Pride

As a highschooler, you learn to take pride in many different things. Some of them big,

some of them small. I take pride in the growth I have been through during my time as a

highschooler. But the thing I take pride in the most, was the opportunity I was given, to build and

work on my own car. My 1965 liability was one of the best purchases I made. And if i ever

decide to sell it, i am guaranteed to make a return on investment. Last summer, I was looking at

purchasing a vehicle that was a manual transmission. I could not drive a manual transmission to

save my life, and I knew my uncle stored his 1965 VW Karmann Ghia at my grandmothers

house in Modesto, where it has sat since 2007, and hasnt moved since. I called my uncle, who

lives in Virginia, and I asked him if I could buy the car off of him for 3,000 dollars. My uncle

called me back 10 minutes later and told me he wanted to just give me the car. Eventually we

agreed on me paying him $2 for the car, which in its current condition, is worth almost $25,000.

During summer, I took the time to go up to modesto and work on the car so that I may

drive it home sometime soon. I went and realized that the car was really far gone, weeds growing

up to the doors, all of the rubber seals worn away, flat tires, engine not running, and no battery to

even start it. I bought a battery, brought an air compressor, a toolbox, and a can of gas. I started

on rebuilding the top half of the engine. The engine was replaced sometime in the mid 90’s and

was rock solid, didn’t need much, but I took everything apart while sitting criss cross in 3 foot

tall grass. I aired up the tires, replaced all of the gas and brake lines, and i finally started it up. It

took me 2 hours to start up and drive a car that had been sitting for 11 years.
 Now, I drive my Karmann Ghia everywhere. I have worked on it almost every day

throughout this school year and it breaks down on me a lot, but I will never sell it. The car holds

so many memories as my first car and I hope to own it for the rest of my life, and hopefully pass

it down to one of my children.