WHERE DID ALL VW BEATLES GO

"I guess I have my last Beetle, but I intend to keep it until I am a little old lady." A Beetle owner.

True story:

Dennis L. was proud of his brand new Beetle.

It was 1961, and Dennis circulation manager for a daily newspaper had to make a 90-mile run through the hills of Western Kentucky every afternoon, dropping off newspapers at towns along the route.

"Think of the gasoline I'll save," noted Dennis. "And, the little bug looks pretty good."

That was on a Monday.

A few days later, Dennis was late returning from his Kentucky run.

When he finally reported in, he complained that the Beetle had run out of gasoline a dozen miles from nowhere, and the long walk to a service station had left him bushed.

I asked a simple question.

"Was the reserve tank out of gas too?"

He looked at me, very seriously, and said: "What reserve tank?"

During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, there were more than 500,000 Beetles on roads in the U.S. Until 1962, many of the Beetles had a reserve tank switch for those occasions when the regular tank ran out of gas. After that year, the VW folks included a gas gauge in the Beetles.

Among those 500,000 rear-engine Beetles, which were so similar regardless of the year, were some "souped up" little bugs Remember Herbie, the racing Disney Beetle?

Another familiar sight was the Beetles whose owners had installed a large key on the trunk, indicating they were a wind-up toy.

We can now start saying goodbye to the Beetles in the U.S. One by one, they are disappearing from the scene.

The last one designated for the U.S. was manufactured in the firm's German plants in 1979. They're gone in the U.S., killed by Japanese competition and U.S. EPA rules and regulations. This year, Volkswagen, the Beetle's parent company, will sell about 40,000 Golfs, Jettas and other models in the U.S., but no Beetles.

It's been rumored that the VW company has even considered getting out of the U.S.

That would be too bad. The Volkswagen company provides employment to more than 260,400 people some of those in U.S. plants and is the sixth leading manufacturer outside the U.S.

"I guess I have my last Beetle," said Susan Pekios of Cape Girardeau. "But, I intend to keep it until I am a little old lady. Then my kids can take me riding in it."

Pekios, who owns a Smurf-blue, Super Beetle convertible, says she is "in love with her Beetle."

Pekios and other Beetle owners can still find parts for their vehicles.

"They still manufacture parts here and abroad for the Beetle," said Orville Grim of O.J. Auto in Cape Girardeau.

Grim, his son, Jay, and wife, Wanda, are big Beetle fans. Orville and Jay are mechanics, and specialize in repairing Volkswagens especially the Beetles.

"We all drive VWs," said Orville. "We have a restored 1963 Beetle, and Jay has a camper VW van he is restoring.

"We've been involved with Beetles for a number of years," Orville said. "We hate to see them disappearing from the scene. But, we know that bringing an air-cooled engine up to all the EPA standards would be a difficult task."

Today, Volkswagen builds and sells Beetles only in Mexico and Brazil.

The word, "Volkswagen," means "the people's car." The German government established Volkswagen in 1936, but today the company is owned by private citizens, with German headquarters at Wolfsburg. The company's U.S. branch, Volkswagen of American, is headquartered in Troy, Mich.

The Beetle story goes all the way back to the mid-1930s. It was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, an Austrian engineer who wanted a compact, durable car that most people could afford. But, the first Beetle available for export wasn't made until 1946, following World War II. During the next 15 years, until 1960, Volkswagen produced chiefly Beetles, before getting in on the sports car line (Karmin Ghia) and VW van.

Perhaps VW itself predicted the demise of the Beetle.

I can remember a 1963 advertisement in Time magazine. Most of the page was blank, with a small picture of a Beetle running off the page.

"Is the small car going out of the picture?" questioned the full-page ad.

"They're growing the new cars much larger this season," continued the ad. "And, to think that only a year or two ago, it was the other way around."

But VW wasn't worried then.

"We think there are people who still want to put a sensible amount of money into a sensible amount of car," claimed the ad. "So prepare yourself. The 1963 Volkswagen is still exactly the same size, and it looks exactly the same.

"The people who purchased 1962 VW Beetles don't feel as though they're driving last year's model. Maybe most small cars are going out of the picture. But, there's one small exception."

It seems these days, however, that small cars are again plentiful, only this time around, that "one small exception" is missing from the scene.

There are still a lot of people out there who "think small," and the Beetle is about as small as you can get.

So you're too busy to get your car in for an oil change, filter and lube.

MobilLube will bring its service to you.

"We'll change your oil and filter, lubricate the vehicle, check the tires, check other fluid levels and vacuum the vehicle," said Allan Jackson, owner of the new service, headquartered at the Interstate 55 interchange at Benton. "We even do the windows."

Jackson said the service is set up with a Cape Girardeau telephone number.

"We'll service vehicles in Cape Girardeau, Fruitland, Jackson, Scott City and East Cape Girardeau," said Jackson. "If you are within the local telephone exchange, we'll come to your car, whether it's at home, work or wherever."

The idea of going to the vehicle is not new, noted Jackson.

"It all started on the west coast, and has been moving eastward," said Jackson. "I've been tracking it, and when it hit the St. Louis area, I decided it was time here."

Jackson also owns "Car Search, Inc."

"I'm an official shopper for cars," he said. "Consumers tell me what they want and I check dealerships throughout the area to find it."

In providing the MobilLube service, Jackson says the vehicle is "jacked up" and drained from the bottom. "This gets all the sludge out," he said.

Besides individuals, MobilLube caters to commercial accounts, which may have several vehicles.

"This has been a big part of the business since we started recently," said Jackson.

Service is available by calling (314) 651-1098.

Hefner Furniture and Appliance of Poplar Bluff is expanding.

Completion of the 2,500-square-foot expansion at the front of the store at 2600 N. Westwood Blvd. is set for Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally one of the biggest retail periods of the year.

The business has been located at its present site for 22 years.

Rhodes Oil Co. has opened its 15th Rhodes 101 Stop in Southeast Missouri.

The newest service station and convenience store operation is located near the Routes 25-61-72 intersection at Jackson.

"We did a ground-up construction on the new facility," said Paul Dirnberger, managing officer of Rhodes 101 Stops. "We're in the process of remodeling and rebuilding so all our locations will have the same look and concept."

A Rhodes Stop was previously located at the same site in Jackson. "We started all over," said Dirnberger. "We completely leveled the site."

The new operation includes service station, convenience store and food.

"We feature personal pan pizzas and deli sandwiches," said Dirnberger.

Karin Bednarek is manager of the new facility, which employs 13.

The Sears "Big Book" has been shelved, but Sears, Roebuck & Co. is back in the catalog business ... sort of.

Seeking a way to cash in on its coveted, but perishable, list of 14 million shop-at-home customers, Sears is testing the specialty catalog market.

The company, which ceased publication of its "Big Book" earlier this year, is creating joint ventures with five apparel and home products catalog titles owed by Hanover Direct, the nation's 10th largest direct-order company; Spiegel, Athletic Supply, owner of a catalog that sells licensed athletic apparel; and Roman's large-sized women's catalog, a division of Limited Inc.

Sears has agreed to provide its customer lists to the specialty catalogs in exchange for an undisclosed share of its partners' revenues.

The catalogs, produced by the new partners, prominently display the Sears name on their covers.

If the new partners deliver quality goods in a timely fashion, the alliances could be lucrative. The strategy would allow Sears to profit from its lists.

Sears' "Big Book" was discontinued on the heels of annual losses of between $135 and $175 million between 1990 and 1992.

"We're just testing the waters," said Vachel Pennebacker, Sears vice president-direct response retailing. "We haven't struck any long-term deals with anyone."

Still, the licensing agreements signify Sears' nimble re-entry into a catalog business it once dominated.