How has your interest evolved?

[Chuck Fryer]

I know over the years that my interest/participation in  the vw hobby has changed quite a bit.

Starting off in the 80's I was just "into" vw's, any kind and style. I met my future ex-wife and my interest (for better or worse, mostly worse) was turned in a vintage stock direction. During this time I always wanted a hot engine, and I was able to get an 1835 into  one of our cars.

When that whole deal fell apart (2000) I went right to the phone and started ordering parts to cal-look the stock ragtop I came away with. The whole deal, lowered front, brms, engine parts, on and on. The car slowly evolved from cal-look street car to fast cal-look car, to I need race gas to drive this car.

It was fun and I got more and more into racing, and ended up flipping the car at the track. So.......I decided to build a dedicated race car. The car is fun, but not much faster than the old car was, and I cannot drive this one on the street.  I miss that more than I thought I would.

To fill the no street car void I have started a ghia project which I hope to be able to drive sometime this summer.

As you can see I have gone from vintage to mild performance cal-look, thru the race phase and an currently looking forward to having a street car again. How about you??

[Rick Meredith]

Cal-Look street cars only since 1978! 

A stock VW holds about as much interest to me as a stock Pinto or Corolla does. When I see a stocker, I always think of how I can Cal-Look it.   

Anyone can restore a car, it takes a real man to cut it up! 

[javabug]

Naturally, I always wanted an aircooled, but couldn't hack the bodywork needed out here in the northeast.  Remember, this was before resources like thesamba.com where you could locate a clean car easily.  So I bought a Rabbit GTI, and got into watercooled cars.  I between, I did buy a rusty Super, drove it and loved it for a short while.  After a few years of various Rabbits, I found thesamba.com and my '67.  Ran it as a stocker for a bit, trying to figure what direction I really wanted to go with the car.  Of course, the horsepower bug is hard to avoid, and the clean looks of the 70s Cal-look street cars are what really turns me on.  So here I am, finally.

One thing to note, when I got my '67, it felt SO much more worthwhile a project than my old Rabbit stuff.

[Cheesepanzer]

I grew up in a family of VW's.  My grandfather used to buy used VW's and bring them home in boxes.  My dad would then rebuild and/or assemble them.  I still remember my mom's ruby red '61; it was the first VW I rode in.  A really sweet car that I wish I had today.  Anyway, my brother and I both wound up driving bugs and kind of did the cal-look thing on a budget.  We weren't into looks a whole lot, and instead focused on the drivetrain.  For us, it was more important to have a car that performed well than to have a shiny one.  We both built IDA powered engines and close ratio gearboxes.  The big thing back then was to have a 12 second time slips.  We both accomplished that; his at OCIR and mine at Carlsdirt.

Over the years my tastes have pretty much held to traditional cal-look themes.  Sure, during the 80's there was the stainless steel firewall period, but hey, who didn't have one?   At least mine wasn't louvered.

As I got older the VW became more of a toy for me; a toy that I wanted to race.  So I had a couple of street/strip cars.  I also acquired a Single Cab that I used to drive, and enjoy, which helped the beetle's remain play toys that ran on race gas.   Then in 2001 I accomplished my next goal which was to run an 11 second quarter mile.  I did that in my flat black '62.

Now I have a Ghia.  I've really enjoyed this car.  I haven't rushed to rebuild the 2332 because I'm having so much fun driving the 2054 on the street.  I'm afraid that once the 2332 is built and in the car it will become what my '62 was; a race toy.  So until my Single Cab is back on the road, the Ghia will remain a quick cal-look "fair weather driver" car.
 
 

[Rennsurfer]

My interest in German cars has been the same since the day my Dad and I were walking across a parking lot in 1967 and I saw my first Porsche 911. It was white and it had the 4.5" Fuchs alloy wheels. After it drove past us, I pointed at it and said, "One day, I wanna have one of those." Later that year, we went to our local Porsche dealer and bought a new 1968 Savannah Beige Sedan. After almost two years of driving that and my Dad getting rear-ended in it, We had the car repainted, installed a new engine, and traded it in on a 1969 Savannah or Kansas Beige (forget which) Fastback. It was late in the year, the 1970 models were already on the lot, but we got a killer deal on the '69.

I started driving in 1978, and my first car was the orange 1966 Sedan that I built. It was originally white with a red interior. I changed every thing I possibly could on that car. Which was rather easy, 'cause I was a mechanic at Les Purnell's German Car Repair, right after Frenchy left. Since then, I've owned a few air and water cooled Volkswagens... stock and modified. Also had a super clean 1986 Porsche 944 with a 951 Turbo suspension and 951 rear valance. (took fourth place at a P.C.A. Parade Concours d' Elegance show in 2000). Had a couple of nice Volvo 200 series cars and currently driving a 95% original 1982 BMW 320i 5spd.

The bottom line is... I'll always dig on European cars. But German ones and the old Volvos being my favorites. As far as VWs, I like 'em all... stock or modified. As long as either one isn't loaded with accessories, that is. I prefer stock ones to look the way they did when they left the factory. No racks, no bling. These days, however, I prefer Cal look cars that aren't far from looking factory. Case in point... Ted's 1969 Zenith Blue Sedan; a work of art.

But... to each their own. Next?

[Zach Gomulka]

When I first had an interest... I wanted a '66 sunroof loaded down with accessories Lucky for me, I read California Look VW before my purchase and abuptly changed my desires to a Cal Look '67 which I aquired when I was 17. Somewhere down the line I got this insatiable appetite for "vintage" performance parts, and Ive been on the toboggan ever since!! 

[Jim Ratto]

Like Mark, I've always been a European car fan, Detroit Iron doesn't sync with me no matter how much I read about them, look at them...etc. The American Hot Rod thing is lost on me, 

Growing up I wanted some kind of 4 cylinder small car, that I could soup up and make it snarl and growl, like a proper sports car should. Having Alfas in the family growing up as a kid probably did it. Anyway, I went into sophmore year "thinking" I would save up for an Alfa GTV or Alfetta  GT, yeah right, I was about as likely to find a Ferrari I could afford. At the time, Porsches of the 80's...g the slope nose, whale tail thing, couldn't dig that either...seemed that German cars had no soul to them, too heavy handed, too Teutonic, too cold and serious, and besides, I was a far cry from even affording soap and water to wash a Porsche. A German Ford Capri, a Mini, a Sprite, an MGB or a Midget were looking like what I realistically wanted, and no matter what it was gonna have Weber carb, nasty exhaust, lowered, P6 Pirellis, etc.
 
I ended up with a Volkswagen on Christmas day 1986. Same car I just adjusted valves on 30 min ago.

I would have to say most of the Hot Rod spirit in my own VW not only comes from the old Cal Look phenomenon, like Sarge and all his rowdy long-haired friends, all the old Hot VWs articles I ratted away, but just as much, it ended up coming from what I call the "Porsche way of doing things"....meaning reading and learning about what made them tick and go faster. As I could afford it, I applied the thinking to VW stuff, and then realized that so many other guys had already done it so many times before. Which was cool, because it showed me what could be done. I think discovering the hot motored VW thing was bound to happen to any young gear head kid in the 1970's and 1980's that wasn't turned on by the V8 scene. It can be a fun and somewhat affordable way to learn and go pretty scary fast.
Since I've had my '67 it's mostly been about street car stuff, just faster and faster until the inevitable happened and I built a race gas prima donna and became disgusted with the whole thing, denounced the hobby, almost sold car and then got back into it....again, trying to think more "sports car than drag car"

Good topic, interested to hear more lives affected by this disease.

[wolfswest]

When I was 12 years I guess my uncle bought his first “porsche”  It was a 924 2.0l dark blue…  Nothing fancy but for a kid like me it was a “Porsche” and I was trillied about it.  Every time he took me for a spin he told me to watch constantly at the oil pressure and oil temp meters.  Nothing happened but I felt like a co-pilot…  I really ment something, I controlled the “Porsche”…    If you think about it it was a stupid thing but it made me so happy.  If my bug is completely ready I will pick up my nephew and do the same thing with him, maybe he will enjoy it like me and I can turn him into a car-maniac just like me…   

 So I got the car / moped bug really quick.  I began messing around with 50cc mopeds and reading car magazines.  The magazines were no mark related tuning magazines and I also read “chrome and flames” I think because it is called “chroom en vlammen” here in Belgium.  My uncle got rid of the 924 and began with the serious shit:  Porsche 944 twinturbo strosek 2.5l, man, what a car…   I still have pictures and the tüv papers around…  It was illegal here in Belgium because it was 24cm (about 10 inches) too wide for the road.      Never passed the mot but he couldn’t care…     Unfortunatly the car went up in flames and it was gone forever…  He bought a 92’ 911 3.6l and now he owns a 911 3.6l turbo 93” and a Ferrari 348 challenge.  Everytime he pulls up the driveway on a Sunday I freak out.  This guy made it,    his first car was a citroën 2pk /2cv then a bmw 315 e21 and then the Porsche story started…    He is responsible for me being a car maniac.
Ok, back to me, I turned 18 got my license and started looking for a car.  I was influenced by older guys here in town and wanted a To#¤ta celica gt 1600cc.  These guys told me that a celica was the strongest car build ever  and it was pretty cheap because they were more then 15 years old at that time and these celica’s were “fast”.  What I realy wanted was a porsche off course but that wasn’t in the budget… 
My dad didn’t like the celica because it was an old car and a Japanese one…  He only wants a german car.  A few months later a friend of him needed money realy quick and sold the golf/rabbit III gtd of his wife.  It was a bargain and my dad bought it for me.  The car was 4 years old, needed a repaint because the kids scared it with stones.  It had a 1900cc turbo-diesel engine with 75HP.  I got it repainted and started buying stuff for it.  Lowering springs, other wheels, bonrath accesoires, recaro interior etc…  I became a vw enthousiast.  It was a pretty cheap car to drive with, it had the looks but it wasn’t fast…  All my friends drove much faster cars back then, the had Honda crx’s vtecs, golf/rabbit gti’s or vr6’s, Peugeot 205 gti, Renault r5 grturbo’s etc…  I wanted in the game and started looking for a project car.  Because I love older cars more then the new generation the choice was made:  a bug, it was old and it was a vw, best of both worlds…
Because my rabbit was lowered to the bone I wanted to lower the bug also that you almost couldn’t drive it anymore and it had to be fast!!  I also bought a rabbit I gti 1800cc 8v but that turned out to be one piece of sh*t.. 
So I bought my neigbours bug and I started building a kind of resto-cal bug, extremely lowered with a hot engine.  (that was my idea)  I started visiting local vw shows and bought a copy of the bible.  Soon my style changed.  I wanted a bug with the stance, a hot engine and no roofrack anymore or other Christmas tree decoration shit..  For the moment my car is almost ready and soon it will hit the streets.  It’s got 2179cc IDA engine.  Unfortunatly my friends upgraded there rides also and now drive turbo vtecs, Nissan silvia’s and other hot cars…  We will see if I stand a change.  I hope so.

[Bewitched666]

I started with interest in v-8's coz my dad drives them.
Then a cousin of mine got a bug which he later tuned and drove with a fast 1679cc engine and i was hooked.
I bought my first beetle in 1984 when i was 15 and rstored it and year later drove it.

Even 3 years later when i moved from florida to curacao i had a beetle.
Later i had a To#¤ta pickup(lowered and 2 litre celica engine in it) to tow my dragbeetle to the track.

When moved to holland in 1994 i didnt immidiately buy a beetle coz i wanted to see what the scene was here.
Back then most peops where into stock beetles or with some chrome on it but not really serious into tuning.
A select group only did that so i switch to stay in vw's to a golf gti 16v and after that a golf gti g60.

Then in 1996 i bought my firt beetle when i noticed that in my home town back then i saw a beetle garage(de boxer)
and the owner did tuning etc.I drove that beetle till i sold it in 2000.
After that i bought a honda civic vtec and a vw corrado g60 until 2 years ago i got bitten again by the bug and bought one again
which i still drive daily.

[Russell]

expensively....

[mg]

yeah I guess.
from 73 to current it's evolved.
Cal Look
sports cars
Cal look
VW drags
Street rods
sports cars, american iron.
Cal Look
VW drags
Porsches

[jhicken]

I grew up in Fullerton CA, played pop warner football and went to high school with a guy named Brett Hunsaker. His older brother was into VW's and a DKP member. We lived in the same neighborhood and our fathers even worked together so I was over at the Hunsakers house alot when I was a kid. Mike had this Plum car, I can't remember the year but it was really sweet. I was never really friends with Mike [he was a couple years older] but I can honestly say that car made a life long impression on me. When I turned 16 in '76 and got my drivers license and I bought a mint '66 sunroof from a neighbor [$650]. Due to that influence I had to do the cal look thing.

I'll never forget the day I was lowering a car in my garage, pulling and cutting torsion bars like how everyone did it back then. My father comes out and asked what the hell I was doing. After explaining the benefits of lowering a car he pauses and asks: "So, let me get this straight, you are barely passing high school geometry and You think you have figured out a way to improve upon the suspension designed by the senior designers at Volkswagen over in Germany?" Confidently I turned back to him and said "yea!" he shook his head and walked away.

Interesting thing about this, at that time I was one of the few kids in my High School parking lot with a VW. The popular kids were driving Porsches, the cool kids were driving late 60's, early '70's muscle, and the rest were in second-hand imports. It didn't bother me at all. Not far from Whittier Blvd, the call for cruising was in the air. I had a buddy that had a lowered ghia and we started to cruise up there. Within a month or so we met up with a brand new club called Der Kleiner Kampfwagens. Mostly other high school kids with the same passion I had. I was hooked.

I graduated high school and the club was my second family. Besides going to shows like the Bug-ins, we cruised together, had picnic's together, got married together, went on vacation's together, lived together and did pretty much everything together. I was in the club till around '82 or so. Had some great times, but I was in college and needed to focus. Around this time I had a '66 Bus that I had restored inside and out. Lowered [I still had the cal look in my veins], it was pretty clean, so much so it was even featured in the '83 VW Vanagon TV commercial. But I was itching for something new. School was top priority so I started looking for something other than another project when I came across a mint '79 with 16,000 miles on it. I bought it in October of '83 and 25 years and 240,000 miles later, I still have it today.

Over the next 25 years I finished school, started my career, moved from Orange County to San Francisco to New York and back and forth a few times eventually landing in New Jersey [a suburb of NYC]. Got married, have a 17yo step daughter and have found myself back knee deep into the VW scene. In 2002 I polished up my '79 and went out to a local cruise night [funny how some things never change]. Well, just like 25 years earlier, I met up with a few other VW folks there. A club called the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society. East coast life is pretty tough tough on older cars, salty winters, huge potholes really take their tool on anything more than 10 years old. I was amazed at finding a few other VW owners practically in my backyard, let alone a club.

Well, fast forward another five+ years and I'm not only president of the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society http://www.cjvws.com, the NJ chapter rep for the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America http://www.vvwca-nj.com/ I just recently started reconnecting with many of my old club brothers from Der Kleiner Kampfwwagens [http://www.derkleinerkampfwagens.com/]. (thanks Rick)

It's been one hell of a ride and it looks like it's only picking up speed. Even though I've got 25+ years driving a stocker, my love for the Cal-Look has never left me. I've got my sites set on building a new car and it will definitely have the "look".

So that's my evolution.

-jeffrey

[Rennsurfer]

Around this time I had a '66 Bus that I had restored inside and out. Lowered [I still had the cal look in my veins], it was pretty clean, so much so it was even featured in the '83 VW Vanagon TV commercial. But I was itching for something new. School was top priority so I started looking for something other than another project when I came across a mint '79 with 16,000 miles on it. I bought it in October of '83 and 25 years and 240,000 miles later, I still have it today.

-jeffrey

AWESOME! Thanks for clearing out the cobwebs in my old/feeble mind... I fully remember your Bus in that commercial. That was a proud moment for us VW nuts. Also cool that you kept your '79.

[Rick Meredith]

I'll never forget the day I was lowering a car in my garage, pulling and cutting torsion bars like how everyone did it back then. My father comes out and asked what the hell I was doing. After explaining the benefits of lowering a car he pauses and asks: "So, let me get this straight, you are barely passing high school geometry and You think you have figured out a way to improve upon the suspension designed by the senior designers at Volkswagen over in Germany?" Confidently I turned back to him and said "yea!" he shook his head and walked away.

Ah the confidence of youth!

Got married, have a 17yo step daughter and have found myself back knee deep into the VW scene.

I feel your pain! I have two step daughters 17 (18 in 2 weeks) and 20. Both are living with us.

I just recently started reconnecting with many of my old club brothers from Der Kleiner Kampfwwagens [http://www.derkleinerkampfwagens.com/]. (thanks Rick)

It's been my pleasure to be part of getting us all together again and of course the reconnection would not be happening without the special place that JHU, Trond and BeetleBug have provided us in The Lounge.

[Sarge]

I got my start in the summer of 1964.  Living four houses away from La Habra High gave my folks plenty of good excuses to keep me from having a car until I started gearing up for Fullerton Junior College.  I bought a 1956 bug for $300 from the church choir conductor and began my VW oddesy.  My dad had a '56 as well (bought in 1961 and what I learned to drive in as well as what I took my first drivers license exam) and had bought a new 1963 sedan from Lee Wood Motors in Whittier, so I was pretty much hooked from the get-go.  I had the 56 for less then a year before selling it to the girl down the street and took over the '63 which would become my original DKP car.  Leaving the Army in 1969, my wife and I bought a new 1969 sedan from Don Burns in Garden Grove which we had until 1992.  I sold the '63 in 1972 when DKP began to stumble and moved on to a new 1973 Datsun Pick-Up as my focus had shifted from VW's to dirt bikes...which progressed to 20 years of sandrails (powered by VW powerplants, of course).  In 1984, the Datsun was stolen from me while parked out in front of Cotton Goff VW where I was working at the time.  A week went by and one day, while walking through the used car lot at Cotten Goff, I spied a straight ruby red '67 sedan that was a one owner trade in.  My wife and drove this car for 100,000 miles before restoring it in 1989 and it's our current ride.  The '69 got a 2017 and IDA's around 1990 before two drunks in a dually plowed into it out front of the house in 1992.  I have and will always be a dyed-in-the-wool VW nut.  The cars are fun and easy to work on and the crowd is simply the best!