good bye vee dub

it is time to say a sad adieu

to my yellow beetle

(sigh)

I have loved having my yellow beetle, which I had intended to have for a minimum of five years. I have lovingly looked after it, gotten minor repairs done as needed. It hasn't needed major repairs. Vee dubby is such a solid and well made lady that she just happily goes on and on. 

We whizzed up and down and around the Waitakeres together. Everyday. Safe as, in those winding and steep hills. Since moving back into the suburbs I noticed two other yellow beetles whizzing around my suburbs. I decided that we were a secret select club of yellow beetle lovers.

When I told my two eldest children about buying my vee dub, they thought that was so fantastic and c-o-o-l. They understood. My youngest is in her early thirties. She just didn't get it. 

I initially learnt to drive in a vee dub beetle, many moons ago. So it was that earlier shape. I have loved them ever since. Only had a few nice and kind lessons from hubby-to-be. But I didn't get my license till four or five years later, as husband sold his beetle when we got married. We lived semi rurally so it really was helpful if I could drive. Husband gave me a few lessons in our car of the moment. Kids quivering in the back, husband screaming about clutches and stuff, me shaking in terror. (Amazing how much he had changed from those first lessons years prior) So we paid for a proper instructor.  

I then learnt in an old manual small Morris. The bubble type. Honestly, it was really old even then. I had to double-declutch to change gear, plus there were other wierd anomalies. But, Mr Instructor, (a rather amorous man, so I had to manouvere around this as well) assured me that if I could drive his old banger of a vehicle, then I would find driving really easy. He was right.

I was an incredibly confident driver, until some years later when my brakes failed at a busy intersection whilst I was driving. I nearly totalled a couple of cars. I have never forgotten this, and I became a very cautious driver as a result. My confidence as a driver was shattered. 

But my confidence came back, finally, with my wee vee dub beetle. We have been a great team. So, why am I selling this beautiful lady? It's only for practical reasons to do with little kids car seats and getting a wee girl in and out of a car and car seat. Oh, and carting around my healing table more easily. 

I intend that vee dub goes to an appreciative home. The previous owner only sold her because she had teenage boys who just kept growing taller and bigger. When I saw them, whoa - they would have all been so squashed in a small car. 

New car is a Mazda Demio, and it's nice. I'm sure that we shall have some good times together. I have had an older Mazda Demio, and it seldom got anything wrong with it. Until one dark and stormy night when someone backed fast out of a driveway into my car. Good bye car. I now only park under street lights if I need to park roadside. The older Mazda was manual, and I kid you not: only youngest child who was in her teens at the time, and myself, found the gears easy to use. 

Does anyone else have favourite types of car?