Originally Posted by
Bostondevil
I grew up in a green VW Bus. I am not a member of the unique and ardent fan base. I hated that car, well, it was great when I as little but monstrously embarrassing to be the one whose parents drove one as a teenager. Also - top heavy and scary to drive when you just have a learner's permit, so, I didn't. And when I did learn to drive stick, I lied so I wouldn't have to drive the Bus. We had the VW Bus (instead of a Ford Country Squire which every other family in the neighborhood had) and then, in the most 70s way imaginable, got a Chevy Impala as the 2nd car when the old Rambler died. It was silver blue metallic with a royal blue top. We called it Blue Thunder.
My parents finally got rid of the Bus when its second engine caught on fire as it was closing in on 200,000 miles. My mom called to tell me that the engine had caught fire and my reaction as one of joy. She was upset that I hadn't asked first about my father who was driving it at the time. I said that if anything had happened to Dad, she would have led with that, or should have, so.
It broke down one time on a bridge over the Kanawha River on I-64. I had to walk off that bridge with the rest of my family while Dad waited with the car, broken down on a bridge, on an Interstate, with no shoulder. OMG. Nope, I am not a member of the VW Bus fan club. I think that's the moment it stopped being fun to ride around in that car. I was about 10.