dune buggies and hotVWs September 2021

While we might still have to wait to start international traveling, we are right on track to getting back to, well, a normal life. According to the CDC’s data, as of July 1, a total of 155,884,601 people in the USA have been fully vaccinated, or 47 percent of the country’s population. In December 2020, the COVID-19 vaccine distribution began in the United States, and the number of cases thoroughly dropped. Then, on June 15, 2021, California’s governor terminated the executive orders where our headquarters is based – the state has since fully reopened its economy. This means no more physical distancing, no capacity limits, no county tiers, and relaxed mask guidance. (Masks are required on public transit if you’re vaccinated or unvaccinated, plus in crowded indoor spaces; detail guideline…

As I write this month’s column, I am still floating down off the cloud of good times with VW friends at the annual El Prado weekend. It felt so incredibly good to be out there hanging out live and in person with everyone in the scene. As I normally do each year, I prepare a new car to bring to the show as a bit of a debut. Last year with the show canceled, I could take a well-deserved break after so many similar challenges, but this year I was fired up and excited to make something special to show to folks at the event and to challenge myself with a deadline of getting it there. As they say, without the last minute, nothing would get done and when the…

It all started when Mike Herbert and I were talking about VW drag racing and the lack of it in these challenging times. Mike said we should go to Medford, Oregon and check out the Fast-4Cartel VW drag race! As I had become more frustrated with the lack of events, I said yes and the beginning of a road trip was on! I called my DKP club brother Scott Pescuma and pitched the idea to him and of course he was all in. Mike called Alistair Craig of Gene Berg Enterprises and the crew was set. We left on a Thursday morning at 4:00 AM in two vehicles, with Mike and Alistair in one and Scott and I in the other. It was an interesting scenic drive up over the Grapevine…

Steering System Swap Hi Jon, I read the article about the ’59 Volkstream in the May issue and it’s mentioned that the steering system is a rack and pinion. I’m interested in upgrading the steering in my highly modified ’58 Single Cab. By this I mean that I’m already running a ’71 ball joint front suspension with power disc brakes. Plus a mid-engine mounted 351ci Windsor V8, T-98 truck four-speed and a 9-inch Ford rear end, which I swapped in back in 1980 (over 70,000 miles ago). I’m thinking that a rack and pinion might be a good addition. Any info would be much appreciated. Kim Crumb Forestville, CA Kim, I am aware that steering in these early Buses can be quite scary, especially if the box and other components are showing some…

Thankfully, most Bus purchases are happy affairs with people getting their desired vehicle, and they go on to have years of fun enjoying it. Unfortunately, there are some deals that go sideways, and then upside down. I cannot stress enough the importance of having an expert opinion on any Bus purchase. Buying one without a pre-purchase inspection and/or the opinion of an expert is playing with fire. Recently a potential buyer of a 1959 23-window Deluxe sunroof model decided to have some Type 2 experts look into the shiny restored vehicle and see if anything was not as it should be. That was quite a wise decision on the buyer’s part – because he was soon informed not to buy it under any circumstances. The first clue that something was wrong…

Trends are like waves, they come and go and come and go. Up until five years ago, the California Look and VW drag racing were still very important in the German air-cooled scene, but that has changed. The loss of the dragstrip in Bitburg and the general declining interest of the regular show goers contributed to this. They got used to wheelies and 11-second street cars. At around the same time, Andreas Ruppert set up the Air-cooled Race Weekend, ARW for short, on the circuit track in Meppen. Initially planned as a one-day event, it grew into a full weekend show and naturally attracts fans of German Look and race-style Beetles. Photos and magazine reports from the meeting encouraged others to build cars or to bring existing cars, some of which…