Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i dune buggies and hotVWs

One memorable show for me was the 2nd Barndoor Gathering in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, in 2018. As you may have guessed, it is all about the early Type 2s up to ary 1955, but other vintage VWs are also welcome. That second edition of the event took place near the freight depot, where Volkswagen used to unload their finished Beetles and Buses for the Dutch importer Ben Pon. Several old brick buildings made for a nice surrounding, separated by alleys and open squares and topped off with lots of greens, bushes and trees. The area was quite close to the town center, but still somewhat remote. As this event was only the second of its kind (the third edition took place this year), only Barndoor owners and fans were present,…

For this article and the next, we are taking a break from technical advice. We will be talking about something that I am very passionate about: Racing. We are right in the middle of race season and as I’ve been slowly working on getting my front engine nitro Volkswagen dragster back together, I’ve been thinking about where it all started for me and the journey that brought me to where I am, today. Let’s be honest, I didn’t just wake up one day and say, “You know what? I think I’d like to put a transmission between my legs and go down a ¼-mile track in 7.25 seconds at 181 mph.” We all must start somewhere and in Part 1 of this article, I’ll be going into detail about my…

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The USA remained the largest export market for Volkswagen during the air-cooled era. Almost all vehicles sold in the country were German-made cars shipped from Wolfsburg, Hannover, and the Emden plants (with the only exception being the Type 181/Thing from Puebla, Mexico). Most of the design changes/updates made throughout the years were to meet US regulations, requests from sales, and/or demands from the market. However, the Australian market followed a different path. Australia was one of the countries where Volkswagens were locally manufactured or assembled outside Germany. VWs sold in Australia between 1954 and 1976 were made in the Clayton factory in Melbourne, Victoria. Therefore, Australian Volkswagens didn’t undergo all the changes/updates that Germanbuilt cars went through, resulting in numerous unique differences between the American/European versions and Australian models. Australia’s…

“This buggy came up on our local classified ads, and I thought it looked like my dad’s old one” Louie explains. It wasn’t the right time for Louie to buy another car, but the seller kept asking for an offer. “I finally gave him a number, and he said it was too low. I agreed and headed home. That’s when he called, and his wife said to take it.” Having built his first Baja Bug just out of high school, Louie was no stranger to working on VWs. In fact, he’s been driving them ever since then, owning more than he can remember. Still, this one was going to be a bit of a challenge. The Manx had been wrecked in the front, and required a lot of fiberglass work.…

While wintering in Florida, we met up with one of the most interesting people in the VW World. Scott Bosés has had quite a diverse career for the past several decades as the Hollywood Car Guy. Now retired, he still plays with cars, as evidenced by his current crop of rare vintage Volkswagens. Scott was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent his early years honing his mechanical skills by building his own motorcycle at age 14. Moving to Hollywood in the 1960s, he graduated high school, then worked his way through college as a mechanic. After college in 1970, he took off for England to find a Bentley to bring home. Having no luck finding the car, he decided instead to become an entrepreneur, buying 17,000 British Army surplus…

American’s love affair with cars has the ubiquitous element of the road trip. There were even TV shows about it from “Route 66” to MTV’s “Road Rules”. Of course, neither of those have much connection to reality, but most of us have taken real road trips. This month, we will talk about the one that I am currently on as I write this. Mostly because I have been too busy with my current restoration and didn’t get around to writing my column, and my editor texted me a polite reminder that it was due while I was driving south on Highway 1 headed to the OCTO show. This month marks 30 years of ownership of my favorite Bus, my ’61 sunroof Standard which is still wearing its original Mango Green…

Though he is somewhat new to the world of high horsepower VW drag racing, Volkswagens have long been a part of Aaron Brown’s life. Aaron grew up in South Central Los Angeles, CA, and when he turned 16 years old, he acquired a 1965 Beetle shell. He and a buddy learned just by piecing together this car. They threw in a little 1600cc dual-port motor and off they went. That was until he got in an accident at age 18, and had to start over with a 1966 Bug. By this time, Aaron had already taken an interest in racing.. Street racing to be exact. The 1980s were a unique era when it came to racing. One of the big reasons: accessibility. You had used cars becoming cheaper to purchase,…

The day started like every Bugorama always seems to - early and hot. With the price of admission including a swap spot, the swap area was full early, with the car show brimming to capacity as well. If you were looking for NOS bits, Lind Bjornson, from Idaho, brought out his NOS and rare original goodies to swap. Dave Schweinhagen was swapping parts out of his amazing red, original paint Double Cab, If you were into vintage memorabilia, luggage, or signs, Jesus Aguilera from Phoenix and Mike Bailey from Tucson were some of the many swappers with treasures for your garage wall or man cave. New parts vendors were out in force, with Phoenix locals like Ken from European Automotive, as well as suppliers from California like Vintage Parts. There…

Matt has a passion for creating unique vehicles, frequently featuring ostentatious powertrains. They range from his twin-engine, l0000hp, Triumph Rocket motorcycle streamliner to his Ford V8-powered personal watercraft, and Wave Crusher (see them at hotrodcon-spiracy.com). Having built a series of ever more complicated show winning hot rods and customs over 20 years, he shifted gears and has spent the last decade crafting motorcycles. When he first saw a Volksrod a few years ago, it resonated with him as to what hot rodding used to be: personalizing a cheap, plentiful car. He saw it as a way to return to his roots, and started envisioning what his take would be. To start with, hot rods should have V8s. Matt had a couple of Porsche 928s in the past and loved their…

Read on, to find out more about an important transition regarding the ownership of Dune Buggies and hotVWs magazine! As the previous owner, Shin Mukai, will “hand over the keys” to the new owner, Tom Kinney, we wish to share details of this ownership change and express our gratitude for your continued support. A MESSAGE FROM SHIN MUKAI, THE FORMER OWNER OF HOTVWS MAGAZINE: In April 2017, I assumed ownership of hotVWs magazine from the previous owner, Judy Wright of Wright Publishing. Since the May 2017 issue, I have been responsible for publishing and managing hotVWs magazine, with the invaluable support of our dedicated staff, loyal readers, advertisers, friends, and passionate Volkswagen enthusiasts. Together, we have successfully produced 75 issues, spanning from May 2017 to the August 2023 edition. Regrettably,…

Texas offers plenty of great Volkswagen shows and the hero of our story, Josh Hatton, has been heavily involved in a few of them. Indeed, the Joshua, Texas resident joined the promoting crews of Dub Splash, Dub-Out and Dub-In about three years ago, after moving from sunny Southern California. Readers who attended the abovementioned three events will have likely noticed his terrific 13-window Bus too, the subject of this article. “I’ve always been interested in Volkswagens,” ponders Josh who grew up in California’s Central Valley. “When I was 15, my brother brought home a ’55 Oval Ragtop and I thought it was the coolest ride ever. Three years later, I moved to Redondo Beach in Southern California to work at Scat Enterprises where I sold VW parts. I had a…

Several factors explain why we still see air-cooled VW-powered dune buggies all over the world to this day, starting with a beautiful original design penned by the late Bruce Meyers almost 60 years ago. These vehicles also proved inexpensive to build - and copy - thanks to their fiberglass construction, a fact that led Bruce to close shop in 1971. Indeed, hundreds of manufacturers have either blatantly copied the Manx or been inspired by its lines, since the 1960s. Among them: Dune Buggy Enterprises (DBE) established in Westminster, California in 1968. The company originally sold its buggies using the Road Runner moniker, though only for a short period of time, as the name had been copyrighted. (Who doesn’t remember Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon characters?) As a…

Special thanks to Tony Moore of Wolfsburg West for carefully taking the steps to build my 1488CC 36-horse hot rod V2.0 motor. We completed the short block without any issues. For this installment, the first step to finish the engine was to install 80mm AA Performance cylinders. But before doing so, we were required to determine the barrel shims’ thickness and how many we would need. We increased the stroke to 74mm. So, we needed to raise the cylinders with shims on each side. For the previous 69.5mm stroke V1.0 engine, we installed two shims measuring .040” (1.016mm) and .060” (1.524mm) on each cylinder and increased the compression ratio from 6.6-to-1 (stock) to 7.5. This time for the V2.0 engine, we wanted to keep the same compression ratio (and deck…

We’ll be using a brand new set of Mahle cast 85.5mm pistons and cylinders (made in Brazil) for the top end of our 1600. The first step in getting these ready is to check the piston balance. According to our scale, the pistons were all within two grams of each other; much better than factory suggested tolerance! As a short matter of history, the balance on Mahle brand pistons wasn’t always so good. A couple of decades ago, when AA of China came out with their brand of competing piston sets, they obviously wanted a competitive product. When introduced, the balance of the AAs was always spot-on. It’s probably no coincidence that shortly thereafter, the balance of the Mahle sets dramatically improved. Also, the top of the AA barrels were…