It all began when I was a teenager and bought my first car. It was a very used, very Teutonic faded yellow 1953 VW Beetle. Its 1100 cc air-cooled engine with its iconic whiny resonance took my breath away as I slinked through its four noble gears to reach a top speed of 50 mph in a little over a minute.

Its dashboard lacked a gas gauge, but it did have the classic Wolfburg crest emblem on the steering wheel. It smelled of carpet and oil and well-worn vinyl upholstery. Sitting inside, it felt like a womb with windows. And it was mine.

That Bug lasted only a few years, until it was broadsided and totaled while parked in front of our house. With a fistful of insurance money, I set out to find my next Beetle. I upscaled into the next decade and found a black 1960 model. I garnished it with dual bumper-to-bumper yellow racing stripes and added some Firestone Wide Oval tires with chrome reverse wheels. I thought it would be a chick magnet, but all I accumulated were speeding tickets. In 30 mph zones.

When we got married in 1969, my wife and I decided to buy a new car. Of course, it was a VW Beetle. Royal Red. $1,995 out the showroom door. Unfortunately, custom paint and wheels received spousal denial, but I was able to add a cool orange Union 76 Styrofoam ball to the top of the radio antenna.

Years later, with the addition of two babies and another one on the way, it was clearly time to think about our next vehicle. I well remember the conversation…

“Honey, how about we get another Bug?”

“Michael, we have two children and we’re expecting our third. Where will we put everyone … in the trunk?”

I actually visualized Volkswagen Beetle trunk capacity and functionality for a few moments before replying …

“Um, OK, but what if we got two Bugs … that would give us enough room.”

“Sure Michael, and what if you got two jobs to pay for them?”

Geesh. As hard as it was to accept it, trunk functionality was not the answer and neither was my Multi-Bug Procurement Plan. It appeared that it was indeed time to give up my dream of owning another VW Beetle. I felt like Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams” when everyone told him to sell his farm, but then James Earl Jones told him to keep it because people would come. So he kept his dream and people came. Maybe there really was hope for me and my Bug. Maybe dreams really do come true.

So we bought a Ford Pinto Squire Station Wagon. The kind with the nifty fake wood side paneling. After that we had a series of minivans. And when our eventual four kids grew up and left us, we drove Toyota sedans. Total establishment sellout, man.

But recently I got the bug for the Bug. I think what triggered it was seeing a yellow 1973 Beetle in front of a Volkswagen dealership. Suddenly all the wonders and smells and sounds of the bug life swelled into my heart. I was in a full-blown, post-midlife Beetle crisis.

I begged my wife to let me have it. I explained to her that a man’s past is what made him who he is today, so if a Beetle is responsible for who I am now, another one would make me even better, right?

She just quoted some guy who said that if you don’t learn from the past then you’re doomed to repeat it. I told her that I did learn from the past and I wanted to repeat it. This was met with an annoyed shrug synchronized with an exasperated sigh. Ah, sweet victory. The Beetle was as good as mine.

Then she told me to let her know when I found an extra $9,995 laying around the house to pay for it. Plus tax, title, license and doc fees. Geesh.

• Michael Penkava is a retired teacher who taught for 35 years at West Elementary School in Crystal Lake. He is now negotiating with his wife for a classic Ford Pinto Squire Wagon. He can be reached at mikepenkava@comcast.net.