StoryWorth: The Love Bug
Dec. 28th, 2018 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetWhat was your dream car?
My oldest sister's first car was a green VW bug, rumored to have been previously owned by Tina Louise, who played Ginger on Gilligan's Island. It had no air conditioning and spotty heat, but I loved climbing in the back of that thing and heading off on adventures with Anne and her partner, George. We would go spelunking at Dungeon Rock in the Lynn Woods, or off to Block Island for a week in the summer. There was a whole phase where they were into grave rubbing and we'd spend afternoons picnicking in graveyards, taking rubbings of the more interesting gravestones on rice paper with hard wax crayons.
So perhaps it's not surprising that for many years my dream car was a VW bug. And not just any bug, but the convertible yellow one with leopard-print interiors that I occasionally saw tootling around Cambridge over the years. I don't remember anything about the driver, but I thought that car was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
I spent a lot more time in the back of bugs while I lived in Mexico. All the taxis were VW bugs painted black with yellow roofs. There were no meters--before you got in the car you negotiated the fare to your destination with the driver. Taxis were very cheap by my standards, so I ended up taking them a lot. I got into a conversation with one driver who said he wished he could speak English, because so many American tourists came to town and asked him questions about sites along their route that he couldn't answer. We worked out a deal where he made me a cassette tape of what words and phrases he needed and I dubbed in between the English translations. Apparently this was more helpful than I had thought, because for a while any time I got in a cab they asked me for a tape and I not only sold at least a couple dozen of them, but could generally count on free cab rides whenever I needed them.
I never have owned a bug, but I came close with my last car. The new MINI rolled out while Jason and I lived in London. We loved the "MINI Adventure" commercials, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5MQLgpY7Y
They weren't for sale in the US when we moved back, but as soon as they were we got a gold one with a black roof. I loved driving that car--not only was it fun to drive and ridiculously easy to park, but I enjoyed how often people would roll down their windows at stoplights to tell me how much they liked it and ask questions about it. We drove it for twelve years, until our daughter's legs got so long that she had to sit cross-legged in her car seat to fit behind Jason.
Now I drive an Audi A3 e-tron, the hybrid electric. It drives well and is pretty cool from an environmental perspective, but on the outside it looks like yet another blue hatchback. I find I miss driving a car with personality and hope that by the time Alice goes off to college, MINI will be making electric cars once again.
Or maybe I'll finally get myself a vintage convertible yellow VW bug.
My oldest sister's first car was a green VW bug, rumored to have been previously owned by Tina Louise, who played Ginger on Gilligan's Island. It had no air conditioning and spotty heat, but I loved climbing in the back of that thing and heading off on adventures with Anne and her partner, George. We would go spelunking at Dungeon Rock in the Lynn Woods, or off to Block Island for a week in the summer. There was a whole phase where they were into grave rubbing and we'd spend afternoons picnicking in graveyards, taking rubbings of the more interesting gravestones on rice paper with hard wax crayons.
So perhaps it's not surprising that for many years my dream car was a VW bug. And not just any bug, but the convertible yellow one with leopard-print interiors that I occasionally saw tootling around Cambridge over the years. I don't remember anything about the driver, but I thought that car was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
I spent a lot more time in the back of bugs while I lived in Mexico. All the taxis were VW bugs painted black with yellow roofs. There were no meters--before you got in the car you negotiated the fare to your destination with the driver. Taxis were very cheap by my standards, so I ended up taking them a lot. I got into a conversation with one driver who said he wished he could speak English, because so many American tourists came to town and asked him questions about sites along their route that he couldn't answer. We worked out a deal where he made me a cassette tape of what words and phrases he needed and I dubbed in between the English translations. Apparently this was more helpful than I had thought, because for a while any time I got in a cab they asked me for a tape and I not only sold at least a couple dozen of them, but could generally count on free cab rides whenever I needed them.
I never have owned a bug, but I came close with my last car. The new MINI rolled out while Jason and I lived in London. We loved the "MINI Adventure" commercials, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5MQLgpY7Y
They weren't for sale in the US when we moved back, but as soon as they were we got a gold one with a black roof. I loved driving that car--not only was it fun to drive and ridiculously easy to park, but I enjoyed how often people would roll down their windows at stoplights to tell me how much they liked it and ask questions about it. We drove it for twelve years, until our daughter's legs got so long that she had to sit cross-legged in her car seat to fit behind Jason.
Now I drive an Audi A3 e-tron, the hybrid electric. It drives well and is pretty cool from an environmental perspective, but on the outside it looks like yet another blue hatchback. I find I miss driving a car with personality and hope that by the time Alice goes off to college, MINI will be making electric cars once again.
Or maybe I'll finally get myself a vintage convertible yellow VW bug.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-29 05:41 pm (UTC)There was an iridescent white bug -- a color I've never seen on another car -- that parked in a lot I walked by occasionally, years ago. I thought it was the most adorable soap bubble car ever. Have to imagine it needed frequent washing to keep it looking so snazzy, though.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-30 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-02 03:51 pm (UTC)