Here she is, in her current flesh...

We drove out to Pleasant Hill, two days following our first interest in Victoria.  We met her 'then' owner, took her for a test drive, came back and made an offer.  Once accepted, check written and title signed over, we drove her toward home.

At the Texaco station where we stopped to feed her, we soon discovered a bad wheel bearing on the right front wheel, and a small frog in the gas tank flap opening... which I carried to the edge of the grass to relocate.  She has her quirks, like brakes that pull hard to one side and a serious sputter when you try to take off with a little bit of chug in the gear, but she's honestly too cute to care (for now).

When I pulled back onto Hwy. 58, I soon realized, Victoria ate too much.  In fact, the gasoline fumes were so bad I had to drive with the driver's window open because I couldn't breathe otherwise.  We took the slower, back way home, hoping to prevent the wheel bearing from overheating.  She now sits tight in the carport, slowly drying out from her previous, outdoor haunt, where she was soaking to the bone... literally.

She's going to need lots of TLC, some metal work, new brakes, interior, a few parts here and there, but overall - she's not too shabby.  I've worked on worse and made out fine.  I've also never owned a VW, which is officially Kelley's car, but she had a Jetta 1.8T when we met, and I'm not averse at all to owning one.  In fact, I'm currently jonesing for a Westie to eventually convert to a diesel-hybrid, extended range EV.  Won't that be a hoot...!

Starting out, she's going to be a gas-guzzler like the average Ghia on the road.  She's only got 10K miles on a rebuild, so seems a shame to pull the plug on that so soon, plus we need time to figure out the parts & battery choices that are best to keep her slim figure slim (weight down) and make her as efficient as possible for something that's already - 41 years old... stay posted !