This article is about my experience and love affair with one of the best built and most reliable cars available, the Volkswagen.  It all started some eleven years before I was born, in 1957. My granddad had bought a Beetle manufactured in that year, but which I only got to see in photos.  My grandma always praises it so much and has very fond memories of it.  In her old age, she can still remember the car's registration plate, and anecdotes related to those Beetle years.  Then came the time for my father to buy his own Beetle, back in 1965 circa.  It was a hardly used 1963 Sea Blue pope's nose Beetle (exactly like granddad’s except for the larger rear lights), which played a very important role in my childhood, and indeed fostered my Beetle Mania. 

I have many good memories of this car, especially during outings, when my elder sister and I used to sit behind the rear seat, to make place for my grandparents and next sister in the back seat, with my youngest baby sister and mother in the passenger seat, and my father driving. 31935 (the car's old number plate and name), was a hard worker all right.  It never let us down, even laden like it was in Malta's hot summers, with the temperature sometimes reaching 40^oC.  As mentioned, our family was numerous, and so the yellow re-sprayed Beetle was sold in 1977.  I believe it is still on the road, but the last time I saw it, it was in a very sorry state.  I wish I had the resources to buy it and restore it to its former glory...

My turn to own a Beetle was due soon after I got my driving license.  I was still studying at the time and didn't have much cash, but the search for a good condition Beetle was on, and I went to see every one for sale, and replied to every advert possible.  After a two year search, I finally found my dream car, a 1972 Pastel White 1300 in a good, rust free condition.  My Dad helped me out financially and the car was mine.  I soon set about getting the car up to standard, my standard, and pampered it with many original extras, a good clean up all over, including the engine bay, and a partial re-spray.  It had Bosch foglamps up front, Hella foglamp at the rear, over-riders and more.  T-0010 (the car's registration plate), became known to most Beetle enthusiasts all over the island, and it was admired by many English and German tourists.

A year before I got married, my (then) girlfriend, Josette, got her driving license and wanted a car, and it obviously had to be a Beetle.  She wanted a car that was able to take some punishment without much consideration to its appearance, i.e. a tatty one.  So we set off to look for one, and soon found a suitable match.  This was R-8711, a 1968 brownish 1300 which only had rust on the bonnet, a badly dented rear mudguard, worn out windscreen rubbers and worst of all, an engine which was in dire need of a re-build because of a worn crankshaft and a bad oil leak.  Due to the fact that Josette was still green on driving, we decided to repair the engine and tune up the mechanics, which were in fairly good condition.  We nicknamed it "Old Faithful", and it always lived up to its name, except for one time when the battery went flat due to a loose terminal, which turned out to be my fault.

We kept these cars for a couple of months after we got married, which was when we decided to swop T-0010 for a bigger, more economical family car to cater for future family needs.  It was a very hard decision to make, but I soon made up my mind, as soon as I saw my next car to be, a new Steel Blue VW Golf CL Diesel.  The salesman was a friend of mine and as soon as I sat in it, after having seen so many other cars, he told me "This is the car you feel at home in", and I bought it.  I sold T-0010 to a young woman who went crazy as soon as I told her the car was hers, cheering as if she had won some lottery - I really don't blame her.  She nicknamed it 'Wilma', and still comes to me now and again for advice on caring for it, and I am always glad to help.  The Golf is four years old now, and I only have praise and admiration for the car. 

Like I said, we replaced both Beetles, and the replacement for R-8711 came quite unexpectedly in March 1995, when I spotted a very well kept Marina Blue 1973 1303, which was only used for about 15 minutes each day.  It wasn't for sale, but I convinced the owner to sell it to me, and just after 24hrs that I had seen it for the first time, the 1303 was mine.  R-8711 was sold to an English chap who needed a cheap means of transportation round the island during his long stay here.  We have only seen the car a couple of times since then and wonder what became of it, so if you are reading this Andrew, please get in contact with me to give me any news. 

So by Spring '95, we had the Golf and the 1303.  The 1303, which was A-6901 and is now VWI-303 (a customised plate), was in all-round very sound condition, and only had a little rust under the windscreens and surface rust at points here and there.  Until one day, to our horror, we discovered a large hole at the water drain, below the front windscreen and under the dashboard.  I soon went about dismantling anything around this panel and soon found myself having dismantled most of the front end including the dashboard.  Due to the overall condition of the car, we thought it fit to restore the entire car, and August '95 is when the restoration started.  I dismantled the whole car, bit by bit, and labeled everything for easy re-assembly.  The electrical system too had to be dismantled, but I did not remove it from the car as it is quite a taxing job to put in again.  As soon as the bodyshell was totally dismantled, my wife and I want about stripping the old paint off, which proved to be a tough job as there were coats upon coats, and the paint proved very stubborn to remove.  It took us a whole month just to get the paint off.  By this time I had ordered the second hand replacement panel from a UK supplier, and received it in about five weeks.  I also bought a second hand driver side door which only had a couple of insignificant dents.  It must be a modern door as it has a re-enforcement bar inside.  By this time the 1303 had gone to the panel beaters and had the replacement part welded in, and all rust taken care of. I went to see the car every day, to inspect it, and I must say that the panel beater did a fine job of it. During the time it was there, I set off to buy the paint, and although it took my wife and I months to decide on the colour, we finally set for the beautiful Rover Nightfire Red Pearl Effect.  I bought 8 litres of it.  By now the car had gone to the sprayers, and work on it only started two and a half months later. As the pictures show, the colour really suited the car and everyone visiting the paint shop really admired it. As soon as it was ready, I took it to the upholsterers for a new roof lining and fitting of new original windscreen rubbers all round.  Ironically, the front windscreen rubber gave the upholsterer a hard time and had to be removed and installed three times before he got it right. My turn came again to continue working on the car to assemble it. I ordered many other small parts needed such as bushes, grommets, bolts and any other worn out bits and pieces again from an English company that sells original parts.  I worked in the evenings and weekends on the car and often worked till late at night to get a job done.  I managed to get the car assembled in five weeks and can say that I did a good job of it too.  Nothing was left without at least a thorough clean up, or a respray. 

The only area I didn't work on was the engine, as the previous owner had it rebuilt in 1992 and it was still in good shape.  Last summer, I got round to cleaning up the engine bay and dismantled most of it.  I do plan to give it an upgrade sooner or later, but only when I decide the best combination of performance/ economy/ price of upgrade.  What I have in mind is a c.c. boost to 1600cc with electronic ignition and a better carburetor layout, and an exhaust system to match, of course.  Maybe someone can give me some hints on the subject because, as I suspect, I might be expecting too much.  While I’m at it, I could also fit a couple of chrome goodies, just to enhance the look that bit more.

The 1303 is only used once or twice a week by my wife and I, especially during the weekends, when we go for Sunday drives or Saturday nights out.  I must say that we prefer to use the Golf, not because of reliability problems or otherwise with the Beetle, but rather because we do not like to leave the 1303 alone too long, especially at night, as it is such an eye catcher.  We do plan to keep the Beetle for life in at least its present condition (hopefully even better), unless some unfortunate circumstance dictates otherwise.

Colin Micallef