Could you recognize an authentic ’67 Beetle? So, prove it. Is Stewball really what he appears to be? Something hidden inside perhaps. (I’ve read something about an alternative energy engine, but I’m sure that was a novel!) Just what are we hiding under that car cover?
Well, that is the question we must answer now that we have signed on to rally to Alaska with the august Peking to Paris Rally Association. I have just submitted four pages of paperwork to the Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens to prove that Stewball is in fact Stewball; a ’67 Type 1 VW Beetle.
Seriously I can understand that for the 1924 Bentley, the 1929 Mercedes S or the 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, but who would want to forge a 1967 Beetle much abused from a trip around the world, well other than someone who drove China with a forged license! Maybe they think it is actually one of the 100 prototypes built before WWII, perhaps even the one that Hitler gave to Eva Braun while he drove a Mercedes-Benz 770.
Really, that’s what the cheapskate did, and stupid Eva was still willing to die with him in that bunker.
When we get to the NY start of the rally, a scrutinizer (don’t you love that word!) will examine the car to see if I am telling the truth, that Stewball is authentic. I’ll even have a card; proof of authenticity to carry with me, if anyone should ask along the rally route. Too bad I didn’t have it in China, in the Gobi desert, when the hotel owner asked to buy it for a museum. Do you suppose Stewball’s as valuable as a Rembrandt? I’m sure if you are a card-carrying authentic automobile, the price goes up, right?
NOT. He is just our worn, loved old Beetle, going into the shop tomorrow for a valve job and new tires. But I’d better be certain that they use genuine antique VW valve grinding compound.
Readying for the Rally to Alaska.
