The "It's Not Your Father's VW" Story

Tad's new ride.  A 2013 VW Beetle.

It was an ordinary day.  My son, Tad, just stopped to show Carol and me his new car.  Neat little 2013 VW Beetle.   Now, I must say that it certainly doesn't resemble either of the VW Bugs that I owned back in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  This car, which has approximately 29,000 miles on it has a front mounted 2.0-liter direct-injected, intercooled 4-cylinder that puts out 200 HP.  

I love the sporty wheels.

It alledgly goes from zero to 60 in the mid-6 second range and still gets 21 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway, but does require premium gas.  My VW's might have gone 60 … downhill!   The interior is really slick looking with guauges everywhere.  I naturally had to sit in the driver's seat and was amazed at the amount of space in the front seating compartment.  The car has a 6-speed manual transmission which I'm sure is fun to shift.  

Interior showing all the gauges.

The large vented front disc brakes and solid rear discs have fancy red calipers that really set off the mag wheels.  This is certainly not his father's old VW.  The roof line has been lowered to give the car a sporty look.  Tad had talked about getting the Bug for quite some time.  A dealer near his home in western Lancaster County had one on the lot for quite some time so he stopped in for a test drive a few weeks ago.  

Another view of the interior of the car.

He said he loved the feel of the car, but the former owner must have been a smoker and the awful smoke smell still remains in the car.  The price and milage was good, but he passed on the deal because of the odor.  Then the wife of his best friend got a used car and took Tad to the dealer with her when she stopped to check on something on her new car.  He got talking to the dealer and they said they would do a search for what he wanted.  Well ... sitting in front of me is the result.  

Tad's 1972 Chevelle SS.

Tad has a Toyoto truck which is his main driver as well as a 1972 Chevelle which he bought about 15 years ago.  He got the bug for a new car a few months ago after seeing the VW on the lot near his house.  He finally decided to give up his muscle car and get the VW.  His Chevelle sits in his garage most of the year so he has decided to sell it so he can keep both his vehicles in his garage.  At first I thought he might be sorry to give up the Chevelle, but after seeing his new ride, I don't think he will miss it as much as I thought.  I'm anxious to take it for a drive soon and see how well it handles compared to the VW Bugs I used to have.  I'm assuming there is no comparison at all.  My wife finally asked him, "So where is the flower holder."  "Oh mom, they don't have those anymore!"  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.