A/N: One of the background problems that Jim Douglas must have encountered in the 1967 movie "The Love Bug".

A Bit Off Track

Click.

That's all the sound Herbie made when Jim Douglas turned the key. He tried it again and didn't even get the click. He tried the headlights; they lit up the inside of the garage that was once a firehouse with no problem. That seemed to prove it wasn't the battery because there was plenty of juice. Taking it on the track for the first time and winning at Jackrabbit Springs probably weakened something in the car or shook a connection loose; he'd better have Tennessee look at it while he was going to see Carole when she got off work.

...

Tennessee rolled out from under the car. "Jim, I think I found the trouble. There's an electrical modulator between the ignition and the engine that isn't showing any continuity on the tester. I think it's busted."

"Well, just go get a new one."

"I wish I could. Remember, this little car is from Germany." Tennessee switched to a fake German accent. "Iz not a verrry commun part, no? Da autoshtore von't carry eet." Jim gave his friend and mechanic a dirty look; sometimes it was hard enough understanding his regular voice. "Okay Jim, no accent. The parts place probably doesn't carry this part; you'll have to special order it."

"But if I have to special order it, we won't be ready for the race at the Libra Open this weekend. I've got to prove that my win at Jackrabbit wasn't a fluke."

"Okay, push it around the track then if you need to race that bad! But Herbie aint goin' anywhere under his own power until we get that part" Tennessee said with finality. "It's not my fault they can't send it from New York to San Francisco in 2 days."

"Whatever it takes, we need that part. Let me tell Thorndyke we'll have to settle our wager the next race AFTER Riverside."

Tennessee Steinmetz took the part down to the auto parts store. "Frank, Jim needs this part. It's from a '63 VW bug. As fast as you can - he'll pay extra for shipping."

"Sure thing Tennessee. I watched some film clips of that race you won. Odd vehicle to be racing against all those exotic high-power sports cars, don't ya think?"

"As my Himalayan monk friends would tell me, the race does not go to the swiftest, just the fastest."

"But that's the same thing!"

"I know. I guess if I had stayed on that Chinese-type mountain longer than I did, I'd be able to understand what dey were trying to say."

"Were they able to understand what you were saying?"

"Waddayoumean?"

...

Tennessee got the call and met Frank at the parts store the following week. "Here's your part" said Frank, handing him a bumper.

"Hey, that's not a modulator! What did you do?" asked Tennessee, who probably wouldn't have been more shocked if Frank had handed him a tiger cub.

"Must have read the part number wrong over the phone; let me try ordering it again. You know, in that race you won it looked like the other cars were just moving over for you."

"Must be...because they know Jim's reputation. Okay, but we're going to miss the race at Monterey now."

...

"Frank, listen to me; you messed up again. Look at the two." Tennessee handed over the old modulator to Frank, who set it beside the one that had just come in. The new part was bigger, the wrong color and had completely different connections.

"I don't understand how I could have...wait a minute. What month was the car made?" asked Frank

"I don't know," said Tennessee "we don't celebrate its birthday! Why does it make a difference?"

"They switched specifications in the middle of the model year and changed the design to make it more reliable. You must have the older design from the first part of the year. The newer part won't work. It's funny about that car, in the corners even with the skinny tires and a higher center of gravity it seemed to do better than lower cars with wide profile slicks."

"Less heat buildup in the tires probably" explained Tennessee after a slight pause. "No Las Vegas race now either. Jim hasn't been happy as it is. I hope he doesn't do something violent."

...

"Oh, I thought you said it was a '64" said Frank with a little bit of embarrassment. "I know, I know, you probably did say '63 and I just got it wrong in my head. Gonna have to reorder again...wait, it says here they don't make the part anymore. I'll have to order it through a third-party dealer that has stocked up on old stuff. Say, I was wondering why you raced with a spare tire in the trunk? It would just add dead weight."

"Umm, the backside of the track is out of the service area of our Roadside Assistance Program and it's too far for me run with a spare. No Tulare Fairgrounds race either? How am I gonna tell Jim this time?"

...

"Tennessee, this is Frank. I finally got that part in and I KNOW it's the right one. Do you want to come pick it up?"

"Forget it Frank. Jim got fed up with the whole thing and hung up his helmet for good. Said he was moving to New York and start working in a foreign car parts place because that's where the real money is."

The End

A/N: I actually owned a car once that it depended on what month it was built to get a particular part.

As a kid I loved this movie even though I knew the racing wasn't realistic; I loved it because, well, it was still a movie that had racing in it. As I got older my mother, brother and sister all had VW bugs at some point. In fact one of the scariest times I had driving was using my mother's bug to commute to school and an unopened soda can left in the sun in the back seat exploded on a very hot day; Pepsi as I recall as I can still see in my mind the brown liquid slowly running down the side window.