Reply #44: We Had a Squareback Too [View All]

What a POS. My parents were VW fans. Two Beetles, two buses and a black squareback through the years. The first squareback was a total lemon. It would break down repeatedly on the way home from the dealer. Did this the first day we had it. I don't know if that junker ever even made it all the way to our driveway. I don't think that thing ran for a solid 24 hours ever. Finally the dealer gave my father a new car, and this was before lemon laws. That one worked fine, if you want to call it that.

We used to go on trips in the buses. With the family plus luggage the first one would overheat going up hills in New England. The second one was so powerful that it could carry a family of five plus a couple of suitcases whereever we wanted to go, as long as it was paved.

The very first car was some kind of dinky Fiat that wasn't a sports car. Used to break fanbelts regularly. Would never start in the cold weather. My father burned it up one morning before work with a heating pad he used to put over the engine so it would start. The car was white and I can still picture the black char marks from the flames that shot out the air intake slats in the back of the car. (Engine was in the rear in those days.)