Went To The Mall, Came Out To Find My Steering Wheel Was Stolen.
Why mine...Issue #57
ifOnlyi…didn’t need fresh new underwear, this event would never have happened.
It was a Saturday afternoon, and I needed to shop for new underwear. John, our family company's newly appointed Executive Vice President, came along to learn more about the area and stores he might enjoy shopping in. He had just relocated from Orlando, Florida, and left a top Executive position at Disney World. Mom saw something special in John and put in great effort to entice him to come to work with her, and she succeeded.
John and his wife stayed with us for a few months until they found their perfect home overlooking the ocean.
We Drove to Del Amo Fashion Mall in Torrance, California, 7 miles from the house. Del Amo had over 250 shops inside, plus the main anchors like Macy’s and Sears. Massive as it was, two years later, Del Amo expanded to become the largest Mall in America. I can’t recall how long we were inside, but it was easy to find my VW Beetle Bug in the massive parking lot when we walked back to look for my car.
My Beetle stood out everywhere I went. It was repainted with Porsche Guards Red. All windows were specially made as one piece, the window vents were removed, and electric boxes were added to the driver and passenger doors and the sunroof. Now I was all electric. The engine was modified entirely, too, with many added features. The back seat was removed to add an incredible sound system, so it became a two-seater Bug. It could even do a wheelie, taking off in first gear!
We were deep in conversation as I opened the door of my 1967 VW Bug and jumped in to open the passenger door for John. We were both belted in, and I reached over to start the car and grab the steering wheel when I thought, What The Heck?………………..….. Was I living in some sort of dream? Where’s my steering wheel? The engine was running, and we just stared at each other. John shrugged his shoulders and said. “What the heck? You have to be kidding me. No steering wheel.”
My steering wheel was indeed special, and now it had been stolen. I’d had it shipped in from Germany. MOMO was her name, and the weird thing is that very few steering wheels needed this special tool to install or uninstall that a MOMO did.
It amazes me how they got it off, even today, and that was 45 years ago. Luckily, the car was not damaged.
How would we get home? Would we have to grab a taxi, hitchhike, or call for a family pickup?
All we had was a bolt sticking out to mount the steering wheel. Then John had a brainwave: Yes, yes, yes! He walked over to Sears and bought a pair of Monkey vice grips. He clamped them onto the bolt that had held the steering wheel and drove us home using the Monkey Grips to steer the car.
Now, I think it was not only well beyond freaky to drive using monkey grips, but obviously, we made it home. John would sometimes push in the clutch and tell me, sitting in the passenger seat, to shift into the next gear, as he was holding the Vice Grips as best as he could, sometimes needing both hands.
They could’ve taken the whole car, and I would still be looking for it, but why just the steering wheel? Maybe they did me a favor. It wasn’t long afterward that I decided to sell it, with or without a steering wheel.
My next car was a brand-spanking-new Mazda 626, steering wheel included, lol. I will share my nightmare about this new car with you, so stay tuned.
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#…ifOnlyi… short stories are published chronologically and follow my life growing up in California from 4 years old. If you’ve just found me, the stories will come together when you start reading from...Issue #1
What a bizarre story. So many questions. Who would steal a steering wheel? What did people think of you both driving in a car with no steering wheel- one changing gears and the other steering? Who bought the car without a steering wheel? I need to know more!!!! Very entertaining read.