The Volkswagen

This is a humourous but true story about an answer to prayer that I had when I was still a fairly new Christian.

I was pretty poor, in and out of jobs, with a bad economy.  When I did go looking for work, I was only qualified for manual labour type jobs, but I didn't look big and brawny or tough, so no one wanted to hire me.  As a result, my transportation was typically pretty low-cost affairs.  A number of my early cars were Volkswagen beetles.  This story is about one of these.

This particular car was a 1963 Volkswagen beetle with no back-rest in the back seat (this is important for the story).  Shortly after I got it, the throttle cable broke.  Because the motor is in the back, but the gas peddle is in the front, there is a cable that runs from the front to the back, so when you push on the gas, the cable pulls the throttle back.  This cable runs through the bump between the seats that in most cars is where the transmission and drive shaft bulge up.  In a Volkswagen, all sorts of wires and cables go through there.  This is called the linkage well.  Anyways, I had this cable replaced.  Then, a few weeks later I drove up to a Church retreat in Whistler (it was April 1979 - I turned 20 there - they gave me royal bumps when they found out!).  I had the young teen son of one of the ministers in the car with me, and half-way up that Squamish highway, in the middle of no-where, the throttle cable broke again!  Now what do I do?  Fixing it again didn't seem like it would work, but I needed to get the car functional!

After a moment's hesitation, much to the glee of the teenager I had in the car with me, I took out a rock hammer and a 6-pound sledge that I had, and poked a hole through the metal behind where the back-rest of the back seat should have been.  I then ran some wire that I had from the throttle to the front of the car, and wrapped it around a piece of wood that I had.  I drove the rest of the way to Whistler with a piece of wood in my hand for a throttle.  When I had to change gears I'd give it to the hysterically giggling 13-year-old in the seat beside me, who'd immediately pull it for all he was worth (which REALLY didn't help)!

While at the retreat, I perfected my new arrangement.  I took a short piece of 2 by 4 and cut two notches in it at the top.  I stretched a coat-hanger through the notches, and hung a piece of rope from the ash-tray knob to the end of the coat hanger assembly.  From there I had some rubber bands (for a return spring), attached to the seat.  I attached the throttle wire to the end of the coat hanger.  The piece of wood was now my gas pedal.

This worked fine for about a month, but then a problem cropped up.  The rough edge of the piece of wood was rubbing a rut into the linkage well, and the gas pedal began to "catch" on the linkage well.  I'd step on the gas and nothing would happen.  I nearly got into a few accidents because of this, and it was serious!  If you think this is funny, remember that I simply didn't have the money to repair or replace the car, and I needed the car!

I realized what I really needed.  I needed a piece of stove pipe, about 8 inches long, folded double into a semi-circular shape, that I could drop over the linkage well so the piece of wood would slide cleanly along it.  But I couldn't find a place where I could get such a piece of pipe.

Well, I knew that God answered prayer, so I prayed.  I prayed a specific, serious, desperate prayer, for something that probably sounds very ridiculous to you.  I prayed for a piece of stovepipe about 8 inches long, folded double into a semi-circular shape.  I prayed that prayer on a Saturday morning, then had to drive into town to an office.  As I pulled up to that office, there was only one parking spot in front of it. On the street, right beside that parking spot was a funny piece of metal.  I pulled into the parking spot, opened my car door, reached down, and picked up, you guessed it!

An 8 inch long piece of stovepipe, folded double into a semi-circular shape!

I immediately put this over the linkage well.  It fit perfectly, and was still there when I sold the car!

I took a moment to praise God for that wonderful answer to prayer, before going into the office I was visiting, and I made sure to testify about this the following day in church.  My friends (and my wife) remember that testimony (and the Volkswagen, too)!

I hope that this encourages you.  You may be in a place where you need something, and you know what it is, but it seems almost laughable to ask for it.  If you need it, God understands that.  He engineered your circumstances!  "Ask, and it shall be given you"!  God is honoured when we go to Him with our needs, big or small!