Grumpy
I was up near Greenwood Cemetery at the top of the hill when I came upon this lil' curmudgeon:
A 1961 VW Beetle or Type I in a nervous cringing stance. It looks like it's wincing a little as if it's afraid you might slap it and take it's gas money.
I've had a few Beetles from this era and absolutely love them. Someone has tried to attach what looks to be the black rubber cover to the running board over the lower area of the car where the running boards ought to be. Nice try! It's like presenting a plate covered with icing and trying to play it off as if there's a cake hidden underneath. In this instance I know EXACTLY what's underneath, and that's rust.
Ahh the reminders are coming back to me before I get too nostalgic; the driver's door won't close. The small taillights are helpful in dating this year as '61 or earlier; they grew a bit for '62.
This side has the running board in place and door firmly closed; we're 1 hubcap away from looking good over here people!
It's somewhat rare that I will snap a pic looking in towards the interior, but in this case I felt it rounded out the personality of the car; mismatched seats, a mystery note on one of them, and a cool factory radio. I had a factory Blaupunkt in mine that had 2 buttons; one marked SPEECH and the other marked MUSIC. I think it removed the bass when speech was pressed, but it was hard to tell through the 1 speaker. You can see from the indentation in the steering wheel that this one is missing it's original horn ring.
Other ways to date the older Beetles include the clear turn signal lenses on the fenders which became amber in 1964. This poor hooptie wears the evidence of parking a delicate antique on the streets that I remember well; punched-out headlight covers, dents and missing hood emblem, and bumper slightly askew. However the victory lies in the fact that this is still registered and driving 53 years after being built, and chances are it will outlive all the younger cars that have backed into it over the decades.
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