Click here to view the ad that made Kathy Amenson and her 1976 Super Beetle Convertible famous.
The ad was run in the December 2001 Midwest Living Magazine and The Reader's
Digest. The following story is how the ad came to be.
RELATIONSHIPS
Being a former Air Force enlistee and then a transplanted Wisconsinite, I have been away from my family for many years. I do visit them, but not every holiday. For this reason, some of the holidays are not a typical celebration of family for me. Easter Sunday, 2001, will become a special memory for me because I had the chance to help a club member and her Beetle become a little closer to each other and a star to others.
My husband, Nick, and I had just finished our Easter dinner and had decided to do some work in the shop on one of the Dubs. I know it’s strange but we both enjoy the hobby. Well no sooner had we gotten started, the phone rings. Nick knowing that I get many calls from Northern Wisconsin Volkswagen Club members and VW enthusiasts for one reason or another handed the phone to me.
This call was not usual, though. It was a photographer who was working for a local investment company. He was hired to photograph European style convertibles from the 1960s to the 1970s era for an ad that the investment company would run in some magazines. The photographer was in a quandary because he had to have the photographs by Tuesday to show the investment company. He asked me if I knew of anyone who would have a Beetle convertible that would let him photograph it for this purpose. Of course, I knew a few club members who would be happy to do this but it was not going to be easy contacting them on Easter Sunday.
So I made some calls and was able to contact a couple members. Long story short, the photographs of the cars would be shown to the investment company and they would decide which car would be used. The photographer told me that he had photos of Jaguars, MGs, etc. Which car did the investment company choose? Of course, the lovable Beetle.
A club member from Green Bay, Kathy Amenson elected to have her 1976 Super Beetle photographed and ended up being the lucky chosen one for the ad. So the date was set for the photo shoot. It would take all day and the company would pay for the use of her car. Kathy drove her car to the photo shoot site and was prepared to watch her Beetle become a pampered star. There was an actress who would be in the photo with the car. The photographer decided at the last minute that the actress did not fit for the shoot as well as Kathy did. Kathy ended up getting to be in the ad as well!
Enjoy the ad. I think it sums up our feelings of our Dubs and the Volkswagen hobby as well.
Sherri Corrao
President/Northern Wisconsin Volkswagen Club
Northern WI Chapter Rep. VVWCA
