Breaking Down on the Baltimore Beltway

It was a beautiful early fall day. My wife and I were cruising in the 1965 Beetle around the beltway approaching the exit for Harford Rd. As I pushed in the clutch while slowing down and merging there was a pop and the engine suddenly died.

I was suddenly powered only by the momentum of the tin can I was rolling in

Traffic was trying to merge around me as I had to think quickly while I was suddenly powered only by the momentum of the tin can I was rolling in. I couldn’t make it up the cloverleaf ramp without stopping, nor was there a shoulder up there. Therefore I decided to roll onto the shoulder of I-695. After stopping, I climbed out and lifted open the deck lid to see what went wrong.

Days earlier I was working on the engine. Tinkering really. I had been wondering why my engine kept spewing oil out of the crank pulley every time I took a drive longer than twenty minutes or maybe I was adjusting the valves, I don’t remember anymore. At least the engine bay wasn’t covered in 10W-30 oil today, but I had a new problem. Cylinder #1’s spark plug wire was loose. The wire was attached to the plug, but the plug had blown out of the cylinder. Had I forgotten to tighten it back down the other day? Did it unscrew itself? Is that even possible? Why was it cool to the touch? How had I really just driven twenty some miles with this happening?!

Bare handed I removed the spark plug from the wire, grabbed my socket set, reinstalled the plug and pushed the wire back onto the spark plug. Then I turned the key and the car fired up like nothing was ever wrong. I revved the engine - still great.

…but I didn’t die

By now I was fifty feet past the exit I needed, so I waited for a break in traffic, backed up and drove up the exit ramp. Not the safest move, but I didn’t die. For the rest of the drive, my eyes scanned the road looking for every possible emergency exit should the engine die again, but it didn’t. It just drove on like nothing had ever happened and we cruised up scenic Harford Road alongside the Gunpowder Falls River and into rural Baltimore County to meet up with fellow aircooled VW enthusiasts to enjoy a beautiful fall weekend.

They don’t make them like they used to, and that’s probably a good thing for most days. However, with all the increased efficiencies and safety there’s something lost. Soul. Breakdowns are stressful and never really wanted when they happen, but in hindsight the times our skills and personality are tested are the times we grow. And they’re the times we remember fondly, even if we weren’t very fond of the moment at the time.