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Back Again: Through Thick and Thin, a 1974 Super Beetle comes out of retirement

By Peggy LaVake

My first car was a 1974 marina blue Super Beetle. I drove it off the lot, never having driven a stick shift, and the 20-minute journey home took three hours as I searched for flat highway. What was I thinking?! The bill of sale was one small piece of paper — $2,900, plus tax. The VW lived with me on Long Island until 1976 and then stayed under the watchful eye of my father while I headed to the big city to study music. I wanted to sell it, but my dad said, “No way. You may need it again someday,” and so I did. After a near-fatal plane crash, I needed a car to get me to and from appointments while I healed.

So the VW came to the city and I found a nearby garage. It once again became my main source of transportation, and the strong attachment began. In good times and bad, it kept going. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, at the time of my life when my aging parents were in failing health, the VW navigated the dreaded Cross Bronx Expressway when I felt barely conscious, was tired and filled with grief. After 20 years on the road, the VW was retired to a garage where I live in New Jersey. It came out on sunny weekends and warm days.

About six years ago, it was taken out of the garage without my permission and ended up in Woodstock, N.Y. Only after threats was it returned several months later. But when it did, much to my dismay, it had a different engine, a racing clutch, a double barrel carburetor and a different camshaft. The driver’s seat had fallen to the floor. It was impossible for me to drive. I was heartbroken and hurt and especially angry. And so it sat for two more years until I realized I had to make a decision. I knew I simply could not let it go. I needed to find someone who could help me restore it to its original driving condition. And now comes the best-kept secret for VW lovers in the New York City area.

A VW mechanic at Gensinger Motors in Clifton, N.J., wrote down the name “Aldo,” and added, “Go left, go right, go over the highway, turn left and you can’t miss him. His yard is full of VWs.” Right behind the wire fence are several rows of old Volkswagens in various states of disrepair — a Bus was festooned with psychedelic mushroom stickers, and a bumper sticker implored that President Richard Nixon be impeached. (He was.) The garages of Aldo Tacchi and Angel Perez are attached, and the two perform mechanical and body-work wonders on tired old VWs. Aldo returned my car almost to normal. I never knew what happened to the original engine, but the replacement was a 1975 1600cc, which stayed. He replaced the clutch and carb with standard parts and it felt normal again. When I asked Aldo about a mini-restoration, he pointed to the garage next to his and said, “Angel’s the man.”

It had always been my dream to one day get the car back to its near-original condition, with new paint, no rust and new seats. And so, in December, the project began. Angel is the sculptor of cars. He loves what he does, and each car is handled as if it were his own. On cold weekends, I could go to his shop to watch the job progress. The paint job is superb. It is as close to the original marina blue that one can get with the help of a computer and a paint chip.

We kept the original bumpers because they just needed to be cleaned up. The fenders had some bubbling at the seams, which Angel repaired. He replaced the window seals and the original trim. Angel smoothed out every little dent and scratch accumulated with age and use. He replaced the ugly chrome running boards with the original black, he replaced the rugs and seat covers with original gray. He saw to every detail. With summer approaching, at this writing, we are waiting for some small details to be completed.

It will then go next door for Aldo to replace the brakes and I am on my way! And so very grateful for having found Aldo and Angel. And so, VW lovers, if you are ever in Passaic, N.J., find Liberty Street, stop and say hello. You can’t miss it.