Hello friends,

I'm happy to say that we're in the last stretch to restore "Barry", my 1973 Volkswagen Superbeetle back to the original, fresh-off-the-assembly-line beauty!

For those of you who don't know or remember, Barry was my first car. I bought him for $650 cash from a newlywed couple who were selling him so they could buy a washer and dryer.

That was almost 45 years ago, and he was my only car for 28 years.

Because of safety reasons (I once passed out while driving Barry in a heat wave because he has no AC) I bought my second car, Maxwell Smart, in 2008. I still drive Maxwell almost daily.

But since Barry wasn't driven as much as he used to be, he started to deteriorate. He was stored for several years in our garage, but then we were forced to move because our landlord suffered a foreclosure and lost our rental house. We moved to an apartment with only 2 parking spaces, so Barry had to be moved to my mechanic's lot, where he was stored outdoors under a car cover.

Then, sadly, my mechanic closed his shop, so he towed Barry to my workplace. He was again stored outdoors under a (new) car cover to replace the one that had rotted away.

Cue the pandemic.

I lost my job to the COVID pandemic, but I was allowed by the building's management company to keep Barry safe in their gated parking lot. However, their facility was closed (like everything else) for a very long time, so Barry sat in the lot alone under the car cover for almost three years.

I finally found a new mechanic who was up to the task of restoring Barry. I arranged for him to be towed to the new "doctor", which is fortunately very close to my home. I have been able to go visit to see his progress. I told them to take their time, because they had other cars needing more urgent repairs, and they also wanted to make sure they had time to find as many original and OEM parts as they could.

It's been two years, and we are finally at the final push. And now I need help.

The mechanic hasn't taken any money from me these past two years. I offered to pay him in installments, as I've been saving up for this project, but he said he wanted to wait until they could give me an accurate dollar figure.

Well that moment came, and despite my savings, I'm still about $15,000 short.

So here I am, hoping that I will be able to save and raise that amount in six months (late June, 2025), which is the estimated time of 100% completion. Barry will be totally restored, from the tires to the interior and even the little visors on the headlamps.

Once I get Barry back, I have contacted Hagerty Garage & Social for a membership and a climate-controlled garage with 24/7 security, which includes care and service work, if needed, as well as events, group drives and a social network of other classic car nerds to hang out with.

Eventually, when I die, I hope to donate Barry to the Peterson Automotive Museum for future generations to enjoy his long, well-loved life.