Tell us about the history of your ’67 Beetle?
I’m always fascinated by the history of things. So I did some research, made calls, and pieced together a timeline of Fritzy III’s past life. Our ’67 Beetle was originally sold by Ellwood Motor Sales in Daytona, Florida. The first owner kept it until 1999, when he sold it to a guy who bought it for his wife as an anniversary gift. They split up a few years later, and she kept the beetle. She relocated and kept it stored in her garage, undriven for years. One day her mailman saw the VW and asked if she would sell it, and they agreed on a price. The car was inoperable since it had been sitting idle so long, so he had it trailered to his home where he replaced the starter, gas tank, fuel pump and carburetor, and got it running again. He intended to do more work on it, but was sidelined by a heart attack. He held onto the car, not wanting to give up on his plans to fix it up. Meantime, his friend’s 19-year-old son had taken an interest in the beetle, so the mailman sold it to him in May 2012. It wasn’t an easy decision for him, but I guess he thought this young man would make a project out of it. But as we all know, working on a 46-year-old car takes time and money … two things a college student does not have. Within a couple months, the bug was for sale. My husband happened upon it one day, and bought it for me as a surprise … one day I came home from work, and there sat Fritzy outside our garage. I’ve never been so shocked in my life! Funny thing is, not two weeks before I made the off hand comment that owning a vintage beetle was on my “bucket list.” Who says men don’t listen to their wives!

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