Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i dune buggies and hotVWs

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…

In this article, I would like to talk about rocker solid shaft kits. What are they? Are they a good thing? What are the pros and cons? These apply to every car except a late Bus with the Type 4 motor. If you have one of these, sorry this article doesn’t apply. So what are they? These are rocker shafts that get rid of the hair pin clips and spring washers. There are many variations of these out there on the market. Some that take clips, some that have bolts on the ends, some that have a solid, non-floating center spacer, some with a floating spacer in the middle. Which ones are best? I will explain what I use and why later on. Let’s look at the stock setup and…

In nature, there’s a phenomenon known as “convergent evolution” – the way different creatures in different places evolve the same traits to solve common problems. It also describes what happened in the early 1960s when people worldwide realized the Volkswagen Beetle could transform into an off-roader with only slight modifications. In the United States, that process led to vehicles like the Meyers Manx. In Europe, Volkswagen itself adopted the basic Beetle chassis and parts into the Type 181 or, as it was later known in the United States, “The Thing.” And, at almost the exact same time, Volkswagen in Australia had a similar thought about how a Beetle-based vehicle could tackle that country’s beach scene. The result: the Country Buggy. Conceived first as a potential military vehicle, the Country Buggy…

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…

Let’s face it, last year was rough. Car shows were cancelled across the board, including our own Michigan Vintage Volkswagen Festival. But after a 25-month hiatus, we’re happy to report it came back BIG time. The 33rd Annual Show (not counting our skipped year!) was held on a new date in June this year, and in a new location, beautiful Ann Arbor. The Festival is a non-judged car show hosted by the Michigan Vintage VW Club (MVVC) celebrating all variations of Volkswagens. This year’s theme was “Who Let The Bugs Out?”, a double-entendre on the familiar song. Kicking off the weekend was the return of the popular slow speed slalom course on Saturday, set up this year in the parking lot of the host hotel. The objective was not to…

FLAT4 BRM 30-Year Anniversary This year marks the 30th anniversary of the FLAT4 BRM wheel, which was created in 1991 as the world’s first reproduction of the original BRM wheel made by SPEEDWELL. This year, the 30th anniversary of the FLAT4 BRM wheel will be celebrated with a limited edition T-shirt and anniversary decals. For more information, visit FLAT4 dealers or www.flat4.co.jp Magnecor Electrosports 80 - 8mm Wires Magnecor wires deliver superior RFI and EMI suppression without using limited-life carbon conductors and resistor/connectors at lead ends. It feature Magnecor’s exclusive 2.5mm Metallic Inductance Suppressed Conductor that consists of heavy duty stainless steel windings precisely spaced and wound at 200 turns per inch. For more info, visit cbperformance.com Billet Valve Covers for 36 hp engines CSP Products offers billet valve covers…

Now in its sixth year, Dubs in the Shrubs is hosted by the Old School Euros Car Club, at the beautiful German-American Society Park in Yardville, New Jersey (near Trenton). Old School Euros is a newer club, formed in 2013 and based out of Levittown, Pennsylvania. They’re also a proud chapter of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America. Soon after the club began, they held their first show with 50 cars, and have been growing ever since. This year’s event welcomed a record 175 vehicles! Dubs in the Shrubs is a two-day event, welcoming both air-cooled vintage VWs and their newer cousins, Vanagons. Saturday was an awesome campout and Herbie movie night, with 65 Campers and a DJ spinning tunes by the communal firepit. Show day dawned sunny and warm…

Held in February, the OCTO Winter Meet has been traditionally the club’s first gathering out of their three events every year. But back in January of this year, most states – including California – were still under lockdown, with many new cases being registered daily. VW Bus fans thought the get-together could not take place. However, OCTO lucked out again: The number of Covid-19 cases started to drop a few weeks before the club’s Winter Meet. Promoters received a (very) last-minute green light from the city of Long Beach and the venue on January 26th… just ten days before the event was scheduled. This meant it would be a short notice for entrants/ spectators, and there was no time to print flyers/posters, promoting the event, and even make staff badges.…

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…

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…

The new Bulli is for the first time based on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform. In technical terms, it is thus making a quantum leap: From now on, the drive system portfolio has a new feature, a plug-in hybrid. The Multivan can thus temporarily become a zero-emission vehicle. New, cutting-edge assistance, operating and infotainment systems also feature in the model line for the first time. Maximum advances have also been made in the area of crash safety. The Bulli’s unique design DNA has been enhanced throughout its evolution: no other MPV has been made for over 70 years, and from generation to generation visually honed like a diamond. The new Multivan too is therefore immediately identifiable as a successor of the legendary “T1” Split Window Bus. With the world…

The core of the air-cooled Volkswagen scene remains to enthusiasts, who have been highly devoted – often for decades – to those funny-looking German automobiles. Yet, something rather unexpected has transpired in recent years: Folks involved with other aspects of the car hobby, from hot rods to Porsches, have decided to join our community. Many of them chose to purchase VW Buses; but ’50s Beetles in particular now attract a new breed of aficionados, too. Not all vehicles retain their all-stock attributes, mind you, as demonstrated by Scott Tedro’s supercharged 1951 Split. Scott owns a Southern Californian company called Mascar Classics, specializing in concours restorations mostly based on American muscle cars, with hot rods thrown in for good measure. Fans of V8 performance might be familiar with the Muscle Car…