A 1966 VOLKSWAGEN owned by Bill Mooney took three years to restore in Hastings, Neb.
Bill Mooney likes to think small.
When the branch manager of Protex Central Inc. isn’t at work or working on his house, he’s restoring vintage Volkswagen Beetles.
Mooney finished his custom maroon 1966 Beetle in 2008 and is looking forward to working on his 1962 Bug.
“They’re neat vehicles, and they’re easy to work on,” he said.
“I actually got started because my brother-in-law was into Volkswagens, so he got me started. It was cheaper to redo a Volkswagen than to do a Mustang or a Camaro.”
Mooney owned a Beetle when he was in high school in Valentine. He said he doesn’t care for the new models.
“I’d rather have the vintage cars,” he said.
Mooney’s restored 1966 Beetle has a newer engine with dual carburetors, an electric driver’s seat and a front beam that he narrowed and lowered about 7 inches. He did all the work himself aside from the paint job and some help with the interior.
He has taken it to several car shows and won a few trophies.
“I like to show it off,” he said. “It’s kind of a show car. I didn’t build it to drive. It doesn’t get out of the garage at all in the wintertime.”
Mooney said it’s remarkably easy to find parts for Beetles, and many vintage Beetle owners know at least some basic maintenance.
“They didn’t close down the last factory in Mexico until the mid-1990s, so you can still find parts all over,” he said. “We had a throttle cable break on the way back from a show in Denver one time, and we happened to have a throttle cable with us, so we jacked it up on the side of the road and replaced the throttle cable.”
Besides his Beetle hobby, Mooney said, he’s an avid golfer.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
