12 years ago, I gave her away . . .

LAYGO

. . . AND I JUST FOUND HER TODAY ON XMAS EVE!

1966 6v 1300cc ALL ORIGINAL . . . and I kept her that way.

It was bought for me in 1988 when I was 15 for a massive $800. My mom & then boyfriend asked if they bought a car to work on, would I work on it. I said yes, they bought it.

My now step-dad (BeetleLuvr) & I got it running & it was my ride for a long while. Until 1 day I was hauling ass to get to see my Dad at the airport in '92 & was PUSHING my car & snapped the pilot bearing & flywheel came loose in the bell housing & just tore it up in there.

It was parked & nearly forgotten about. It was decided that I'd sell it for . . . a massive $800 in 1993-1994.

It was immediately sellers remorse, but for whatever reason, I had to let it go.

Well, with BeetleLuvr getting "the bug" again THIS YEAR & going out & getting a '66 of his own, a lot of VW memories were being stirred up. So, we were driving around & he was showing me all the hot spots around town & new friends he made recently (with a 195x split, a 195x oval, 196x ragtop, 1963 convertible, 1967 Beetle, 197x crew cab bus, 1971 21 window bus).

Anyways . . . I KINDA remembered where the guy (Charles) who bought it from me lived, so after we did all this driving, we did more . . . in search of my old Bug. As we were driving, I made the comment of "we'd have to be REALLY lucky to find this. 1, he has to still live there, 2, he has to have not sold it, 3, even if he HAS it, it's not locked in the garage or something." Of course you know I found it & the thing is, the guy REALLY remembers me. I knocked on the door & he answered. I was carrying a newspaper & said:

"I saw the ad in the paper & I came by to GET MY BUG BACK!"

"AWW MAN! HEY CHRIS!"

We get to talking & he tells us basically why he still has it. Shortly after he bought it for HIS son, his son joined the Navy & was home on leave when he was killed in a car accident. His son bequethed the bug back to his dad & he still drives it today. Also needless to say, we were unable to get him to part with it.

After awhile, it really hit me & I just kinda stepped aside when my step-dad & Charles were talking so I could wipe away the tears. It was just a touching story & I couldn't even think of trying to get it back anymore. You know the story, if you love something set it free, if it comes back, it was meant to be.

It's a rainy day on Xmas Eve, but it was a good day. Charles was ecstatic to have caught back up with us, we were really excited & STUNNED to have found my old bug. With all the necessities exchanged, I got some pix of it. The craziest thing about it, is it's virtually in the same condition I sold it. He put in a new motor, made it 12v, got some pop out windows, but paint, dents, STICKERS are the same from when he bought it. That blew me away.

Here's some camera phone shots & I'll definitely go back & get better photos:

Here she is. Current registration/inspection! (Step-dad in the bg)

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Dent in the rear deck lid is thanx to step-dad backing up w/o brakes!
Also, the stickers are STILL there on the bumper! 2 '60s flowers & a peace sign!

Body is still straight, fenders solid.

Fender wells were solid too.

The paint has seen better days, but it was NOT like this when I sold it.

Don't ask me why, but when the deck lid was dented, I decided to carve something into
the paint . . . AND IT WAS STILL THERE, some 15 years later.

beetleluvr · Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject:

I have to say that this weekend was a blast and brought back memories of when our family had 4 VW's. Visting some of our old VW haunts, along with some of the new ones that my wife & I have discovered in the last month, made for some good riding in the NB and allowed Laygo & I to chat.

We raised a couple of kids on VW's. Laygo's 66 was the only one that stayed stock. I am really proud of the fact that a 16 year old would keep the car OG....even though he did add his signature at a later time.. Rolling Eyes

I never imagined that the weekend would end with us finding Laygo's 66..especially with it being a daily driver.

I told the new owner that if he ever wanted to get rid of the car....please give us a shout.

Here are some pictures of Chris' 66 back in the day.

_________________
Perserverance isn't a long race. It's a series of short races, ran one after the other.

dLk: der Luftkühlers

1956 Polar Silver Oval
1966 Bahama Blue Type 1

LAYGO · Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2006 9:55 pm Post subject:

Heckuva first post, eh?

A lot of ya'll reading it . . .

Man, I hope I can come up with a solid ride to get back into the scene eventually.

suebug · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 6:39 pm Post subject:

What a story to read, and especially during the season of giving. I'm all choked up now. Your '66 will come back to you, mark my words. My '67 did. And we're living happily ever after.
_________________
'67 Beetle
'67 Squareback
'66 Sundial
'60 Single cab
'70 Bitchen 3-speed Schwinn

rusty57 · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 11:50 pm Post subject:

There is a story to tell from the first owner, 2nd owner , etc....I'm in the Navy, and somehow feel a connection to that bug and I'm all the way in San Diego. I hope you get it back someday. I long to have my old 69 Ghia that got me started almost 20 years ago. Great story. Nice car.
_________________
67 Ghia coupe, Retired military.
www.TagDefender.com

TDodge7 · Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:38 am Post subject:

you'll get it back ....10 years after selling my 68 i found it again , i had to have it back . the po jacked the price way up which was kind of a jerk move considering that i sold it in the 90's for a few hundred bucks , and i had to buy it back in the 3k range . even tho he didn't change anything but the paint ....which is cracking off now . but i love the car and now it's back with me . nothing feels better than getting back a car you have history with , so start saving , everyone has a price . eventually you'll get it back . but keep a close eye on it , since i got mine back i've already had 3 people knocking on the door trying to get me to sell mine.

LAYGO · Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the kind words all.

He's pretty firm about not letting it go. Lots of people approach Charles about it & he tells the story about why it's still in his possession. He even talks about the "carving" being about me. With us showing up, he said he has an addendum now. Wink

I am in no hurry to get it back & feel fairly confident that he'll get in touch with us when he does decide to do something. He did say he had plans to restore it in '07. We shall see.

My goal is to be driving a bug again before the end of '07. I'm infected again now too! Wink

Herbie3Rivers · Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 5:13 pm Post subject:

That is an awesome story! I firmly believe that fate will lead you back to something that you truly love. And it's nice that you know where the car is, even if it doesn't bring it back right away. I have a similar story of me with my 72 Super. In 1993 my dad purchased a 1972 Super used off the used car lot at Billco Volkswagen. We had been looking for years for one as a hobby car for the family to enjoy. I of course had always been into VWs since I was really little. So we bought the car on a Saturday night, after hours. The car remained part of my family til 1997. In 1994 my dad was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He began to sell off alot of the cars we had at the time, including his pride and joy a 1993 Corvette 40th anniversary edition, and a 1993 Mercedes 300E, but kept the beetle for me just in case (god forbid something happened) along with my mom's car. His opperation was a success and the tumor was removed. 1996 was when Herbie came to live with us and the 72 didn't see as much use. In the fall of 1997 we put the 72 up for sale and sold it to a gentleman who was buying it for his wife as a Christmas present. I never saw the car again for almost 2 years. Now by this time I had purchased my 1999 New Beetle in the fall of 1998. We went to a car cruise in my car on the complete other side of town from us. As we're driving up I see the familiar shape of a beetle parked in the grass next to the parking lot with some other cruise cars. So we park my car in the cruise and begin walking towards the beetle. As we're getting close I got "It looks like my old car", then closer I notice a forsale sign in the window, and even closer I notice the stickers for my VW Club, VVWCA, and GASS in the window. "It is my car!" I walked up to it and sure enough it was my car, exactly how I left it 2 years prior. The owner see's me looking over the car and talking about it, and immediately remembered how upset I was about selling the car. He then mentioned to me that it was the first night he put the sale sign on the car. So I of course told him to take it off without even asking how much it was. In the end I ended up buying it back myself for $400 more than what I sold it for in 1997. The reason the car was for sale was because his wife couldn't drive a stick. So one of the agreements of buying the car was that I help them find an auto stick beetle to buy. So that ends the story pretty much. I drove the car as is for a few months until I was run off the road in a hit & run accident and I was heart broken again. But I was persistant and restored the car to the condition it is in today. It's about 98% done with only a few minor thing's left to do.

Taken this summer during a rally for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. This one is special to me because I was privileged to have my Grandfather come on the trip with me and my dad. 3 Generations(ages 84, 55, 25) in one special little car.

_________________
Yeah I like Herbie AND New Beetles. Got a problem with it? Tough.

2010 New Beetle Final Edition
2009 Ford Mustang Bullitt
1999 New Beetle GLS
1983 Mercedes 300D
1974 Karmann Ghia
1972 Super Beetle
1970 Beetle Sunroof
1959 Original Herbie #6
1956 Oval

Three Rvers VW Club

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix

Visit Herbie the Love Bug at LoveBugFans.com

LAYGO · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject:

vwracing65 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject:

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:36 pm Post subject:

vwracing65 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:48 pm Post subject:

It sure did. I'm originally from Angleton (south of Houston) my dad has a VW repair shop down there. I'm now in Lufkin Sad

. We do alot down there in Houston with the VW clubs. I know alot of VW people down there and I've been in the Houston VW club for many years. Maybe one weekend when we come back down there we can get together at a show.

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:08 pm Post subject:

vwracing65 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:11 pm Post subject:

Those were the days. Cool

Sure wish I still had that car. I remember your car now after seeing the picture. Very nice car. What part of Houston are you located?

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:31 pm Post subject:

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject:

vwracing65 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject:

vwracing65 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject:

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:45 pm Post subject:

beetleluvr · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:47 pm Post subject:


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