The Cal-look Lounge

hey people - I have just been thinking, Is an Empi GTV a Cal looker?

they have all the right components - Stance, looks and most of POWER :)

What do you guys think - Cal looker or not?

Of course not. GTVs were simply bolt-on customs, not fully rebuilt high-performance VWs. The car in the photo you show doe snot have the 'stance' and is covered in useless stick-on accessories. Not Cal Look by a mile!

your right about the stance isue (its the only pic I could find sorry)and yes alot of the bits were useless bolt on's but the top end GTV's ie the markIV did have quite alot of power according to Empi.

My thoughts as well! No stance and too much tat, less is more...

I seem to remember Flat 4's yellow GTV had a bit of rake, but you guy are right more show than go  :)

nothing cal look at all!

A GTV is a GTV, not a cal-looker...like a poodle will always be a poodle and can never be a doberman. ;)

Hey guys, well the GTV is clearly not a cal-looker. But it's still interesting, like gassers, slalom racers or rails/ buggys.
Hey, strip of the stickers and give it a nose down, and most would not be able to distinguish it from a looker.

And what about ghia`s and type 3`s?? Can they be considered as cal lookers?

What about the earlier "cal-look" cars, like Fleming`s oval, Greg Bunch`s bug with blue streaks and all the other cars, before the front beams where lowered?. Are these cal-lookers or not? If so, the GTV must be a cal-looker aswell. The only thing that parts the GTV from the rest is the stripe kit. Not all true cal-lookers sported 48 IDA`s.

Or will the stripe kit make this car a custom, because of the modification of the paint job. The first thing that makes a bug a 70`s custom must be the paintjob (flake, flames, and so on) and perhaps some fibreglass bolt on parts. The Holmes/Aronson bug sported a fibreglass rear decklid. Maybe the "first" cal-looker actually was a custom bug :D

I just have to agree... for me the gtv is cal-look.....

and my head wonders..... who wrote the rules... whats hot, and whats not in the cal-look world?
isnt it just custom cars from diferent times?



Alien

The cal-looker IS a custom car... hey, you are customizing by welding holes and altering the stance, not to mention the custom interior.
It's a custom car all right, but with a distinct look, like a mex-lowrider.
 

me also i agree, why  the gtv would'nt be  a cal look ??? when you bought a gtv at the time may be you can ask to put a 48 ida engine in the car  ::)  and what do you thinks about the gtv of kobus  empi equipped car only no stripe kit and no 48 ida ::)

this topic will turn has anything  ::).... like that with oldspeed cal look or not  ;D

kob's car rocks!

Look's like I really started something here  :D I still think that a GTV is a type of cal looker maybe not a "true" looker but they sure are COOL and like someone else mentioned you could order your GTV with 48ida's and almost 150hp  ;D

other gtv  8)

 8)

the oldest gtv know at this time 8)

el dubs gtv is da bomb!

Couldn't agree more - I do know of another 67 GTV that might be for sale  :)

Sorry guys, but a GTV can't be a Cal Looker. It's way to flashy and loud (in terms of looks). A true Cal Looker has LESS things on the body, is more subtle. A Cal Looker want's to say "don't look at me, I am just a beetle", hiding the horsepower under his decklid. A GTV definitely says "Hello, here I am, look at my funky stripes and chrom stuff".

No guys, a GTV might be a cool car and it is from the 70s, but it's not a Looker.

And regarding Kobus car: It's what was called "Old School", I prefer the term "90s Cal Look". It's like we build Lookers today. Chromtrim stays, body is mostly original. Dashboards are original and we add some period parts, but also use parts from today, like MSDs or tubo mufflers. Ok, there is still a small cc engine in there, but it got the looks.


Like you say, Anders, Cal Looker are custom cars. In the end all modified cars are custom. But like Jon said, they have a distinctiv look. The "rules" were whritten by the people building theses cars back in the late 60s and early 70s. It's like with art/architecture styles. Renaissance, Gothic period, Bauhaus, cubism, etc, these styles were all "invented" by people and their possibilities at that time or their thoughts. After a while poeple recognized, that there are some guys having the same ideas and to make it easyer for everybody - gave it a name. Hope you understand what I want to say – it's a bit difficult in a foreign language.  ;)

So the basic "rules" are there, but of course the Look evolves over the decades. It first started as the traditionel Cal Look in the 70s, went to the dark years in the 80s and came back in the 90s with what we call "Old School". It's not like in the 70s, but follows the way it was meant to be: Subtle, yet powerful car. You see? The main "rules" are there, but we add new ones to it or bend the old ones with every car we build.

I'm with you, Georg. And I think the picture below says it loud and clear: "I AM NOT CAL LOOK"

(http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=152.0;id=840;image)

Actually, it's a Resto Looker without lowering ;D (of course it's a cool car, but not cal look)

[

(http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=152.0;id=840;image)

To many the GTV  is like the forefather of California Look. But look at this one and think; ' Resto Cal' where more is, well, more.

The main thing is no Cal Look car would run a Talbot mirror and a Delswift. Unless the owner fitted the Talbot and then realised they are useless!  ;D

There is no doubt that an original GTV kitted Beetle is cool, though not California Look.