Today I called up Graham Horner, the man who built my car. He lives about 40 miles away. He and his wife were glad to hear the car is on the road.

I got some background. Bridget???s engine is from a ???66–which I knew. Horner worked in a Navy machine shop and drove his ???66 Bug all the time. He says it had about 150,000 miles on it when it sucked a valve. He says he rebuilt it–new main bearings, etc.; new 1500 CC jugs. ???I didn???t have a garage at the time,??? he told me. ???So I did it outside.???

First engine he rebuilt. Turned him into a VW-head.

The ’66 got hit, so Horner ???cut it down and made a little truck out of it,??? he says. By then he had a garage. Didn???t drive it much. Then one prom night two brothers ran their car into the garage, wrecking the ???66 again. One of the brothers also died in that crash.

Horner decided to use the engine in the kit. Says he might have rebuilt it again–he can???t remember.

Says Bridget is ???the only kit car with all-fiberglass floors.???  The PO told me the floors were metal with fiberglass coating. I will look into this further. Horner says he also fabricated a special exhaust system out of aluminum. I don’t think that was what was on the car when I got it though.

Graham???s son wanted a Squareback so his father got him one. Says at one time they had seven VWs.

In 1984 the son came out as gay. Carroll County, MD doesn???t much cotton to that. Graham’s wife June  became a gay rights activist and still is. In 1989 Bridget was in the Baltimore Gay Pride parade, with grandma Horner (I think) riding in her with a sign drawn in lipstick that said ???Grandmas for Gays??? or something like that. Apparently it was the hit of the show.

I knew this car was gay, I said.

June was the Pride parade???s Grand Marshall for 2012. I wish I???d made this call last year at this time, so I could have lent them the car for the parade. She says she could have used her too–apparently the organizers promised her a car but ended up delivering a Zip Car (hourly rental). ???I said I???d rather walk,??? she told me.

Hoping to have brunch with them next Saturday–weather permitting.
edsnova2013-03-30 21:20:47