By Bill C.-

“Sergeant Charlie” to some of us, Charlie S. is our official Vdubber for this holiday month of December. He is a Memphis area resident and has been a member of the Mid-South VW family for slightly over 2 years.

But he would rather we heard about his ’71 Starburst Yellow Super Beetle, “Ana.” No, that is not a misspelling. Like most nicknames, there is a story behind it. You see, “Ana” is short for Anaconda; the snake. And no again; he is NOT running a Mustang Cobra engine in the back.

Many years ago, in another galaxy, in the 1970s …  a lady’s parents bought her a used ’71 Beige Super Beetle.  The lady worked in the Education Department at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum. She visited area schools to teach the students about (yup) … reptiles. As a matter of fact, she hauled SNAKES from school to school in her Volkswagen. Thus, the name “Ana.” I guess Charlie didn’t like the nickname for that infamous regional snake and decided not to call her “Cotton.”

The lady eventually married the son of a U of M professor of physics. In 1982, the young couple needed a washer and dryer and sold their bug to the professor; who really didn’t care for it that much, but wanted to help them out. Enter Charlie’s brother, who bought “the bug” for $150 in August 1988.

She was not in too good of shape; dents and scratches, the interior was a mess and the motor was only hitting on 2 cylinders. So brother did some body and paint work and fixed the engine. But his affair with no-name bug was short. In the next month, brother traded her up to Dad as part of a deal for a Ford Fairlane. This time, enter Charlie; and Dad gave the no-name to him. This would be “an affair to remember.”

Was she “Ana” yet? I don’t know. But Charlie immediately took her to King’s Upholstery on Summer for a new interior; new upholstery for the seats, new headliner and carpet. And, no leftover snakes were found!

At that point she became Charlie’s “steady,” I mean, daily-driver; driven 40 miles round trip to work each day, until this last May. Still his daily-driver, though, Ana has only 14 miles a day to do after his departmental change. In years past, she spent most of her days in the West Precinct parking lot on Union or at the CJC garage downtown. She even traveled with him to sit and watch as he directed traffic for Memphis State… er… U of M …. football games. They have been inseparable.

In 2000/2001 timeframe, Charlie decided to reward Ana’s years of loyalty with an extreme make-over. She underwent a painful sandblasting, but received new front fenders for those droopy eyelids. Then he gave her shiny, jewel-like bumpers and a romantic set of running boards. Some more jewels were called for, so he proudly presented her with sparkling new turn indicator lenses and some hot window and door seals. Then, for that final coat of makeup, she was repainted with Starburst Yellow Imron paint. Charlie felt so good about how Ana was looking that, in 2002, she was treated to a trailer ride to Murfreesboro for a factory authorized install of a Street Beat vintage style sliding ragtop sunroof. After all this, her bottom was still dragging, so she got a body-off treatment of new floor pans in 2003; and another new set of carpets to ice the cake. What a LUCKY gal!

What else is in store? How about a period correct original style steering wheel? The original one was replaced prior to Charlie’s ownership. So Ana will soon get that gem to celebrate their recently past 15^th anniversary. Ahhhh… how sweet (Don’t blame Charlie for all this gooey stuff. It is my “editorial privilege.”).

They still spend their daily commutes together; receiving compliments on what a nice looking couple they make.

He is always asked, “Who’s the babe?”

All he can say is, “She’s comin’ home with me.”

Even though they have been around the proverbial block several times, many more are in the future. This is a LIFETIME commitment. So, don’t even THINK about asking him to part with her.

Speaking of commitment, Charlie remains one of our “committed” members. Though you have probably never seen him at a meeting, due to weird police officer work schedules, he is one of the quality “few” at cruise-ins and drive-in movie nights. He also did his first VW show this year at our 5^th Annual VWs Over Memphis, where he proudly received the People’s Choice Award. Yes, they really ARE a nice couple.

More Photos of this VW