06/12/2026
The Museum Director has 300 cars, but he chooses a Volkswagen Beetle
As executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum, Terry L. Karges is surrounded by some of the most valuable and historically significant automobiles in the world. With roughly 300 extraordinary cars under his care, he could easily take the wheel of what he calls the “Mona Lisas” of motoring.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, when Terry wants to go for a simple joy ride, he reaches for something far humbler: his fully restored 1962 Volkswagen Beetle.
His love for the Beetle began in Newport Beach, California, where his father bought a brand-new 1962 model. Terry started driving it at just 14 years old, sneaking short trips down the alley under the excuse of washing the car. It was in that Beetle that he learned how to drive a manual transmission and where a lifelong passion was born.
In early 1960s Southern California, the Beetle was revolutionary. At a time when American cars were massive, automatic, and loaded with chrome, the Beetle was small, affordable, and refreshingly simple. Priced around $1,600 new, it was accessible to nearly anyone. It was easy to maintain, famously reliable, and economical to fuel. It quickly became part of a laid-back coastal lifestyle.
Terry became a devoted Volkswagen enthusiast. Over the decades, he owned multiple Beetles, including convertibles, along with campers, a Squareback, a Rabbit, and even a GTI. Some of his fondest memories include driving a convertible Beetle to the beach in his early twenties and later raising three children in Volkswagens, long before modern safety standards would allow such carefree arrangements.
Years later, he found a beautifully restored 1962 Beetle listed online. It was identical to the one he had owned in the early 1980s, a car that had been stolen from the parking lot at LAX, breaking his heart. After seeing and driving the restored example, he knew he had to bring it home.
For Terry, the Beetle is more than nostalgia. It represents accessibility, durability, and joy. Now, he looks forward to sharing it with his grandchildren and teaching them to drive a stick shift just as he once learned.
Surrounded daily by automotive masterpieces, Terry still believes this modest 1962 Beetle is everything a car should be: affordable, reliable, simple, and perfect.
