I think, and this is just a thought, that everyone from my generation has, or knows someone who has, a Bug story.
This is my story. I grew up in the small town of Groton, CT (latest population: 40,000) The town of Groton was a great place to raise families in as it appeared, back then, that everyone was married with children. My parents had seven children (5 girls, 2 boys) so if we couldn’t find anyone to play with, we always had each other.
When I turned 16 I decided that not only did I need a license, but also a car to get around in. Groton was not known for public transportation so you really needed either your own car or access to one to get from point A to point B as everything, and I mean everything, was spread out.
As much as I wanted to get my license at age 16, I wound up getting it at age 17 as outdoor track practice got in the way of Drivers Education. Yes, Driver’s Ed, as it was called, was “free” back then and part of the high school curriculum. I recall having 6 hours of instructional behind-the-wheel activity but needing 9. I also recall having the hardest time doing a Y turn and being terrified at the prospect of driving over the Gold Star Memorial bridge.
I took my state of CT license exam in the town of Old Saybrook, CT as I heard the driving test there was soooooooo easy and did not require Y turns. Consequently, I passed with flying colors. With license in hand, it was now time to find a car.
I had saved a whopping $800 from working part-time at Bonanza Steak House restaurant so I felt rich :)) My father was ‘out to sea’ so I convinced my older sister to take me to a used car dealership to purchase my first car. I had no idea what I wanted to buy, just that it had to look good and have a nice radio…
I was so impatient back then! I was on a mission to purchase a car that Saturday afternoon and neither Hell nor high water could get in my way. I don’t remember actually test driving anything, all I know is that I saw this Bug on the lot that looked like “me” and was completely sold on it. It was silver blue, a little beat up looking, an “automatic standard” which is an automatic car with a stick shift, and possessed a ‘new car’ smell. I fell in love and had to have it.
I talked the salesman, Frank, down to $700, signed the paperwork, and was asked to come back the following weekend to pick up my ‘new’ Bug.
My first red flag appeared while I was driving it off the lot the following week: it chugged and sputtered all the way home…
My second red flag was that I had to feed it oil on a regular basis. And then the majority of the oil wound up on our driveway…
My third red flag: my Bug could only go up to 60 miles per hour before the whole car started shaking…
I had clearly been had. And I aged that Summer – suddenly I was no longer 17, I felt like I was 25, or worse 30, with real life problems. My thought: if I got rid of the car, I could have my carefree teenage life back…
So I ditched the car as quickly as I could. I sold it to a junk dealer for a song and went back to being a teenager…life was good, once again…
