My Favorite Ride: A 1955 VW Beetle with no rust? This Bloomington man has one
Jim Shields has owned some Volkswagens in his time, but never one this old.
In the spring of 2017, his brother-in-law sold him a 1955 VW Beetle. Norman Mooney had for years repaired Volkswagens inside his Morgan County garage, but had given up working on Beetles and retired to Florida.
After vowing he was done with vintage VWs, Mooney bought three mid-1950s models. After several years, he convinced Shields to buy the '55. He said the classic Beetle was mising key components, like the engine, but the body was solid since the car had come from New Mexico.
Infrequent rain, low humidity and no metal-eroding road chemicals meant no rust. Shields was leery, but Mooney knew old Vokswagens.
When the car arrived at Shields' house, it went straight into his garage. The restoration began. His first goal was to remove all four coats of paint - this VW had been beige, then orange, then blue, then a dark shade of pink - to confirm the no-rust promise.
"Most of the VWs from that era have turned to rust, but not this one," the Bloomington man said. "I took it all the way down to the metal. It's got lots of dings and dents, but no rust at all."
He spent a year rebuilding the car and his daugher reupholstered the interior, which had been in shambles. He said the VW project was taking longer that he had anticipated. He wanted it to be finished and the car, on the road.
"I told my wife I felt like I was never going to get to drive it, and said I was done," He soon painted the car its original VW beige and started driving it around town.
He admits he should have taken more care with the paint job. "I'm not much of a painter, and as you can see, I painted right over the dents." They aren't so obvious, but a look down the side brings some into view.
No matter. "I drive it anywhere I want to go in town," Shields said, often pulling a one-wheeled trailer behind. He said the Volkswagen is a smooth ride until about 55 mph, "which is about the speed you top out at in this car."
It's got a 36-horsepower motor, a built-in automatic fire extinguisher under the hood, a rare single-pane oval back windshield and no gas gauge.
There's a black metal lever on the floorboard the driver moves to the right when the car starts to sputter, indicating gas is running out. Moving the bar provides one spare gallon of fuel for another 30 miles on the road.
But the car's coolest feature is the pop-out semaphore turn signals concealed on each the side of the car. When the steering column lever is activated, a bar flips out, flashing to indicate a turn. Shields said Volkswagen used the system just a few years before installing turn signals on the back side of the car.
"People stop me all the time and say 'Is that a '67, or a '70?' and when I say it's a 1955, they're floored. You don't see many that old."
This family's affinity for Volkswagens has been passed down. While I was there, Shields' 8-year-old grandson Dalton was tooling around the property behind the wheel of a 400-pound replica of his grandpa's car. Except Dalton's, built by his mom, is a red convertible.
That's another story.
Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: A 1955 Volkswagen Beetle with no rust
