At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, there was this girl, Carol Cunningham, who owned not one but two cars—an old Maxwell touring and a brand-new Volkswagen. This was in 1956.

I wasn’t much interested in Carol’s Maxwell, but I was very much taken with her VW. I studied that car inside and out, and I marveled at how well it was put together—better than a Cadillac, which, at that time, was still the Standard of the World. And yet, here was Cadillac’s total opposite—small, tight, sort of ugly, very much anti-Detroit, anti-establishment… a car perfect for a mildly rebellious teenager like me. Plus, with its air-cooled, rear-mounted engine, four-speed transaxle, all-independent suspension, it looked like an engineering marvel and a lot of fun to drive.

And that fascination kicked-off a lifetime of interest in VW Beetles.