dune buggies and hotVWs August 2022

Time flies fast. It has already been six months since I mentioned via this column that I broke the transmission of my beloved 1958 Volkswagen Beetle. This is the longest extended period of time I haven’t driven my VW. I miss it so much! But finally, the transmission project has started moving forward. My ’58 came to my garage in 2003. I enjoyed it almost every day for 19 years, driving it not just to the shows but also to work, especially during the VW event season between April and August. I wrote a million times on social networks and in this column that my Bug’s exterior and interior are mostly well preserved in their original condition. The rare L245 Light Bronze color, available for the 1958 model year only, always…

I grew up in Southern California in the 1970s and early ’80s, and came from a family of car lovers. As a result I was exposed to a pretty vibrant scene of automotive mayhem that still provides me great joy as the memories flash through my mind. From the car shows and auctions that I wandered through as well as the clubs and museums that my father frequented, there is just so much cool stuff. I didn’t see how cool it all was until later in life, when I realized the importance of all these places, cars and people that were in the area at the time. Big Daddy Roth, Von Dutch, George Barris etc. They were all there, I met them, I marveled at the stuff they did and…

There are any number of VW events happening on any given weekend around the world. They run the gambit of the automotive world, from performance meets like drag racing and slalom to high-speed such as Bonneville. There are car shows of all kinds, ranging from simple “Cars & Coffee” gatherings to formal car shows where competitors spend countless hours getting their ride ready. Along with these are rallies and poker runs, where the competition is more about fun than who won or lost. I have pointed this out because all of us VW freaks do one or more, and some all. Whether you’re a Cal Look, custom or vintage freak, you do more with your ride than get from A to B. I have involved myself and my ride in all…

The Perfect Spark Hi Jon, I’m building my first engine, with AA 80mm pistons and cylinders, a Wolfs-burg West Okrasa kit, performance cam and stroker 69.5mm crank. Based on this setup, which spark plugs should I use? I don’t mind using non-Bosch plugs. Thank you. Jose Rodriguez Portland, OR Jose, assuming that the heads use a normal 14mm “short” plug, I would use either an NGK B5HS or B6HS. These plugs will work great on any engine operating under normal conditions. Of course Bosch still makes plugs for this, but they are made in Russia. No, I’m not kidding! I’ll let you ponder that decision. It Just Wants to Stall I have a good one for you. I have a bone stock 1960 36-horse engine with about 90k miles on the original engine. The car runs…

For the last couple months, we have covered the Westfalia campers from the pressed bumper era. There was a lot going on with them, but they were still fairly low production. Things were about to get real, and VW camper production was going to really get going. For the ‘59 model year, Westfalia developed a new kit, the SO-23. “SO” is Volkswagen’s designation for a special model of Bus built by a factory-approved coachbuilder. The SO numbers were used for many different applications, not just campers. By now the Campingbox kit had become the SO-22, and all Westies would have SO numbers from here on out. Sometime in 1959, Westfalia built their 1000th VW camper conversion. The SO-23 kit had the same general layout as the 1958 kit, but it was…

A week ago, I had the pleasure to do a video shoot with Jean-Pierre Kraemer. You may not know him, but he has the most influential German-spoken YouTube channel when it comes to modified cars. He’s got his own company called JP Performance, he has a burger restaurant and even just recently opened a museum. No less than 2.2 million subscribers follow him on YouTube, checking out what he is doing day after day. Jean-Pierre has a VW history, but mainly with Mk2 Golfs and drove almost everything with four wheels. He’s used to 900, 1200 or more horsepower cars, owns Nissans, Porsches and other sporty vehicles. But now he wanted to know something about the humble Volkswagen Beetle. We already briefly met three years ago and his wingman Fabian had…