Home Page Bookmark This Page

Petra Verkaik Two for the Road miss december has a new motto: "don't tread on me" Petra Verkaik, a 22-year-old native Californian, celebrated the signing of her Playmate contract in an unusual fashion: by running herself over with her own van. The venerable '76 Volkswagen has a habit of not starting, so Petra's accustomed to climbing under the chassis, armed with a screwdriver, to get things going. This time, in her excitement about becoming a Playmate, she neglected to check whether or not the transmission was in gear. When the motor turned over, the van lurched onto her chest and perched there for about 30 seconds. "A very long thirty seconds," she says. "I thought I was going to die." With a mighty effort -- "I'm not Hercules or anything, but it's a light car" -- Petra managed to free herself, sort of. "I pushed it up and slid under it. Then it landed on my hair, pinning me." Fortunately, the episode took place in the parking lot next to Playboy's West Coast offices, and rescue was soon at hand. Cassie Gould, a Playboy publicist, was the first to happen by and see two legs sticking out from beneath the dilapidated van. Her call for help was answered by two security who quickly got the van off the Playmate; paramedics and sheriff's officers arrived seconds later. At the hospital, Petra was X-rayed and got the good news that she could go home immediately. The bad news was that now that Petra was obviously out of danger, everybody was cracking jokes about the accident. When a Playmate, particularly a well-endowed Playmate, is saved from serious injury by her breasts, people smile. It's not unlike the story of a preacher's being saved from a stray bullet by his Bible. And Petra is by nature a rather shy person. "God, I was so embarrassed," she recalls. Still, when she heard that West Coast Photo Editor Marilyn Grabowski had dubbed her the "the retread Playmate," Petra good-naturedly responded, "Well, I did have tread marks on my shirt. What else can I do but laugh?" Petra and her misbehaving van go way back. "My mom bought it new, and we used it to camp at the Grand Canyon and everywhere." Last year, her mother gave Petra the van. Since then, its trips have most often been to the mechanic. Still, it has provided reliable-enough transportation to get Petra to modeling assignments (she recently did some promotional work for Pepsi). She currently shares a house near L.A. with three others, including her boyfriend, with whom she pots fantasy travel plans (first stop: Bali, her mother's birthplace; her father comes from Holland). Her next move, however, may be to try out for a spot in Playboy's Girls of Rock & Roll review, currently in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. "Playboy has helped me a lot," says Petra. "It has given me self-confidence. Now I love meeting people." There's another plus: With her Playmate earnings, she'll be able to buy a new car. "Something light," she says, smiling. "Like a Honda CRX."

Playboy.com Centerfolds Special Editions Video On Demand Playboy Daily Deanna Brooks

• Our centerfolds by decade • Playmates 2000's Playmates 1990's Playmates 1980's Playmates 1970's Playmates 1960's Playmates 1950's • All our centerfolds • 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 Kelly Monaco profile • photos Jenny McCarthy profile • photos Pamela Anderson profile • photos Anna Nicole Smith profile • photos Victoria Silvstedt profile • photos   Jennifer Walcott profile • photos Petra Verkaik profile • photos Heather Kozar profile • photos Karen McDougal profile • photos Tiffany Taylor profile • photos Buffy Tyler profile • photos Lisa Dergan profile • photos Tiffany Fallon profile • photos Brooke Richards profile • photos Luci Victoria profile • photos

© Playboy.com All Right Reserved.