Numbers game - '57 Oval

With the last Beetles being built in 1978, excluding Mexican- or Brazilian-built ones of course, the chance of finding a low-mileage one is getting slimmer by the day. That's not to say they are not out there, because they are and we all know of a few that are still on the road or sitting in their owner's garage. But the days of finding a low-mileage Beetle suitable for daily driving are long gone. These days, the low-mileage ones get treasured while any old hack gets used as a daily. Now if only I'd had that foresight back in college, when I bought a one owner, 32k mile Beetle that I immediately (and stupidly) put to use as the college ‘pool car', which meant that everyone drove it and every dent and scrape had a story to accompany it. Like the time we ran out of beer and the logical thing seemed to be to lend the Beetle to someone who couldn't drive, who successfully navigated the all original paint Beetle to the off-licence but ran it along a Mercedes on the way back, denting every panel on the driver's side. Oh how we laughed! But I'm not laughing now, when I think of how the previous owner had babied it for 30 years, only to have me destroy it in a few months. I'm also not forgetting you, Mr. Mason, for wrecking the side of the Beetle and the Mercedes, as I was the one that paid for the repairs.

For the full story on this car make sure you pick up a copy of the January 2010 issue of VolksWorld

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