Photo: Volkswagen
Bought in December 1966 in Riverside, California, the Beetle owned by Kathleen Brooks racked up more than 350,000 miles over the course of 51 years. Now 73, Annie still owns the lovely Bug, driving it to work on a daily basis.
As a sort of holiday homecoming, Volkswagen’s North American branch decided to undertake a nut-and-bolt restoration of the red-painted Käfer named Annie by her enthusiastic owner. Over the past 11 months, no less than 60 employees at the Puebla, Mexico plant brought the car back to its former glory.
A number of several touches serve as the icing on the cake, including the Kathleen and Annie embroidered over the leather upholstery of the front seats in the classic Volkswagen font. 40 percent of the parts were replaced and 357 were restored. As for the stickers Brooks added to the body and windows over the years, those were recreated with utmost attention to detail.
“We often hear stories of dedicated Volkswagen owners, but there was something special about Kathleen and Annie that we felt we needed to honor,” declared Derrick Hatami, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Volkswagen of America, Inc. “This isn’t just a Beetle, it’s a member of her family, and after all the time our employees have spent with this special vehicle, we feel Annie is a part of our family as well.”
Overseen by project manager and mechatronics engineer Augusto Zamudio, the restoration further includes Bluetooth connectivity for the AM/FM stereo and a toolkit painted in deep sea teal metallic, the color of the 2018 Volkswagen Beetle Coast special edition.
“I’ve said many times she and I are so much alike because she’s old, she’s faded, she’s dinged, she’s dented, she’s rusted, but you know what? She keeps running,” said Brooks. “As long as I take as good care of her as I can, she’s going to continue to run.”
As we know it, the Beetle will be gone after the 2019 model year comes to a closure. Poor sales and old-gen Golf underpinnings are to blame, and looking back at the original, this is an underwhelming conclusion to the story that started in 1938. Produced until 2003, the rear-engined Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured passenger car of a single platform in history, totaling 21,529,464 examples of the breed.
A number of several touches serve as the icing on the cake, including the Kathleen and Annie embroidered over the leather upholstery of the front seats in the classic Volkswagen font. 40 percent of the parts were replaced and 357 were restored. As for the stickers Brooks added to the body and windows over the years, those were recreated with utmost attention to detail.
“We often hear stories of dedicated Volkswagen owners, but there was something special about Kathleen and Annie that we felt we needed to honor,” declared Derrick Hatami, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Volkswagen of America, Inc. “This isn’t just a Beetle, it’s a member of her family, and after all the time our employees have spent with this special vehicle, we feel Annie is a part of our family as well.”
Overseen by project manager and mechatronics engineer Augusto Zamudio, the restoration further includes Bluetooth connectivity for the AM/FM stereo and a toolkit painted in deep sea teal metallic, the color of the 2018 Volkswagen Beetle Coast special edition.
“I’ve said many times she and I are so much alike because she’s old, she’s faded, she’s dinged, she’s dented, she’s rusted, but you know what? She keeps running,” said Brooks. “As long as I take as good care of her as I can, she’s going to continue to run.”
As we know it, the Beetle will be gone after the 2019 model year comes to a closure. Poor sales and old-gen Golf underpinnings are to blame, and looking back at the original, this is an underwhelming conclusion to the story that started in 1938. Produced until 2003, the rear-engined Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured passenger car of a single platform in history, totaling 21,529,464 examples of the breed.
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