It was my older sister's car. She had rolled it on Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach, CA, but the insurance company said it was still intact.
I bought it from her for $100. My dad had it painted brown for me to match my hair color. Earl Scheib did the paint job, which was lovely.
Unfortunately, the H stick shift was kind of busted. You could use it, but you had to know what gear you were in, and then manually jam the stick shift into the right gear. Didn't always get it right, but it always worked. After driving it for a couple of months, the driver's front door kind of fell off. It was in place and replaceable with a clothes hanger; thereafter, I just climbed in through the window. But it was still a beaut. My biggest problem with that car was when you were going uphill and there was a red signal at the top of the hill. There was always the worry that the stick shift would fall out, and you didn't know if you put it into first gear after taking your left foot off the brake. There was always hysteria in my car, be it good or bad. Funny thing is when I wanted a blue bug, I took the Volvo down to the bug dealership. I was ready to take $25 for the danged beautiful thing. The Volkswagon dealership people were dealing for the car. It was like an auction. The owner of the dealership got the car, and I got a 1993 Volkswagon bug with a 5000 mile warranty thrown in for nothing. The owner of the Volks place wanted the Volvo engine for his boat. Sheesh. The 1993 oh so cute Bug, blew its engine at 4800 miles. True. Got a reused engine, and drove that car for about five years even after it kind of died in the snow in Aspen. Snow storm came in, and covered that little sweetheart for six months. Battery fixed, and sold that car to someone who wanted to make a dune buggy out of it. I again sold it for more than I paid for it. I have a whole lot of auto stories, but it would take a book to write it all. Just one other. Years later I bought a brand new 1980 Mercedes 240D. A year later the diesel fuel managed to grow mushrooms in my tank. Okay. I'm done. None of my cars were used in the way Cyber wanted his car used. They were for transportation and not fornication. Oh, forgot. Gasoline was the same price as a pack of cigarettes. $.25 a gallon and $.25 a pack.