I'd wanted a VW Beetle as long as I can remember. I even worked at a VW workshop/breakers part time during my last few years of school. But I never quite got around to getting one.
Early last year I started wanting one again. My son was over-induging in Herbie movies, and I think that did it.
But now that I have a young family, it needed to have decent boot space if it was to be a practical daily. 1971-1975 Super Beetles have a Macpherson Strut front end, which meant my daughter's pram would actually fit in the front boot. So that's what I went looking for.
I looked at quite a few ranging from overpriced wrecks to high priced very clean examples that were ready to go. But what I really wanted was a tidy one relatively cheap I could fix up and put on the road with minimal hassle.
This particular 74 Superbug popped up on eBay unreserved with a reasonable starting price. But it was two hours drive away and I certainly wasn't going to buy it without inspecting it first, so I let it slide. When nobody bid on it so I contacted the seller and arranged to inspect it.
The car had been sitting in a shed in the dry western part of the state for the last five years. It presented very well, with only a couple of small rust spots. Underneath was really clean and solid. The drivers side pan had been replaced and the welding was not exactly pretty but it seemed strong enough. Otherwise there was nothing to report, with just dull factory paint under the wings and all the usual rot spots were surprisingly pristine. Inside was not so good. The odometer had quit, the headliner was ripped, the carpets were well worn and the seats had a couple of splits. Other than a shimmy at 80km/h it drove nicely, with plenty of power for a 1600cc bug. Even the tyres were brand new, having been replaced with a view to putting it back on the road.
I really liked this one, but I wasnt completely set on it yet, so I went away and looked at a couple more Beetles. Those examples only convinced me that this car was the best I would find for the money. A mate Danny drove me back in his work ute the following weekend to collect it. I topped up the oil and splashed in ten litres of fresh fuel. With Danny following I began the drive home. Cruising at the legal 110km/h limit on the freeway was surprisingly not a problem.
Unfortunately the battery decided to die during the journey, requiring a jump start and a minor traffic jam in the main street of Woodend. Otherwise the trip home was uneventful.
The colour is "Martini Olive" so the family have decided she will be called "Olive". It's an odd colour, it looks almost yellow in direct sunlight, but is definitely green any other time. I didn't like the colour much, but it's very period and has grown on me.
The day after I got her home I gave her a thorough inspection. The battery refused to hold a charge, so I replaced it. Left indicators that stopped working when I hit the brakes turned out to be nothing more than a dodgy earth to the tail light. The non-functioning washers worked again when I reconnected all the plumbing properly and pumped up the spare tyre that powers them. The numberplate light had a blown bulb and the rear brakes and handbrake needed work. Otherwise everything mechanical seemed fault-free. Inside it needed a few broken seat knobs etc replaced, but that's about it.
The next week I submitted Olive for an RWC (MOT) and was completely speechless when she passed. RWC's are very harsh here and passing first try is virtually unheard of.
Despite the fresh certificate, I knew there were still some faults to be sorted. I replaced the handbrake cables and discovered that the rear brake hoses had collapsed internally and were mostly blocked. A new steering damper cured the shimmies and the carby needed a cleanout. The torn headlining was deemed unacceptable, so I splashed out and had a new one fitted along with new window rubbers.
Finally I took Olive to VicRoads for an identity inspection and she was issued with a set of new numberplates. Since then the anonymous plate XSO.801 has been replaed with my personal number BN.874 - my initials and birth month and year.
I've had her on the dyno for a tune and she delivers a healthy 44hp at the wheels from her 1600cc's.
So far Olive has provided six months of service as a daily driver and has been 100% reliable. Nothing seems to stop this car and I enjoy driving her.
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I thought that it was only here in the UK where people like that were allowed to breed. 
