EAT ME! movie blog: The story of Floyd

Monday, September 21, 2009

The story of Floyd

Many people have asked how we lucked into getting such an awesome car for “Eat Me!”. The true story is that Floyd, our 1973 Volkswagen Squareback, has been in the Carman family for many years.

I'd bought a 1973 VW Beetle (“Fritzy”) as my first car in high school but despite many hours of driving around empty parking lots could not figure out how to drive the stick shift. Frustrated, and starting to learn about other old Volkswagen models through the Long Island Volkswagen Club, I set out to find one that was equally awesome, but that was automatic so I wouldn't have to drive stick.

A rare unearthed photo of me with my first car, Fritzy:

I hadn’t seen many Squarebacks before, mostly in old print advertisements and pictures.

To my amazement one day as we rounded a corner not 100 yards from my house, we saw “Floyd” parked in front of a neighbor’s house. And it was the EXACT same color as Fritzy! It seemed almost too perfect, like two long separated siblings would finally be re-united.

The owner turned out to be a very nice guy and our new neighbor who was actually interested in selling the old junker car. I remember that he seemed very bewildered by my interest in the car, mentioning that his young daughter was so embarrassed by it she would make him pick her up a few blocks away from school so that none of her friends would see it.

True, the car was in bad shape but underneath it all you could see it's potential. In the picture below I'm holding up a piece of the car that had fallen off:

It took a few months in the shop to get Floyd to where you see him today but we think it’s all been worth it to preserve such a beautiful car. Since his “makeover” Floyd has gone on to win hundreds of trophies and plaques in various car shows, has been in "Eat Me!" and was even on TV! Here are a few more photos of Floyd in his glory, enjoy!