Matt Parets - 74 Bug
This is Matt's 74 lemon. Held together with spit and paper clips, its claim to fame is its paint job and the fact that it runs. The paint job was actually a group effort by the club. When Matt took custody of his bug it was covered in yellow house paint that was quickly chipping away. To save the finish, it was decided to spray paint over the old until a proper refinishing could be done. It was Rick Claussen (fellow member) who had the idea of turning it into a party, and holding it at a bug run.
The rest as they say is history.Switching to first person narrative for the update...
About four years have passed. A lot has happened in this time.
There have been three car shows, and we are well on our way to our fourth.
At the first Volksblast, I was convinced to have my car spray painted again. The dents and scratches were filled, the rust blasted off, and the thing was primmered in white. We collected roughly $50 for Habitat for Humanity, and I got a new colorful paint job. Thanks mostly to kids under six.
Follow that with refinishes after the odd fender bender and I think the bug is up to nine layers of paint now.
Other dramas include the battery fire that the ate the back seat, a new door and door jam, having the heater channels closed off to stop fumes from being pumped into the cabin, having every system either rebuilt or replaced at least twice, the installation of an 8-track stereo, and various scrapes with the grim reaper.
More then a car, my bug is a member of the family.
The bugs has seen better days though.
About six months ago (early June of 2000), I was in another wreck. I was driving half asleep one morning. I rounded a turn and before I realized that traffic was stopped it was too late. Plowed into the car in front of me. Not a scratch on the Toyota I tagged. The bug didn't fair as well. A crushed drivers side fender, mangled trunk lid, and a bit of bending in the frame. Far from totaled, the old dear does need a lot of work. So, instead of automatically handing it over to the Wizards this time, the bug has been put out to pasture.
It took a herculean effort of will, but I purchased a new car. A brand spanking new 2001 New Beetle. In every way it's a better car then the old air bug, but I still miss it. Modern cars just aren't as much fun. I still own the bug, and some day soon, when I have the time and the money it will be resurrected. I'm thinking of pulling the air cooled engine and making it an electric bug.
Stay tuned. There will be a third chapter.
