My ’69 VW Convertible | …Still Cruisin’!

My ’69 VW Convertible has a new home.  No, he hasn’t been sold or lost in a pink slip drag race.  He has retired, so to speak, to a life of leisure.  If any car deserves it, he does.

I got my little convertible in the summer of 1983.  Being a Bug Guy since I was a kid, it was the realization of a lifelong dream.  I bought him off a buddy for $500 and a canoe.  He was garaged, but he was in rough shape.  Stuff was piled on top of him.  His top was gone, nothing but the frame.  He had more than a few dents and dings on the fenders, and the rear floorboard on the driver’s side was completely rusted through.  I didn’t care.  I was going to restore him.  

Mechanically, he was sound.  I drove him the rest of the summer with the top frame pulled back, hidden by the canvas cover.  At the onset of winter, I began the restoration process.  I had fooled around with cars my whole life, but never done any restoration work.  If you haven’t, let me fill you in.  It’s hard, much more than I had bargained for.  It is time consuming, tedious and expensive.  It took me a year and a half to complete the job.  The end result is well worth all the work, but unless you are highly skilled, it is best to bite the bullet and farm out the finishing work to an expert.

So, in the winter of 1990 I gave him to a friend who owned a body shop.  Frank stripped the car down to the bare metal, primed and painted the car VW beige, put in new undercoated floor pans along with new chrome and trim.  The little guy looked brand new.  Again, I drove him that whole summer with the top down.

Over time, however, things happened.  A friend clipped it and tore up one of the fenders.  Another friend backed into it with his tailgate down and smashed the deck lid.  While having a new top put on it in ’98, the upholsterer dropped a piece of equipment on the hood and smashed it.

The car had always been parked in the garage up until I sold my house in 2013.  The garage at our house in Conyers has been converted into office spaces, so the car sat outside.  That was tough.  Though I tried my best to keep him clean, the elements really began to take a toll.  Every time I walked past him, it would break my heart.  I was on the verge of purchasing one of the portable carports, when a very good friend graciously offered to store the car in his basement.  

My little buddy  is now warm, safe, dry and protected.  Sure, I miss seeing him everyday and being able to jump in and drive him whenever I want.  But, I feel much better knowing he is in a secure place.  And, while he may be living the life of automotive luxury, he is, after all, Still Cruisin’!  –J.