Bob Morton from Parkes was quite unassuming when I chatted to him recently about his 1974 Beetle, telling me that he'd always wanted a VW. I made the assumption that this was finally his dream car, but as the conversation continued I soon realised that this beautiful white Bug wasn't the first Volkswagen in Bob's life.
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“One of my very first memories of the Beetle was as a youngster seeing a couple of Beetles go through town in Gundagai as part of the Redex Rally in the mid 1950s,” Bob said.
In fact the Volkswagen Beetle was successful enough over the years to win the Round Australia Trials on five occasions between 1955 and 1958.
“I started with a couple of Kombi's,” Bob said, “firstly a van and then a ute when I was living in Broken Hill but they didn't have enough power so I changed to a Beetle. I owned a couple of Beetles there and we used to take them shooting. They were powerful enough and light so they tackled the Australian bush with ease. My wife even got her driver’s licence in the Beetle.”
“I had it resprayed and had the 1600 cc engine rebuilt and then I gradually pieced it back together,” Bob said.
“It's been back on the road for a few years now and I enjoy driving it when I'm not out on one of my motorbikes or my Can-Am Spyder.”
Bob is a member of the Parkes based Central West Car Club which holds regular meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm at Parkes Leagues Club. For more information about the club you can look up www.centralwestcarclub.com.
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