Back in 2015, when Bienvenido Ortega's daughter Eneli was just 13, she made an announcement that she didn't want a traditional 'Quinceañera' party for her 15th birthday.
Instead of the ballroom fiesta, Emeli said she would prefer if her father built a car from wood car and drove it all the way from his home in Peru, to hers in New York. 'I will wait for you', she said.
Bienvenido returned to his home in Peru and immediately started building a wooden Chevrolet which he completed in 2017.
But sadly his first attempt failed when the Chevrolet engine broke down in Colombia later that year in October.
He left the car with friends, returned home to Peru to purchase the new parts but the ran into some bureaucratic problems with the Colombian authorities when he tried to return to fix the vehicle.
In April 2018 he came across a chassis and motor belonging to two separate 1978 Volkswagen models and set about pairing to two handmade wooden body built to the spec of a 1962 Volkswagen model.
He chose the Beetle because 'it is relatively small and the engine does not use water. It is less likely to be damaged and is more conventional to fix', he said.
'Secondly, because I have made several wooden cars and I always wanted to make a Volkswagen for myself, breaking that record of making a round car with many curves. It was not so difficult for me, Bienvenido added.
He built the 1962 body kit using mohena, a medium-weight wood that resembles mahogany and is usually for furniture building in Peru.
In place of a two-door 'Superbug', Bienvenido chose to include another personal touch by converting it into a four-door car.
Bienvenido said he then layered the wood with varnish because it is waterproof and it is the same 'coating they use for ship cabins.'
Instead of furnishing the front and back seats with leather, the Caribbean man went back to his roots and thought of the horse saddles he was so used to seeing back home in the Dominican Republic and made the seats out of a bamboo-like material.
Bienvenido finally filled his tank with fuel and hit the road in Lima, Peru, at the end of March for his date with Eneli.
Bienvenido has now spent nearly two months on the road and is currently stuck, once again in Colombia, after the four decade old engine experienced problems in Cali, where he's spent the last 10 days.
He expects to have the Volkswagen finally repaired in the next couple of days and hopes to be in Medellin some time next week.
In about two weeks time, the northern city of Monteria will be his final pit stop in South America.
Bienvenido's goal - knock on wood - is to arrive in the Bronx before or on July 5 when Eneli turns 17 and celebrate his daughter's 15th birthday even if he is two year's late in doing so.
After all, he knows cannot fail his daughter especially after last seeing her four years ago.
'I told her I would travel anywhere or be in any place for the celebration.
Music: "Wepa" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: Daily Mail, Facebook
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