Volkswagen Beetle owners, from left, Michael Abraham, Charles Pendleton, Carl Baker and Janie Williams. (BRIAN LODEN The Vicksburg Post)

[1/24/05] Four Vicksburg Volkswagen drivers have Beetle fever and they’re hoping to draw more bug lovers to join them in creating a car club The Vicksburg Vintage Bug Club.

The four met Saturday to talk about their vintage cars and come up with ways to find more VW bug owners. The drivers share a love for the “people’s car” that hit the American market in the 1950s and continued its production until the late 1970s. The German-based Volkswagen company began making a modern version of the classic bug in the 1990s.

“It’s still the most popular car in the world,” Michael Abraham said.

Abraham bought his first vintage bug a white 1973 standard Beetle about a year ago, and he’s already started restoring another one.

“It’s a 1966 the year I was born,” he said.

Janie Williams said she bought her 1978 blue convertible after a seven-month search to find the right one for her. She finally found her bug from a man who rebuilds VWs in Grenada.

“I can’t restore them,” she said. “I wanted to put the key in, start it and go.”

She opted for the vintage Beetle because she liked the looks of the old better than the new. She drove a bug right after college, and longed for the fun of driving her old car, she said.

“It’s a slower paced life,” she said. “I’ll be driving down the road listening to that good music everybody smiles at you. You feel like everybody is looking at you. They just make everybody happy.”

Williams, who teaches at Warren Central Intermediate with Abraham’s wife, said she joined forces with him to find other Beetle owners. They’re interested in exchanging parts, information and riding time.

“I’m trying to make contact with people who own these vehicles, so we can exchange contact info,” Abraham said.

The group hopes to draw more bug drivers before downtown Vicksburg’s Mardi Gras parade on Feb. 5 so they can make their first ride together.

Charles Pendleton will have to choose from one of the five vintage bugs he keeps at his garage, which is filled with more than 20 antique cars. He continues to collect the German cars and looks all over the state for bugs to restore.

Saturday he chose the white 1972 Beetle one he bought a few days before. He said restoring the vintage automobiles is more his thing.

“I very seldom drive them,” he said.

For Carl Baker, driving his 1972 orange Beetle has become a money-saver.

“You can fill that little baby up and three weeks later, it’s still cruising,” he said.

Williams said Biloxi is the only place in Mississippi with a club devoted to the treasured cars. She has been asked to go along on rides for a club out of Louisiana, but she would rather stick to Vicksburg streets.

“There are probably about 10 or 12 people I’ve seen in vintage Volkswagens,” Abraham said. “We want to make contact with these people.”

The vintage Volkswagen Beetle club will meet again Feb. 19 at the parking lot of Warren-Yazoo Mental Health Service, 3444 Wisconsin Ave.