I had had a 1956 Ford STation wagon that I called my "Surf Wagon" that I bought for 800 dollars when I was 16 years old from money from working that i had saved up. I also had a Bird by Wren which was a Mini-bike which was a 2 1/2 horsepower centrifugal clutch min-bike but it wasn't licensed for the road. So, I had to be very careful where I road it in the city like in the high School Parking lot or something like this. However, in the desert where my father's best friend owned 2 1/2 acres of house and land as a weekend getaway place from Los Angeles County in between Yucca Valley and Landers in the Desert there my Mini-bike was the best because it could go 30 miles per hour on the level even though at slower speeds I had to use my legs to get going up to about 10 miles per hour because it was a single gear (or no gear) mini-bike (which is a mini-motorcycle so similar to a go kart with two wheels.
Then in 1966 when I graduated from high school my parents wanted me to have a VW Bug 1965 for college. Though I didn't really want to get rid of my 1956 Ford STation wagon (my surf wagon) they convinced me that now I was a college man and I needed something that got over 30 miles per gallon to get somewhere in. So, they bought me this 1965 VW Bug (Beetle). It was blue with a white interior and I liked the way it felt. Also, this model and before had a problem with turning over on sharp corners because of the way the suspension was built so I put a camber compensator so it couldn't turn over on really sharp turns like that as a bug is a little top heavy combined with the suspension before 1966 models came out.
I kept this car from 1966 until 1968 when. bought myself a 1968 Camaro from money I made working with computers while going to college or working full time with data processing and IBM computers mostly which I did until I think 1970 or so. And around 1971 I returned to college and studied PHilosophy, Anthropology and psychology because then I was trying to find a way to want to stay alive.
I was looking for a reason to stay alive then and not be gone.
And I began to find the beginnings of my new life and philosophy step by step starting with Philosophy Courses at Palomar College around 1971. Then I studied next Cultural Anthropology and this helped me more in understanding tribes and cultures all over the world regarding how their cultures formed including our own especially native American Cultures here in the U.S.
Then I started to notice that each tribe had its own Creation Story which made me want to create my own creation story. (IN other words how I experienced God and Angels and everything else directly).
So, eventually starting around 1980 I combined everything I had learned about with philosophy, psychology and Anthropology especially from 1980 on. but, by 1973 I met my first wife and had a son so I no longer considered ending my life anymore because I needed to stay alive and raise my son right.
However, in 1969 I bought a 2nd VW bug which was a 1966 1300 VW Bug which had a bigger engine than the 1965 version that I had put a camber compensator on with a Glass pack for louder exhaust sounds while I went through the 4 speed shift pattern with my VW.
So, the VW was a very versatile thing and I grew very attached especially to my 2nd one and I put about 130,000 miles on this one traveling everywhere from California to Arizona to Utah to Colorado in it as well as everywhere in California that I wanted to go from 1969 until 1974 when I sold it to move to Hawaii with my young wife and son to Hilo, Hawaii.
However, I have missed both my VW Bugs ever since. There is something about them that no other car ever had. However, now I'm not sure I would feel safe on a freeway with one because of their slow pickup getting onto a freeway. But, other than that I liked everything about them except for having to adjust the valves every 2000 or 3000 miles which came pretty fast because I could afford to drive so many miles then at 30 plus miles per gallon. Going 400 miles in a weekend was normal for me then from San Diego to Los Angeles to the Deserts and beaches all the time on weekends from work or school (college) then before I got married and had my son.
I also found a VW Bug was more like having a 4 wheel drive because the traction is on the rear wheels because of the rear engine. So, though it was a very simple engine design being aircooled like that it made it best for colder weather like the Alps in Germany or Mt. Shasta or Colorado. Otherwise people started buying oil coolers for their bugs and vans made by VW to compensate for the extra heat in hotter regions with an air cooled engine.
So, though I was tall I was also slender then and very muscular and strong so VWs are built for tall people but you don't have a lot of width in those cars but if you are tall and slender like I was then it was the perfect car. Also, I remember driving across Colorado playing the guitar while steering with my knee while i sang a couple of John Denver's songs then too all by myself learning about the world then in 1970 before I met my first wife in 1972 or 1973. I have many amazing memories in especially my 1966 SEablue VW Bug then from 1969 to 1973 when I put 130,000 miles on it in those years.
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