The Cal-look Lounge

Seemed like the club was very active and a large club and had some standout cars. What brought about its end in what, 1985? Was it a sudden end or did things sort of taper off interest wise? Were there kids left without "something to do" after the club folded?

amazing that DKP in its current "guise" has been pounding the ground since 1988 .....20 years!
DKK was only around 8 years?

Love to hear some insight

Jim

The end of Bug In had a big impact on it . Also many of the member were starting families, real jobs ect.. That had some effect. It seemed that when Bug In's ended we had to travel to events, before that we never had to leave OC , Sacramento, Phoenix ? why would you go there? OCIR was 10 mins away. When that track closed our Nirvana was gone. The hardcore traveled ,the other people that were more into the social aspect of it got other hobbies...As for the current DKP I was thinking about it the other day.While the origins could be traced back to '88. I think I would put the actual time frame into early '90. My friends and I have been parking in the same spot @ Classic since '88 so that could be our 20yrs.   I missed 1 in '96  my car was on a boat somewhere.   Bill

What Bill said!

Everything revolved around Bug-In and after OCIR closed, there wasn't that goal to look forward to.
The motivation left us and the future looked pretty grim for Cal Look.

You know, someone needs to write a book about this very subject. :D

I know this one British guy who might take it on!  ;D ;D

a british guy? who? Cliff Richard?

how dare you mention that name on here :o

would it be possible to get someone kicked out for this??

 ;) ;)

what? for saying CLIFF RICHARD... man the guy gave you guys first place in the Eurosong contest, he is a legend.


watch out CLIFF!! (one of the best episodes of the Young Ones)
you could have taken the BRM's... didn't you take them off the car, because of the saltwater. or is that an urban legend???  :)

                                           I don't think anyone would buy a book about that Volkswagen stuff....... I do remember a big "dead time"  when Bug In went away. Most clubs revolved around the Bug In schedual and OCIR going away left a " What are we going to do now?" void in the hobby. There were still alot of cars on the street, but nothing to do.

  Just an urban legend, like the bloody hook in the door handle.  My car was rolling on my Empi 5's The BRM's were in bags inside the car.  We went and picked up the Berm's before the event at the shippers. It took me a full day to polish and detail them. Keith thought I was crazy.

no you're just a normal guys who love is car and want a clean car to show  to the people

No, trust me, he was crazy... :D

ok keith you know better than me because , i wasn't there at that time ::) ::)

thanks for telling the true story. it is cool non the less.

do you think the shutting down of whittier blvd. also had any impact.  bug-ins were only 2 times per year plus other events, but cruising whittier was every weekend. 

that probably had a lot to do with it also and lack of interest, guys were kinda of gettin out of the vw thing, but it's back almost as heavy well with the old guy's

Can't leave ones roots!  ;)

Yeah that was another negative.

that and those mini trucks were so cool

Now that I think about it, It was probably due to pink and purple painted car's of the time?

i have heard that the widely spread use of green bottle beer was also a defining factor for many people quitting. but i am sure KS has a wole chapter about that in his upcoming book.

No, but I consumed a fair amount of the stuff while writing it. :D

yeah i heard they still have a stash from way back in the 80's...

That was the Same with all the Clubs in the 70's thru the late 80's Mini Truck's became  Popular then after that cam the Import  Cars  then the bug Came Back but not as strong as it once was it is  Funny to See all The Old Guys Getting Back In to it there has even Been Talk About some of the Club's of the 70's Coming Back To Life!!! :o :o :o I Never Thought that I would Live to See Us Old Farts Standing Around the Car Ralley's, Bug In's and Car Shows with a Cane In One Hand and A Beer in the Other ;D ;D Once its in the Blood its there for ever Look at  Roger Crawford, Mark Huntshacker,Ron Fleming and Many Others  Getting Back Behind the Wheel of some 10 sec. VW's

at least they ran

Ouch.

 ;D

Yah, what he said. Don't hate the pink cars.

wow look who has an avatar. Next he'll be posting smiley faces.

and i'm still pretty sure Cliff Richard has to do something with it

And a dang nice one too!

Now I was definately not one of the last to hang out.  I bailed out fairly early.  My oval was vandalized, my vert was stolen and I bought a Scirocco and eventually was interested in other things by then.  However, I got out of it for a few reasons.  The "old" feel was gone with most of the 1970's members driving vans, cool old buses and bugs that were not "caliber" cars just nice cool rides (see Jeff Hickens bus, maybe my 'vert and MANY others, etc...), studebaker hawks, and various other cars not actually "in" the club.  Some got married, some moved away, but for me I had a VERY hard time convincing myself to build another car that was the number one STOLEN car in the OC.  SO many great cars were being stolen and like all the time.  As well, the Japanese were coming in to the shows that were left and buying everything that they could get their hands on.
Yes, Whittier Blvd shutting down, Larrys Pizza shutting down, finding new digs.  Moving the original meeting place was HUGE!  OCIR shutting down, you were afraid to take your car anywhere as it was stolen so friggin fast, the Japanese increasing the values of cars by spending WAY too much on local cars, and just kinda movin on to other stuff.  It became a hobby for me instead of a lifestyle.  In order to properly participate (at least for me) you needed a daily driver and THEN you built a DKK caliber car that you drove on weekends and special events only.  Like quite a few of us do now, but couldnot afford then.

It is awfully cool to be able to do it now at my age.  The resources are much easier to generate now, time and space to build are easier to come by, and the fellas that are "still" around are some great people.  All good things come to an end some time.  And if they were good enough ideas, someone will resurrect the idea for another generation.............. 

Just for the record, Larry's didn't shut down.

The reason why DKK left Larry's is that Larry's management decided to not guarantee us the use of their private room and often we would not know that they let another group use the room until we showed up that evening. This was unacceptable to us and after it happened a few times we told them that if they couldn't guarantee us the room, we would find some place that would.

I thought I did. At my daughters urging I figured out how to do it the other day, but I tried it again and it did'nt work. So I guess I forgot already. I am a bigger computer 'tard than Danny. Hard to believe.

Funny I think most (VW) clubs fade when guys are all around that mid to late 20's age (?maybe I am wrong? but it seems to be a constant thread). It would be interesting to see how many late-20something guys are here on Lounge, currently, and have been going non-stop at it since they could drive. I think what we envision as "growing up" kind of happens around 28, 29 yr old? We needed a change of pace? Everybody starts looking for something new to get them excited. Happened to me a few times....around 1999 and again in 2002-3.
Our club up north folded for same reasons.... people "grew up" (hate to say it that way), found other things to do besides swill beer at a pizza parlor and then do burnouts int he parking lot. Guys moved on to get married, have kids, go bass fishing, and some just sold cars and never got new ones. Some cars were totaled in accidents. We tried a few times to get the club back on its feet, but only a few old members came back around, and it was halfhearted at best. We even tried forming a new club, but interest level was low and no focus (we even had a girl that wanted in with her stock motored car! ::) and when we said "No"
 she bad mouthed us all over the VW world....), plus it seemed like if you weren't driving a race-spec car with 1.29:1 4th gear & 4.86RP, 13.5:1, slicks on the street, in that era,....you weren't a "cool kid" which is what burnt me out...
funny now I am older and I am more up for doing VW stuff than ever.

Sorry to bring this thread a bit off topic, but the importance of having something to look forward to like the old Bug-In's and racing at OCIR can be seen in Norway these days, I believe. With the first all aircooled SCC at Gardermoen Raceway this year, there's lots of people working on their special projects in garages all over the country. People that's never been racing are getting into the sport, and with the SCC organizers welcoming even stock engine racing, I think and hope the cal look scene in Norway will experience a new hay day.  

If the SCC 08 is a success (crossing fingers), I think we will see the effects of it in the years to come. Gardermoen Raceway might be the OCIR of our generation over here :)

I bet there are more late- 20somethings than you would guess. It does take a lot of determination to build one of these cars up today, it would be much easier to say fuck it, and buy a ricer. The late 20 somethings that are in it, are really in it deep. I am 27, been going at it since before I could drive, and I have no plans of slowing down. Sling is 26, I got him into it about 10 years ago- other than his brief hiatus with a Honda a few years back, he has been totally ACVW. He also has a 6 month old son, hasnt slowed him down a step ;)

I think it was a different time, (and for the most part) different circumstances that brought about the end of D.K.K.

I think the real reason, we ran out of club T shirts

gabbard:  "Hey, where's the t-shirts?"
meredith:  "In the club t-shirt box."
gabbard:  "That's where I am looking...its empty!"
meredith:  "Empty?"
gabbard:  "Yeah, like there's none in here, man!"
meredith:  "Well, forget this!"
gabbard:  "Yeah, I quit!"

 ;D ;) :D

PERFECT!  ::) ;D

And it only took us 23 years to order some more!!  ;D ;D

ROFL!!!

maybe it was the McRib

T shirt box, pizza box, stash box, It's all good

Not when they are M-T!!!  ;D ;D ;D

danny, so you dont have to call me later M-t means empty

hey Rick , nice talking to you at the classic, if you ever get more shirts and decals, I'd like to buy some (XXL)  do you need a club rep. in Vegas. I'm down. The club was great back in the day. I miss those days, but I got married and moved away had kids, only to be divorced 23yrs. later
oh well nice seeing a few of the old members at the Classic. take care
Vaughn

Nope... Vaughn as in Bachman... with the notch use to live in Corona.

I have seen several issues that can pull a (VW) club apart; those who drag race, and those who do not. And those who smoke ____, and those who do not..

hey vaughn, i got some "re-pop" stickers that are pretty nice. drop me a line and i'll get a set  out to you. which notch was yours? was it the tan 67 with plaid seats?

I don't think any of those were really an issue for us. We all got along really well and were able work through any disagreements.

Actually, you had three or four Notchbacks, Mark. You just don't remember them.

Off the top of my head we had the following guys own Notches;

Bob Davis
Gary Dean
Jimmy Moore
Danny Gabbard
Vaughn Bachman

There was also mine but I never ran stickers on it.

by the time i wound up with that tan 67 with the plaid seats, it wasn't sticker worthy anymore and the club was starting to unravel. guys wernt driving their cars to meetings, and that notch wasnt in any condition to keep my active status

it was dark blue I think it had alloy's , it had a rear window wiper that he put on that I remember, he also had a red bus that I remember.

the first one was red with grey and black interior on alloys and a 65 21 window,sold both for a 63 notch with alloy and then sold that for a 66 deluxe bus with alloys. I'll dig up some pics and post them. soon

Deano, that sounds like my old club. A lot of us got into racing (some spectating, some RWYBing, me more seriously), then some decided that smoking was more fun, and would end up not leaving their buses for the duration of a three day show... Made it a bit awkward for those of us who didn't smoke, and the changed priorities in the club (ratty split buses instead of cal look beetles) didn't suit many of the members. Don't get me wrong, most of these guys will be my best friends for the rest of my life, but the club reached it's natural end. We'll always be HAB members (some of us even have stickers to put onto our next projects!) but the club doesn't exist any more. :)