What was your first car?

For me, it was my 1967 powder blue Volkswagen Beetle. My mother had purchased it in the Spring of 1990 for $800 from an auto shop owner who tinkered around with Beetles. Her old car had been totaled in a 6-car pile-up on the frozen 6th Street overpass in March. But that's a story for another Throwback Thursday.

Mom bought her first brand new car in the Fall of 1990 and gave Rob and me the Beetle. Zack was a couple months old and we didn't have a car, so this was a welcome gift.

We named the Beetle "McBug." This term held several meanings. First, Rob was a manager at McDonald's (a restaurant known for adding the prefix "Mc" to every word imaginable). Second, growing up with the last name "McLaughlin" also led to adding the "Mc" to "Bug."

But mostly, I was 19 and liked having cute names for my car!

McBug was a total lemon of a car. I think it ran reliably only a fraction of the time that we owned it. Either the timing was off, the brake fluid was leaking, the brake discs needed to be replaced, or the engine itself was in need of rebuilding.

But, I loved this car. It was unusual. It was cute. It made that trademark "Volkswagen" sound when it ran.

Alas - McBug became too expensive for us to try to upkeep. So we bought a newer car & ended up selling McBug to a Volkswagen enthusiast who could afford to give it the attention it needed.

Ironically, the car that replaced McBug also sucked. Such is the life of a young adult!