Hello, When my brother was in his final recovery stages, he went back to college. I was now driving the 58 Impala then bought my own Flathead 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. since he was away for college, he had his own little “collegiate lifestyle” living away from home. Gone were the hot rods and custom cars and now the emphasis was practicality. In high school, I had the opportunity to drive another car in our family. Just a few days before graduating from high school for me, my brother had purchased this 1949 green, sunroof VW bug. He had this bright idea to buy cars and fix them up to resell later. It had a cloth sunroof that folded on the outside, semaphore turn signals, split rear window, a roller gas pedal, and a stick shift that did not have "synchos," so the shifting always needed a “double clutching” to shift smoothly. When we turned or signaled to turn, the little semaphore “thingys” came popping out of the door divider. When finished turning , they just went back inside, looking like part of the whole center divider of the door plus side windows. It certainly was a novelty item and was fun using it. The bad thing was, most drivers used hand signals or the automatic click turn signals in their cars and a lot of them paid no attention to the little arm popping up to signal a turn. So, we always stuck our arms out, plus sent the little guy up and out when turning right and definitely, left across traffic. There was no gas gauge, just a lever on the firewall that one flipped over to the other side when the car started sputtering. It gave the driver another 1.5 gallons to get to a gas station. There were many times having fun driving around that this car sputtered. We had to make a quick pit stop, wherever we were… Balboa, Malibu, Laguna Beach, San Diego. After driving around without a gas gauge, it was comforting that we knew that little floor lever was our friend. As long as we were not out in the Mojave desert. Yikes! My brother gave me this car. He had recently sold a custom camper VW Van for this 1949 sunroof bug plus money. So, he was in the process of getting a newer, more powerful, empty van for another conversion. My teenage friends as part of the cruising group and I drove all over So Cal with this different cruiser. With the sunroof open and cruising around the beach cities, it was a hit wherever we went. But, at Harvey’s Broiler inland, we were outcasts. The reception was cold to say the least. My longboard surfboard fit nicely in the open sliding sunroof, but still had to be secured, so it would not slide back and forth in turns and lane changing. Plus, if two of us were going surfing, then the longboards were into the passenger’s footwell to fit. The passenger had to sit in the back behind the driver. In Balboa/Newport Beach, my teenage friends and I were the coolest guys driving around in a rare car. At every stop down the coast (Grissinger’s, Hody’s/PCH, and of course, Merle’s), we were asked a zillion questions about the car. Those cool, car hops just loved hanging around this little cruiser. It was not a hot rod, but in the beach cities in So Cal, it was a cool cruising vehicle. It fit right into the drive-in restaurant scene alongside of the hot rods and cruisers in the lots. Jnaki By December of 1962, we sold it to another high schooler for his first car. Then it became a fixture at Grissinger’s for the next several years. Today, it is a very sought after, valuable car. These photos from the internet are the exact color and look of our 1949 VW cruiser. Pea Soup Green It would have fit perfectly north of Santa Barbara at Anderson’s Pea Soup Restaurant in Buellton, CA when it was open. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
