Tripping Down Memory Lane
Bought my first VW while in the Army stationed in Germany. Paid $200 for a 1949 split rear window with a heater that never worked and no gas gauge. You drove until the engine started to sputter then turned the lever to access the reserve tank. It didn't matter, it was mine, paid for and got me around Germany just fine. I will admit it's the only car I've ever owned that I used the ice scraper on the inside of the windows.
Sidenote: I was married, and serving in Germany from 66-69. In '67 I bought a brand new VW1500 for $1,500 and that even included a roll back sun roof. My wife and I decided we were taking leave and going to Africa to experience a photographic safari. I wrote my mother (because we didn't have the internet then) and told her of our planned adventure. She wrote back and said, " Please, whatever you do, don't take your VW to Africa. Elephants want to screw everything with a trunk in the front".
That was the day I realized my Irish mother had accepted me as an adult!