He drives it every day. He's 57 years old and the third owner of his bug, but he has the original receipt from when the first owner bought it in New Jersey. He began restoring it about four years ago. It took two years, but he drove it almost the entire time. That's a brand new one, not rebuilt.
New engines are still available.
People wave when they pass us, and they'll give a sign of approval,'' he said. But Mallette said he can go 80 mph or so with his new engine and that he's been known to pass a slower driver or two. But usually, he's the one getting passed. And he gave us the high sign, for approval. The Volkswagen Beetle's birth was in the late 1930s, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, encouraged by Adolf Hitler.