the weekend. While I was washing on Saturday it a knarly domestic abuse deal goes down next door that interupts my progress. Determined to make it to the Bug-In on Sunday I get up early and start replacing parts and get the wheels mounted- didn't know the wheel studs are universal and when mounted were too long and hit on the brake shoes. So luckily I have my Makita cut-off wheel in the van and I cut down all the studs 1/4 of an inch. I get everything put on and make my way to Fontana with my son. The car drives great on the first real time I've ever got to drive the car. We get to the show really late and I score one thing in the swap meet as people are packing up- an original '67 aircleaner. (I had just thrown away another '67 aircleaner about 2 weeks before thinking it would be a long time before I get another Bug while I get my new life started). We head home and right out of the gate the car runs out of gas! It had just hit "Reserve" so I thought we had a few miles. I pushed it about a mile and we got some gas. Now it won't start because of the junk carb I mean to replace this week. It stalled on the freeway a couple more times- once getting pushed off the highway by a CHP. Finally home we end the weekend.
Picture when I found it.
Bringing it home
Bought it back and got it lowered.
At the Bug-In
[img][http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/453/bestbug.jpg/img]
The Cal-look Lounge
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