MY FIRST CAR cost $25. It was 1967. I was in college and didn't have any money to spare.

My best friend was having his 1962 Volkswagen Beetle towed to the junkyard after rolling it over late one night.

The junkyard was going to pay him $25 for the scrap metal.

Instead, I gave him $25 and, with some help, pushed the car down the street to my house.

My friend was fine, but the car wasn't a pretty sight. The roof was crumpled and the little engine in the rear had taken a beating when the "trunk" caved in.

If you've tried to smooth out a ball of aluminum foil, you'll get the drift. But it was mine! My ticket to the freedom of the roads!

My dad and I spent the winter jacking the roof roughly back into place, replacing side windows with Plexiglas, and breathing life back into the little air-cooled engine. This was the Model T of my generation. Simplicity ruled.

The only gauge was the speedometer. There was no gas gauge.

Instead, there was a little handle on the firewall that you could turn when the engine started sputtering.

It opened a fuel reserve that would get you another 30 miles or so.

That rolled-over Beetle was so ugly it was almost beautiful. It was no "chick magnet," but it's the car I was driving when I met the woman who would become my wife.

The car's long gone. My wife's still with me. I love 'em both.

BRIAN GATELY

Center Barnstead

MY FIRST CAR was a 1965 Ford Mustang convertible. I loved, loved, loved this car! I wish I had another one in my life today!

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