Melvan Is Now In Europe

For a brief and glorious time I was the owner of a 60's VW named "Melvan".  In my younger years I had read Travels With Charley and dreamed of traveling around the country in some kind of camper. When I saw Melvan on Ebay I fell in love with him.

I returned to the Ebay page over and over. The seller had taken pictures from every angle, interior and exterior. The inside was set up with a bed, cabinets, and a small sink. There was even a painting of the Madonna on the roof. I talked to my husband about it, and while we were sitting in the living room at our respective computers he said "If you want it, go ahead and buy it."(He now claims to have no memory of this.). So I clicked on "Buy".

There were complications. My bank was slow in approving a loan to cover the whole amount, and Melvan was in New Mexico and so my husband needed to take time off from work so he could go with me when I picked up Melvan and follow me in another vehicle when I drove Melvan home.  While we waited I re-read HOW TO KEEP YOUR VW ALIVE  and inquired about classes in auto mechanics for dummies.

Finally, we took the scenic route to New Mexico, through Taos, and picked up Melvan. I drove him all the way home. I enjoyed starting up in the morning, giving the engine time, putting him in gear. I was happy.

Melvan at home (usually he lived in our garage)

Melvan, side view

Unfortunately, after we got home I found I had made the erroneous assumption that "all men like cars" and that my husband would be interested in working on the van and going camping in it .  Unfortunately my husband did not share my enthusiasm. Later he confessed that he had been worried that I had lost my mind. After a while I realized we were not going anywhere and I re-sold Melvan to a young man named Ed. After he had driven Melvan to a few meets he got a great offer from a buyer in Europe and re-sold him. Melvan looks like he is in good hands. I still dream about traveling around the country, though.

In retrospect, this may be seen as the classic "mid life crisis" (or "Mid-Life Chrysler"?). I read once that if you want to get a good deal on a motorcycle look for middle-aged men who bought one and took it home and had their wives say "You bought WHAT".  

We all have "bucket lists" but I guess we need to check to make sure there aren't any piranhas in there. I asked my husband if he wanted to go to Burning Man next year and he said "I don't think I could handle the dust of the playa." At least he was listening.

You can read more about Melvan on the Samba forums. Looks like he has had some body work and gotten a few new stickers.