Courting by Semaphore - A LoveBug CarTale
Published on October 30, 2025
Semaphore signals on vehicles, also called trafficators, were early mechanical signals that featured illuminated retractable, arms or flags, that protruded from the car's bodywork to indicate a turn. Used mainly from the 1920s through the 1950s, these precursors to todays's flashing turn signals were powered by electromagnets and were common on, for example, early Volkswagens and British cars before they were replaced by electric flashing amber indicators.
I became enamored of automobiles at an early age. I remember being a toddler standing on the front seat while my father was driving. I'd gleefully call out the names of the other cars I saw on the road. I learned the makes and models from seeing them in driveways and parked on the streets.
I made many model car kits and I put many miles on a peddle car like the red one in this photo..
The first car I bought was a 1955 VW, aka a Beetle or Bug. It cost me $300. in 1962.
A new Beetle in the mid-1960s sold for less than $1,600.
My Beetle was painted a ghastly dull military green and sported a rusty floorpan. Some welding and new sheetmetal reinforced the floorpan and blocked the view of the pavement beneath the car.
An Earl Schieb paint job, which cost me $49.95 for the entire car, spruced up the car to a much brighter, but still kind of weird, green. The Earl Schieb paint job actually held up very well. Worth the $49.95 for sure.
The VW was a very basic, and actually, very practical car for a city kid: a 2 door sedan, with an air-cooled, 36-horsepower rear motor. Good on the 30 cents per gallon gas. Pretty good in the snow. Came with only a speedometer. No other gauges. Not even a gas gauge. In lieu of a gas gauge there was a small auxiliary gas tank. When I ran out of gas, I flipped a lever to access the gas aux tank. Four speed standard shift, no synchromesh on first gear. but it was pretty easy to master shifting by listening to the engine and working the clutch. Top speed was 68 mph.
The car had putt-putt charm in large part because it was fairly rare in the US at the time. It was mechanically simple and, therefore, easy to work on. Best of all it had these semaphore turn signals, which I called "ears", that flipped from the side of the car, behind each door. lit up red, and pointed in the direction I planned to turn.
Here's the love bug part. When, after a date, I left my girlfriend at her house, I pulled the car's front wheels up onto the curb ,so it was facing her front door, and waved goodnight with the car's semaphores. I don't know exactly why, but it was always funny to us, and we laughed. And we still laugh about it more than 60 years after our semaphore-waving '55 VW is long gone.
In looking through YouTube for photos of '55 VWs and semaphores I found a bunch of videos that amazed me.
Mid to late '50's VW Beetles are collectors' items! Check it out and you will find that fully restored, refurbished examples are selling for $25,000 and much more. I guess some people just have too much money.
Click here for more classic VW Beetles from ClassicCars
Maybe even more surprising: there are also all sorts of YouTube videos on VW semaphores. And there are companies that make and sell new 12-volt versions that blink as well as flap goodbye with love. You can still buy parts for '55 VDubs,
Click here for a short VW semaphore video - (one of many)
Earl Scheib was a pioneering chain of low-cost auto painting and collision repair shops, founded by Earl Scheib in 1937, known for its catchy advertising and affordable prices. But the original company ceased national operations in 2010 before being relaunched as New Earl Scheib Paint & Body Shop. More recently sold to Kelly Capital. The brand remains recognizable for its association with accessible car maintenance and the founder's ubiquitous advertising presence.
Click here for Earl Scheib's Wiki entry
Sneak preview Car #2 a VW Italian Style Karmann Ghia
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