dune buggies and hotVWs October 2021

Since I started driving my first Beetle at age 18, I have attended countless VW shows/events. Being involved in the automobile magazine industry for 25 years, I was lucky to have participated in many Volkswagen happenings in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. These trips made me realize that the VW scene is huge around the world; still, there are many other shows in a variety of countries on my bucket list. In my 33 years of VW life and after traveling extensively to attend events, here is something I can assert without a doubt: the Volkswagen scene is very unique, and you don’t see anything like it when it comes to other brands of cars, no matter where you travel…

As I write this month’s column, I am huddled up close to the air conditioner in the house and am waiting for the sun to set and the temps to drop a bit, so that I can get out in the garage and get something done. It’s that time of year when the air-cooled cars in Southern California hide during the middle of the day. The early morning cars, coffee events and warm summer evening drives are the enjoyment factors. But when it’s up in triple digits during the heat of the day, my choice of vehicle is something with creature comforts to make the drive more bearable. Back when I was young and my air-cooled VW was my only car, I never thought much about it. Nothing could keep me…

It was in late 1966 or early 1967, and I was working at Westphalia Motors, an independent VW repair shop. I was employed as a flat-rate mechanic, having gotten my training courtesy of Volkswagen in Culver City, followed by a stint at a VW dealer (Ballard Motors); then left to work for an independent shop. I worked for and with some really nice Germans – RIP Rudy Hoffner. One day, a nice guy came into the shop with an almost brand new ’66 Beetle. He was a member of a VW club, Der Kleiner Panzers. He introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Gregg Bunch and I want to get a Porsche clutch for my Bug.” In those days, a 180 mm Porsche diaphragm clutch was the “hot ticket” for your VW Beetle. Because…

Diesel Oil I was at a flea market and was talking to an old guy about VWs. He had 1972 and 1965 VWs. We talked about the type of oil to use. Is it possible to use diesel oil on any air-cooled VWs? Thank you. Roberto Arguelles Cleveland, OH Roberto, there are plenty of folks using Shell Rotella 15W-40 in their Bugs. It’s a tough multi-grade oil and is suited for pushrod engines and works for many climates. It also contains zinc, which is a bonus. Personally though, my favorite oil is Penn Oils 20W-50. It is a partial synthetic, and also contains zinc. It’s pretty hard to go wrong with modern oils today. Just make sure you don’t choose too light a weight, especially if you are running a stock oil pump…

Sometimes, it seems that building a Bus is like a 1:1 scale model, which has had a bunch of pieces lost out of the box. Thankfully, for those missing pieces, a person can find most all of them through the vendors that advertise in this wonderful magazine. Unfortunately, there are not complete step-by-step instructions like you would find in a model kit. There are some instructions if you know where to look, and that at least gives you a start in figuring out how it all goes together. First, you need a repair manual. This covers the things that were likely to fail or need repair when the Bus was first in service. It does leave gaps because things wear out and fail after half a century of use, and you…

We are slowly but surely approaching 2022, with great hopes for a more “normal” life again. Here in Germany, there wasn’t much going on in terms of VW events this year. The 1st of May Show did not take place, the big vintage show in Hessisch Oldendorf was postponed to 2022, and so did the 15th Moselcruising. You have probably never heard of Moselcruising; that’s why I’m writing about this somewhat different event today – I’ve been part of the organizing team since 2007. The small meeting was launched in 2005 in the beautiful Mosel Valley. This area is located in the very southwestern corner of Germany. Like a blue ribbon, the Mosel twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz, along one of Germany’s most beautiful river valleys, with…