A foot glued to the floorboard and an engine screaming for all it was worth.

[LakeLifePA]

While stationed in Germany I had to ship my car back home a few months before I was due to go back stateside. I bought a 1973 VW Beetle for $250 and drove it those three months without any problems. I drove it to the airport terminal on base and left the keys in the glove box and flew back home. I wonder what ever became of it.

[lollydoodoo]

Originally Posted by Gatopescado

A description of how I drive pretty much all the time.

Should redline your car once or twice per trip, you'll never have any carbon build-up.

[corolla5speed]

Originally Posted by Steve McDonald

Okay, here's a Beetle story, from a snowy, winter day. I had a job that required me to drive all over the area, at least twice a day, in my '55 Beetle. It had warmed-up early in the day and the roads had thawed, leaving them covered in slush. But late in the afternoon, the temperature dropped rapidly. I was going along Int. 105 and when I crossed Int. 5 on an overpass, the exposed underside had allowed its surface to freeze again.

The car ahead of me spun rapidly three full rotations. I could only let up on the gas and didn't dare hit my own brakes. Then, the spinning car reached the far side where it wasn't frozen yet and straightened out. Somehow, it was exactly at the right point in its spin, to do that and kept going, as though nothing had happened. My Beetle never waivered off course, but I learned a good lesson about overpasses, without paying a penalty.

Close to 50 years ago my wife was T boned in our 72 WV super beetle while returning home after dropping me off at refinery where I worked on a Saturday morning. She (escaped) injury and the damage was repairable. The person who hit her blew a stop sign and their were witnesses. It all took place in the inner city so the speeds were 25 mph both directions. The saving grace of all this was at the time there were no seat belt laws in the state we lived.

Just before the other car made contact with our car my wife said she seen it coming via her peripheral vision. At that instant she lept out of her seat toward the passenger side and somehow escaped injury. She was not wearing her seat belt at the time and the drivers side door ended up a foot into the drivers compartment.

All this took place just a block from my job and one of the arriving co-workers from my department had told me of the accident. He then loaned me his car so I could get to the scene of the accident. I got there pretty fast and personally took my wife to the hospital where she was employed to be checked out. Thankfully all was well, the extent of her injuries were confined to being frightened and bruised and the car repairs were done by me and we drove it another 6 years.

That car had more stories then Mark Twain and more lives then a Cat. The Beetle finally met it's end while parked in front of my house on a quite summer night near mid-night in the Bugs eleventh year. A young man lost control of his car then crossed four lanes on a major roadway in our city. The the resulting crash at high speed destroyed my legendary Bug. Both cars were destroyed and the young man escaped injury.

Seven years later unexpectedly I had gotten a check for $700.00 the bugs worth at the time of the crash. This was do to the uninsured motorist coverage I had on the bug at the time of the accident.

I am certainly not advocating not wearing a seat belt and never will. I have always felt that in this case not having her a seat belt on worked out to my wife advantage.

[EckyX]

Bought 2000 Honda Insight 6 years ago. Was at 160k. Now it's at 250k. Still factory spark plugs. Occasionally I take out the air filter and beat it. Replaced clutch master at 200k ($70), no other maintenance to speak of other than 2.7 quarts of oil every 7,500 miles. Manual transmission, foot to the floor it'll deliver 50mpg @ 80mph. Gas here is $2.70. ~68mpg lifetime mileage. Car just starts and runs every day, doesn't complain, costs me pennies. When it eventually does need brakes, rear shoes are about $5 for a full set, front pads less than $10.