It’s 1982. It’s easy to stick your head out the window to check the opalescent lip gloss in the rear-view mirror, if you turn your VW bug at just the right speed around the corner. You lean into it, wind whips your hair around and you realize you are in the car you cut pictures out of Car Trader since you were 14. Now you have it. A stock 1068 VW bug. It’s perfect for parallel parking, especially at the beach, where a bug in the 80’s was the next best thing to a Scirroco. Those of us who drove bugs were not part of the TransAm set, or even the new Subaru set, or the hydraulic enhanced low-to-thhe ground Chevys. There was nothing else like, what was even then, a vintage bug! The skinny stick shift, the small hole in the floor where you could see the street flying by you. That distinct ironically low-pitched Bug sound, and the smell of the sand and teenage sweat you could never get out of the vinyl.The stereo was not stock. I saved up and put a new one in. New speakers too, moderate, but good speakers. I was never into woofers, whatever those were. There was the guy with the yellow baja bug, which was an adapted VW bug that had no cover over it’s large engine in the back, and could be heard from several blocks away. That guy had woofers, definitely.The stock VW gets a ‘ 78 grill: One day I was cruising onto the on-ramp, listening to “Borderlines” when traffic ahead on the freeway forced a teenage type of slowing down, which involves putting your foot on the gas to catch up, and then stopping just in time! What fun. Anyway, the police officer behind me was apparently following to closely, and careened into the back of my perfect grill. Imagine that. I was at first horrified, and then relieved that it was a police office, since I figured they’d know what to do about exchanging insurance and what else had my dad told me you need to do if you are ever in an accident. He gave me a list, somewhere. But, the back of my car was concave mess, which was what concerned me at the time, having realized we were all unharmed.I was to take the car in for three estimates. I did. Not knowing at the time, that you would have to ask for the same model back end, if that’s what you wanted. The mechanic put on a fresh grill from a more recent year. And repainted the whole car so shiny it looked wet all the time. My VW was no longer stock, but it sure looked slick.Since then, I have gone on to have many other cars, sold it to buy a Mazda back then, I think; had a baby on the way, and it was hard to justify keeping that old bug. Still today, I think I see it sometimes, or wonder, is that it? Is in a junkyard somewhere? Or did the buyer of my car love it and take care of it. Or has it been dismantled and now there are 20 vintage vw bugs riding around with parts of my bug.It’s like an old sweetheart you think you see driving by on the street, and wonder about over the years. Category:Home › Home • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 2 • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 1 • Should the crew of the Sea Shepherd board whaling ships? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 13 • Grandparents: Can blogging chronicle your genealogy? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 12 • Are teachers unions the cause of public school problems today? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 11