Her 1973 VW Super Beetle always makes her smile
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Bill Sherk
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EMC Lifestyle - Margaret Cockerill lives in Ottawa and has good reason to smile:
Submitted
Margaret Cockerill and husband Barry are shown here with her 1973 Super Beetle.
"In 1970, in my junior year in high school in a small Wisconsin town, my dad bought me a 1961 VW Bug for $150. The original paint was worn-out pale blue, so Dad, a house painter, decided we should repaint it ourselves. I wanted candy-apple red, and after a day or so, I had my shiny red Bug and I was in love. I was a kid with a car to go wherever I wanted.
"After high school, Dad found another Bug for me and this one had a sun roof. My girlfriends and I had so much fun hanging out through the top as we cruised down Main Street. Then I graduated to a '69 Chevy Nova driven by a little old lady, a good car and dependable but it wasn't a Bug."
When Margaret landed a job at a bank, she saved her money for another Bug, then visited a VW dealership in the nearest big town, where she found a brand new bright yellow 1973 VW Super Beetle. She fell in love all over again: "It was just-me-on-wheels. I packed my stuff, moved to my sister's in Michigan, then later to Florida. The car embodied every good memory I had, from the River town of Prairie du Chien to the beaches at Daytona."
By age 30, Margaret was living in Winnipeg and married. The Beetle came too, with its Florida plates. Then came babies. After her brakes almost failed as her daughter sat in her car seat, she sold the Bug for $1,100 eleven years after she bought it new.
More years passed and they moved to Ottawa. At night she would still dream about zooming around in a yellow Bug. It seemed like an impossible dream. Then one day two years ago, she saw an ad for a '73 Super Beetle, Texas yellow with rebuilt engine. She had to have a look. Her mechanic, who lives just around the corner, said he'd never seen a car that old in such good condition. Margaret bought it.
"And now it belongs to me. It purrs along happily as if it knows how loved it is. Sometimes, when I walk into the garage, I wonder if I'm still dreaming. It doesn't have power steering and I have to push in the clutch as I shift. There's no air conditioning, the seats are uncomfortable, and the sun shades are always falling down. But I can't think of anything else I'd rather drive. And it still makes me smile."
As a thank you, if your story is published in this column you will receive a copy of Bill Sherk's book "60 Years Behind the Wheel: The Cars We Drove in Canada 1900-1960". To share your stories or photos e-mail billtsherk@sympatico.ca or write Bill Sherk, 25 John St., P.O. Box 255, Leamington, ON N8H 3W2.
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