THE HOOD SCOOP: A lifelong love for Mabel, the 1971 Volkswagen Beetle

By Jenna Lookner

Growing up in Presque Isle, Leslie Cote Hale earned her driver’s license in 1993. Her first vehicle —a 1971 VW Super Beetle affectionately nicknamed “Mabel”— is still with her today. 

The Super Beetle was a 1971 modification to the original Beetle design to accommodate Mcpherson Struts. The Super Beetle is slightly larger than its original inception, among other minor modifications and updates.

“Mabel”

Cote Hale’s father purchased Mabel for her older sister, Heather, in 1988, but Heather declined the vehicle due to its manual transmission, the vehicle eventually became Leslie’s. 

“When it was my turn to get my license we went out to the potato fields and that’s where I learned to drive stick in the bug,” she said. 

Cote Hale drove it daily for all four years of high school, and drove it to sports games and to work at the movie theater in Caribou. 

“I was on the boy’s golf team,” she said. “It was perfect, my clubs fit right in the back.” 

When Cote Hale’s late father purchased the car it was in its original yellow paint, she said. 

“It made it home but it needed work,” she recalled. An engine replacement and a repaint to navy blue—her mom’s color choice—occurred prior to her adoption of the car. 

Cote Hale said that the Beetle did not feel like an “old car” at the time, even though it had been built 20 years prior. She smiled as she recalled high school at the wheel of the VW. 

“One day I went out tooling around with some other people, we parked and locked it up,” she said. “When we returned the car had been picked up and moved to another spot, I still don’t know how they did it.” 

Despite the hijinx, Mabel suffered no issues as a result and Cote Hale and her friends drove away, perplexed and laughing. 

“I lived the wild teenage life,” she said with a hearty laugh. “The car was there through it all.” She added that she learned a lot from driving Mabel and believes having an earlier car assisted her in becoming a confident driver. 

“One day I was on my way home from school and all of the sudden my hubcap passed me on the road,” she said. “I said ‘wait, what?’”

Cote Hale caught up with the hubcap as it came to rest — undamaged— in a ditch. She said she popped it right back on.

“We did get more reliable hubcaps after that,” she said. 

When Cote Hale graduated from high school, Mabel stayed in Presque Isle with her parents, Michealla and Galen Cote, while she embarked on her next chapter at Becker College. A firm Volkswagen fan by then, Cote Hale purchased a 1988 VW Jetta as her college vehicle. 

Alone with the Super Beetle, Galen embarked on an exhibition quality restoration, where every aspect of the automobile was addressed. After completing the restoration, it was Cote Hale’s father’s turn to choose a color. He picked a Buick color, “Dusty Rose,” a lightly metal flecked maroon. 

“His favorite color was maroon,” she said. 

The family began trailering the car to shows all over Maine and even as far away as Connecticut, winning awards at many of them. But Cote Hale said she always knew that Mabel was destined for her garage. 

“They were just enjoying it until I had a place to store it,” she said. 

Cote Hale said that her parents had an Amish shed specially constructed to house Mabel at their home in Presque Isle where the storied car lived until 2019. When Cote Hale’s father passed away, her mother was adamant about getting Mabel home to her daughter. 

In 2020 the shed was moved to Cote Hale’s home in Sargentville. Mabel would shortly follow, with Cote Hale’s mom riding alongside the tow truck driver. 

Cote Hale has enjoyed driving the bug regularly since it arrived back in her hands. She said that Fine Motor Skills in Penobscot has maintained the Beetle since its arrival on the Blue Hill Peninsula. 

At the end of September, she will take it to Stonington for a special event at the Island Community Center. 

“It feels so good to have it back with me,” she said. “My mom is really happy that I have it.” 

–Jenna Lookner is automobile enthusiast, collector and historian with an automobile museum and auction background. She tells the stories of special automobiles in the area on a regular basis through her column “The Hood Scoop.” If you have a special car you’d like to see profiled, drop her a line at jlookner@risingtide.media.