| Those of us who are in classic car clubs, regardless of | | | | lock? If a power window fails, you're looking at a repair |
| model or make, decide to become members for any | | | | that will cost around $400. Maunal seats have given |
| given number of reasons. Perhaps we owned a | | | | way to 8-way adjustable power seats. Is this really |
| particular car in our youth that brings back fond | | | | necessary? Hand-operated levers work fine for a |
| memories of cruising the streets on Friday nights. | | | | fraction of the cost. While we're on the subject of |
| Maybe we remember going to Drive-in movies with | | | | seats, what's up with heated seats? My solution? |
| our date's head resting on our shoulder. Perhaps it was | | | | Wear a coat.Cruise control is a nice feature to have if |
| simply the sound of our particular car's engine, which | | | | you travel frequently on desolate stretches of |
| could range from anything to a soft purr or a | | | | Interstate somewhere such as the Dakotas or |
| horsepower-laden monsterous growl as we rolled | | | | Montana, but it's impractical in heavy traffic, which is |
| down the highway. Perhaps some of us are too young | | | | increasing as each day goes by. I can't count the |
| to have experienced the era in which these cars | | | | number of times I've had to hit the "cancel" button as I |
| roamed the earth, but we have nevertheless been | | | | gain rapidly on somebody in a Buick Lesabre who has |
| influenced by our elders and appreciate what once | | | | been in bifocals since the Kennedy Administration |
| was. Whatever the reasons may be, there is nothing | | | | going fifty miles an hour. I can live without it.Perhaps the |
| quite like finding others who share these feelings and | | | | most pretentious feature to ever come along in |
| enjoy the cameraderie and rewarding experiences | | | | today's cars is the Satellite Navigation System. If you |
| that are all part of being in such a group.My particular | | | | want to save thousands of dollars, I have some |
| love is old Volkswagen Beetles. I have been a | | | | suggestions. A)If you feel the need to know what |
| member of the Chippewa Valley Volkswagen Club, | | | | direction you are going, go to Wal-Mart and buy a |
| based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, for over three years. | | | | compass for six dollars. B) Look out your window and |
| We go on many cruises, other outings, and hold our | | | | note the location of the sun. Unless you live on the |
| own show annually. During the original Beetle's lifespan, | | | | planet Venus, it rises in the east and sets in the west. |
| which ran from it's infancy in 1938 Nazi Germany up | | | | Now look at your watch. C) On cloudy days, try |
| until 2003, when the very last "Bug," as it was lovingly | | | | reading highway signs. They will tell you whether you're |
| called, rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, | | | | going east, west, north, or south.Come to think of it, this |
| over 21.5 million were produced. As a result, there are | | | | works on sunny days as well. D) Go to a gas station |
| still thousands of them on roads today, and clubs such | | | | or, more likely in this day and age, a food mart, and |
| as mine are dedicated to the preservation of these | | | | buy a map. This will cost about five dollars. If you're |
| unique cars. We also support other clubs throughout | | | | lost, ask the attendant how to get back on track to |
| the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota.The | | | | wherever you're going. Chances are that they'll steer |
| Volkswagen Beetle defined simplicity, something that is | | | | you in the right direction. If he or she can't, find |
| quite lacking in today's cars, regardless of model. | | | | someone who can. Trust me. You don't need to rely |
| There is no question that certain items such as airbags | | | | on a satellite in orbit hundreds of miles above.No-frills |
| and side-impact crumple zones have acomplished | | | | cars should still be available as an option for those |
| much in the way of saving lives, | | | | who share my sentiment. There are undoubtedly many |
| but let's go back forty years for a few moments. | | | | drivers who have become accustomed to the |
| Air-conditioning was considered a luxury in those days, | | | | above-mentioned features. In fact, there are people |
| and only select cars were equipped with it. Nearly | | | | who couldn't imagine driving without them, but should |
| every car manufactured today has air-conditioning as | | | | they ever question why cars of today cost ten times |
| standard equipment. In Wisconsin,I use it in my 1996 | | | | as much as those of a few decades ago, I have put in |
| Volkswagen Golf maybe ten days out of the year. | | | | my two cent's worth. Or rather, twenty cents...Pat Sills |
| While someone in, say, Phoenix or Miami would beg to | | | | is an avid Volkswagen enthusiast and writes articles |
| differ, I pose the following question: Does somebody in | | | | and feature stories for his club's Newsletter. His first |
| Fairbanks, Alaska really need it?Power windows and | | | | novel, REUNIONS, was published in March, 2005. |
| locks have also become the industry norm. Have we | | | | Check it out at: |
| as a society evolved into such a lazy species that we | | | | or at: authorsden. |
| are incapable of rolling a window down or pushing in a | | | | |