Oh What a year! Part 3; Goodbye LTL 174;

    It was a very sad day the day I had to say goodbye to my Melvin. My baby, my pride and joy, my second love! As youve probably gathered I have a great love for my VWs, and Melvin was the car I had always dreamed about as a little kid. I have wanted a Beetle since I was 3 and I got a toy one and stated to my parents that this was the car I was going to have when I grew up... and with the help of my dad I made it my mission. I bought a yellow beetle when i first got my license, but it was riddled with rust and needed a lot of work, so I set out to find the Green beetle id always wanted. I found Melvin on Gumtree in Melbourne with  the numberplate LTL 174 (unfortunately though the numberplate had to be changed when it was registered in SA). It was the perfect car! We did lots of work to it, but it treated me well. I never thought I would have to say goodbye to my 1974 Grasshopper Green VW Beetle! It was the perfect colour, I loved the fact that it was air cooled and always the perfect temperature, the mag wheels, the sun roof, the waves from other VW drivers, the punches you see from kids doing 'punch buggy' and most of all the sound of it coming up the driveway! We had to make a decision about Melvin because I got a work car with my job that even had paid petrol so Melvin was just sitting in the driveway not being used. I didnt have the money to just keep it or do it up like I wanted to, and I knew id have to upgrade evenutally because its fiddly if youve gone shopping or have others in in. I couldnt have it as a car to take kids around in mostly due to space requirements (2 door) and safety, it needed new tires and a few things done and it wasnt getting used. And of course after driving a new car it was hard to get back in to it and think of it as a main car. I had always thought that I would just keep it and be able to afford to get another main car, but that wasnt really practical when we thought about the logistics of that, especially when we had the Kombi that needed to be stored somewhere, AND it goes against our eco ethics. I also couldnt afford to keep it registered and insured and do the things that needed doing. It seemed like money just sitting there being wasted which could be put into the Kombi that we want to go travelling in and could take kids in.... but could I really sell it?? I decided to advertise on Gumtree and see if I got any interest. With the amound of work that I had done I put the price higher than James thought I would get, but what I felt it was worth and if I had interest then it was meant to be, and if not then I wouldnt sell. I didnt get any interest to begin with, but then I got a phone call from someone in Mt Gambier who didnt even need to negotiate and just wanted it like that! I was shocked and in denial- how could I be doing this??! For the price he was offering i would be silly to refuse- but I had always said I would be buried in my Bug, and that I would keep it and restore it because their value just keeps going up and this was a prized car! But with our current situation it was silly to not take it up, so two weeks before we moved house and while I was getting settled into my new job I had to say goodbye to my favourite little Beetle- yes I cried and cried as I heard it drive out of our driveway for the last time....

I have had updates from the new owner that Melvin has had a total new respray (same colour), all dents and rust fixed, new interior, reupholstered seats, and a whole lots of other work done so at least he is being loved and having done what I would have liked to do and who knows maybe one day I can buy him back!