At this time of year there are no shortages of holiday miracles. Most of them seem to involve animals, the cuter and furrier the better. Just today we read about a baby seal who sought shelter in a New Zealand woman's house and curled up on the couch. Earlier in the week, it was the four deer who were saved from drowning by boaters in Alaska. Well, here's a car story in the same vein.

It's about a Beetle. A red, 1963 Volkswagen convertible to be specific. Earlier in the month, the car was listed on eBay and the seller, Eric, contacted website Bring A Trailer hoping to get a little wider publicity for his strikingly original car. Eric was offering the car with a treasure trove of documentation, including the original registration for its California "black plate."

So who should happen to see the pictures of the car? None other than the son of the original owner, Jim, who was with his dad when they drove it home from the dealership almost 50 years ago. When he saw the license plate, those six randomly assigned alphanumerics lit up his memory and, well, then he saw his dad's signature on a photo of the registration...

Let's cut to the chase: Jim is the proud new owner of the Bug.

But that's not all. It seems that Jim had saved one of the keys to his dad's old VW, and sure enough, when he showed up at Eric's house to look at the car, it unlocked the driver's door. As if that's not enough to make you believe in karma, destiny, and Fahrvergnügen, Jim bought the car on his son's 15th birthday. So dad will teach son to drive in the same car that grandpa taught him in.

Take that, cute and furry.

PLEASE NOTE WE COPIED THIS FROM AUTOBLOG.