As a teenager, Giles Smith enjoyed nothing more than smashing around Kent at the wheel of his ’72 Bug. Painted Ford peppermint green and lowered all round, it was exactly the sort of car all the young dudes were rollin’ back in the late ’80s and early’90s. Giles explained, “My older brother had a Beetle as his first car and I instantly fell in love with it so it came as little surprise to my parents that I’d follow suit.” The Bug proved to be temperamental and a bit of a money pit but Giles was passionate about his pride and joy, which was all that mattered at that point. Ah, the good old days when the heart ruled the head... we’ve all been there, right?
Giles recalled, “I really thought I’d own that car forever, so I was devastated to find that my father had sold it while I was away at University!” In hindsight, Giles recognizes the fact that his Dad had probably done him a huge favour as it really wasn’t what you’d call ‘a keeper’ and he would have ended up blowing a fortune on rust repairs and the like. But, the point is that Giles was adamant that he’d own another Bug one day, and wasn’t about to break his promise.
Precious time
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