I bought a car that is older than I am – a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle.
I got it for a few reasons:
- I always thought they looked cool
- I thought it would be neat to own a car older than me
- I wanted to learn about cars and how they work
- I don’t drive much, I commute by bike most of the time, but sometimes I need a car
So I decided to sell my reliable car and switch to a not-so-reliable Beetle.
I got the car at a good price. It wasn’t my first choice for year or color. But the body had very little rust – something that is very hard for me to fix, and the price was right. This car was 1/4 the price of ones that have everything I desired. So I made some compromises.
Another benefit is that I can make changes to the car without hurting its value. The worst case scenario is that I am out a couple thousand dollars. The car’s shell is almost worth that amount.
There are a lot of articles, forums, videos, and TV shows that can help you research what to look for when buying a Beetle. If you are looking for some advice in that regard, this is it – you should trust those sources over me.
I plan to document the car here with a Bug category. I want to learn how to work on cars, and I want to explain what I learned here.
Stay tuned for an update. Spoiler alert! I had to have the car towed to a shop.
