For Missing VW, What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
大众车失窃35年的奇妙经历
Michele 'Mikey' Carlson Squires was brushing her teeth Friday night when a TV news report about a Volkswagen microbus caught her attention. Stolen 35 years ago in her hometown of Spokane, Wash., the van was discovered by customs officers at the port of Los Angeles during a routine search of a container bound for Europe.
那是一个周五的晚上，当米歇尔?卡尔森?斯奎尔斯(Michele Carlson Squires)正在刷牙时一则有关失窃大众(Volkswagen)面包车的电视新闻引起了她的注意。那辆车是35年前在她的家乡华盛顿州斯波坎市被盗的，不久前洛杉矶港的海关人员在对运往欧洲的集装箱进行常规检查时发现了它。
'It looks like my car,' she thought at the sight of the 1965 blue-and-white VW with an accordion sunroof. She had one just like it that was stolen back in 1974. 'Wouldn't it be funny if that was my van,' she told her boyfriend, Earl Roethle.
当斯奎尔斯看到画面中这辆1965年出产、配有折叠式天窗的蓝白两色面包车时，她心想：“它看起来像是我的车”。斯奎尔斯曾经拥有一辆同样的汽车，它在1974年被盗。斯奎尔斯对男友罗瑟尔(Earl Roethle)说：要是我丢的车那可太有意思了。
On Monday, a call to the insurance company confirmed the 44-year-old bus was indeed hers. It was running perfectly and in pristine condition with 70,000 miles on the odometer.
到了周一，保险公司来电，确认这辆已44岁高龄的面包车就是斯奎尔斯失窃的那辆。这辆车的车况非常好，而且里程表上显示它只跑了7万英里，和刚丢时差不多。
Now, Ms. Squires, 58 years old, says she's hoping to be reunited with her 'beloved hippie mobile,' which disappeared from a repair shop during the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane.
如今已经58岁的斯奎尔斯说自己正盼望着和她这辆“颇具嬉皮风范的爱车”重新团圆。当时这辆车是在一家修理店被盗的，那时斯波坎市正在举行世博会(World's Fair)。
Back then, she was a 'wannabe hippie' who wore bandanas, bell bottoms and halter tops. Ms. Squires was 21 when she bought the bus in 1972 from a local car lot. She recalls being told it had only one previous owner. 'I paid $600 to $1,000,' she says. 'I'm not sure.'
那时的斯奎尔斯一心想成为个嬉皮士，她戴着大花手帕，穿着喇叭裤，上身则是露肩吊带衫。当她在1972年从本地汽车经销商手中买下这辆车时年仅21岁。她回忆到店家对她说，这是这辆车第一次转手。斯奎尔斯说，我花了大概600到1,000美元，具体金额记不清了。
She used it to cart around five girlfriends who waited tables with her at Cathay Inn, a Chinese restaurant in Spokane. Several of the women have known each other since kindergarten and remain close to this day.
斯奎尔斯曾用这辆车载上五六个女朋友，她们都在斯波坎市一家名为Cathay Inn的中餐馆当招待。她们当中有些人从幼儿园起就已相识，时至今日仍关系亲密。
They sometimes took joy rides to nowhere. They piled into the bus for 'progressive dinners,' stopping at one friend's house for cocktails, at another's for appetizers, at yet another's for the main course and so on. They did things they'd rather not reveal.
这些女孩儿们有时候会漫无目的地开车兜风。她们会把自己塞进车里，吃所谓的“渐进式大餐”，即到第一个朋友家里喝鸡尾酒，到第二个朋友家里吃开胃菜，再到第三个朋友家里吃主菜，等等依次类推。她们还做了一些现在不想说的事情。
'It was the '70s. We used this vehicle to go out and celebrate life with each other,' says Janice Updike, a member of the original sextet. 'It was kind of like a party van. This is before seat belts and all that safety stuff. We'd load up, head over to Idaho, have a good time and come back.'
这“六人行”中的一员詹妮斯?阿皮戴克(Janice Updike)说，那是70年代，我们开着这辆车乱逛，彼此庆祝生活；它就象是一辆派对之车，那个年代还没有安全带等保证行驶安全的东西，我们登上车，一路朝着爱达荷州开去，玩得尽兴再开回来。
'Did we ever have fun in that van,' recalls Ms. Squires, who still works as a manager at Cathay Inn.
仍在Cathay Inn.担任经理的斯奎尔斯回忆说，我们在车中度过了很多快乐的时光。
'I grew up hearing about how they would run around in Mikey's van,' says Stephanie Fletcher, whose mother, Maralee Appa, was also in the group. 'They'd go to the lake to party.'
斯蒂芬妮?弗莱彻(Stephanie Fletcher)说，我从小到大一直听到她们开着斯奎尔斯的车到处玩的经历，她们会到湖边开派对。她的母亲马拉里?阿帕(Maralee Appa)也是这伙人中的一员。
Then, one day, it was gone.
然后，一夜之间，这一切都不复存在了。
Ms. Squires had taken the van to a local upholstery shop in the summer of 1974, where she ordered seats that could fold over for sleeping. 'We wanted to turn it into a camper.'
1974年夏，斯奎尔斯将车开到了当地的汽车装饰店，她在那里定做了一个可以折叠起来睡觉的座位，她说，我们想把它变成一个野营车。
Admitting that her memory is fuzzy, Ms. Squires says she recalls that a man from the upholstery shop called to inform her that the bus had been stolen. 'I was heartbroken,' she recalls. She filed a claim with Allstate Corp., which paid out $2,500, according to a spokeswoman for the insurance company. Having paid the claim, Allstate now owns the recovered car.
斯奎尔斯承认她的记忆已经有些模糊，她回忆说，装饰店的一个人打电话通知她车被盗了。她说，当时我的心都碎了。据好事达公司(Allstate Co.)的一位发言人说，斯奎尔斯向这家保险公司索赔，并获得了2,500美元。由于已经支付了赔偿，好事达公司现在拥有这辆失而复得的汽车。
Ms. Squires used the money to buy a VW camper. A year later she was married. Her husband owned a VW Beetle. They went on to own five more VWs, until she decided that 'I'm getting too old for clutches.' Gone are the Volkswagens; the husband, too. Today, a divorced grandmother of five, she drives a burgundy Chrysler Pacifica.
斯奎尔斯用这笔钱买了一辆大众野营车。一年后，她结婚了。她的丈夫有一辆大众甲壳虫(Beetle)。他们之后又买了5辆大众车，直到她决定，我已经太老，不能踩离合器了。她与大众汽车分手了，后来与她的丈夫也分手了。如今，这位有5个孙辈的离婚祖母开着一辆酒红色克莱斯勒Pacifica。
What happened to the blue-and-white bus between 1974 and its seizure on Oct. 19 remains a mystery. Authorities have no idea who stole it.
从1974年到今年10月19日被查获期间这辆蓝白色的面包车到底发生了什么仍是一个未解之谜。政府部门也不知道是谁偷了这辆车。
Before being exported, every vehicle must have a certified or original copy of the title as well as a note authorizing it to leave the country. 'Through a system check and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, we were able to determine this vehicle was stolen,' says Todd Hoffman, director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach.
在出口之前，每辆车必须备有有关车辆所有者的认证件或原件，以及允许其离开美国的授权书。洛杉矶/长滩港美国海关和边境保护局局长托德?霍夫曼(Todd Hoffman)说，通过系统核对和全国保险犯罪局(National Insurance Crime Bureau)，我们能够判断这辆车是被盗的。
Agents opened the container and checked the vehicle's title against the vehicle identification number. They then contacted California Highway Patrol and the Spokane Police Department. A redacted police report, incident number 74-58814, states that the vehicle was stolen between 6:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on July 12, 1974.
办事人员打开了包装箱，核对车辆的文件和车辆识别码。然后，他们联系了加州公路巡逻部门和斯波坎警察局。一份事故编号为74-58814的警方报告称，这辆车在1974年7月12日上午6:45至下午4:30间被盗。
An investigation is in progress, says Mr. Hoffman, who believes the vehicle has changed hands several times since 1974. The Arizona businessman who tried to export the car isn't a suspect in the case, he says. He declined to give out his name.
霍夫曼说，调查正在进行。他认为这辆车自1974年后已经几次易手。他说，准备出口此车的亚利桑那州商人不是本案的嫌犯。他拒绝提供此人的姓名。
'I feel bad for him that he refurbished it . . . because it was taken away from him,' says Ms. Squires of the Arizona exporter.
斯奎尔斯在谈到这位亚利桑那州出口商时说，我为他感到遗憾，他翻新了这辆车，结果车子被从他手里拿走了。
Each day, between 500 and 700 vehicles are shipped out of the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, the country's busiest. Typically, one of them is found to be hot.
每天，有500至700辆车从洛杉矶/长滩港运出，这是全美国最繁忙的港口。通常情况下，会有一辆车存在问题。
'Stolen vehicles we intercept are typically high end, worth over $50,000,' says Mr. Hoffman, the port customs director.
霍夫曼说，我们截获的被盗车辆一般都是高档车，价格超过5万美元。
Despite its age, the hippie mobile wasn't any old car: Car restorers say it could be worth between $25,000 and $35,000.
尽管车龄很长，但这辆嬉皮士的爱车却不是旧车：汽车翻修店说这辆车的价值在25,000至35,000美元之间。
The microbus, also known as a Kombi or Type 2, was first manufactured by VW in 1950 as a utility vehicle on an extended chassis of the Beetle. Electricians, plumbers and small traders used it to haul tools, packages and sundry items. A people-carrier version was introduced to transport children to school in countries like Brazil. In Central American cities, it was used in commuter fleets.
这种也被称为Kombi或Type 2的面包车最初是大众汽车在1950年制造的，是一款有着“甲壳虫”底盘延长版的多用途车。电工、水管工和小商贩用它来运输工具、箱子及杂物。推出的乘用车型在巴西等国被用于接送孩子们上学。在中美洲城市，它被用做上下班的班车。
In the U.S., the boxy bus developed a following among hippies and became a counterculture symbol of the '60s. About 800,000 of the first- and second-generation VW microbuses were sold in the U.S. through the '70s.
在美国，这款四四方方的面包车在嬉皮士中找到了追随者，并成为上世纪60年代反文化的象征。到上世纪70年代，第一代和第二代大众面包车共卖出了约80万辆。
'I don't think anybody at VW had an inkling it would turn into a cult vehicle,' says Steve Keyes, director of press and public relations for Volkswagen of America Inc. 'Or, that a 40-year-old restored one could be worth $40,000.'
大众汽车美国公司的媒体和公共关系主管凯斯(Steve Keyes)说，我认为大众汽车的任何人都没有料到它会成为一款反映某种文化现象的车辆，或是一辆40年之久的车翻新后会值4万美元。
Today, the spiffiest of the unassuming vehicles can command $120,000. Collector clubs can be found from California and Arizona to Germany and Japan.
如今，这款默默无闻的车辆中保养最好的可以卖到12万美元。从加州和亚利桑那州一直到德国和日本，到处都有这款车的收藏俱乐部。
'Everybody wants one,' says Lenny Copp of West Coast Classic Restorations in Fullerton, Calif., who says he souped up a VW for Jerry Seinfeld. Admiring a photo of the stolen VW, he notes, 'Just look at how cute it is.'
加州汽车翻修公司West Coast Classic Restorations的伦尼?考普(Lenny Copp)说，所有人都想得到一辆。他说他曾为明星杰瑞?塞恩菲尔德(Jerry Seinfeld)翻新过一辆大众车。他对被盗车辆的照片赞赏不已，连连夸奖这辆车的可爱。
Both beautifully restored VW microbuses and beaten-up ones roam the country. In the comedy film 'Little Miss Sunshine,' the family journeys in one from New Mexico to California. In the Disney Pixar movie 'Cars,' the hippie character named Fillmore is a VW microbus painted in psychedelic colors who sells homemade biodiesel for a living.
翻修一新和破旧的大众面包车在全国各地都能见到。在喜剧电影《阳光小美女》(Little Miss Sunshine)中，一家人就开这样一辆车从新墨西哥州到加州旅行。在迪士尼皮克斯(Disney Pixar)的电影《汽车总动员》(Cars)中，嬉皮性格的菲尔莫尔(Fillmore)就是一辆涂着迷彩的大众面包车，依靠出售自制生物柴油谋生。
For now, the vehicle is at a secure location in California. Typically, stolen cars go to auction if they are recovered. 'In this case, because it's so unique, we're exploring other options,' says the Allstate spokeswoman.
目前，这辆车位于加州一个安全的地点。通常情况下，被盗车在收回后可进行拍卖。好事达发言人说，在这种情况下，由于它是如此独特，我们正在研究其他方案。
Ms. Squires has been in touch with Allstate, which she says has a record of an insurance policy in the names of her late mother and father.
斯奎尔斯一直在与好事达接触，她说有一份在她过世的父母亲名下的保单记录。
Intent on owning the car again, Ms. Squires hopes that Allstate will give her first right of refusal. Her son, Kyle, who refurbishes cars as a hobby, already is planning to put a Porsche engine in the old bus.
斯奎尔斯希望好事达能给予她优先取舍权，让她再次拥有这辆车。她的儿子凯勒(Kyle)的一个爱好是改装车辆，他已经计划为这辆旧车安装一个保时捷(Porsche)引擎。
'I don't think I could afford 25 grand. I am hoping under five,' says Ms. Squires, who earns $17 to $20 an hour. Then, on second thought, she adds: 'There is always the charge card . . . I have a little in retirement. My boyfriend said he'd help.'
斯奎尔斯说，我不认为我能支付25,000美元，我希望这辆车不超过5,000美元。她一个小时挣17-20美元。然后，考虑了一会，她又说：不行了还有信用卡，我还有一点退休金，我男友也说他会帮我。
Miriam Jordan
