My First 1962 Volkswagen

My First 1962 Volkswagen

Owning a foreign made car back in the 70’s was not always popular but the fact was it was a trend you had to deal with as there were cars on the road that guzzled gas and the alleged gas shortage of the 70’s added to the panic of car owners not having the means to get around in their cars with fuel rations in the works. 

Slightly use, I went out on a limb and bought me a foreign made car because the price was right. Back then, the Beetle as it was called produced a plentiful 32 miles to the gallon and ran off the cheapest gas grade there was. It was short of a miracle invention for many who had a chance to own one. We called this one a “rolls can hardly” as it miraculously rolled down a hill but can hardly make it up the next one. 

I drove the Volkswagen Beetle to and from work while constantly harassed by coworkers and other drivers on the street who would belittle, disrespect, and insult or otherwise express their own opinion of the car. It didn’t matter to me what they called it or me as I was already conditioned to shout back anything I could think of at the time of the verbal assault. The fact was, it was touted to be one of the best inventions ever even if it wasn’t made in Detroit Michigan. 

The mileage was good because it was powered or should we say underpowered by an air cooled engine boasting 1200 cc and four cylinders. I am not sure but I think it made between 32 and 40 horsepower but that is irrelevant to the fact it was a miser on gas. Hooked up to a 4 speed transmission it was a great little car except the clutch cable had a propensity to break and needed to be repaired or replaced often. 

The thing about this contraption was the engine as it was located in the back and not the front. In fact, when you lift the front expecting an engine, all you find is the spare tire and some sparse room for a suitcase maybe two.  Either way, the car was a joy to drive but very hard to keep tuned. Designed for four it left little desired for being roomy. No head space and little room for luggage made this a bad choice for long trips. 

Rear engine boasted traction and traction is what we needed in Ohio snow and icy weather. This little blue devil kept going when others were stalled or stuck in the snow and we aren’t even talking snow banks but just a bunch of snow not even six inches deep. The traction made it a toy in the snow or ice as well for if you found a parking lot that is iced and you want to spin the car around a few times, this baby could spin like a top and get you back out with no problems. 

The only drawback on this four wheeled creation was the heater time in the winter. Examining the heater system did not take a rocket scientist like Wernher von Braun to figure it out. It was odd because there was no heater core. There was no radiator to tap the heat off and left the little engine that could chug alug along in almost any weather or terrain but freeze your buns off because the heated air came directly from the engine and was funneled into the driver’s compartment.

If the weather was subzero, the heat from the engine would diminish as you picked up speed causing alterations be made to the flaps that controlled the amount of heat you wanted as an adjustment was needed to trap more hot air. Not only was the heat a negative factor but if the windshield was wet, frosted or iced up, the defroster would be insufficient for defrosting the ice and left you with icicles on the glass.