Kris and Laura Hallett, of Lyons, Ohio, used
to lead separate lives, until they met, fell in
love, got married and had children. Somewhere
along the line, Kris mentioned to Laura that he
had once owned a 1971 Beetle, which he had in
high school. Laura replied that when she was a
young girl, her friend used to have a Beetle,
and she had many fond memories of that car. They
began to talk, and dream, of finding another
nice Beetle that they could call their own. A
few years ago, Kris bought another 1971 Beetle,
but, after a while, they decided that the '71
just wasn't the car for them. They wanted an
earlier car, with all the charm associated with
the 1967 and earlier models, with the low-back
seats, early style bumpers, and other things
that make an early Beetle so desirable. Kris
began the search, looking at quite a few VWs,
and bidding on them on the ebay auction website,
only to be outbid at the last second. Laura
wanted an early Beetle, and her only
requirements were that it have a gas gauge, and
be earlier than a Super Beetle (1970 and
earlier). Kris kept looking, determined to
fulfill Laura's dream.
One Saturday evening, Kris was surfing the
Internet and happened upon The West Coast
Classic Restoration site (www.classicvws.com).
To Kris' surprise, there it was--a Ruby Red
(L-456) 1967 Beetle, restored and ready for a
new owner. Kris looked the car over and knew
that this was as good as it was going to get. He
made contact with Lenny Copp, the proprietor of
West Coast Classic Restoration, the following
Monday morning. After a lengthy discussion, Kris
asked Lenny to hold the car until Laura got home
from work, and Kris could show her what he had
found.
Later that afternoon, Lenny received a call
from a very excited Kris and Laura, telling him
that they would take the car. Lenny provided the
information that this car had been purchased new
by a Frederick Bryson, when he was 18-years old.
When the time came to sell the car, Mr. Bryson
had asked Lenny to sell it for him. And, Kris
was just fortunate enough to be one of the first
people to see it for sale on the West Coast
Classic Web Site.
Kris and Laura admit that they didn't know
Lenny's reputation for top- quality Volkswagen
restorations when they agreed to purchase the
car, and that it was quite a "leap of faith" to
send so much money to a perfect stranger for
something they had never even seen yet. Now,
they faced the interminable wait for the car to
be shipped to Ohio so they could see what their
hard-earned money had acquired.
Finally, the day came. Kris and Laura got a
call from the truck driver on a Saturday
evening, three days late, at about 9:30pm,
saying that he was just a few miles away. Kris
and Laura agreed to meet at a roadside rest area
about one mile from the Hallett homestead. They
met and the truck driver unloaded the car,
telling them they were lucky to even get the
car; that he had had a front tire blow out, and
it was all he could do to keep the truck upright
and going straight down the road. He had the
tire replaced, and some front end damage fixed
which was why he was a few days late.
Kris and Laura took possession of the car,
and drove it home, and they were ecstatic about
the condition of the '67. However, it was dark
when they had picked the car up, and, as most of
you know, darkness can hide many flaws on a car.
Laura says there wasn't a lot of sleep in the
Hallett household that night, waiting for
daylight to really assess what they had gotten
themselves into. Dawn came, and they were even
more ecstatic to see that, true to Lenny's
reputation, it was every bit as good as he had
promised.
Laura drives this car every day now, weather
permitting, and uses it to shuffle the little
Halletts around to school, going grocery
shopping, and just general daily driving.
The Halletts have become members of the
Central Ohio Vintage Volkswagen Club, and have
only just begun to enjoy their new (to them)
pride and joy. They have taken some long trips
with the car, the first one being to Niagara
Falls, on the Canadian side, for the June Jitter
Bug, where they received a 2nd place award in
their category. As well, the car took the
Mayor's Choice Award at the Delta (OH) Chicken
Festival, and Third Place at the Central Ohio
Vintage VW Club's Volksfest, in August of 2001,
against some very stiff competition.
Kris and Laura would like to thank Lenny
Copp, and the whole crew at West Coast Classic
Restoration, not only for the terrific job in
restoring this '67, but also their honesty in
describing the car, and patience, holding the
car while Kris and Laura decided to purchase it.
What was a "Leap of Faith" has turned out for
the best, for the Hallett family. If you are at
a show in the Midwest area, and see this
pristine '67, make sure you stop by and give it
a good once-over. Kris and Laura love to talk
VWs, and rumor has it that Kris just picked up a
1957 Oval window. Perhaps there is another car
that will be sharing garage space with "Ruby" as
they affectionately call this '67...
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