The Cal-look Lounge

Hi Keith,

is the earth really flat?

It would be nice to see the VW magazines test drive some of the cars. Classic and Sportscar do drive the cars they feature and it makes for good reading.
Granted you don´t want to read about every single one featured but a few would be nice, especially the hot ones but I can also see the complications involved with this, which ones do you choose, 1/4 mile cars built with the strip in mind, restocal built for cruising, stockers which we all know how they drive.

I guess if there were more "street cars" then yes it would work well. 0-60 times, cruising and top speed info etc.

EVO & CAR would be impressed with a 200bhp bug for sure but its more a hot rod home brew creation and not a factory "hotty"

I think if one of the "other" mags were to just do one feature on the history of hot rodding street VW's and were to select 3 of the top cars (NOT show-only cars, but cars that really worked), it would open a lot of automotive eyes. Classic and Sports Car are always doing features on "groups" of cars, sometimes comparison, other times just similar cars put together for driving impressions. It would be cool for some Brits to turn keys over to the magazine, and let them have a go. Who cares about 0-60..etc., let's just scare the pants off those vintage Jaguar guys.  ;D

Interesting topic.  I saw a commercial on Speed channel the other day that was titled 101 cars you must drive before you die.  I was thinking just the same thing.  What if they got in a 200 HP VW of today and drove that.  I wonder what they would think.  What an eye opener that would be.

.... or even take some other popular car (from the past) that was sorely underpowered in its original form, but due to a cult following, found some gearhead fans that doubled, tripled the factory HP and THEN pit that against a true Cal Look Bug.

There must be some DKW 2-stroke thing that guys have hot rodded into some fire breathing hill climb bomb or something,  right?

The key words...cars that really worked.  I once asked a certain magazine writer who has photographed and written about VW's if he ever actually drove any of the cars he'd written about and what he thought of the ones he had.  He said a lot of the cars had "issues"....a poor engine combination, hard to shift, flat spots, low brakes, etc.  Most of us can screw a car together, but getting it to really work is the hard part of the deal.

I would like to see one of the TV shows, like the Power Block shows, do a hot VW. Not one of these slap it together in a week things, but coverage of a real build.

--louis

Just curious how an article about "driving" a hot rodded VW would read....    Keith?

All our club cars ( when running , ha ha ) , drive , corner , brake , shift , exactly how they should , everything works . I wouldn't hesitate to jump in one and drive 300 miles .

But yes Sarge you are right , it is the hard part of the deal , I have had many cars in , not built by myself , that drive horribly , enough that would put you off using them .

As for what EVO would think , mmm , I read that mag every month , not sure , they are really into cars that handle .

I took my friend Robert Coucher, who edits Octane magazine, out in the chop-top a few years ago, and he still talks about how I got it sideways from a standing start etc.

I had my Carrera tested by Evo a few years ago, too, and they are more open-minded than many car mags, but would still expect a car to go round corners as fast as they go in a straight line. Mind you, I went out with their editor in a Lamborghini Urraco once and it was truly horrible (and he admitted it), but he still wrote a glowing report. Go figure…

I guess the bottom line is it's kinda difficult to be really positive about a highly modified car. Our cars don't handle (sorry Pete, but they don't – not compared to a modern car of equivalent performance) and often the brakes are 'lacking'. They are fun but, if we are honest, were/are never intended to be comparable to a modern 'box'. And that, after all, is what most mags are going to compare them to.

The bottom line is, screw what other people/magazines think – we do what we want. And if they don't understand, tough. :)

you should write for fortune cookie companies


I know, for the most part, VW Beetles handle like crap (another of the reasons I lost interest a few years back, after being spoiled by my WRX), but which car that originated in the 1930's wouldn't? I betcha those guys that write for Octane, Car... etc have had the bowels scared out of them piloting an Auto Union or a GP Mercedes from the same era. Early 356's can't be much better! You even read the occasional scathing of the early 911's after guys tried their luck with lifting throttle in a corner....
I just think, outside of our small circle, other auto aficionado guys don't take VW modifying very seriously.... which kind of sucks. They don't get how much work goes into and has gone into making a mouse into a monster (and how close a realtive the meek VW is to the mighty Porsches).

Oh well, that's what stoplight bashings are for.  ;D

Most of the VWs I have shot over the years, were not "available" for a test drive/ride. However, I have certainly enjoyed the VWs that I have driven or rode in. Ask Conklin about the time I was driving his car, and I passed him on the side of the road at 7000 rpm in third gear!

Do you remember the journo from Practical Classics after I took him out in mine?  :D

His article was full of superlatives when he wrote it, shame he couldn't manage 2 words when he got out the car...

He was probably choking on tire smoke ::) ;D

 ;D

I know this isn't a german look forum, but I would love to see a non VW mag or a program like top gear do a feature on Eddie Remmele's Beetle, 3lt type 4 power and has beaten a BMW M3 CSL and a Porsche GT3 around the Hockenheim ring! He said he is so board of racing other cars he has taken to harrasing raced prepped superbikes lol.
He said his customers are normally 911, lambo or Ferrari driving executives, who used to own a beetle as a student, and now want a beetle to perform as their super car does, if I had the money I would be straight on to him to build me a car!

A truely remarkable man and his work is fantastic, a few of us spent a day with him and I have nothing but utter respect for him.

Rob.

Thinking about this idea some more... Once you have test driven one fast, carburetored sedan, how else do you describe the power? Fast, comes on hard at 4500, pulls like gang-busters up to 6000, falls on its face after 6500.... Loud? Don't get me wrong, I like the overall idea, but after a few 12-second sedans, might be hard to call the differences...

always thought it would be fun to challange Clarkson to a drag race, he can pick what ever piston driven car he want...... might make good TV.

it would make me smile.

(http://www.jkemppainen.com/up/Owen%20Starsky%20&%20Hutch%20Signature%20Do%20It.jpg)

that would make for some great TV  8)

the best write up ive seen lately on an actual driven beetle was in the last cal look edition of volksworld.Tim C wrote about his experience of driving Ivan McCutcheons famous 67 to VW Action the previous year after his car was sidelined.I found it very interesting.Two similar cars but different beasts to drive.there needs to be more write ups like this.The only problem i see is the obvious spending of thousands on your own car then letting someone else rag the tits off it ;D

No , I agree , they don't handle , not in the way that real handling means . For sure you can get them to corner pretty well , and stop well a couple of times in succession . But not even remotely in the same fashion as a M3 CSL .

A perfect example of this , is how people reacted when Gold65 Turbo , beat the girl in the newish 911 at Santa Pod . All the old car crowd thought it was great ( which it was ) , but on the ' Piston-heads ' site , which is aimed at , and read by more ' EVO-ish ' type of readers , it got a less enthusiastic reaction , with lots of ' yeah , well lets see it get round a track , or drive to the South Of France ' type of reaction .

Horses for courses I think .

Thanks. That article was good fun to write and a weekend with “that” car was superb. I drove the car with utter respect most of the time ;)

It would be interesting to see what a modern car journalist would make of driving a hi-po VW. Any petrol head would be impressed with the acceleration and experience, but as for cornering and stopping, not so sure.

About 3 years ago I went on a Pistonheads organized tunnel run through London. It featured about 200 cars and was a cruise through the city early one Sunday morning (2am) taking in some 40+ tunnels on route. The point was the noise the cars make while blasting through tunnels - it was great fun. I took the Beetle along to play with the Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Jap stuff and many TVRs (which sound amazing in a tunnel!) and the old Bug was well accepted, lots of people asking questions, wondering what engine it was etc… it even got mentioned in a write up about the event in Autocar magazine – I do like the quote!

(http://i31.tinypic.com/bivtqt.jpg)

It blended into the background with the exotica as well.

(http://i31.tinypic.com/292bexc.jpg)

Point being, that anyone into speed and fast cars would appreciate first hand the speed these old cars can get up to and how quickly they get there, but writing it up into an article that readers would appreciate would be very difficult imho.

the cal look that most of our cars are based on is driving in a straight line from point A to point B as quick as possible.I think its called Drag Racing ;D 90/10 front shockers and 135/145 front tyres dont go round corners and im sure if we wanted them to something else would be fitted.I spoke to Peter Shattock at the Springspeed Nationals in May about driving his looker/racer which he does quite often.He doesnt potter it round.Its a car to go out and have a blast in for an hour just to get rid of the nine to five make you smile then put away again until the next show/drag race/blast whatever you want to call it.                                            the humble beetle is a shopping car but not for shopping if you get what i mean ;)

you should try 10" sticky rear tires, 135's on the front and spool.   oh the joy of driving hipo vw's on the road!  lol

most people with normal cars just dont understand ::)

That's where you screwed up Tim! No respect at any time is what its used to.  ;D

Ratto you are pretty good writer, how would you write a driver's impression about a good Hot VW?

My gripe.
It's not very professional when Magazine writers wreck cars.
Zachary Mayne’s recent article on a blue RSR was just in Excellence magazine.
Zach came to San Diego and my friend let him drive it in the local auto cross.
Zach spun it on his second lap.
Appears he is the type of writer that has to cross his limits to find them.
When he came back to the pits I said to him “You know the first thing I think about when I spin in the parking lot?"
"Light poles"
How many test cars have been crashed by writers?
A $400k Carrera GT a couple of years ago.

Yes and the conflicts of interest are everywhere.
A company provides 10 cars, expert drivers to ride along (you can have that job) great food and free transportation.
Ya’ think a writer is gonna write anything negative and get his name removed from that perk list?
Would most writers/editors slam a long time advertiser?

I'd be more interested in an expert driver’s impression over that of an expert writer.
Any day of the week expert drivers candidly share opinions generally with no conflict of interest.

I think the VW articles are great as is.
I’m amazed to still see HVWs in the rack.
I’d say a big reason for that is the awesome job Dean and RK have done, for decades.

Careful who you loan your car to... :)
http://www.youtube.com/v/qyi_dp5gT2w&hl=en"

Wasn't Ivan's car on Top Gear once  ???

Or did I dream that  ;D

Dunno. I've had my Fastback, No Mercy, my Okrasa Split and the Chop-Top all on Top Gear (but I didn't let them drive!).

Blimey KS with all your archive knowledge,would have thought you would have record of Ivan's car if it had been on Top Gear?? :)

Yes, my '67 was on the Top Gear TV show... It was in about '96 and I took the BRMs off and put a set of chrome EMPI sprints on as I didn't really know what they had planned for the shoot and certainly didn't want the BRMs damaged. The filming was done at Santa Pod and the presenter, Steve Berry, didn't drive the car. But I scared the crap out of him on the strip. The problem is the filming was done car-to-car when it came to my car so you don't really get the feeling of speed (not that my car was that quick at the time - it only ran 14's then, but I suppose that wasn't too bad for a uk street car back then...). The Ford Anglia cooked itself and that's what all the white smoke is at the end. The Escort was off-the-scale, but so was the 'mulleteer' who built it - he looked like he'd been dragged out of the '80's and was bouncing off the red on the dull-o-meter. Still, he could clearly build a good car.
When I watch the footage it reminds me of the days when I had to pay someone to cut my hair (not that I did very often), the days before I grew a swimming cap.
It wasn't the first time Top Gear had covered air-cooled VWs, but it was great that they covered a Cal Look Bug.

If you want to see it here it is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tas56dV8uY

You're a Volkswagen Vandaliser  ;D

Great thread. When Ian Clark finished the mechanical rebuild of my Razor Edge we took it to Goodwood for shake down testing at a private track day a few years back. Porsche-centric along with a few race cars being fettled and a few super cars peppered the track. Bearing in mind this was the first time we had driven a now non-standard T34 we took it fairly gently for a few laps making sure nothing fell off or broke. When we took it out in the second session I felt more confident about pushing it a bit harder: the car is a '65 and is built as though it was hot-rodded in the late sixties. It's got a 2110cc engine, 46 IDA's Joe Hunt Mag, Jeff Denham heads, CSP exhaust, 5-speed GB box. Plus CSP spec early Porsche brakes, genuine gasburners, sway-a-way torsion bars, Speedwell camber-compensator, etc, etc. It's also a full GT car so it has sound-deadening, carpets, etc so it's really HEAVY but it goes round corners.

Anyway, enough scene setting. Out of Lavant curves we were right up the chuff of an orange 911 2.4S that was really trying (inside front wheel waggling away was the give away!). Third gear, about 80mph, still lots of revs in hand, two up with Ian in the passenger seat, and I just put my foot down and drove around the outside of the guy. I'm not sure who was more surprised, him or me. Next lap, and not wanting to annoy anyone, I put the indicator on and pulled well to the right to let the track day organiser (Robert) through in his Clio cup car, although I kept my foot down without really thinking about it. As I rolled to the left side of the track at the end of the straight to line us up for Madgwick I realised the Clio was now a looooong way back in my mirrors. Ooops, not good form. When we peeled into the pits he said he was going to ask what the car was (not many people see a Razor Edge on the track...) but now wanted to know what the hell was powering it. Robert, a seasoned historic racer and Porsche owner, couldn't believe it was VW powered and after Ian explained it's spec, was gob-smacked that it was detuned and running relatively conservative specs, especially when compared with his SWB 911, Lotus, Alfa Romeo and other sixties cars he owned.

The reason for posting this wasn't to wax lyrical about my car but just to say that comparisons with modern cars aren't really useful - there are so many electronics in cars these days and the technology and materials has moved things on tremendously, so they just aren't comparable. However, what the day did illuminate was that VW's can be made to go, stop and handle as well as the best of the era.... 25 petrolheads left Goodwood that day a little more educated about Karmann Ghia's  ;)