A Project Car

So my VW mechanic wakes me up. No literally, the phone ringing wakes me up with a very distinctive ring. "Your car has no battery and no fuel" is the gist of our conversation. Now the car had a battery when I parked it and according to the gauge half a tank of fuel. I'm baffled by this but figure we'll get it taken care of. And as I'm doing this I'm stumbling about my room pulling on my pants. So I called the person who had the car previously where my battery was and he just ended up getting a new one. This is the second new battery I've gotten. First one was caused by an errant drill while installing a patch underneath the battery compartment.
The original plan was drop the engine in and see where we are. Because the engine was not whole when I received it it has gotten a bit more complicated. It's now a "project car".So far it's been one thing after another. First the aforementioned missing generator pulley and air cleaner. Then the fact the generator had been installed wrong causing issues with the fan and housing. Something happened to the accelerator cable necessitating a new one. The heads were loose and the oil pan gaskets needing replaced.The engine bay seal has to be put back, new ends on most of the wiring in the engine bay. And we don't even know if it runs yet.
The only good thing to come out is that it's being done at a rapid fire pace. My car is indoors for the first time in quite a while and he's in good hands. The plan is to get it running, figure why it stopped running, then do a head to taillight check of appliances and systems. And it's not going to come cheap.
But once we're at the end game this car can run for years if I keep taking care of it. That's what the Beetle does right? Check the oil and the valves ever 1500 miles, feed it good fuel, don't hotrod and it'll be a good reliable machine.
I asked about the New Beetle and was informed with maitence costs you'll re-buy the vehicle in seven years. YIKES!! That's what VW got when the took away everything that made the Type 1 popular in the first place!

Does a New Beetle even compare? Well it is safer then a Type 1 by a huge margin. But that's about the only thing it's got going for it! All of the modern conveniences really are not convenient, just another thing to break down. Let's do a list, shall we? AC? Vent windows and a fan. Cruise Control? Left foot. ABS? Brain and left foot. Automatic Windows? Window crank and right hand. Automatic locks? Key and right hand. The Kafir is easier to work on, can be worked on by an amateur, parts are found readily, handles in all conditions, doesn't freeze, heater always works, and is a classic. You don't get that in a rebadged Golf.