My proper goodbye to the VW Beetle

Most of my life has been lived in places where cars were necessary to get basically anywhere.  Living in Nevada during my teenage years in a spread-out city, there was no question I would need a car once I was finally able to drive (let's jut say it took me a few tries from the pressure of the situation).  Now that I have a new car due to the mechanical failure that was my Beetle, I would like to give it a proper goodbye as I did with Daly City when I moved.

How did I get this car, you ask or didn't ask but I'm going to tell you anyway?  It all started with a frustrating run through all the Carson City dealerships.  My mother swore we would find something reliable that also fit me, but with every dealership we hopped over to another since the price range and my leg room requirement was an issue.  I knew I could fit into a Beetle since my 6'3" cousin had one before - and IT'S FREAKING ADORABLE so I obviously wanted one - but Mother was not a fan.  While going through the Reno dealership circuit, I spotted this 2002 Dark Gray beauty parked out front of a used car lot for all to see begging to be test-driven.  A few hours later I was cruising through town in my dream car.

This itty-bitty transportation machine of awesome known as my first car had some fine qualities that will stay with me forever and always like:

• How everything was partially broken but still functional.  This car was purchased used five years after it was made so it was obviously not in dealer condition.  There was a giant crack in the dashboard.  Both interior door handles were broken (one was gone the other was just sitting in the trunk broken and was Superglue'd on later).  The replacement handle purchased was never installed since it was only half of a handle.  (I found it in a bin I grabbed from the Beetle after I already traded it in.  It is a memorial I have hanging in my apartment.)  The drivers seat pulled back to get backseat access but the passenger seat did not, (etc).  My perfectly imperfect car had its ups and downs but it still ran as long as it could with me even thought it was a piece of crap functionally.

• The decals.  I've always had the mentality of "if there's room to customize it, make it so."  That goes for my living space, personal style, and basically everything I want the world to see because I am unique and... stuff.  So once I got my first car I had to put some flair up on it!  From the vintage black and white floral set that went all over the car to the bumper stickers on the butt (it puts the ass in classy) to the seat covers and fancy-dancy interior decorations (not shown), this car was definitely out of the ordinary.  I joked that my car probably didn't get stolen while living near the city because it was so easy to spot if I ever reported it stolen.  The newbie sitting in my parking spot now will get its own unique collection, I assure you.

• The interior.  From the backseat that I couldn't even fit into to the dust-magnet dashboard that took up a third of my car itself to the fuzzy dice and grad tassels hanging on the rear-view mirror and everything in between that came and went or just stayed the same, a good chunk of my life was lived in this car.

• How I rear-ended a handicap man's van on my first day with the thing.  The dent on my hood from a less-than-a-mile-per-hour bump (shown in the picture above at the edge of the hood) looks like somebody had a beef with my adorable car and decided to punch it for good measure.

• How I avoided a collision with a fallen tree trunk with my fog lights being the only fatality.  Just when winding down I-80 in Tahoe at night through blind corners seemed like a good idea, out comes an OBSTRUCTION BREAKS BREAKS OMG TURN THE WHEEL!  Good times.

• The memories shared in it.  I drove to my new college life in this car (although my sister technically drove halfway).  This car chauffeured my friends around through many nights o' fun and days of awesome.  Jimmy the Cat was driven home for the first time in this car.  I moved twice and helped several others move with this car.  Road trips were had, laughs were shared, etc etc.

Farewell, Car.  Or The-Car-That-Used-To-Have-A-Name-But-I-Kept-Foregetting-It-So-I-Just-Called-You-Car.  You will be and are truly missed by your lanky last owner and all who came in contact with you.  Although you were viciously torn apart and sold for scraps, I like to think you did not suffer.  I don't know who it was who gave you up originally, but I'm sure they had a good reason since that decision brought you to me.  I am so grateful it did.

RIP 2002-2013