The unique body style, simplistic engine design and all-around ‘cool’ factor of the Volkswagen Beetle has kept the little car as a head-turner since it was first introduced to the public in the 1930s.
The ‘car of the people’ changed little in the ensuing years, eventually seeing a massive surge in North American popularity in the 1960s. All told, over 21 million Beetles were sold throughout the world by the time production ended in 2003, and now you can find car enthusiasts all over the globe keeping their spirit alive.
The Prairie Volks here in Moose Jaw are one of those clubs. Featuring around 20 Beetles and a handful of VW Buses locally, you can see them out touring around on nice summer days, showing off their mint-condition vehicles at car shows or even just meeting up in the Town ‘N’ Country Mall parking lot on a random weekend.
Kelly and Laurie Wiens are the owners of one of those Beetles — and they’ve taken an extra step to make it unique, decking the car out in the paint scheme and familiar 53 of the famous ‘Herbie the Love Bug’ movies from the late 70s and early 80s.
“I’ve always liked the Volkswagen because they’re neat cars. She had one when she was 16 and that was when we actually got together. I kind of liked the car too,” said Kelly of how the love affair with the VW brand started. “Then we ended up going to a Volkswagen car show in Vancouver, it was strictly Volkswagens, and on the way home we found one on the internet and stopped at Drumheller and bought that one.”
They had the 1966 Beetle for a couple of years before deciding to switch it to the famous livery.
“We changed it to Herbie this spring,” Laurie said, adding that it was something to give the car a fun new look.
And if you think they turned heads before when they were driving around, it’s that much better now.
“You get a lot of smiles when people see you,” Laurie said with a laugh.
Kelly and Laurie Wiens' 1966 Volkswagen Beetle and its famous Herbie the Love Bug paint scheme.The Wiens’ dedication to the Beetle isn’t a unique situation for the Prairie Volks. The group’s Facebook page has hundreds of members, with some like Harley and Michelle Gallant owning multiple versions of the cars at any one time and having been through dozens of variants in their lifetime.
One of the reasons for the popularity — outside of their admittedly cute look — is the sheer number of them that can be found. And if you put time and dedication into making your Beetle or Bus as ideal as possible, you could land yourself a heck of a windfall.
“There were so many of them made, they were one of the most popular cars made back in Germany in the day, but the thing is the value of them has gone through the roof,” Kelly explained. “We’ve been to Scottsdale (for the legendary Barrett-Jackson car auction) and some of the Buses go for $100,000 or more. It’s amazing.”
And with so many of the cars having hit the market, keeping a Beetle running — even one from the 60s, the most popular North American era for the vehicle — isn’t all that difficult. Their simple systems and small air-cooled engines certainly help in that direction.
“And they’re easy to get the parts for them, you can get almost anything you need for them online,” Laurie said.
“They’re a basic car to work on, too, they’re fairly easy,” added Kelly. “I’m not a mechanic, but I’ve rebuilt the motor in mine and we’ve done some some other work on it ourselves” all with the idea of keeping their car as stock as possible even with the movie paint work.
For more information on the club and to get a good feel for just how deep and dedicated the crew are to their VWs, check out the Prairie Volks -- Saskatchewan Air-Cooled Classics Facebook page.
