Sooooo, many of you probably already know, but I used to roll around in an old Crown Victoria.
Now, this wasn’t just any Crown Vic, no, this was an old retired cop car. Most people when they get the retired cop cars, make them look like normal cars as soon as they can. Me, I wanted a cop car, so I left it a cop car 😀
It’s all black, with black tinted windows, chrome spot lights, and a push bar. That’s just the exterior too. The interior, well, still had the rubber flooring instead of carpet that always carried that hint of human urine. The separator glass that cut the car in half. If you put something in the back seat, you weren’t getting it till we stopped. Oh, the back seat, yeah, people were lucky enough to be able to sit on a real seat, they just didn’t get seat belts, or much room for that matter. The back seat barely sat two people, and I say barely because their knees were always jammed up against the separator 😀
It was a 4.6L 281 V8, a blast to drive, but a guzzler of gas. I used to be able to justify it when I was doing some highway driving and getting about 17-19 mpg. Now all I do is surface street driving, and 14-16 mpg, and over $60 to fill up, yeah, not a very economical car. Plus everybody is more than willing to stare you down or give you dirty looks. Especially when they realize you’re not a cop.
So, needless to say, I was ready for a new car. Or at least a different one.
I didn’t want a big car again, was over that with the crown vic. Didn’t want an expensive car to fix or maintain. Went through that with a few 80s BMWs and the Crown Vic as well. I wanted a small motor car, that was small and good on gas. So I started hunting. I wasn’t too big on the idea of an 80s import car, or even a 90s for that matter. I wanted something basic, that I could easily work on at home.
So what did I end up with you may ask?
Are you ready?
A 1974 Volkswagen Standard Beetle, 4 speed manual, lowered, roof rack, and metallic purple. Oh yeah baby, it’s on!
I don’t know if many of you are familiar with the infamous VW beetle, but those things will practically run forever! The motos, basically well engineered lawn mower motors. 1600cc, or 1.6L, 4 cylinder, which uses a combination of air and oil inter coolers to cool the motor. About 38 years of carbureted goodness. Yeah, my car doesn’t seem that old till I start thinking about what other cars were out there in 74 😀 The beetle, such a timeless body style lol
So, the motor runs great, got that going pretty healthy. The first big project for it, repairing the passenger side floor pan. Yeah, at the moment I could lose my battery out the bottom of the car at any time, and I don’t let people ride in the car yet. I don’t want anyone falling through the floor. Yep, I’ve got that car right now.
The funny thing is, when people see the car they always want to talk to me about their VW beetle that they had and a few short stories. Most of them involve the infamous rusty hole in the floor and water splashing in and getting your feet wet during the rainy months. A great inspiration to get this fixed quick! lol
So! I’m really happy that I’m in a car that not only gets better gas mileage, but also is a car that I enjoy driving and a car that I just enjoy in general. I can’t wait to start working on my first “classic” car ;D