The Cal-look Lounge

Well this was an experiance to top all experiances, great people, great cars and lots of beer, there was even some pizza left but Jim Ratto had most off it, at least 3 slices per serving.

Heres some pictures from today:

and some more

and some more.....

Even more.... ::) ;D

Not more pictures.....sheeeeeeesh!!!! ::)

Look....more pics!!!

 8) 8) 8)

More....

 ;)

Killer party today. Yes I got home on Saturday, just 10 min ago. Might need some tires now, and a haircut, but good trip home.

Awesome drive down with Galassi and Carlos, nice tour of almost all of Southern Calif getting there ::), lots of fun blasting out of toll booths, right Carlos?

Sorry if anybody didn't get any pizza

Nice to see everybody,

don't miss the toy drive cruise next month!

oh yeah, the book...... off the chart, too many cool pictures and stories. Need to get a copy of my own. I didn't want to ruin those there with my greasy pizza hands

I had a great time too what a gathering. Great drive home with Ratto and Carlos.

  So your the reason I didn't get any pizza.
 
Keith the book is AMAZING can't wait to get my own copy.
 
                                          Also THANKS so much to Doug for hosting a fantastic celebration!


 I am honored to of been a part of it.

What a day! Wow! Great people, great beer, great food and great balls of fire great weather! Thanks everyone for coming - it was a (memorable) blast! :) 8)

Looks like I missed a good one, and practically in my backyard! Still lying in bed with my meds  :-[ I was really looking forward to going too. Congrats Keith on your new book. 8) Can't wait to get a copy. :)

Great Cover

What party !
Always a pleasure to see cool people and happy faces (and awesome cars too  :P).
So now, we can say :
VW Aircooled is good for health !
Thanks guys,

 :P

That does`nt look like the Houston office Russ.. ;)

Great pictures! Thank you guys for sharing with us here on The Lounge :-)
Just what I neede while watching the snow outside

I wish we can live same moments here. California looks like heaven for lot's of things.  :)

It seems you guys had a great time overthere,and good weather.Here in Belgium it's snowing for the moment.
Also thanks for showing us these cool pic's.(now I can also enjoy it).  :o
 ;)  ;)

awesome party as it look , great people , great cars , etc..............thx for sharing the pict with us

fabs

Kev,d even the Houston office closes on Saturdays.....

And i forgot to thank Doug and Leslie too for being hosts, Thank you

DKK_Fred PM sent. You were told on the QT.......  ;)

Cant wait to get my book next week 8)

COOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Looks like a AWSOME party with some AWSOME people - Just sorry I couldn't make it keith  :'(

I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY COPY! ;D

very cool, it must have been great to be there and watch all the guys and cars. that Crawford car looks very nice!!!

and fred; thanks for spelling beer like it should be spelled BIER, bier comes from Belgium!  ;)

Keith - what a great book.  We can't wait to sit down and read it cover to cover!  Really looking forward to getting our copy on Tuesday - Thank You!

Thank you so very much for dedicating your book to Mark.  That was so awesome & speciial to do and seeing his picture in the front of the book was a real honor.  I really hope you will always know how much that means & meant to us!   :D

Thank you again Doug & Leslie for hosting the party.  It was such a beautiful day, and a great time had by all.

Russell, it was great to see you again.  It is always a pleasure to talk with you!

Keith & Russell - Have a very safe trip home!

Susy & Mike Herbert

Doug and Leslie a pleasure to see you both and share in your warm hospitality.
Leslie and the KG too, Doug great to see you so happy.
Amazing how these bugs draw enthusiasts from around world.
Paul Schley shared interesting race experiences from Lighting bug and Ohio George mid west match races to his current car passion road racing Vipers.
Steve B, Art G and Jim K you were missed.  ;)
cheers
 

Wow. I am kicking myself today!! Wish I could have been there :(

Looks like Sarge is signing over the title to the "other" red '67 in the house.... ;D

wow super nice pictures the report russell, dkk fred and Sir sarge ( nice picture always for me hihihi)
I wait patience see my new book at keith seume and big thanks very much keith !!
nice cars display good fine
liou

wish i was there, and got to say it looks like it was a memorable party! awesome photos. i am lookingforward to receiving my copy!

sure looks like the book was worth waiting for...

 so Keith? when will we see Vol.3???

OK, Pink Slip..... ;D  Got to say, that was one hell of a blast yesterday!  Always nice to see all the old faces and hear your favorite stories again.  Thanks to Doug and Leslie for hosting the gig; your great hosts!  As for Keith's newest, I couldn't be happier.  For me, it's a dream come true.  Thanks for the cover and all the nice ink :-* :-* :-* ;D   Mark, your shots are awesome once again! 8) 8) 8)   Thanks for the props, Liou... your beer is on the way! ::) ;D   More pics, anybody??

 ::) :o ;D

 :o :o

 8) 8) 8)

Looks like a great time, sorry I missed it.  

I am really concerned to see Geoff P with a girl.  Has he gone straight on us?   ;D

Hey Kobus, I will buy a copy of the book for you....maybe I will ship it to you in nine or ten months... ::)

I'm just droolin' over the Pics in between wrenching all afternoon. So Cool. Thanks for sharing !!!

...wow! Really I wish I´d been there! Thanks for sharing all the pics, guys. I am really looking forward to get my copy of this book!

 
I wish I could have been there myself, it looked like a top-notch party!

Quality people... that's where it all begins.

Thanks for all the cool photos guys, and congrats to Sarge on the cover. (Sounds like a beer AND a cigar for you my friend!)

I'm really looking forward to my copies of the new book Keith... keep up the good work. (yeah, I bought three books... seemed like the thing to do ;))

~DR.

WOW! that looked like a great day with lots of beautiful cars people, and I even saw Sierra Nevada in one pic.

Thanks for posting everyone.

Awesome time, great Hosts, Authors and People  thanks for everything  !!!!     
 
 Russell give me a call before you leave.
 
                                                 
   

Sarge and Sharon, again, congrats on the cover shot and the chapter on your longtime support and involvement with the club and all the great people that grew up with and stayed in the scene.
Same you Schwimmer, very cool chapter on you and the oval. You're probably going to influence another whole generation of kids wanting a fast VW....again. A good thing.

See ya guys 12/7


Jim

Wow.

I didn't realize until I was on the freeway (and John and Christie Lazenby were pulling away from me in their '63........) that I didn't drink or eat anything the whole time I was there.  I just listened to the stories..........Howdy Doody Mahaffey's only street loss in the split, Paul Schley's discovery of water injection.......Doug Haydon and Lazenby's purchase of all the remaining Americans the company had............Dean's story on the origin of the Engle 100 series cams............

In attendance;  Aronson, Holmes, Lazenby, Haydon, Schley, Fleming, Sarge.........and numerous other founding fathers, enthusiasts and street and strip legends, current and past.  I wished I could have stayed all night.

Thanks to Jim and Carlos for the fun drive, Doug and Leslie for hosting us and everyone else who attended.  A day to remember.

 

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing, everyone. Looks like a blast was had by all.

OMG, Ratto warned me not to miss this. All the cool cars and people on a perfect So Cal day. Russell looks like a kid in a candy store with a pocket full of cash. Bill I don't believe you are letting your car get away, even if it is to a good home. I'm so sorry I missed this event. Thanks for the pictures guys. 

Wow  :o Supper cool gig I wouldn't have missed......if I knew about it.  ;) I need to get IN the loop!Someone tell me when/where can I pick up a copy!  8)

Sittin in the Las Vegas airport on my way home, Can't stop thinking about all the great people, stories, and photo's from this past weekend. The book is amazing and so are the people who are in it and make up this hobby. it was great seeing everyone, Russel,Deano, Sarge,Bill, Mike,Sue, Dee and all the rest!
Thanks again to Doug and Leslie for hosting the party and my little buddy Keith for keeping the Cal Look dream alive in the Great White North!

Had a great time, too!
Thanks again for your great work, Keith. Can't wait to read the book!

did you finally get those seatcovers? sorry about the long delay... just no time...

That´s it! I´m moving to Usa  8) ::)

greet picture from the past as i see  :o :o :o

i have time to read all about it, if you have time to type it all down.  ;D

must have been great stories that were told that day.

I've just reviewed all of the comments regarding Saturday's gathering at the Mische's.  Doug & Leslie, thanks to you both for making this happen and Keith a big thanks to you for keeping the flame lit.

Who would have thought that when I was a kid with a new VW some 45 years ago that I would still be into them and the DKP thing and the VW thing in general would have evolved into something this monumental.  Ron Fleming and a couple of others (sorry, can't remember who else was in that conversation) were discussing how fortunate we were to have lived the experience.

My personal thanks to all of you younger guys who have the disease and keep the movement going.  To all of you older guys, thanks for being such a big part of mine and Christie's lives over the years.  Even though we don't see each other all that often we think of all of you often and feel so blessed that you have been in our lives.

Dave Galassi, you are a real inspriation to me and I lust for your wheels!!!  Bill Schwimmer, I'm so gald to have finally met you and had the oppertunity to spend some time discussing your car as I've admired it for years.  I hope we see more of each other in the future and maybe I can get a ride???

Last, Jim & Sharon we have such a long history and great memories of our youth.  Jim, you have been the keeper of the early days for so many of us and we couldn't be more pleased to see YOUR car on the cover of Keith's latest offering.

Yes, I have the fever again and  hope to do something in the future to make it go away.

Best to all,

John & Christie Lazenby :) :)

let's go john built another great car  ;)
rgd
fabs

Here's a little help with that photo...

thx boyzzzzzz ;)

It was great talking to you John, I would be honored to take you for a ride in my car.  See you @ Cars & Coffee sometime   Bill

Ha HA Stephan I was thinking today of asking you to post that one.

   Heres a Memorable momment from that glorious day....

  Mr. RON FLEMING  at the TOP of his lungs catching EVERYONES attention....
Give me a P
Give me a A
Give me a N
Give me a Z
Give me a E
Give me a R        WHATS THAT SPELL????   


                           And a crowd of the most notable names in V.W. history young and old in unison answered PANZER!!!!!
               
                            I said DAMNIT WHATS THAT SPELL????!!!!?????!!!!     
                           over 40 voices screamed into the quiet air of Dougs beautiful neighborhood  PANZER!!!!!!!!!!

  That was one hell of a gathering See everyone on the 7th.     Jason

I thought Ron was going to have a heart attack after that out burst! "What's that spell?" Call 911!

I was thinking about that great afternoon today, and how there was many generations of "Panzers" and fellow California Look folks all together to enjoy Keith's new book. There was the friends in their '60s, '50s, '40s, '30s, '20s and even some in their 'teens! Amazing party. Thanks Doug and Leslie.

awesome pics!  Great job capturing the momments.

  The shot of the Wocket the Crawford car and Dougs Ghia is great.

More nice pics, Mark!  Doug's hood badge looks like an original first edition piece.  I kept the one I had on my '63... it looked exactly the same.  It was mounted on the drywall out in the garage up until a couple of years ago.  When we decided to make our current hood badges, it was the one we used to bid the job.  A little Brasso and that thing would shine like 24 carat gold!

I asked Mike Mahaffey to tell me some racing stories and it evolved into..............did you ever lose one?  He told (with a lot more color than I can put into print) how he agreed to street race an early nova with a hot small block in it.  For those who are not up on it, the Nova was a "sleeper" with the V8 and had pretty good weight transfer on launch.  So, Howdy Doody gives the nod on a rolling start, and, as he stated, there was the problem.  The split was light and fast out of the hole, but lacked the top end of a V8.  Giving away the hole shot doomed the split and he was sorely beaten by the Nova.  Never did that again.
On the same note, he was at OCIR one night and lined up against a Barracuda with a hood scoop and bigs and littles.  The tree lights up and Mike launches.  He glances into the other lane and the Barracuda's smokin' the hides as Mike bangs through the gears.........as he approaches the big end, he sees the Cuda in his rear view, coming on HARD!  Too late!  Mike's lane lights up with the win and he turns around on the short turn out for the return road.  The Cuda driver takes the long turn out, but catches up to Mahaffey and is giving him the bird and using colorful language to express his displeasure at having been SPANKED.  Mike said, with a priceless grin, "Wonder what his buddies had to say when he got back to the pits!"

If my recollection is right, around late 1970, John Lazenby and Doug Haydon, both newly married, put their marriages on the line by pooling what little money they had and purchase the remaining magnesium American 5 x 205 wheels from the American Racing Wheel Company, at that time, I believe, in Torrance.  Each kept a set and hawked the remaining wheels to avoid marital discord and spread the wealth to other enthusiasts.  Good times..........

Enough bedtime stories.  Time to go to bed

Mark,
can you tell us what you were shooting with?  Is the depth of field from the lense or post production?
Thanks for sharing the pics!!

nice shot guys :P

uote author=johnl link=topic=7345.msg110578#msg110578 date=1227543226]
I've just reviewed all of the comments regarding Saturday's gathering at the Mische's.  Doug & Leslie, thanks to you both for making this happen and Keith a big thanks to you for keeping the flame lit.

Who would have thought that when I was a kid with a new VW some 45 years ago that I would still be into them and the DKP thing and the VW thing in general would have evolved into something this monumental.  Ron Fleming and a couple of others (sorry, can't remember who else was in that conversation) were discussing how fortunate we were to have lived the experience.

My personal thanks to all of you younger guys who have the disease and keep the movement going.  To all of you older guys, thanks for being such a big part of mine and Christie's lives over the years.  Even though we don't see each other all that often we think of all of you often and feel so blessed that you have been in our lives.

Dave Galassi, you are a real inspriation to me and I lust for your wheels!!!  Bill Schwimmer, I'm so gald to have finally met you and had the oppertunity to spend some time discussing your car as I've admired it for years.  I hope we see more of each other in the future and maybe I can get a ride???

Last, Jim & Sharon we have such a long history and great memories of our youth.  Jim, you have been the keeper of the early days for so many of us and we couldn't be more pleased to see YOUR car on the cover of Keith's latest offering.

Yes, I have the fever again and  hope to do something in the future to make it go away.

Best to all,

John & Christie Lazenby :)


I agree John with everything you said....Great history of friendship, great cars we share and still have the pleasure to hold on to today.....

Jim Holmes
[/quote]

Bill, weather permitting I'll be there this Saturday probably with some Detroit Iron.  Hope to see you there and I'll be sure to bring a pair of Depends for a ride!! :o :o :o :o

John

I used to whine and bitch that I felt I was born too late (about the time Mahaffey was racing that Nova), but after Saturday's party, it's plain as day that the good times aren't a thing of the past. They are a constant thread among all of us. Someday somebody will be listening to stories about my car in 1998 shutting down an orange Mach 1 and wish they were around, just as I wish I was a fly on the windshield of Mahaffey's spilt against the Cuda.

some things are just timeless.

maybe not the best seat in the house...

as for the stories; thank you. i'll sleep better tonight. can't wait for tomorrow...  ;D

(http://www.ritzcam.com/catalog/images/FunFlash_Tn.jpg)

Just kidding... but I DO still have one just like that, which was the first camera I shot pics with during the mid '60s.

But to answer your question... nothing too fancy; a Nikon D70 with a Nikon 18-70mm lens. I just focused on Sarge's car and got lucky, because Roger's and Doug's cars were fairly further back. Every now & then, I luck out and score something that I really like, whether it's shooting surfing, skateboarding, or cars.

Glad that the pics are being enjoyed. I've loved cars and taking pictures since my parents taught me to shoot when I was very young. Some things remain part of our lives forever.

Thank God for you, Mark!

Keith,

Went and got our book today!  Can't wait to show it to everyone, and sit down and read it all!

Thank you again - we really appreciate it!  We will see you in May!

Take Care,

Susy & Mike

That is interesting.  I have the same combo and while that low budget 18-70 doesnt get a lot of respect from the pro's I find that I use it all the time!  In fact, the Ultra cover this month was with the 18-70.  Thank God for photoshop eh?  ;-)

This is the winter that I buyme new glass.  I expect the secondhand market to be chock full as people try to pay bills and I am going invest!

Thanks for taking time to share all your pics.

I'm glad I was riding shotgun when we shut down that Mach 1. I'll never forget it as long as I live.

Now it's my turn to thank everyone.  Keith I thought your first book was great, this one is even better!
Doug, I'm very fortunate to have you as a friend and to have shared such a fun time in my life with you sooooooo many years ago.  It is very cool that you have your old Ghia back, I'd love to have my old car back.  I'm so jealous.  You and Leslie are teriffic hosts!
Ron, Sarge, the Gregs, the Mikes, John, Doug, Jim, Art, and all the other first generation DKP members; thanks for your encouragement and letting Randy, Dumphey, and I start things up for the second go round.
And to all the third generation DKP members for doing such a fantastic job with keeping DKP very much alive and very well.
Deano, thanks for all you're contributions to the Cal Look and VW world.
And Russell, if you'd like to underwrite it we could build a nice Charcoal Gray Metallic Cal Look Karmann Ghia if your interested.

All the best!
Roger Grago
DKP 1975-1978
K Ghia

    I wish I could of been at your party but I was too busy on the internet looking for my Ghia LOL. I will have to see where I can locate your book. DKP in my book is a very dedicated club and they all respect each others this is one reason why the club is still around after all these years good job. Roger do you have any idea where your Ghia may be today.

    Take care
    Frenchy

actually I was thinking of the guy that went to Las Positas College and we used to cross paths at Bernard's gas station. He had a bright orange Mach 1 that ran DOT Hoosiers. Very nice guy, not your typical Livermore V8 meathead. He was eager to race, but was cool about a VW running in front of him. I think Wenzel was there that night with his car too.
That Mustang on 580, he pulled us up top of the ramp, remember John? The K8 and my homemade heads ran out of steam. The Las Positas 'stang went up against my 86C/Denhams heads. Big difference.

here's some pictures when lenny copp owned the car , if i remember i saw on a blog that the car was sale to japan too

i found this picture on lenny's blog and said that he bought the car in 87 http://classicvws.skynetblogs.be/post/5307181/k-ghia#comments (http://classicvws.skynetblogs.be/post/5307181/k-ghia#comments)
(http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/598/466/20071208/dyn009_original_800_539_jpeg_2598466_f7b1fc3b779b60185b4e501a8be3e8fc.jpg)
rgd
fabs

Great weather, great people, great drive, awesome book.................!!!! the party was a blast!!!    8)

SORRY SO LATE, BUT CHECK OUT THE 2 GREAT VIDEO'S ON SHIN'S (LET'S PLAY VW MAGAZINE) WEB SITE..

http://www.hobidas.com/blog/vw/vw04/archives/2008/12/dkpvw.html#more (http://www.hobidas.com/blog/vw/vw04/archives/2008/12/dkpvw.html#more)

That's OK – I kinda like that pale blue primer look. :D

(rapidly getting coat and heading out the door...)

Oh my gosh !
Ron is full of energy
What did you drink during this party ????
 ;D ;D

Plenty! :D

What a fun afternoon!  Bill, thanks for the invite. Boy did I feel out of place hangin with all the people that made "The Cal Look" what it is. Keith and Russell, nice to meet you both. To all the DKP members that were there....Thanks!   Dustin, what a kick!