Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir

Friday, October 14, 2011

New question of the week

He started it...

My first car was a 1968 VW Bug I bought in 1969. Wanted an older car to work on, but my Dad said I had to get a newer one that wouldn't be needing repairs right away. Paid $1600 for it with 16,000 miles on the clock. A new 1969 Bug was $1995 that year.

Drove it for the last two years of high school. Scraped a couple fenders, never got into a real crash. Had my 8-track stolen in the Lane Tech parking lot - they broke in through a vent window.

While driving home from DeVry Tech one afternoon in 1971, I was heading northwest on Lehigh Avenue at the intersection with Touhy - an oblique angle. The left turn lane was filled up, and I was going straight through on a green light.

An oncoming driver in a Chevy station wagon didn't see me coming and started a left turn right in front of me. Hit her almost head-on on the Chevy's right corner. Pushed the Chevy's radiator back into the engine, and totaled the Bug - bent front axle, and the dash warped badly enough that my replacement 8-track was making weird noises - but it was still running after the impact, and I was able to drive out of the intersection. Had to kick open the driver's door. No injuries, despite the lack of rubber bumpers and air bags. The nose of a Bug is a hell of a crumple zone.

Looked around for a replacement to buy with the insurance settlement - looked at  AMC Gremlins - no back seat - and Chevy's new Vega - six week waiting list. The Chevy dealer had a white '69 Bug on the lot, and I ended up driving home in that. I've had at least one air-cooled VW ever since.

Looking back, if the same thing happened to me in a Bug today, I would restore the car. Back then, they were next to disposable.

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