The Cal-look Lounge

What defines a cal-looker?
You can make it easy and go by the DKP rules, but are there no exceptions?

*Clean fast Street VWs in the spirit of the original California Look
*Normally-aspirated VW Bugs, Karmann Ghias and Type 3s, including later models.
*Quality: A high level of detailing inside, outside and under the decklid
*Color: Tasteful, subtle and flawless one-color paintjob
*Stance: In the typical California Look fashion, the front suspension should be lowered and the rear should remain at a stock height
Wheels: Selection limited to original models from the sixties and seventies (BRM, painted and polished EMPI five-spokes etc), early original painted and polished Porsche factory wheels (Fuchs, Gasburners etc), Center Lines and the high quality BRM-Flat 4s. No "fully polished" alloys
*Tires: Tires must fit under the stock fenders. No low-profile tires. Slicks are welcome but not mandatory.
*Modifications: With the exception of of top-chops, dechroming, one-piece windows and dash alternatives (none of these being mandatory), body modifications are not allowed
*Accessories: Following accessories are not welcome: roofracks, headlight eyebrows, louvered aluminum pieces, unnecessary guards and whitewall tires. No billet accessories.


 

The name and theme speaks for it self !  Sorry its ALL about the looks  ::)  !  ALL !   ;D

Look at  the VERY first "looker" engines ! a slighlty juiced up 1200-1600cc maybe with a Bosch blue coil and a 010 + a velocity stack !

I belive that the look was the major issue, properly done interior and paint,  sexy wheels closed followed by HPs and rpms !
Lets face it, some of the early guys even bought brand new, lets say 66- 67 beetles !

And driving around in a piece of junk was just a temporary solution due to lack of $$$$ !  Or investments done  in HPs !

Karmann Ghia as cal looker ...ok by me. type 3s ? ? I dont like it, but... hmmmmm ok !  Type 2s NEVER ! 181s NO ! Fiats NO ! Fridolins.... SP2s ?  Schwimmwagens, Kubels.... etc etc NO  :P

Not even a sexy Pre A 356 !

I do agree with Jonas above, it is all about the look (=stance). IMO only Beetle can be a Cal Looker, the nose down stance looks ridicilous in any other VW, but it suits very well the round shape of Beetle and gives Beetle more agressive Look, like the old gassers had. Ghia / Bus / Type III will look better when they're lowered equally on rear & front.

Someone said in other forum about 80's Lookers "this used to be more fun before someone invented the rules", there is lot of truth in this. While seeing all the DKP III and followers features in magazines in 90's gave me personally huge kicks and influenced the scene a lot, there are perhaps too many similar cars around today. Since the whole Look originated from drag strip / hot rodding, maybe those roots could be studied more and new ideas could be invented/re-used there instead of building standard lookers based on rules. I don't like the rules since Cal Look has changed a lot during the 4 decades, I guess each period is equally good.

But what the hell, who am I to critize the scene, I am a main-stream guy :) I have a black lame-ass Old School Oval and Cabriolet that will be Resto Cal (won't mention GFK since cannot match the level of detail) when finished. My Oval scores 6 out of 8 bullets in the "DKP" rules in first posting (level of detail and I still have low-profile front tyres that came with Burners, also the car isn't probably that fast). I had some "dare to be different" ideas with the Kab, but with project taking more time than I anticipated have ditched them and have changed layouts in my head a few times and came back to square #1. At least it will be easier to sell it forward with original colour and only modification being suspension height and wheels :D

Get your self a pile of Hot Rod Magazine or Popular Hot Rodding from 75 to 83....read them and get in the mood of that time.......that is is California Look to me!! Other than that : Happiness is a Hot VW!!

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So the cal-look rules could be only about looks...  (Although I would think a looker owner would long for something bigger than the stock engine?)

I would say 80% of the look is the rake, or "stuk" as we say over here. And since all vw's can sit just right, I say all vw's can be "cal-looked"
And IMHO all cars look better with the front slightly lower than the rear...  :)

"Big engines for surprising Z cars..."

You hit the nail on the head there dude - Thats just what I did when I was building the Manx  :)