Sandra: People just flock to her.
Smiling, everybody looks at her.
Wants to see the inside of her.
She’s precious to me.
So fun to drive around in.
Bill: I like the insignia here.
It lets everybody know what it is,
Super Bugger.
You really can’t hide that.
Back in the 1970’s,
a Californian company had the bright idea,
of converting the humble Volkswagen Beetle,
into an RV.
They named it The Super Bugger.
And it sold for $6,000.
Bill: It’s a 1969 Volkswagen.
It’s a conversion kit that was done
in the early 70’s.
Sandra: My dad got it in the early
to mid-80’s,
when he was living in California.
Sandra inherited this Bugger,
after her father’s death.
Sandra: I got it about 98-99.
And it’s been a labour of love,
to get it back on the road.
Sandra: It was in pretty rough shape,
and say the last 10 years,
11 years been seriously restoring it,
putting money into it.
Bill: she’s been painted and all the body work
that’s been done, and engine.
Sandra: And it’s completed now,
as of two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago we got the carpet done
and now she’s set.
And it’s a worthy restoration,
as these RV’s are a rare breed.
Bill: A mechanic did.
Gentleman who’s done a lot of work
and refurbishing of it.
He believes it’s only four or five left
in this condition.
If you go online
you can see a number of them,
but not in this shape.
It’s got the front of a Volkswagen,
they’ve converted it,
then they actually left the chassis
that was and built around it.
It’s got the trunk in the front,
it’s got a fair amount of space.
You’re not going to fit a body in there.
Sandra: Can put camping gear in there.
Got the marine windshield wipers.
Bill: When it was originally built,
it didn’t come with wipers.
I guess in California you don’t need them.
When we went to get it licensed here,
we run into a couple of snags,
but one of them was the fact that it didn’t have wipers.
So our mechanic John came up with to great idea
and a perfect.
The tires themselves are brand new,
but the rims are original.
And other features that I really like
is the doors.
It’s nearly five feet high,
so they’re almost
ones that you’d find in a home,
rather than a camper.
At the rear we have the engine.
So that’s the same style engine
as a normal Volkswagen.
Four cylinder, it’s a 1600cc.
runs very well, easy to maintain.
We’ve got a small ladder
that goes up to the second floor.
This is the interior of the Super Bugger.
The dash is original to a Volkswagen.
The four speed is on the floor.
The stick shift to course,
the original wheel.
The bucket seats are a great addition.
They have a roof-lined style
air conditioning unit if I could show you.
Up here, there we go.
Sandra: Air con.
Bill: We have seating for four.
It’s tight but, it’s comfortable.
We also have a stove and a small sink.
The table comes down here
and makes it a level space,
and it converts into a bed.
How is that? It’s perfect.
You don’t really think of it
when you don’t have one.
But we’ve got one you can just hop in and go
sleep in it, you can cook in it.
It’s a real eye turner when we roll.
Sandra: People just flock to it, smiling.
Everybody looks at her,
wants to see the inside of her.
Bill: And then they ask me did we build it.
Sometime I lie,
I say we did.
But most of the times I’ll tell the truth.
You can still go online under the name of it,
Super Bugger purchase schematics
and make one yourself.
But I wouldn’t attempt it.
Sandra: She’s my little girl.
I baby her,
she’s precious to me.
It’s a fun fun vehicle to drive around in.
Bill: Cheers.
Sandra: Cheers sweetheart.