SJVWC Forums
VW Lounge => General Forum => Topic started by: Beetleboi -Greg- on January 27, 2009, 10:01:22 pm
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So some of you may know I've been trying to make contact with Bridgette's original owner. I had a name and an address, so I looked him up on whitepages.com and found out he had a son who happened to have a myspace, sent him a message...
His response...
I have to say, when i got this email i was stunned. Thomas Esehak is my father, and without a doubt, he did have a 72 beetle. Im sure youll be happy to hear that car has a rich history. I remember growing up and hearing stories about that yellow VW. At the time, my father was a Captain in the air force, he flew the C - 141 cargo plan and was based out of Mcguire AFB right in south jersey. I talked to him briefly about the car after i receieved your message and he actually remembered buying the car. The car was special to him because in 72 he was constantly flying missions all over the world, including vietnam, and didnt have a lot of free time in the states. Because of this, he had saved up a lot of money (in 72' that is) in a short amount of time. So when he went to the dealership, he picked out that car, and ended up giving a check for the full amount that same day. oddly enough, he still has that check! It totalled around $1500 for the car hahaha. And he remembers the only options he got were heater and radio. After he purchased the car he used it as his "base" car. He would drive in, usually around 0300 in the morning, then leave the car on base while he flew missions. After a few weeks, sometimes more, he would come back to NJ and there would be his trusty VW. My father remembers babying that car, he always worked on it himself and the car served him well over the years. He said for you to look at the trunk, there should be a lock on it which he installed. The reason for this is actually quite comical. One night after flying back to base after a couple weeks, he was driving home, and turned on the one luxury he allowed himself, the heat. But to his suprise, the heat didnt work. He pulled over and examined the engine to find out that someone had stolen a radiator house! After this my father bought the lock for the engine compartment. After he retired from the air force, he drove that little bug all the way to texas with my mother. After four years of school, he then towed the car back with my uncle when they moved to south jersey. He doesnt remember exactly where he sold it, but believes he traded it in for a corvette. I can see now how long this message became and apologize for my ranting. Im also a car/motorcycle guy and i hope this brings you closer with bridgette. Even though i never saw that yellow beetle until i saw your page, i will always remember the stories told over the years about that little car that helped my parents during my dads military service, and later when he was a veteran. Thank you for your message.
Dave Esehak
Neat huh!!!
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Very cool Beet. It's neat to have the history of your old car. Been getting updates on mine lately, from the PO prior to the guy I bought it from
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wow* Great to find out about your VW's My bus came from Calif.and before Andrew
bought it- I think Cheech and Chong owned it you can check out the headliner stoned#
That's not cigarette stains. As Bob M. said when I cut it out I should cut it into 12 inch
squares and sell them on the street, make enough money to pay for the repairs :police:
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Wow that's very cool. $61$ I did that once with a 1963 Rambler I had. But it was knid of sad because it belonged to the womans late husband.
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Great story! I don't know if you remember me telling you this, but I'm friends with one of the previous owners of your car and I remember doing some work on it a few years ago when it broke down on the side of the road.
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Was it matt or mike or something? I haven't talk to him since I tried to contact him about the horn. The cop from Audubon?
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Yo Greg
Great story, you are lucky to get a response from the guy. I remember that car in Audubon but I usually drove right by since it was in terrible shape. You're doing a good job of saving it and its great to know something about its history.
I know a bit about my 72' it was sold to a guy in the air force outside of ElPasso Texas. The guy eventually moved to PA was stationed at Willow Grove AFB. Sometime later he sold the car to a guy in Willow Grove who had it for several years, as the car and the guy got older he finally gave it to his grandson as a "first car". the kid ran it into a tree and crunched the front passenger fender. Grandpa had the car fixed and later on the kid blew the engine. Grandpa stepped in again and had it rebuilt. Finally Junior went out on an icy night and spun the car backwards into another tree ( this kid just couldn't drive! ) Grandpa finally said "enough! sell it!" which he did. My cousin and her husband bought it and a very ratty convertable from the kid. Scott drove the car for about a year and thought about using it as "parts" to fix the vert only I talked him out of it since the vert was rusted so bad and nothing would fit anyway. Finally insurance started to get expensive so Scott called me and asked if I'd be interested, naturally I jumped at the chance. Three weeks later I pulled the engine, made repairs to the back two fenders and did a brake job. I drove it in primer for a while and later on got the cheapo paint job thats on it now. I don't think I'd even sell the super after all that, its funny but these cars eventually "find a home" with us that will take the time to fix them.
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Was it matt or mike or something? I haven't talk to him since I tried to contact him about the horn. The cop from Audubon?
Yep thats him...