TUCSON, AZ — If you take a trip down to Tucson, you might be lucky enough to spot a little magenta Bug, making its way around, spreading some joy at each stop.
But what’s remarkable about it, is that one woman has been driving this particular VW Bug for 50 years.
Shari Murphy is hard to miss. Wherever she goes, she wears colorful antennas — her “headgear” as she calls them. Now, her car wears them too, fashioned out of some painted giant springs, with Koosh balls on top. The 1966 Volkswagen bug is also hard to miss. She calls him ‘Blue Whale,’ although his name made a little more sense when she got him.
“He was blue,” Shari explained. “But he was also white, and he was also gray, and he was also rust! That’s why I say he looked like he had leprosy.”
Back in 1974, she bought the Bug used. She can’t remember if it was listed in the paper, or in a car lot, but one way or another, she found a guy selling it.
“I said, ‘If you go to the bank with me right now, I’ll give you $575, in cash.’ And so that was the deal,” she recalled.
From then on, it’s been Shari and Blue Whale every single day.
“50 years,” she remarked. “Yeah, he hasn’t been sitting anywhere. No, no, he’s been on the road the whole time.”
Together, they’ve been through a couple of crashes, which led to new paint jobs. She went through an orange era, and then later the metallic magenta, which has faded over time. Shari says people seem to like it better this way.
“It never occurred to me to get another car,” she said. “I love it. He’s my family.”
All the while, they’ve been spreading the happiness and kindness you can’t deny they bring, just by showing up. Shari says that sentiment started with her headgear.
“I realized that if I could make one person smile or laugh, who wasn’t going to today, I’ve done my job,” she said. “And I don’t even have to know who it is!”
That often includes her mechanic at Vintage Volkswerks on the north side of Tucson. Matt Rios is the owner there and also happens to be the guy who built Blue Whale’s matching headgear for Shari’s 50th driving anniversary.
He says when he shared her milestone online, it only doubled down on the love Shari and her Bug spread.
“I was messaged by so many people that were like, ‘Oh I know her, and I remember her from this, and I see her at my grocery store all the time,'” he said. “And it’s just like, all these people came out of the woodwork. It shows how much you’ve been woven into the Tucson fabric.”
Shari has made keeping up with her Bug part of her routine. Often when she swings by her mechanic, she’ll drop off cookies, just to say thanks.
Now, fitted with the engine of a VW Bus, Shari says she and Blue Whale are ready for wherever the road takes them.
“The only way I’ll get rid of this Bug, is if somebody squashes it,” she said. “And hopefully that never happens.”
