[GH85Carrera]

Go to a car show with bugs. Ask the guys driving and showing them if there is a local club or group of guys that are really into bugs. My brother was a line mechanic at the VW dealership in the mid 70s, then he opened his own repair shop that was busy, until the bugs just got too old for the average driver and business dried up. His daily driver is a 1954 Bug he has had for 35 years or so. Lots of guys come to him for advice, and to dig through his collection of old VW parts. He is the type of guy you want to find locally. They are out there. My brother is in Montgomery, AL.

My first car was a 1960 VW bug, 36 HP of raw power when new and likely 25 after 100,000 miles when I had it. 0-60 was 72 seconds if there was no headwind or any incline at all. With a slight headwind 0-60 was infinite, and never gonna happen.

I had no gas gauge, that was an option my car did not have for 1960. I still remember the first time I pulled into Sarge's service station and he came out started pumping gas, washed the windshield, checked the tire pressure, checked the oil, asked about my family, gave me a bunch of green stamps and I had to pay THREE whole dollars for a full tank of gas. It was about two bucks for a long time, then about $2.50 and I thought that was outrageous for a month of driving.