Reunited: Maplewood Woman Back With Her First Love, A VW Beetle

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - Circumstances drove Amanda Dorset from her first love nearly two decades ago. Now, reunited, all she needs a tow truck to make the reunion permanent because Dorset's first love is a 1975 Volkswagen Super Beetle, El Grande Edition.

Maplewood's Amanda Dorset may be currently ensconced in New Jersey, but she is originally from Virginia, and as a teenager is when she first encountered the Super Beetle that stole her heart. Not exactly the first choice for a kid growing up in the 1990s. But Dorset said there was a reason for that.

"When I was a little girl my parents would tell me stories about the Volkswagen Beetles they owned when they were in their teens. I always knew I wanted a Beetle too," she said.

So when a friend told 15-year-old Dorset that there was a Beetle for sale, she told her mother and step father Pete about it.

"Pete, was a master mechanic. One of the best, but he wasn't too keen on fine German engineering," Dorset said.

So it took some convincing when the duo came across the little blue car sitting in a yard in Victoria, Va., rotting.

"I’m sure my parent’s thoughts were 'what a hunk of junk,'" Dorset said, admitting that was not what she was thinking.

Sure, the car was missing a fender, a headlight and a taillight. Sure, the original blue paint was faded and pealing. And yes, there were trees growing from the floor boards. But Dorset said her excitement was growing.

"Pete laughs and says, 'If it starts, we'll get it,'" Dorset said.

Resurrection

Settling into the driver's seat, Dorset said she put her hands on the steering wheel, made sure the car was in neutral, pushed down the clutch and hit the key.

"To all of our surprise the dang thing had a little juice in her," she said.

But after a few cranks with no start, she begged for one last chance. And the engine turned over.

"Barely, but she started," Dorset said. "And then cut off."

Reluctantly, her parents agreed to purchase the car.

From there the revival of the 20-year-old car began in earnest. The Christmas before her 16th birthday Dorset received things like a bumper, head lights, carpet and a sunroof crank.

While her stepfather set about rebuilding the engine, Dorset and her mother began working on the body.

"I remember my Mom and me sanding the hood by hand for hours," Dorset said. "Getting it ready to paint it 'Plum Crazy.'"

The car was ready by her birthday and Dorset said she still remembers her first time driving it solo in the fall of 1997.

"I jumped in the car, cranked it up and took off down the road," she said. "I felt so free driving her for the first time. I was in love."

Dorset and her Beetle had many adventures, like when the back seat caught on fire while she was driving down the road.

"In my Beetle's defense, we had three larger boys sitting in the back. Since the battery is under the back seat, you know the rest," she said.

Other memories of colliding with a fallen tree on an old railroad trail and ending nose up in a ditch after a poorly executed reverse are also fresh in Dorset's mind.

"There are so many more memories of that car. I will cherish them forever," she said.

But life has a way of moving on, and in October of 1999, when Dorset was 18 her aunt invited her to move with her to New Jersey. Dorset said she had the chance to find a full time job and start an adult life. So she stored the Beetle at a family friend's house and moved away.

"Once I moved away, so did my family," she said.

At some point her family traded the Beetle away to barter for construction material in their new home and Dorset said she resigned herself to the fact that the car was gone forever.

Reunion

Dorset never lost her love for Volkswagens. Married now with two children, her family currently owns a 1988 VW Jetta, a 1991 VW Cabriolet, a 1999 VW Beetle, a 2002 VW GTI Turbo and a 2014 VW Beetle.

But her purple Super Beetle was often on her mind, she said.

Fast forward to December of 2018, while visiting her family in Virginia, an old high school buddy texts her a photo of a purple Beetle for sale on a Facebook yard sale. A sale is taking place down the road from her father's house.

"I know that car inside and out. I zero in on those gray wheels and I knew it was her," Dorset said.

When she met with the seller Dorset said she explained that the purple Beetle was her first car. In fact, "Amanda" was still written in the back window.

Soon after, a deal to purchase the car was made.

"On Dec. 16, 2018 she made her way back to me. She isn’t in the best shape. I mean, she’s been sitting for 20 years or so," Dorset said. "I will say this, and it will not make sense to most, but besides the birth of my children and marrying my husband I have never, ever felt so happy and complete."

As for what happens next? Dorset said the car is sitting at her parent's house in Virginia, waiting to be restored again. But Dorset believes that will happen.

"They say if you let something go and it comes back to you - it's meant to be," Dorset said. "And I believe with my whole heart that we were meant to be together again. And we are."

Dorset said that when she sees the car now, she doesn't just see the good memories of a teenager, she sees the sacrifices her family made.

"Taking in every single detail of the car, with adult eyes, I see the love, sweat and tears that were put into this car the summer of 1997," she said.

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