Back in the U.S.A.

What Happens When Your Car Catches On Fire



I arrived back to Connecticut and noticed a car missing from our garage. It was the '65 Beetle Convertible. I had forgotten that we put it into storage, before our move to Cairo.

Here's a photo of it in beautiful condition.






In the Spring of 2005 while the Vagabondblogger's boss man and daughter were out for a ride, the engine caught fire. Fortunately residents in the apartment building across the street noticed and came out with fire extinquishers.

As you can see the hood, which was down at the time, was damaged, as well.



The hood:











The engine:


We sent our baby out to Bob's in West Springfield. He redid the whole back end, we had the rear hood refitted, sanded and repainted. The only repairs we need to finish are getting a new cloth top and we've decided to get the interior reupholstered, with newer, safer front seats. We've given up on the idea of trying to keep it in original condition. It's such a fun car to ride in, we would prefer to be a bit safer in it. We went from a 1200 engine with about 35 horsepower, to a new 1600 engine with duals ports that has close to 70 horsepower. We also converted it from 6 volt to 12 volt. Yeah, it goes faster for a bug, but speed is all relative.

But then, who wants to ride in a Beetle when it's below zero?

Vagabondblogger's Expat Profiles will return in a few days.