USA TODAY International Edition
Pals roll in same bug 50 years later
In 1967, Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera had just graduated high school in Billings, and they wanted to see the Rocky Mountains.
The Billings class of ’67 had just 21 graduates; the whole town had just north of 600 human inhabitants at the time, census records show.
But five decades ago, the two newly minted adults had a mind to get out and see the great American West.
How would they make it happen? As it turned out, Schaumann’s family owned a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle, 36 horsepower.
He can’t remember what his family paid for it used, but Schaumann said the Bug’s first owner bought it brand-new for $1,675. Coincidentally, the car weighed 1,675 pounds.
Schaumann and his two older sisters had driven it during high school, but by his graduation, their parents weren’t routinely using it anymore.
“He somehow convinced them to let us use that car,” remembered Kucera. “On Sept. 2, 1967, we took off, we headed west. All we knew when we left is we were going to the mountains.”
Precisely 50 years later, the two best friends, now 68 years of age, did it again — after they both studied at then-Southwest Missouri State University and went on to far-flung careers, military service, marriage, parenthood and retirement.
And they did it in the very same car, which rolled off the factory floor in West Germany back in 1956.
To the best of their knowledge, the last time the Bug was licensed was in 1979. At some point, Schaumann’s father parked it in a shed with open sides and a lean-to roof. It sat and rusted until 2015.
Schaumann’s farm insurance company sent a rep by to photograph buildings on the land in order to update his file. The rep’s husband was driving her and showed interest in the old Volkswagen.
But instead of selling it, Schaumann and Kucera got to work. They’re not even certain when the idea to take a trip came upon them, but before they knew it, Kucera began a Facebook page titled “Sam and Dave’s Great Adventure — Part II,” documenting every step of the way from lugging the car out of storage to Pike’s Peak and back.