By Joan O’Callaghan
Thirty two years ago, I decided to learn to drive. My brother rang me to say he had got me a car.
He was working in Navan at the time and sourced a car for me there. He got one of his friends to drive it from Navan and they would go back in Tom’s car.
When I saw the Volkswagen Beetle, my jaw dropped. It was brown, the wings were cut away which would indicate that it had been used for some kind of boy racing. The windscreen was covered in scratches suggesting that there had been greyhounds living in it. There was a hole in the floor and the passenger door was hanging off. I had given Tom £250 for this heap of junk!
I brought the Beetle to O’Sullivans Garage in Fermoy for an assessment. When I came to collect it, Harry O’Sullivan said: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
I said: “The good news.” “We fixed the door”, he replied. The bad news was that the engine siezed and would have to be replaced.
I left the car with them and they replaced the engine.
I learned to drive in that car and had it for about four years. It served me well and I grew very fond of it. I did my driving test in it and wonder of wonders, I passed first time.
Maybe I got the sympathy vote!
