Trish Johnson met up with Lemon Drop, the World’s Largest Time Capsule Vega, at the big four-day Cosworth “Twin Cam” Vega 50th Anniversary Roundup 47 in Des Moines mid-September.
She learned more about Vegas amidst people who have strong feelings about the 1970s vehicle and all sorts of stories around it.
When it was her turn to take the stage, Johnson put her new 50th Anniversary Roundup t-shirt over her dress clothes and looked out at a crowd of people who – unlike many of her previous audiences or interviewers – had no idea about the pyramid-shaped time capsule in Seward that her father, Harold “Budd” Davisson created to show his grandchildren what life was like in 1975, the work and excitement that surrounded its opening in 2025, or how people across Seward County submitted artifacts, letters and articles to be delivered to the future.
Of course, Lemon Drop’s story is compelling, and Johnson was connected to the Vega roundup by Jack Hovick, a Vega enthusiast who started tracking the time capsule and advising Johnson about the Vega before the capsule was opened.
“This was such a different group. I really felt anxious because I did not know what would happen,” she said.
Johnson said the sporty little Vega was one of the “catches” her father used to market the time capsule.
Now Lemon Drop is a catch to introduce people to the stories the time capsule held.
In Des Moines, Johnson shared her family’s passion for The World’s Largest Time Capsule and Lemon Drop, amidst a crowd of people passionate about cars like Lemon Drop.
It did not take long to connect.
“When I started telling the stories it became part of our human experience,” Johnson said.
One of the stories she told was about the package addressed to a group that turned out to be siblings and cousins now living in Arkansas and Lincoln. The Arkansas siblings heard about the time capsule package first and asked their cousins in Lincoln to retrieve it.
One of the Lincoln siblings thought it was a hoax, but the other retrieved now-treasured letters to each of them from their grandmother.
“That is when I knew we were on to something,” she said. “They understood the stories.”
Of course, while Johnson was sharing the stories from The World’s Largest Time Capsule, Lemon Drop just sat around at Living History Farms, looking shiny and pretty.
The Vega got a lot of attention.
First, there was the sign Hovick posted next to her that said “I survived underground in time capsule for 50 years. I survived 50 years in a box. What’s your excuse for being tired today?”
Also, Lemon Drop is – as her name implies – bright, lemony yellow. She was parked among a sea of 47 darker-colored Vegas like a happy petunia in an onion patch. Which is to say, she stood out. Johnson said she has not seen a chart of the original Vega colors, but lemon yellow is apparently not a common color among the surviving cars.
Lemon Drop drove away with a second-place plaque for the H-Body stock in the Cosworth Vega Owners Association.
But she did not drive far.
Hovick delivers her to car shows on a trailer. Her on-road time has mostly been down Seward Street for the Fourth of July Parade. She has stayed in Hovick’s Elmwood garage where he worked to clean 50-years of dust off.
“My Vega has a personal mechanic and a personal driver,” Johnson said of Hovick’s TLC for the car.
Lemon Drop’s odometer still counts fewer than 20 miles. The upholstery is original but for a steering wheel cover. The tires are original and hold air.
When Johnson was contacted by Hovick a few years ago, she thought there was a small number of people who would care about Vegas. His club’s membership now exceeds 260 and there are dozens of clubs for Vega lovers.
Now many more Vega lovers now know about Lemon Drop and those who were in Des Moines know about the story she carried out of The World’s Largest Time Capsule.
