Kathleen Brooks has daily-driven her 1966 Beetle, affectionately nicknamed “Annie,” since new, and after she covered 350,000 miles in the thing, Volkswagen itself decided to restore it back to showroom (but still usable) condition.

Kathleen is a three-time breast cancer survivor, and works with patients and survivors to provide comfort and cosmetic care during treatment and recovery.

When Volkswagen of North America heard her story, they decided to restore Annie.

“We often hear stories of dedicated Volkswagen owners, but there was something special about Kathleen and Annie that we felt we needed to honor,” Derrick Hatami, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen of America said.

The restoration took place in Mexico at VW’s Puebla factory and took 11 months. Some 60 employees worked hard to bring Annie back to perfection using new and old parts, while upgrading some of the outdated technology as well.

The biggest issues were rust in the floor pan and some electrical bugs, but they were no match for the experts at Puebla. The engine, transmission, and suspension were totally rebuilt, and the whole car repainted to the original colour, as found inside the glovebox.

The brakes were upgraded to discs from later Mexican-market Beetles, while the stereo has been swapped out for a period-looking Bluetooth unit.

Brooks says “as long as I take as good care of her as I can, she’s going to continue to run.”