dune buggies and hotVWs February 2022

As mentioned in this column several times, one of my current beloved air-cooled rides is a 1958 Type 1 sedan. I found it on thesamba.com in 2003, and made the instant decision of purchasing it from a hardcore VW enthusiast and racer in BC, Canada, Shane Constantinescu. According to Volkswagen’s birth certificate, my ’58 rolled out of the Wolfsburg factory on January 8, 1958. Then, it was shipped to Vancouver, BC, Canada, and sold through the Volkswagen Pacific dealership to the first owner on March 24, 1958. (I have original sales documents from the dealership, too). Yes, my Bug is a Canadian export-spec car, and I’m the fourth owner taking care of this 64-year-old VW. When I became the new owner, the 36hp engine and split case transmission were original,…

If you have been a reader of my column for any time at all, I am sure you have read of my dreams of clearing the garage of all the excess stuff. While I have been making small steps towards less in my life, I often complicate the challenge by bringing in new projects. While this is a part of how I keep the lights on and the mortgage paid, there is a fine line between the “want” and the “need” that I cross daily in my travels it seems. With all that being said though, as I type this month’s column out, there is an estate auction under way for over 450 lots of “stuff” in the garage, and there are plans for an additional auction early in 2022.…

It was late in 1969 and we were racing the Underdog Beetle in NHRA Modified Eliminator and chasing points. We were having a pretty good season and “in the game” so to speak. I believe it was September and we headed off to Sacramento for the Division 7 points meet. It was Doug Gordon, Mark Thurber, Eric Kaufman and me. We towed the “Dog” to Sacramento on an open-wheel buggy-type trailer with Doug’s ’66 VW Kombi, which was powered by a 2100cc motor I built for it, so there was reasonable power. However, it would suffer and labor on hills. Luckily for us, the only hill was the Grapevine. [About 80 miles north of L.A. – Ed.] We set out on our way early afternoon on Friday, as points meets spread…

Lighten up, Flywheel! Hello Jon, I am building a 1600cc with an 88mm piston kit, Engle W-110 cam, dual Kadron carbs. I am thinking to resurface and lighten the flywheel. What are the pros and cons of using a lightened flywheel? Or should I stick with the stock flywheel? Thanks. John Wyatt Los Angeles, CA John, you didn’t say how you were using your car, or if it has a counterweighted crank, but I’ll try to answer anyway. If you have a counterweighted crank, the rotating weight is increased, and my personal “light” flywheel weight is 14 pounds. For a stock crankshaft, I would stick with a heavy stock flywheel. Of course, the weight of the car factors in here, as well as its use. For off-road driving, a heavier flywheel is best. This is…

According to the model numbers, the second model is the Micro-bus, model 22, and later model 221 or 225 etc. In comparison to the super-simple panel van, the Microbus had more than twice the number of windows, seating for eight people, a full interior and headliner and fancy three-tone paint scheme. Today, we call this model the Standard Microbus, or just “Standard” for short. This is so not to confuse it with the Deluxe Microbus, which we will discuss later. Heretofore, I shall simply call them Standards. Standards were the best-selling passenger model throughout their production run. On the outside, they had 10 windows, and then 11 once the rear window was introduced in mid-1951. From the start of production through the 1958 model year, all regular paint Standard Microbuses had…

Our lives would be a lot more boring without our air-cooled Volkswagens, wouldn’t they? Who doesn’t have some interesting story to tell involving a Beetle, Bus, Ghia, Buggy or Type 3? Sure, these stories don’t always have a positive outcome. However, in retrospect, these are often the most exciting stories. This is exactly what happened to me several ago. One that wasn’t funny at all while it was happening. My friend and club brother Otto Richelmann and I won the Petermax Müller race (PMMR for short) in his ’52 Split four years ago. The race is a kind of cannonball run, leading to one of the two big vintage VW shows in Bad Camberg or Hessisch Oldendorf. Only period-correct modified Splits and Ovals, as well as Lowlight Ghias and Barndoor Buses…