The 1st car I ever owned was a 1969 VW Beetle. It was that nondescript beige/taupe/tan color. My sister had a similar Bug, but sexier, red with a white racing stripe climbing up the hood and over the roof.

I ran the wheels off that thing. $5.00 would fill up the tank (gas was .53 cents per gallon then.) But $5.00 bucks was a lot of money to me in those days. My take home pay was about $250 per month. Lived in a big, cheap apartment with a whole crowd of people to share expenses. Visited Ma and Pa every Sunday for a good big meal, did laundry, and got sent home with cans of pinto beans and the like to help keep us fed during the week.

The heater sucked in winter, but with it's rear engine it could climb the steep hills of Charleston, WV's West Side where many of my friends lived and where music was happening in living rooms and bands were rehearsing in garages, if only the band members could get up the hills to rehearsal during the frequent heavy snows in those days- so I was in high demand as a taxi service. Amazing how many people can pack into a small space in the time before we had enough sense to realize seat belts save lives, and all were young enough and thin enough to not mind sitting on laps (or being sat upon.)

In summer, roll the windows down and hope you could drive fast enough often enough to cool things down a bit. My boyfriend during part of the years I had the VW was playing with Turley Richards in the midwest, based in Louisville and playing often in Chicago and environs, so I was often making that long trip west and north on I-64 and I-65. Always found myself in the company of truckers, my little bug sandwiched between them, all of us doing 45 mph up the grades, and 65 mph down the grades.

Those were also the days I was spending most weekends spring to fall at old time music festivals around West Virginia. It was amazing how much gear could be jammed into that little car, and how often I was the only one who was able to drive out of mudclogged fields after a weekend of camping in what was normally a pasture on top of a mountain. And since temps are better in the mountains and there are no traffic jams, (and long haired hippy-chicks with hair captured in a band didn't mind the wind whipping through the windows.) Fond memories.

Bought it for $500. Abused it. Got sideswiped and the fender dented. Sold it for $500 a few years later. Great memories. But I was so much younger then. Would not want one now.