Preserving the Legacy

On the eve of April 7 1984, a 1961 Volkswagen type 114 arrived at our door. A friend of family’s mechanic drove it straight from the city of Malang, East Java, to my parent’s home in South Jakarta. My initial impression it looked old, tired, and a bit miserable — sagging headliner, old tires, dull blue paint, dim headlights. But the body shell and fenders has no visible rust or dent.

The more than 800km trip it just endured was not a carefully and properly prepared one. It is just a quick decision after my Grandfather (my Mother’s dad) who lived there wanted me to have his beloved Beetle. With old age and declining health condition he had not maintained the car as he used to be – so it was quite a feat the car can complete the journey.

My Grandfather, Trisno Kartolo, bought the Beetle on February 8 1961 thru the local agent, PT Piola – Surabaja (Surabaya, East Java), which would ultimately replace his Hillman. He was in a design and construction business with his brother and the car became the daily transport both for work and family matters not only around greater Malang area but also to Surabaya (where my Mother studied) and sometime as far as Solo, Central Java.

He must loved the car so much. His many handwritten notes and observations are scrawled across the pages of the service booklet which he did from 1961 till 1983. My memory of him was in the garage of his dutch-style old house, in the morning on his white t-shirt warming up the engine. “He even liked to wash the car himself after your Father borrowed it to took me for a spin” my Mother told me, “… and he always dressed neatly with a white flat cap when driving it.”

So the Beetle became ‘my’ car; it arrived at the right time as I just had my driving license and it was the car that I did my first solo drive on the public road. I drove it daily since my final year of high school, thru my university days, till the early years of my working career. During this period the Beetle had 2 reparation. The first one was done not long after the Beetle arrived was to upgrade the electrical to 12V, overhaul the engine, repair the interior, and put on a fresh layer of paint. The main objective was to regain the car’s reliability for my daily use. The second was after I finished university where we focus more on comfort. We bore the engine, put an air conditioner, and put a proper paint job; this time it was metallic light blue. Aside of the fresh paint the Beetle always kept the original appearance. During mid 90s as I travelled outside Jakarta more frequently I had to switch car and parted with the Beetle and so it became my Father’s daily car.

Early 2000 after finding a classic Volkswagen workshop near our area my Father decided to give the Beetle a restoration. The paint went back to the greenish blue, the interior is redone, the engine bay was tidied up. At the time my Father was already retired from the Ministry of Health but kept his dental practice at home. His daily activity was mostly just around the block as the secretary of our neighborhood association – and the restored old Beetle served him well and became his trademark around the neighborhood.

Early 2010 my Father was diagnosed with a degenerative health condition and it was no longer safe for him to drive. I was busy with my work and the joy of rearing a pre-schooler daughter and the Beetle started to get less and less attention. My Father still warmed up the engine from time to time, but now he used a more practical Toyota with a driver for his trips. In later years when his condition worsen the Beetle was pretty much untouched and kept under the tarp in my parent’s garage. It continued to be in that condition after my Father passed away in 2018.

Every time I visited my Mother, I have to passed the old Beetle to enter her house. Silent under the tarp, it always nudged me with a question of when we can share good times again. My Mother also kept asking questions whether it’s better to sell the Beetle while there are some of our vw-fans friends repeatedly asking it.

I don’t think it is proper to sell this Beetle as the day it arrived in Jakarta was sadly and coincidentally the day my Grandfather passed away. We received the phone call from Malang not long after the car arrived. Seemed he wanted to be sure that his words are fulfilled. I made a promise to myself to properly restore this old friend again when the time is right and there is a passionate workshop to do it.

During my late Father’s final years we came to learn about a one-stop classic VW restoration workshop in Jogjakarta, Central Java. I put a mental note to visit and see for myself which after years of delay I managed to squeeze it during a family holiday at the end of 2019. That visit started a business and more importantly friendship relationship with Mas Rosyid and his passionate artisans at Smart Volks Works.

It took 9 months less one day – from 19 January 2020 to 18 October 2020 – to complete the restoration and the end result was just heartwarming. All the memories from the last 60 years within our 4 family generations are rushing back and it is so easy to get emotional just by looking at our old faithful friend.

Just like what my Grandfather and Father did, the proper way to enjoy and appreciate this car is to drive it. Hence my task to Mas Rosyid was restoring back to the original looks and making any necessary replacement and upgrade to get the practicality and safety of a ‘normal’ car as much as possible..

My now teenage daughter is yet to learn driving but she is already smitten with the Beetle. I am surprised that being a teenage she considered the car as cool and enjoy being driven in it.

I have a good vibe she will continue to preserve this legacy….

Here are the pictures summarizing the complete journey of our beloved Beetle restoration. All workshop photos are (c) Smart Volks Works and used under their permission here.

19 January 2020

Where it all started; the car was picked up and teansported to Jogja by Mas Rosyid himself.

January-March 2020

Fired up the engine after the long hiatus, brake quick fix, baselining the current condition, and air-con modification.

April-July 2020

The bulk of the restoration works; from chasis, engine to paint jobs complete with those lovely American Classic whitewalls.

August-October 2020

Interiors, final touch up, accessories, numerous test drives around Jogja, and last minute gremlins on the fuel line and king pen.

17 October 2020

Some beauty shot for Smart Volks Works’ own archive at the newly built Jogja International Airport before wrapping – literaly – up the project and send the Beetle back to our home.