Advertisement

My First Car: '56 Volkswagen Beetle, Mukunda Rao, 84, Tampa

 
do not archive
do not archive
Published Feb. 5, 2015

'56 Volkswagen Beetle

In the early '60s, I was a graduate student from India at the University of Pennsylvania with very limited income. When this used Bug (1956?) was available, my wife Vijaya and I scraped some dollars together, bought it and had a great time exploring the country before returning home in 1964. We hated to part with it and negotiated with a dealer to ship it to Bombay. In India, we had to go through very complicated procedures. Then the shock came that it was stolen from the dealer's lot, but they would compensate us with a check. Disappointed, I waited. But instead of the check, news came that the car was found and was shipped to Bombay. I waited when another message came that the car was unloaded in Nairobi, Kenya, by mistake. After more anxious waiting, the Bug arrived in India. We became the proud and much envied owners of the only Bug in New Delhi. It carried us not only through Delhi but to places like Agra Taj Mahal and many others. A few years later, we bade goodbye to our beloved car as we left the shores of India. I still miss my adventurous Bug.