Two guys from Billings drove a 1957 Volkswagen 'Bug' to Pike's Peak and back

Dave Kucera and Sam Schaumann with Schaumann's 1957 Volkswagen Beetle on his farm near Billings. The two best friends took a road trip from Billings to Colorado and back in the 61-year-old car in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip upon graduating high school — in the same car.

 

In 1967, Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera had just graduated high school in Billings, and they wanted to see the Rocky Mountains.

Back then, people in a rural Ozarks community didn't travel much, Kucera said.

The Billings class of '67 had just 21 graduates; the whole town had just north of 600 human inhabitants at the time, census records show.

But five decades ago, the two newly minted adults had a mind to get out and see the great American West.

How would they make it happen? As it turned out, Schaumann's family owned a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle, 36 horsepower.

He can't remember what his family paid for it used, but Schaumann said the Bug's first owner bought it brand-new for $1,675. Coincidentally, the car weighed 1,675 pounds.

Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera drove this 1957 Volkswagen Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car.

Schaumann and his two older sisters had driven it during high school, but by his graduation, their parents weren't routinely using it anymore.

"He somehow convinced them to let us use that car," remembered Kucera. "On
Sept. 2, 1967, we took off, we headed west. All we knew when we left is we were going to the mountains."

They took about $150 in cash with them. Credit cards were less common then, and businesses rarely accepted out-of-state checks.

Precisely 50 years later, the two best friends, now 68 years of age, did it again — after they both studied at then-Southwest Missouri State University and went on to far-flung careers, military service, marriage, parenthood and retirement.

And they did it in the very same car, which rolled off the factory floor in West Germany back in 1956.

How did Schaumann hang on to it for so long?

"I'm from a family who never gets rid of anything," Schaumann told the News-Leader while leaning against the butternut-yellow Bug on a recent warm fall afternoon.

He and Kucera stood a stone's throw away from the farm where Schaumann grew up. (Kucera, who lives in his childhood home in Billings proper, is the "city kid" of the two.)

The Schaumann place is a century farm that's been in the family since 1887, with gently rolling hills, mature trees and cows munching grass.

To the best of their knowledge, the last time the Bug was licensed was in 1979. At some point, Schaumann's father parked it in a shed with open sides and a lean-to roof. It sat, and rusted, for 37 years, until 2015.

Schaumann's farm insurance company sent a rep by to photograph buildings on the land in order to update his file. The rep's husband was driving her and showed interest in the old Volkswagen.

High up on Pike's Peak in the Colorado Rockies. Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera drove a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car.

But instead of selling it, Schaumann and Kucera got to work. They're not even certain when the idea to take a trip came upon them, but before they knew it, Kucera began a Facebook page titled "Sam and Dave's Great Adventure — Part II," documenting every step of the way from lugging the car out of storage to Pike's Peak and back.

They soon found that they had fans among fellow Volkswagen enthusiasts from locales as far-flung as Australia, Germany, Honduras, Portugal and Scotland.

And, Kucera said, once they opened their big mouths in front of 1,400 page followers, plus family and friends, they had to get after it.

From the outset, they decided not to restore the Bug to perfect condition, but for practical use. There's a ding or a dent here and there, but Schaumann and Kucera gutted the interior, replaced it, had the engine rebuilt, and with the help of family and friends had it repainted and otherwise fixed up.

Dave Kucera and Sam Schaumann drove a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car.

They added a few 21st-century conveniences: Kucera mounted a GoPro camera and a GPS screen to the dashboard. They also made a wooden cupholder, its spindly legs resting on the floorboard.

The back of the car bore oversized bumper stickers promoting their journey, with a nod to their Facebook page.

At first, their wives, JoAnne Kucera and Debbie Schaumann, displayed a bit of jokey skepticism toward the project.

"But the more we got into it, the more they began to admire the idea," Kucera said.

They set out across Kansas, taking the trip more slowly than last time. They didn't feel a need to pack as much as possible into each 24 hours. 

Along the way, they had adventures. A VW enthusiast in Wichita had been following their trail on Facebook, and he waited beside the road around the time he knew they'd arrive. Driving his own Bug, he followed along as they passed through town.

They summited Pike's Peak, an unorthodox use for a 36-horsepower Bug.

Ascending Pike's Peak at 10 miles per hour in a 36-horsepower Volkswagen: Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera drove a 1957 Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car.

"The engine was taxed to the max," Schaumann said. They went up the mountain in 28-degree temperatures, and as the oxygen thinned out of the air, the engine ran less efficiently. They were in first gear, crawling at 10 to 12 miles per hour.

But they made it. Schaumann recalled that at a later stop, they told another traveler about going up and down the 14,000-foot mountain in a 61-year-old Bug.

"He just shook his head and walked off," Schaumann laughed.

At Royal Gorge, a 1,000-foot, 3-million-year-old rent in the fabric of the earth generated by the Arkansas River, the adventurers were "treated like VIPs."

Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera drove a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car. They were permitted to drive on the suspension bridge over Royal Gorge, Colorado, which is not typically allowed.

The gorge, part of a theme park, is spanned by a light suspension bridge that dates back to 1929. Cars are typically not allowed to cross it, but when Kucera showed park officials a snapshot of the Bug way back when, park officials gave them the keys to the kingdom.

Media from nearby Cañon City, Colorado fawned over them, too.

By the time they returned home in late September — a day early, to attend the funeral of a high school classmate — they were ready to wax philosophical.

They felt very fortunate to be healthy enough, in their late 60s, to take such a trip, Schaumann said. They know a lot of people their age for whom that wouldn't be the case.

At Garden of the Gods in Colorado. Sam Schaumann and Dave Kucera drove a 1957 Volkswagen Beetle to Colorado and back in Sept. 2017. In 1967, they took the same trip in the same car.

"One of the things that almost shocked me when we got back was how easy it was," Kucera said. "When we left, I was absolutely looking forward to this trip like crazy. I thought it would be tougher for us to go that many miles in that little car, no air conditioning, and the heater’s not much, but I was just shocked with really how easy it was. We just went and had fun and came back."

Schaumann said, "When I look back on this whole experience, what makes it special is that it's kind of a feel-good story that people in this world we live in today — well, a story like this, now and again, is uplifting."

"I guess you could say it kinda made us feel young."

Sam and Dave's Great Adventure: By the Numbers

Total miles traveled in the '57 Volkswagen Beetle 
2,318

Total gallons of fuel used
84.596

Total oil used
1/2 quart

Miles per gallon
27.4

Top speed
67 miles per hour — on the flat with no wind

Top speed ascending Pike's Peak
10 to 12 miles per hour

Range of view from Pike's Peak summit
100 miles in every direction

Number of Facebook fans for Sam and Dave's Great Adventure
1,419