Like Herbie, the classic Volkswagen beetle with a mind of its own, Geier's 1965 love bug found its way back into his garage after 12 long years--just in time to celebrate Geier's 50th birthday.

"It's been sitting in three other people's garages waiting for me to find him," says Geier, who bought the car in 1973 and sold it in 1993.

The "cosmic" homecoming began with a casual search on the Internet last month for a vintage Volkswagen for his nephew's 15th birthday, Geier says. He chanced upon a link that said "Blue Bug Cute" and couldn't resist.

"Up pops the familiar image with its California historical license plate 128A," the Willow Glen resident says. "I started to wrack my brains, trying to remember if that was the license plate of my old car."

Geier sifted through stacks of old photographs of his car and contacted the seller once he realized the license plate was a match. "I probably left three days' worth of messages, calling him three times a day, worried that someone else bought it," Geier says.

A day after the seller, Hector Rodriguez, who used to work for the Navy, contacted him, Geier went to Millbrae to inspect the car.

The events that followed left him "overwhelmed with emotions," Geier says. The glove compartment still bears the initials G.G., inscribed years ago with a felt pen. One of the windows still has a tiny glass chip. Running his fingers over the familiar curves of his old car, Geier found an old paint speck-- the result of a mistake during restoration work in 1988. He even got the pictures he took when he first sold the car.

"I thought it was impossible this was happening--a one in a billion shot," Geier says. "This was a website that sold refrigerators and dining tables. It had only one car for sale. The car was on the Internet for two months and no one made an offer. It's like it was waiting for me."

But what sealed the deal was the car's radio--a rare vintage Blaukpunt short-wave receiver. Rodriguez said the radio never worked for him or the previous owner, a doctor.

"I reached over, pushed a button and it turned right on," Geier says. "It was playing the rock-and-roll station that I left it at 12 years ago."

Rodriguez immediately made the sign of the cross. "Some things in life cannot be explained," said Rodriguez, who used the car to drive to and from his tennis games. "It's ironic he found it after all these years and he wasn't even really looking for a car."

Geier was thrilled with his test drive.

"It smelled the same, drove the same and sounded the same. All the memories started coming back, all the things I did with the car and the places it took me," he says.

First ride

The 1965 bug was his first car, He was a 17-year-old working at a supermarket.

Geier bought the car from his supervisor for $400 in 1973. Though it wasn't love at first spark plug, the trusty bug served him well. "It took me to Las Vegas and through the snow in Lake Tahoe," says Geier. "We had many adventures together."

He recalls a 14-hour road trip to Las Vegas where his aunt and uncle lived.

"My friend and I decided at the last minute to take a trip to Las Vegas with only $15 between us, money to pay for gas only," Geier says. "We bought all the food we needed, filled up milk jugs with water. The wind was blowing so hard we could only travel at 50 miles per hour."

The broke teenager had to beg his relatives for money to make the return trip back to San Jose.

Geier drove the car for about eight years and "beat the hell out of it like a teenager would" before handing it over to his dad in 1981. He had tired of the car and decided it was time to get another set of wheels.

His father, Bernie, a surveyor with a gas company, used it for work. In 1986, a nostalgic Geier decided to buy his father a new truck for Father's Day on the condition that his father return the bug.

"It was my first car, so I thought there was some novelty in getting it back," Geier says.

The car was "sufficiently thrashed," Geier says. "There were dings and dents. The seats were ripped and the engine smoked and leaked."

Geier spent $11,000 over 18 months, giving the car a fresh coat of paint, restoring the bodywork and adding a custom-sewn interior. He also rebuilt the engine from scratch, giving it a "perfectly polished, paint and chrome" finish.

His hard work paid off. The car went on to collect trophies from vintage car shows such as the Goodguys Bug Bash in Pleasanton, where it took first and second place, and the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds vintage Volkswagen show, where it won first place in 1989. In 1993, he decided to sell the car.

"I never drove it," Geier says. "I started to notice little imperfections in the paint and other tiny problems with it, so I said goodbye to it."

Since his bug's return, Geier has been trying to piece together the journey of the car from the time it left his garage a dozen years ago.

He knows it was sold to a doctor from Burlingame, who later sold it to another doctor in Foster City. The doctor in Foster City took the car to his golf games, Geier says. And a tiny red sticker on the bumper with the name Carmel points out its former traveling destination.

Rodriguez bought the car from the Foster City doctor about 1 ¹/2 years ago at a garage sale. The doctor was moving to Carmel and wanted to buy a new car, Rodriguez says.

"I wasn't looking for a car, but it caught my eye at the sale," says Rodriguez, whose first car was a red 1965 Volkswagen beetle. "It was a nice-looking car and I was smitten."

It's only been a month since he sold the car, and Rodriguez misses it. Yet he's glad the car has returned home. Though there was interest generated by his ad on the Internet, no one was as enthusiastic as Geier, says Rodriguez who sold it to him for $6,500, which was $400 below his asking price.

"My friends have been asking me why I sold it and I tell them, 'It was starting to bug me,'" Rodriguez jokes. "I have three other cars, and I really don't need another one. Now the car is back with its original owner."

Memory lane

Geier calls the reunion "kismet." He thinks the car is the best birthday gift he has ever had, apart from the surprise party his girlfriend threw for him at Vin Santo in Willow Glen on May 14.

"When I found the car, I said, 'I don't need anything else. Life is good. Don't push it,' " he says. "Happy birthday to me. I felt like a little boy who just found his favorite teddy bear."

Geier's family shares his excitement. His father joined him for a spin the same afternoon Geier bought the car.

His mother, Bella, said, "Your little car came home to you after all these years."

His sister, Jeannie George, who lives in East San Jose, remembers learning how to drive a stick shift in the beetle when she was 16.

"My dad used to drive me around in that car," George said. "I was really happy when I heard my brother got the car back because he really adored it. I keep telling him things have come full circle right back to you."

It's been non-stop inspection since the car returned to his garage, says Geier, holding a long checklist consisting mostly of tune-ups and safety-related items. He recently spent $2,000 updating all the electrical systems and plans to keep it vintage, "the way it was meant to be."

There is no way he will let it go again. "It's priceless," Geier says. "There are a lot of memories. It's a Volkswagen with a soul and I let it go twice. That's enough."

Neighbor and best friend Patrick Love was among the first to hear about his incredible find on the Internet.

"This is beyond coincidence," says Love, a long-time Willow Glen resident. "I believe this is karma coming full circle for him now that he's starting the second half of his life."

The Volkswagen beetle has also become a "conversation piece" on Bennett Way, drawing even cyclists to stop and gawk at the beauty, Love adds. "Herbie came home."

Geier is ready to fasten his seatbelt for more vintage love bug adventures. He's also dreaming up a name for his car.

"It's a boy definitely," says Geier. "As soon as I start to drive, he'll tell me what his name should be."