This is my 1972 Super Beetle Convertible. Her name is Hilma. I have lived with this car most of my life. My father purchased this vehicle new from Central Volkswagen of Dallas in 1972. At that time, she was a showroom car and her price was $1995.00. My father made an even trade on her with a '69 Dodge pickup and cab over camper. He picked me up from kindergarten on the day he purchased it. I fell in love with her then and I still love her today. Hilma is named after my Finnish Great-grandmother who died at the age of 90. One of her last car rides was in this car. She thought it was funny looking and would needle my father with comments in Finnish like, "Couldn't you afford one with a roof?"As this was my father's car, there are a lot of father/son memories tied to her. When I had to sit in the back, I used to hide in the cubbyhole behind the back seat and stare up at the polka dotted roof liner till my eyes went buggy. It was also a good hiding place when my parents went to the drive-in movie. I always got in free. There wasn't child restraint laws back then as there are now. I remember hauling a washing machine angled precariously in the back seat while I sat on the convertible top.

The more you experience life in the vehicle you are driving, the more alive to you that vehicle becomes. It's why grown men sometimes cry when they see their old car get traded in. You've experienced things together that make that vehicle a part of you. For those of us who love Volkswagens, we know that this feeling is somehow amplified. I spent $13,000 restoring my dad's old Super Beetle. I could have spent half as much and bought another beetle already restored, but it wouldn't have the memories that are tied into this one.

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