Some Reflections on Owning and Driving Gertrude Butterblume

When I took the test drive with Colin, my left hand instinctively grabbed the driver's door while making a right turn and I remembered the nagging problem of our door latch not always closing (and subsequently the driver's door flying open during right turns). Colin implied that it was a simple fix by taking off the door panel and oiling the moving parts. My mind oversimplified the repair as being the equivalent to regular sewing machine maintenance.

Big deal! It's only a door panel, right? But I was pretty intimidated. Since we've really gotten deep into ACVWs we've had a small kid and the majority of the VW maintenance has fallen on Mitch's shoulders. That means he's way way better than me at VW related things. So, I figured now that the kid's a bit older, I'd give it a go on something simple and hopefully not make more work for Mitch in the process. In the end (the day after Colin left), I got the latch to a little better place than it was before -- the door doesn't fly open and usually shuts on the first gentle attempt at closing. It was a bit more annoying than sewing machine maintenance. Generally speaking, small clips don't bounce around and dirt doesn't fall in my eyes when I'm at the sewing machine. Other than that, no real complaints.

While I was tooling away and listening to Esmé's dialogue on Gertie's interior (she loves the "polka dotted ceiling" - a.k.a. headliner), I got to thinking a lot about our VWs and contemplating the past couple of challenging years. In a roundabout way, it really got me thinking about all the niceties of these old cars of ours.

Of course the $0 monthly car payments, low insurance, and not paying a mechanic top the list. Quick to follow are the practical aspects of having a camper or a tiny car that gets good mileage.

Like these vent windows (or smokers' windows, or whatever you want to call them). They are fantastic for interstate driving, fresh air in winter, defrosting the windshield, and blasting air in the car on super hot days. Trust me, the first thing to do when getting in the front seat of a VW (unless it's the middle of winter) is open the vent window.

This dash and steering wheel are the best. I'm convinced that the aesthetics of old VW interiors have a calming and positive effect on the brain. And it's so much nicer than a digital dash.

I guess there's one thing Mitch can always count on me for when it comes to our VWs. When it's time to seriously put new fixes to the test (and we're freaking out about whether we'll have to be towed home), I'm pretty good about getting it over with. This day (two days after Colin left) I packed up Esmé, listened to her concerns that Gertie wouldn't make it to Butte (60+ miles round trip), assured her Gertie'd be fine, and hoped like hell I was right. We made it there any back without any incidents, and Gertie has even driven a 200+ mile day since then. Phew.