Two years too late…

Grr! And also Arrgh!

If only I had held off buying my car for two years, I could get both a Beetle and an iPod in one simple promotional package!

Of course, I’d still be limping along in my old ’89 Honda Civic… It had no AC and a disturbing habit of not starting if the engine was in a specific range of temperature… But an iPod! And I could have gotten a convertible bug!

I’ve always liked the looks of the VW Bug. I don’t know if it was the Disney “Love Bug” movies or what, but there’s something about the look of a bug that just seems right for a little car. My folks had a couple of Volkswagen vans when I was young… We’d take them on summer camping trips. They weren’t the camper-style vans, but my dad had devised a set of plywood inserts for the back that fit into place when the back seats were removed.

If I remember correctly, it was very cool. I was very young, so my memories are a bit sketchy, but here’s what I recall: our camping gear and clothing fit underneath a sort of riser in the far back. With a mattress over the top, it was a sleeping area for mom and dad. I think the floor mount seatbelts fed through the riser, but it’s possible that my sis and I were bouncing around loose back there… Some other parts of the insert were removable and turned the driver’s seats into a little bunk-bed loft, big enough for two kids to sleep in. I think we used that for a year or two before my sis and I outgrew the loft and we made the transition to tent camping.

The other thing I remember about the VW van is the little fake wicker waffle pattern in the vinyl seat covers. In the summer, with the sun shining in the windows, you could have that burnt into the back of your legs in a heartbeat if you weren’t careful. My folks made seat covers out of some big orange beach towels with holes in them for the seatbelt buckle. The orange color didn’t exactly match the interior, but it beat having wicker branded into thighs and buttocks.

We kept the towels when we sold the van, and I still had them up until earlier this year when my Fiancee (who is awesome!) smuggled them off to a friend of ours who is a dab hand at making stuffed animals. About a week ago a package arrived, and I got an early birthday present… A cool, laid back, stuffed bear made from an orange beach towel! It’s wearing beach-style shorts too, and it looks all ready to go on a camping trip somewhere…

All it needs is a convertible bug to drive, and an iPod to listen to on the way there…