dune buggies and hotVWs June 2020

Dear Readers, Advertisers, and Fans of Hot VWs Magazine from all over the world, Time flies as it has been three years since OCI Media took over hotVWs Magazine’s operation in April 2017. As of this June 2020 issue, we have produced 38 hotVWs magazines. Even though I have been heavily involved with the Volkswagen-related publishing industry for 25 years, taking care of hotVWs – a magazine with a 53-year long history – as an editor remains a terrific adventure. I want to thank you all for your enthusiastic support, your passion for VWs and all the encouragement. We would have never gone through this challenge without you. I am grateful for the fantastic support from our loyal subscribers and readers, our very special advertisers, our team, our talented contributors, and my…

As you may remember from last month’s column, I was lucky enough to get an invitation, courtesy of Darrell Vittone, to go racing in Mexico City. We loaded up and left on a Tuesday morning while leaving our good friend Mark Thurber in charge of Fleming and Aronson High Performance. We told Mark we would “be back in a week or 10 days at the most!” and then, we rolled out to hit the road. Our adventure involved four confirmed VW nuts heading south to Mexicali, where we planned to cross the border. We must have been quite a sight, four longhaired guys in a mini motorhome pulling a single axle UNSPRUNG trailer, and with the Tar Babe racecar on board. We arrived at the border and were ushered right on…

Cha-Cha-Chatter There appears to be two styles of clutch discs available: One with springs and one without. Would the one with springs have less “chatter”? George Hunt Pleasant Gap, PA George, you are correct in assuming that the sprung disc will take up any chatter that may be produced by a faulty pressure plate. If you are talking even mild performance though, I would stick with the rigid center variety. I’ve seen some of the spring mechanisms break, and when they do, it makes an awful mess. Personally I always use the rigid center kind. If your pressure plate and flywheel surface are in good condition, you won’t get any chatter. Oil Spray Jon, I am driving a 1967 Bug. The motor is pretty much stock, running a 34mm Solex carburetor and a stock distributor.…

We had the opportunity to check out some great hot rod action at this year’s Autorama, held in February at TCF Center (formerly Cobo Hall) in Detroit. Now in its 68th year, Autorama attracts some of the best rods and rodders in the country. Autorama began in 1953 as a simple fundraiser for the Michigan Hot Rod Association. It is now one of the biggest and most respected car shows on the planet, known simply as America’s Greatest Hot Rod Show. As expected, there were a number of Volkswagens vying for awards on the show floor. Chris and Alicia Allen brought out “Lowla”, their 1971 two-tone black and yellow Beetle from Lafayette, IN and entered it in the Radical Compact Custom class. Lowla was Chris’ first car, built (with pride) by…

Many of us know that the year of a VW matched the calendar year until the model year was introduced in August 1955 for the ‘56 model year (making ‘55 a short year). We also know that Volkswagen would do progressive refinements to the cars, where they would introduce many changes when they were developed rather than waiting for the model year. They were more likely to save the cosmetic changes for the model year, while the mechanical and safety updates were more likely to happen as soon as they were ready. In general, the earlier a VW, the more likely the changes of any type happened progressively rather than annually. We have a bit of a mismatch between the calendar, the model year and the appearance of a Bus. Visual…

Idon’t want to write about Corona. And yet this virus inspired me to write this column, because VW friends from all over the world have contacted me in the past few days, via Facebook, email and FaceTime; friends who have been with me for a long time. And I started to dig into memories and came across a story that has to do with friendship and solidarity – which is exactly what we need now! So, let’s go back to 2002. My buddy Sven and I had big plans, at least for our standards. We wanted to drive with my Type 34 Ghia from Germany to the Atlantic coast, to Lège-Cap-Ferret near Bordeaux, France, and take part in the Super VW Beach Week. That’s right: Beach WEEK! Air-cooled Volkswagens for a…