The Cal-look Lounge

Cal-look/High Performance => Cal-look => Topic started by: Jim Ratto on March 05, 2009, 23:56:37 pm



Title: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 05, 2009, 23:56:37 pm
Sarge how about some stories about the very very early days, you and Lazenby and Pete Dayton, and the other couple of guys.
It would be cool to hear about the very first outings, and maybe focus on the very early cars. Maybe John L. can add his memories too.



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Carlos De Alba on March 05, 2009, 23:58:38 pm
yes...... tell us Sarge!!!!  8)  I also would love to hear some stories from Lazenby !!!  ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 00:44:14 am
 ::)  Wellll, let's see...  When it all started was fall of 1964.  I'd started school at Fullerton Jr College and was driving my first bug, a metallic blue '56.  Driving through the parking lot, I couldn't help but notice how many VW's where there... one that caught my eye was a beautiful black '65 with chromies that belonged to Brian Renie (God).  I started hanging around a bit with Brian who had gone to high school in Anaheim and knew John Lazenby and pointed out his then red '63.  Another guy that was around then was Richard Kugel (brother of Hot Rodder Jerry Kugel / Kugel Components) who drove a gold bug with very cool Jardine headers.  After awhile, we all got to know each other and would cruise around the Anaheim area on the weekends visiting Carl's, The Bean Hut, Taco Villa and a place called Hillside Drive-In which was a few miles north in Fullerton.  One night we bumped into Pete Dayton at Carl's... he was looking for bugs and owners to start a car club and word spread fast.  Mike Huggins, Mike Mendenhall, Dewight McGill, John Radke (never owned a VW but  was always there), John Krysick,Gregg Bunch, Gary Kruger and Bob Stewart where all guys who went to FJC and were a part of things before I got drafted in early 1967.  Times were a lot simpler back then.  There was no performance stuff to speak of and chrome wheels were the vogue.  Muffler shop headers (not really even headers...more like noise makers) soon took off and became big business.  It was all about cruising around with an FM radio or four track Muntz tape deck blasting away with your new found VW pals..... 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 06, 2009, 00:54:53 am
Was it at this time you guys did the cruise(s) up to Hollywood?

if you have any pics (even if they have been posted before) of the early cars like Renie's or Kugel's, or even yours  ::) ::) ;D
you should scan 'em for us buddy.

 ;D

Jim "where's my belt" Ratto


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 01:15:58 am
Was it at this time you guys did the cruise(s) up to Hollywood?

if you have any pics (even if they have been posted before) of the early cars like Renie's or Kugel's, or even yours  ::) ::) ;D
you should scan 'em for us buddy.

 ;D

Jim "where's my belt" Ratto

Yeah, driving was cheap entertainment.  Lots of trips up to Sunset Blvd or down to the beach, then back through all the places I mentioned in Anaheim before calling it a night.  American Grafitti to the 10th power.  I keep wishing I'd stumble on to a box of old pics I'd forgotten about but it ain't happenin'.... :(


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: WCB Hitler's Hot Rod on March 06, 2009, 06:18:59 am
Sarge, great story! I too went to FJC in the mid '80s and would always have front row parking next to the Technical building due to an early morning class. I owned a Cal-look split at the time and looking back; I am still amazed how popular VW's were back then. I also remember how well they were liked among the women  ;) 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 06, 2009, 07:39:16 am
Good stuff, Sarge. VWs Unlimited members... please keep the stories flowin'.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Bewitched666 on March 06, 2009, 08:06:07 am
Lots of those stories in Keiths new book


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fastbrit on March 06, 2009, 09:27:39 am
Lots of those stories in Keiths new book
But never as good as hearing them from the Pimp Daddy's mouth! :D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: speedwell on March 06, 2009, 11:35:52 am
cool stories jim  do you've  any flyers or drawing from the vw unlimited

rgd
fabs


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 14:30:29 pm
Wish I had more pics for you guys but photo taking wasn't a big part of my life back then.  Here's a couple of oldies from the 40hp Zenith carb days.  I bought the carb and manifold from a repair shop in Fullerton... had NO IDEA about jetting, intake manifold leaks, etc.  The manifold wound up being tweaked and never set flush on the heads... this after weeks of head scratching.  After that mystery was finally solved, I went to Don Burns VW one day and had them put it on the chassis dyno to try and sort the jetting.  What a joke! ::)  The green car is Lazenby's red '63 after it was repainted by Babe's in Fullerton.... by far one of the nicest paint jobs I can recall from back then.  As much as everyone here loves the Butternut color it later became, the Cadillac Firemist Green is the color I'll always remember most.  John and I spent a lot of weekend afternoons waxing our cars at his folks place in Anaheim or Hillcrest Park in Fullerton (across the street from Hillside Drive-In)... seemed there was always some friends waxing cars at the park whenever you'd cruise through.  I can't begin to think how many cans of VHT we sprayed on our "headers".... it was a weekly ritual! ::) ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Dave Galassi on March 06, 2009, 14:59:12 pm
What a great topic!  Sarge, were the Chromies cheap at the time, or just the only thing out there?  Catalogs and old magazines show different wheel choices coming in around that time, but save for Fleming and Crane (early on) no one ran anything but the chromies.  Can you remember when the BRM's, American's, Crestlines and a myriad of other wheel choices came into vogue?


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 06, 2009, 15:02:45 pm
Sarge, those pics are COOL! I dig the '66-'67 wheels on the white car. In my opinion, the best looking steel wheel that VW ever produced. Always wanted to make a set of 6" ones for the back of a car from the same years. Then, paint 'em black and off white. Keep goin' with the VWs Unlimited stuff.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: maX cal-look on March 06, 2009, 16:32:54 pm
::)    It was all about cruising around with an FM radio or four track Muntz tape deck blasting away with your new found VW pals..... 8)

Great story, love read the past follow story like that, but can you tell us about kind of music was fun at this time ?
And regard's people take care about your when you cruise with your bettle in 1967 ? They think you look's "young guy" or "bad guy" with your engin sound ??
More about feeling if it's possible as well !  ;D

BTW think's for time past to right all of your's story  :-*


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 20:21:51 pm

What a great topic!  Sarge, were the Chromies cheap at the time, or just the only thing out there?  Catalogs and old magazines show different wheel choices coming in around that time, but save for Fleming and Crane (early on) no one ran anything but the chromies.  Can you remember when the BRM's, American's, Crestlines and a myriad of other wheel choices came into vogue?


Before I was drafted, I had no money.  Buying any cosmetic car stuff was always a problem... the money always went somewhere else first (such as re-doing "headers" at Phil's Muffler Shop  ::)).  Most all my "modifications" were done with spray cans... painting wheels, headers, dying the red interior black, tinting the windows.  The American Mag / adapter phase hit while I was in the Army.  I sent money home to Sharon (we were not married at the time; she bought the car from me) to add the adapters, and American's to the rear of the '63... I bought the Dragmasters from 101 Speed Shop in Fullerton while home on leave.  BRM's were something I knew nothing of until I got out of the military in early 1969.


Sarge, those pics are COOL! I dig the '66-'67 wheels on the white car. In my opinion, the best looking steel wheel that VW ever produced. Always wanted to make a set of 6" ones for the back of a car from the same years. Then, paint 'em black and off white. Keep goin' with the VWs Unlimited stuff.


Thanks Mark!  My folks bought a new 1966 Seasand Beige Beetle direct from Germany.  After seeing the wheels and flat caps, I knew I had to have some for the '63.  Unfortunatly, the flat caps wouldn't fit over the spindles  :(


Great story, love read the past follow story like that, but can you tell us about kind of music was fun at this time ?
And regard's people take care about your when you cruise with your bettle in 1967 ? They think you look's "young guy" or "bad guy" with your engin sound ??
More about feeling if it's possible as well !  ;D

BTW think's for time past to right all of your's story  :-*


As for music, it was the age of, um.....  well, let's say before I went in the Army, it was Surf / Beetles / Folk / Oldies.  When I got home in 1969, It was the Beetles White Album, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, Hendrix and so on.  The driving around "attitiude" before I left was more carefree, too... we VW guys didn't take ouselves so seriously back then.  Nowdays, it's all about attitude!!

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys!





Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: John Rayburn on March 06, 2009, 21:04:16 pm
More, Sarge! More!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Carlos De Alba on March 06, 2009, 21:08:18 pm
wow........thanks for sharing the stories and the photos Sarge!!!  :o  8)

one question.......??  what are those brown stains on the photos???  ::)  Do you keep the scanner next to the toilet??  ::)

 :D :D :D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: vwcab on March 06, 2009, 21:11:54 pm
More, Sarge! More!
That is what I also wanted to say.It's nice to read these little story's,from people who where involved back then.
So Sarge,tell us more please.It's very interresting.
 ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 21:14:50 pm
::)  Wellll, let's see...  When it all started was fall of 1964.  I'd started school at Fullerton Jr College and was driving my first bug, a metallic blue '56.  Driving through the parking lot, I couldn't help but notice how many VW's where there... one that caught my eye was a beautiful black '65 with chromies that belonged to Brian Renie (God).  I started hanging around a bit with Brian who had gone to high school in Anaheim and knew John Lazenby and pointed out his then red '63.  Another guy that was around then was Richard Kugel (brother of Hot Rodder Jerry Kugel / Kugel Components) who drove a gold bug with very cool Jardine headers.  After awhile, we all got to know each other and would cruise around the Anaheim area on the weekends visiting Carl's, The Bean Hut, Taco Villa and a place called Hillside Drive-In which was a few miles north in Fullerton.  One night we bumped into Pete Dayton at Carl's... he was looking for bugs and owners to start a car club and word spread fast.  Mike Huggins, Mike Mendenhall, Dewight McGill, John Radke (never owned a VW but  was always there), John Krysick,Gregg Bunch, Gary Kruger and Bob Stewart where all guys who went to FJC and were a part of things before I got drafted in early 1967.  Times were a lot simpler back then.  There was no performance stuff to speak of and chrome wheels were the vogue.  Muffler shop headers (not really even headers...more like noise makers) soon took off and became big business.  It was all about cruising around with an FM radio or four track Muntz tape deck blasting away with your new found VW pals..... 8)

The Sarge has requested, thus I must deliver.  I've got some early photos and other things burried in my garage and keep putting off pulling them out to share.  I will make an honest effort this weekend as I've already promised to Jim E.

Some of the names listed above I can comment on.  Brian Rennie (GOD).  He got that name because he acted like GOD.  Brian and I met in the 4th grade and went to the same church and our parents were friends.  He bought a new '65 sedan in black and kept the car cleaner than mine, which I thought was impossible.  Everyone used Classic Car Wax back then and he had empty cans of the stuff stacked on his garage wall.  He literally wax the paint off the car.

Brain was also the guy that introduced me to my future wife Christie Ann.  It was a blind date and the way that came about was keeping a friends (Gayle Ringwald) '65 Plymouth Satalite while he was at boot camp.  It was a 383 with an Art Carr Torueqflite and halled ass!!  A side note on this car is prior to Ringwald owning it the car belonged to Ted Longworth who was a buddy of Ron (Big Al Tamming) Flemings.

Anyway, Brian set up the "blind date" as he was dating Christie's older sister Linda at the time.  I was just a couple of weeks out of Navy boot camp myself and had no hair (that still holds today), braces and weighed 128 pounds dripping wet.  The four of us went to Hollywood in the Plymouth and cruised Hollywood and Sunset Blvds. most of the night.  That was August 21, 1967 and five years to the day later Christie and I were married.  Edmiston and Huggins were both in the wedding party and I have the photos to prove it.  Also Sharon Edmiston was a bride's maid for Christie.

Rich Kugel and I had met at Taco Villa on Harbor Blvd in 1963 and became great pals.  Rich had a gold '58 sedan with Jardine Headers and that statement painted on the rear fenders.  He was never officially in the club, but was consider by many "The Fonz" because he was a cooooooool dude!!!  Rich and I joined the Navy at Los Alamitos  together and in future years traveled to the salt flats at Wendover, Utah with his older brother Jerry (Kugel Components)


Jon Radke was not ever in the club as Jim states, but always hung around with Pete Dayton, Gary Huggins and myself.  He was a year older than us and kind of a Lumpy Rutherford (Leave it to Beaver) character.  It was guaranteed that if Radke was in your car and you stopped to get a soda he would spill his in the car without fail. 

Jon passed away probably ten years ago in his sleep.  He was working for Johnson & Johnson and living in Colorado.  We still receive Christmas Cards from his wife.  His kids are grown now and he is a grandfather which is hard to accept remembering the guy.  I miss you Jon.

Mike Mendenhall was a bit younger that most of us, but had a nice car that was painted by Molley in La Habra.  Today as far as I know Mike owns California Wooding Working Machinery in Anaheim.  He is probably within a mile of Royze and I guess I should stop by and say hello.

Greg Bunch and I met at Irvine park some 40 plus years ago.  His car would pull mine and I hated him for that.  If any of you ever get the chance you need to see his home in Santa Ana or Tustin.  It is on the border, so I'm not sure.  A finer person you could not meet.  Today Greg owns a '30's Lincoln Limo that weighs about 6K.  I guess as he grew heavier he felt the need for something larger than a VW.

Excuse the spelling errors and the rush, but I've got other things pending currently.  I promise there will be more soon...................... ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

John Lazenby


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Nico86 on March 06, 2009, 21:20:22 pm

As for music, it was the age of, um.....  well, let's say before I went in the Army, it was Surf / Beetles / Folk / Oldies.  When I got home in 1969, It was the Beetles White Album, Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, Hendrix and so on.  The driving around "attitiude" before I left was more carefree, too... we VW guys didn't take ouselves so seriously back then.  Nowdays, it's all about attitude!!

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys!





In 69 did Led Zeppelin music already hit the US ? You had a 8-track tape player in the 63 ?


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 06, 2009, 22:32:15 pm
Wish I had more pics for you guys but photo taking wasn't a big part of my life back then.  Here's a couple of oldies from the 40hp Zenith carb days.  I bought the carb and manifold from a repair shop in Fullerton... had NO IDEA about jetting, intake manifold leaks, etc.  The manifold wound up being tweaked and never set flush on the heads... this after weeks of head scratching.  After that mystery was finally solved, I went to Don Burns VW one day and had them put it on the chassis dyno to try and sort the jetting.  What a joke! ::)  The green car is Lazenby's red '63 after it was repainted by Babe's in Fullerton.... by far one of the nicest paint jobs I can recall from back then.  As much as everyone here loves the Butternut color it later became, the Cadillac Firemist Green is the color I'll always remember most.  John and I spent a lot of weekend afternoons waxing our cars at his folks place in Anaheim or Hillcrest Park in Fullerton (across the street from Hillside Drive-In)... seemed there was always some friends waxing cars at the park whenever you'd cruise through.  I can't begin to think how many cans of VHT we sprayed on our "headers".... it was a weekly ritual! ::) ;)

The photo of my '63 is taken in my parents driveway in Anaheim.  Yes, Jim is correct on the color.  Firemist colors were only offered on Caddy's then and Babe Cox the man who painted it said it was a "poor man's metalflake".  I still like the color to this day.  Babe was a black man that was a good friend of my Dad's and he was at our home often.  He passed away some years ago, but was another influence on me and my cars.

I remember those Firestone tires.  I use to sit and paint the gold strip and letters weekly.  There was a product known as Harely Tire-nu, same company that made Harley wax.  I kind of figured out how to make the stuff by going to the local Save-On drug store and buying and mixing up batches.  We used it like water and speaking of water, every time you drove through a puddle the stuff washed off.

The rear rims came from Johnny's Speed & Chrome or as we use to affectionately call it (Johnny's Chip & Peel).  They were 6" Chevy outers with Porsche centers.  Johnny Hewey owned Jiffy Plating and did all of his own wheels.  He was a real "wheeler dealer", no pun intended and was always pretty much drunk.  He would be in the back of the shop on Beach Blvd. at Rosecrans and be screaming out prices.  You could always work a deal if you had cash.  I'm sure the cash went in his pocket and not the till.

A story I heard was that Johnny's son was in the Phoenix area and had mob ties.  He was shot and ended up in a wheelchair.

Johnny's has long gone away like the Auto Haus stores, but the memory lengers on.  To close on this one, Jim, I can still smell the VHT paint!!! :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 06, 2009, 22:40:16 pm
::)  Wellll, let's see...  When it all started was fall of 1964.  I'd started school at Fullerton Jr College and was driving my first bug, a metallic blue '56.  Driving through the parking lot, I couldn't help but notice how many VW's where there... one that caught my eye was a beautiful black '65 with chromies that belonged to Brian Renie (God).  I started hanging around a bit with Brian who had gone to high school in Anaheim and knew John Lazenby and pointed out his then red '63.  Another guy that was around then was Richard Kugel (brother of Hot Rodder Jerry Kugel / Kugel Components) who drove a gold bug with very cool Jardine headers.  After awhile, we all got to know each other and would cruise around the Anaheim area on the weekends visiting Carl's, The Bean Hut, Taco Villa and a place called Hillside Drive-In which was a few miles north in Fullerton.  One night we bumped into Pete Dayton at Carl's... he was looking for bugs and owners to start a car club and word spread fast.  Mike Huggins, Mike Mendenhall, Dewight McGill, John Radke (never owned a VW but  was always there), John Krysick,Gregg Bunch, Gary Kruger and Bob Stewart where all guys who went to FJC and were a part of things before I got drafted in early 1967.  Times were a lot simpler back then.  There was no performance stuff to speak of and chrome wheels were the vogue.  Muffler shop headers (not really even headers...more like noise makers) soon took off and became big business.  It was all about cruising around with an FM radio or four track Muntz tape deck blasting away with your new found VW pals..... 8)

Regarding Jim's final sentence I will add that I still have my tape decks, both 4 and 8 track and gobs of tapes.  They are in storage in my garage.  Wonder if they are worth anything except a bunch of great memories??? ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 06, 2009, 23:07:22 pm
WOW.....thanks for chiming in, John! 8)  Seems like it was just yesterday ::) ;D!


In 69 did Led Zeppelin music already hit the US ? You had a 8-track tape player in the 63 ?


I had a four track Muntz hooked up to some old wood bookshelf speakers behind the back seat (real quality stuff ::)).  I never had an 8 track in the '63.  We used to hit the drive-in swap meets a lot for bootleg tapes ($2.95ea).  I liked the first two Zep albums the best (still do to this day), Lee Michaels, Santana, The Who, Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Doors and Crosby Stills & Nash to name a few.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Nico86 on March 06, 2009, 23:37:42 pm



In 69 did Led Zeppelin music already hit the US ? You had a 8-track tape player in the 63 ?


I had a four track Muntz hooked up to some old wood bookshelf speakers behind the back seat (real quality stuff ::)).  I never had an 8 track in the '63.  We used to hit the drive-in swap meets a lot for bootleg tapes ($2.95ea).  I liked the first two Zep albums the best (still do to this day), Lee Michaels, Santana, The Who, Stones, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Doors and Crosby Stills & Nash to name a few.

Only great things.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Lee.C on March 07, 2009, 00:07:47 am
Wish I had more pics for you guys but photo taking wasn't a big part of my life back then.  Here's a couple of oldies from the 40hp Zenith carb days.  I bought the carb and manifold from a repair shop in Fullerton... had NO IDEA about jetting, intake manifold leaks, etc.  The manifold wound up being tweaked and never set flush on the heads... this after weeks of head scratching.  After that mystery was finally solved, I went to Don Burns VW one day and had them put it on the chassis dyno to try and sort the jetting.  What a joke! ::)  The green car is Lazenby's red '63 after it was repainted by Babe's in Fullerton.... by far one of the nicest paint jobs I can recall from back then.  As much as everyone here loves the Butternut color it later became, the Cadillac Firemist Green is the color I'll always remember most.  John and I spent a lot of weekend afternoons waxing our cars at his folks place in Anaheim or Hillcrest Park in Fullerton (across the street from Hillside Drive-In)... seemed there was always some friends waxing cars at the park whenever you'd cruise through.  I can't begin to think how many cans of VHT we sprayed on our "headers".... it was a weekly ritual! ::) ;)

The photo of my '63 is taken in my parents driveway in Anaheim.  Yes, Jim is correct on the color.  Firemist colors were only offered on Caddy's then and Babe Cox the man who painted it said it was a "poor man's metalflake".  I still like the color to this day.  Babe was a black man that was a good friend of my Dad's and he was at our home often.  He passed away some years ago, but was another influence on me and my cars.

I remember those Firestone tires.  I use to sit and paint the gold strip and letters weekly.  There was a product known as Harely Tire-nu, same company that made Harley wax.  I kind of figured out how to make the stuff by going to the local Save-On drug store and buying and mixing up batches.  We used it like water and speaking of water, every time you drove through a puddle the stuff washed off.

The rear rims came from Johnny's Speed & Chrome or as we use to affectionately call it (Johnny's Chip & Peel).  They were 6" Chevy outers with Porsche centers.  Johnny Hewey owned Jiffy Plating and did all of his own wheels.  He was a real "wheeler dealer", no pun intended and was always pretty much drunk.  He would be in the back of the shop on Beach Blvd. at Rosecrans and be screaming out prices.  You could always work a deal if you had cash.  I'm sure the cash went in his pocket and not the till.

A story I heard was that Johnny's son was in the Phoenix area and had mob ties.  He was shot and ended up in a wheelchair.

Johnny's has long gone away like the Auto Haus stores, but the memory lengers on.  To close on this one, Jim, I can still smell the VHT paint!!! :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\


COOOOOOOOOL stories dude - Keep em coming along with some pic's  ;) :)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 07, 2009, 01:46:13 am
Sarge and John... this is truly a great thread. I hope that it remains alive for a long time.

John, thanks for the laughs (Johnny's Chip & Peel). HAHA!! That's exactly what my friends and I called it, back when we were building our cars. Also, it's good hearing that other people believed in Harley's products. God, I miss their carnuba wax. GREAT STUFF! I've tried dozens of different types since then... but nothing beats Harley's. The smell was awesome, too. When McNew and I had our car detailing business, we held an account with them. If I remember correctly... they were near us in Long Beach. Cool people, too.

Beings that my group of friends and I were a couple of years younger, we'd always look up to the D.K.P. cars and their vibe and overall pride & enthusiasm towards the scene. So when I was lucky enough to get in to D.K.K. I was pretty stoked. But to this day, I never tire of the stories from you guys.

Please keep 'em flowing.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: lawrence on March 07, 2009, 05:48:21 am
This is some cool stuff right here. Thanks for sharing John and Sarge.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: iowa mark on March 07, 2009, 19:05:33 pm
This thread reminds me of how i was feeling about all the "cool guys" out in California I read about in that new magazine "The Fun Car Journal". Wow, I wish I was out there instead of back in Iowa! My car was running Chevy adapters and a Cyclone header and carried a 12 volt battery to run the 8-track. Those guys have great big 1700cc motors and carbs and stuff! I got my induction notice in the mail, ran down to the Navy recruiter and he pre-dated my enlistment. I was off to San Diego and was sure I would stick out like a "hick" amidst the wall-to-wall hot shoes of southern California! First chance I got, I was driving up the coast to a Bug-In. The racers were faster than anything I'd seen! The show was full of cars that were in the magazine! The people though, were just people. Gene Berg was a skinny bald-headed guy that gave me a strange look when I recognized him and couldn't remember to close my open mouth. The drivers were all greasy when they climbed back in for another run. The car guys made the same remarks about the hot chick walking by as I would have. Most of them were my age, more or less. Just helping each other make decisions about the usual junk. "Want to take a run up to so-and-so"s?" "Think I should drill out my mains, or leave 'um?" "Watch out for that green Camaro! He's faster than he looks!" "Shit, man, she says she pregnant!" So, Sarge, even though it was just everyday living for you guys. The club scene you were a part of, was the forerunner of sites like this. A bunch of like-minded nuts pushing a crazy idea to another level. You were the inspiration for guys like me way back then, and it looks like that is still the case today. Oh, and thanks for not laughing at that paisley shirt I was waring at the Bug-In.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 07, 2009, 20:57:21 pm

This thread reminds me of how i was feeling about all the "cool guys" out in California I read about in that new magazine "The Fun Car Journal". Wow, I wish I was out there instead of back in Iowa! My car was running Chevy adapters and a Cyclone header and carried a 12 volt battery to run the 8-track. Those guys have great big 1700cc motors and carbs and stuff! I got my induction notice in the mail, ran down to the Navy recruiter and he pre-dated my enlistment. I was off to San Diego and was sure I would stick out like a "hick" amidst the wall-to-wall hot shoes of southern California! First chance I got, I was driving up the coast to a Bug-In. The racers were faster than anything I'd seen! The show was full of cars that were in the magazine! The people though, were just people. Gene Berg was a skinny bald-headed guy that gave me a strange look when I recognized him and couldn't remember to close my open mouth. The drivers were all greasy when they climbed back in for another run. The car guys made the same remarks about the hot chick walking by as I would have. Most of them were my age, more or less. Just helping each other make decisions about the usual junk. "Want to take a run up to so-and-so"s?" "Think I should drill out my mains, or leave 'um?" "Watch out for that green Camaro! He's faster than he looks!" "Shit, man, she says she pregnant!" So, Sarge, even though it was just everyday living for you guys. The club scene you were a part of, was the forerunner of sites like this. A bunch of like-minded nuts pushing a crazy idea to another level. You were the inspiration for guys like me way back then, and it looks like that is still the case today. Oh, and thanks for not laughing at that paisley shirt I was waring at the Bug-In.


Cool read.... ;D  Last I checked, all of us here in SoCal still put our pants on one leg at a time just like the rest of the world ::)!


Here's a couple more pics... The first is my Dad out front of the house where I grew up in La Habra.  Left to right, my '63, the ruby red '65 bought new from Meltebeke VW, and the Sea Sand '66 bought direct from Germany.  The next is me on leave before heading off to Viet Nam... time for another car waxing at Hillcrest Park ::) ;D.  The last is Sharon with the '63 out front of where she grew up in Anaheim.  Sharon and I met in art class at Fullerton JC in 1964 and has been by my side ever since for all the fun and excitement :o ::) ;D.  A lot of weekends we doubled up to Hollywood with the Lazenby's stopping at Tiny Naylor's Drive In for a Cherry-Lemon OJ before heading home to make the rounds in Anaheim.  Gas used to be $.36 cents a gallon for Chevron Custom Supreme, so there was never any shortage of cruising ;).


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: speedwell on March 07, 2009, 21:20:49 pm
 :o :o :o :o :o miss sharon :P :P :P
 if I had lived in this time , I would also have chosen her :P :P :P good choice bro  ;)

fabs


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 07, 2009, 22:42:49 pm
:o :o :o :o :o miss sharon :P :P :P
 if I had lived in this time , I would also have chosen her :P :P :P good choice bro  ;)

fabs

Thanks, Fabs!  40 years of wedded bliss this July... seems like just yesterday we were standing in the church on Broadway down the street from the Pickwick; my club brothers in their burgundy jackets heckling us from the front row of pews ::) ;D  Wish I had a pic of all the bugs lined up out front.  After the smoke cleared from all the burnouts, I remember hearing a woman say she'd NEVER heard VW's squeal their tires like that....... :o ::)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Nico86 on March 08, 2009, 00:59:59 am
:o :o :o :o :o miss sharon :P :P :P
 if I had lived in this time , I would also have chosen her :P :P :P good choice bro  ;)

fabs

Thanks, Fabs!  40 years of wedded bliss this July... seems like just yesterday we were standing in the church on Broadway down the street from the Pickwick; my club brothers in their burgundy jackets heckling us from the front row of pews ::) ;D  Wish I had a pic of all the bugs lined up out front.  After the smoke cleared from all the burnouts, I remember hearing a woman say she'd NEVER heard VW's squeal their tires like that....... :o ::)

That must have been a great wedding ! Congrats for 40 years of wedding, that's so rare nowadays.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 08, 2009, 01:12:55 am
Thanks, Fabs!  40 years of wedded bliss this July... seems like just yesterday we were standing in the church on Broadway down the street from the Pickwick; my club brothers in their burgundy jackets heckling us from the front row of pews ::) ;D  Wish I had a pic of all the bugs lined up out front.  After the smoke cleared from all the burnouts, I remember hearing a woman say she'd NEVER heard VW's squeal their tires like that....... :o ::)

That is truly awesome. You two make a great couple, too. Congrats on the upcoming 40 years.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: WCB Hitler's Hot Rod on March 08, 2009, 07:28:37 am
Congrats Sarge with your 40 year wedding anniversary! That is rare now a days. Couldn't happen to a finer couple!
Now...keep the stories and pics comin'. This is the best thread EVER! ;D 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Felix/DFL on March 08, 2009, 14:44:57 pm
You guys are crazy!

Sometimes I don`t know which colour my undepants has that I took on in the morning, and you guys are telling storys that are older than 40 years as if they happened yesterday  8)
Thank`s for charing those memorys with us!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Cornpanzer on March 08, 2009, 15:11:02 pm
Sharon still is a cutie!  Jim on the other hand.......  ;) ;)

Keep having fun Sarge!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: vwxtc4free on March 08, 2009, 17:13:19 pm
  I can't begin to think how many cans of VHT we sprayed on our "headers".... it was a weekly ritual! ::) ;)

WOW,That statment takes me back.I may have not have lived in Cali. But as a kid growing up here on the east coast my first memories of a cool car was a green '70 chevelle of a sisters friend.He use too crawl under it every week with some vht also.I just remember how cool those headers looked peeking out behind the skinny centerlines .It had a coil cut in front to give it some rake just like a looker. 8)

Speaking of lookers .Jim ,you are a lucky man. ;) You have two nice lookers. and one of them enjoys VW's too.

 ;D Congrats on 40 years! Something to be proud of in this day and age.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 08, 2009, 17:39:37 pm
Thanks guys! :)      My days at Fullerton JC came to an end after a year and a half.  Sharon and I were both art majors and were together in a number of classes.  Our grades quickly tapered off ::).  Before I knew it, I became available for the draft.  I needed a job bad and found it at Graham's Chevron in La Habra.  John and Bill Graham taught me more about life then my own parents it seemed.  The other old timer that worked there was a guy named Mike Barnaby who drove a jacked up '52 Ford with a tube front axle and a 406cu mill under the hood.  The Grahams nicknamed him Balls for some reason ::).  The three of them enjoyed nothing better then verbally working me over about my shit box bug.... "Hey, somebody pissed yer back windows, Jim" (I had yellow plexiglass quarter windows), "When ya gettin' that hemorrhoid exhaust pipe removed", and so on.  John had a hair trigger temper and liked grilling me about the zerk fittings I supposedly greased on the produce truck driveshaft or the new Atlas Plycron tire I'd wadded up on the tire machine... "WTF ARE YOU DO'IN TO MY TIRE, JIM???DON'T YOU LIKE MY TIRE, JIM????? >:( >:( >:(.  After a day of that BS, I'd get out of there at nine and head down to pick up Sharon in Santa Ana where she had a job dipping ice cream at Hi-Lo Drugs... then over to Harbor Blvd to cruise around all the hot spots before heading back to La Habra at mid-night.  The old Stone's song Goin' Home always came on at mid-night.... 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Georg/DFL on March 08, 2009, 19:55:13 pm
Sarge and John: Thanks for sharing your memories and stories with us. It's just great reading them! Keep 'em coming!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:12:15 pm
Sarge and John: Thanks for sharing your memories and stories with us. It's just great reading them! Keep 'em coming!

Over the weekend I did some diggin' and came up with some old photos.  Nothing to do with the cars, but some shots of people.  Now you can put a face with the name.  If this gets screwed up in sending it is because I have no clue what I'm doing.

First photo will be at my wedding (I'm still a newley wed with only 38 years this August, but I'm also much younger than Sarge!!!!!!!!!
Left to right:  DKP Dave Patrice, my best man and then owner of an Auminum front end 409 Chevy John Burk, myself (I had to have a gold coat as the car was at Becker's being painted Yarbonnett Yellow at the time).  Gary Michael Huggins, a founding member and the guy who came up with the DKP name.  Last, but certainly not least a much younger James Edmistion looking rather dashing.  John L.



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:17:19 pm
Sarge and John: Thanks for sharing your memories and stories with us. It's just great reading them! Keep 'em coming!

Another shot leaving the church.  Edmistion is t the far left, but now he is a right winger like me.  With his back (best side) to the camera is Underdog Doug (The Mass) Gordon.  Far right is Rich Kugel being the Fonz as usual.

John L.




Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 09, 2009, 19:18:29 pm
 :o :o :o  DAMN.... that gold coat's the SHIT!! 8) 8) 8)   Nice one, John ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 09, 2009, 19:22:19 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:27:29 pm
Sarge and John: Thanks for sharing your memories and stories with us. It's just great reading them! Keep 'em coming!

This shot is in my parents back yard at the receiption.  I think there were about 300 people there including most of DKP.  Left to right;  Mike (Howdy) Mahaffey, Gary Michael Huggins, Frosty (Forest Winton Blossom III).  Yes, that is really his name and he was in the club before the DKP days and work for Joe Schneider at Schneider Motors.  Rich Kugel and last Mike (Here Now) Mendenhall.  He always started a sentence wth the famous quote, "Here Now".

John L.




Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:35:56 pm
:o :o :o  DAMN.... that gold coat's the SHIT!! 8) 8) 8)   Nice one, John ;D

Jim, admit it.  You wanted that coat in the "worst way", but it was just to tight on your big frame!!!  God, it is awful isn't it.  Well at least I had good taste in women and my pals. ;D ;D ;D

John


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: speedwell on March 09, 2009, 19:45:52 pm
waouwww cool stories


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:51:10 pm
Sharon still is a cutie!  Jim on the other hand.......  ;) ;)

Keep having fun Sarge!

Here is a shot of a younger Sharon Edmision in the Wedding Party (far left).  She was a babe then and still is to this day!!!  I always had a thing for older women.  Sharon is exactly 6 months older than me.

John L.




Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 19:57:06 pm
Sarge and John: Thanks for sharing your memories and stories with us. It's just great reading them! Keep 'em coming!

Here is a very faded shot of Rich Kugel and myslef the morning we were going to Navy Boot Camp.  That is Rich's dad to the right and my dad almost out of the shot.  This was in my partents driveway and the 1960 Pontiac out front belonged to Mr. Kugel.

Within 24 hours neither of us had any hair!!! :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

John L.




Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 20:08:05 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Lee.C on March 09, 2009, 20:44:47 pm
 ;D These are AMAZING stories and pic's guys  :)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: peach_ on March 09, 2009, 21:22:11 pm
This is great, these stories inspire me to do stuff like you "older" guys did, keep'em coming ;D



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 09, 2009, 21:43:25 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


John, you'll have to meet my buddy Frank "Sheep" Seifert sometime. Sarge has had the "pleasure" (?)  ::) a few times. Anyway, we went to high school together in the 1980's, and after finishing that inaupiscious career, we went on to work together at most crappy jobs we could find. Not only did we pretty much always work same jobs, but we were WAY into DKP folklore, and the very early Orange Co. look cars, like Jim E's white '63, Don Crane's red '67, Fleming's black oval, your '63... etc. This was about 1989, 1990 or so. Right around time that you guys had the reunion in Yorba Linda. I remember when Hot VW's ran the little article on the reunion... what was that 1990 or so? Der Kleiner Lug Nut Toss and all that. Somehow, we got our hand on a copy of the VHS tape that Greg Bunch and Tony Alvarez made with Fleming... all those old pics set to the period rock and roll. We sat around with some other gearhead VW friends one night, 1993 I think... and guzzled a couple of 12 packs of Sheep's dad's beer and watched that tape until the thing broke in two.... no kidding. Sure looked like Sarge and the rest of ya had too much fun. Coolest bit was that most of the pics were either of people or of cars but with people around them. EVERYBODY was SMILING.  ;D Must have been a great time to grow up with a group of like minded friends. Bethca never thought you guys were going to change history, huh?
Now a days, if some oldies station comes on the radio for whatever reason, everytime I hear "Do You Believe in Magic" or "For What it's Worth" or "People Are Strange" I think of a bunch of car crazy college kids in maroon jackets raising hell on Harbor Blvd circa 1969 under an Anaheim sunset. TOO COOL  8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 09, 2009, 21:53:24 pm
BTW: John, you'll have to ask Sheep about his 1966 Bug and the motor we've been working on for the better part of 2 years now. Not your typical Y2K IDA'd 2276 thing....   I think Sarge and you might find its specs "interesting"

Consider yourselves "mentors"

Jim


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 22:52:31 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


John, you'll have to meet my buddy Frank "Sheep" Seifert sometime. Sarge has had the "pleasure" (?)  ::) a few times. Anyway, we went to high school together in the 1980's, and after finishing that inaupiscious career, we went on to work together at most crappy jobs we could find. Not only did we pretty much always work same jobs, but we were WAY into DKP folklore, and the very early Orange Co. look cars, like Jim E's white '63, Don Crane's red '67, Fleming's black oval, your '63... etc. This was about 1989, 1990 or so. Right around time that you guys had the reunion in Yorba Linda. I remember when Hot VW's ran the little article on the reunion... what was that 1990 or so? Der Kleiner Lug Nut Toss and all that. Somehow, we got our hand on a copy of the VHS tape that Greg Bunch and Tony Alvarez made with Fleming... all those old pics set to the period rock and roll. We sat around with some other gearhead VW friends one night, 1993 I think... and guzzled a couple of 12 packs of Sheep's dad's beer and watched that tape until the thing broke in two.... no kidding. Sure looked like Sarge and the rest of ya had too much fun. Coolest bit was that most of the pics were either of people or of cars but with people around them. EVERYBODY was SMILING.  ;D Must have been a great time to grow up with a group of like minded friends. Bethca never thought you guys were going to change history, huh?
Now a days, if some oldies station comes on the radio for whatever reason, everytime I hear "Do You Believe in Magic" or "For What it's Worth" or "People Are Strange" I think of a bunch of car crazy college kids in maroon jackets raising hell on Harbor Blvd circa 1969 under an Anaheim sunset. TOO COOL  8)

Jim,

The tape you refer to may have been the one that I made.  Did it start with a VW driving into the park?  The camera would have been held in the passenger seat.  If so, then I've still got the "original".  Christie and I got it out not to long ago and watched it.  We did incorporate some footage that Greg Bunch and Ron (Big Al Taming) Fleming had worked on.

The day of the DKP reunion I also had a Chrysler show going on at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.  At that time Christie was the President of the local WPC (Walter P. Chrysler) Club and we had to be at both places.  I had two or three cars at that show as well.  My heart really wanted to stay at the DKP event forever, but I couldn't and to this day I regret that.

Don't know about us changing history.  We were just young and lived for the day and loved our cars and the Orange County way of life.  To this day I still think it is the best place in the world, but it is certainly a different world.  My standard statement when people ask where I live is, "I'm the white guy in Garden Grove".

You talk about listening to the Oldies, well back then they weren't Oldies.  We use to have a code when cruzin'.  The radios in the cars were five button I think and we all had our stations programed the same.  When a good tune came on we signaled each other via fingers so we all had the same tune at the same time.

Last, I had a phone call from Lynn Rosevear yesterday morning, but we were out for the day, so I'll need to call him back.  Here is another couple of items I found over the weekend.  There are two different cover versions.  One is loose leaf and the other bound.  They are VIRGIN!!

Enjoy,

John L.



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 09, 2009, 23:01:43 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


John, you'll have to meet my buddy Frank "Sheep" Seifert sometime. Sarge has had the "pleasure" (?)  ::) a few times. Anyway, we went to high school together in the 1980's, and after finishing that inaupiscious career, we went on to work together at most crappy jobs we could find. Not only did we pretty much always work same jobs, but we were WAY into DKP folklore, and the very early Orange Co. look cars, like Jim E's white '63, Don Crane's red '67, Fleming's black oval, your '63... etc. This was about 1989, 1990 or so. Right around time that you guys had the reunion in Yorba Linda. I remember when Hot VW's ran the little article on the reunion... what was that 1990 or so? Der Kleiner Lug Nut Toss and all that. Somehow, we got our hand on a copy of the VHS tape that Greg Bunch and Tony Alvarez made with Fleming... all those old pics set to the period rock and roll. We sat around with some other gearhead VW friends one night, 1993 I think... and guzzled a couple of 12 packs of Sheep's dad's beer and watched that tape until the thing broke in two.... no kidding. Sure looked like Sarge and the rest of ya had too much fun. Coolest bit was that most of the pics were either of people or of cars but with people around them. EVERYBODY was SMILING.  ;D Must have been a great time to grow up with a group of like minded friends. Bethca never thought you guys were going to change history, huh?
Now a days, if some oldies station comes on the radio for whatever reason, everytime I hear "Do You Believe in Magic" or "For What it's Worth" or "People Are Strange" I think of a bunch of car crazy college kids in maroon jackets raising hell on Harbor Blvd circa 1969 under an Anaheim sunset. TOO COOL  8)

Jim,

The tape you refer to may have been the one that I made.  Did it start with a VW driving into the park?  The camera would have been held in the passenger seat.  If so, then I've still got the "original".  Christie and I got it out not to long ago and watched it.  We did incorporate some footage that Greg Bunch and Ron (Big Al Taming) Fleming had worked on.

The day of the DKP reunion I also had a Chrysler show going on at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.  At that time Christie was the President of the local WPC (Walter P. Chrysler) Club and we had to be at both places.  I had two or three cars at that show as well.  My heart really wanted to stay at the DKP event forever, but I couldn't and to this day I regret that.

Don't know about us changing history.  We were just young and lived for the day and loved our cars and the Orange County way of life.  To this day I still think it is the best place in the world, but it is certainly a different world.  My standard statement when people ask where I live is, "I'm the white guy in Garden Grove".

You talk about listening to the Oldies, well back then they weren't Oldies.  We use to have a code when cruzin'.  The radios in the cars were five button I think and we all had our stations programed the same.  When a good tune came on we signaled each other via fingers so we all had the same tune at the same time.

Last, I had a phone call from Lynn Rosevear yesterday morning, but we were out for the day, so I'll need to call him back.  Here is another couple of items I found over the weekend.  There are two different cover versions.  One is loose leaf and the other bound.  They are VIRGIN!!

Enjoy,

John L.


Hey John, the VHS did include that footage, but it started out with Jefferson Airplane's "You're My Best Friend" and showed the now famous DKP eagle logo... then Doors, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield...etc. It then segues to some 8mm film movie footage of Carlsbad and cruising what looks like San Juan capistrano. It then ends with footage from the interior of your black Bug and the reunion @ Yorba Linda,


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 23:11:35 pm
Thanks guys! :)      My days at Fullerton JC came to an end after a year and a half.  Sharon and I were both art majors and were together in a number of classes.  Our grades quickly tapered off ::).  Before I knew it, I became available for the draft.  I needed a job bad and found it at Graham's Chevron in La Habra.  John and Bill Graham taught me more about life then my own parents it seemed.  The other old timer that worked there was a guy named Mike Barnaby who drove a jacked up '52 Ford with a tube front axle and a 406cu mill under the hood.  The Grahams nicknamed him Balls for some reason ::).  The three of them enjoyed nothing better then verbally working me over about my shit box bug.... "Hey, somebody pissed yer back windows, Jim" (I had yellow plexiglass quarter windows), "When ya gettin' that hemorrhoid exhaust pipe removed", and so on.  John had a hair trigger temper and liked grilling me about the zerk fittings I supposedly greased on the produce truck driveshaft or the new Atlas Plycron tire I'd wadded up on the tire machine... "WTF ARE YOU DO'IN TO MY TIRE, JIM???DON'T YOU LIKE MY TIRE, JIM????? >:( >:( >:(.  After a day of that BS, I'd get out of there at nine and head down to pick up Sharon in Santa Ana where she had a job dipping ice cream at Hi-Lo Drugs... then over to Harbor Blvd to cruise around all the hot spots before heading back to La Habra at mid-night.  The old Stone's song Goin' Home always came on at mid-night.... 8)


The Hi-Lo Drugs was on 17th Street at Ross in Santa Ana.  You ask how I know this?  Well before we moved to Anaheim I lived about two block from there and attended third grade at that exact location.  The school was torn down and a small center was built.

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 09, 2009, 23:14:55 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


John, you'll have to meet my buddy Frank "Sheep" Seifert sometime. Sarge has had the "pleasure" (?)  ::) a few times. Anyway, we went to high school together in the 1980's, and after finishing that inaupiscious career, we went on to work together at most crappy jobs we could find. Not only did we pretty much always work same jobs, but we were WAY into DKP folklore, and the very early Orange Co. look cars, like Jim E's white '63, Don Crane's red '67, Fleming's black oval, your '63... etc. This was about 1989, 1990 or so. Right around time that you guys had the reunion in Yorba Linda. I remember when Hot VW's ran the little article on the reunion... what was that 1990 or so? Der Kleiner Lug Nut Toss and all that. Somehow, we got our hand on a copy of the VHS tape that Greg Bunch and Tony Alvarez made with Fleming... all those old pics set to the period rock and roll. We sat around with some other gearhead VW friends one night, 1993 I think... and guzzled a couple of 12 packs of Sheep's dad's beer and watched that tape until the thing broke in two.... no kidding. Sure looked like Sarge and the rest of ya had too much fun. Coolest bit was that most of the pics were either of people or of cars but with people around them. EVERYBODY was SMILING.  ;D Must have been a great time to grow up with a group of like minded friends. Bethca never thought you guys were going to change history, huh?
Now a days, if some oldies station comes on the radio for whatever reason, everytime I hear "Do You Believe in Magic" or "For What it's Worth" or "People Are Strange" I think of a bunch of car crazy college kids in maroon jackets raising hell on Harbor Blvd circa 1969 under an Anaheim sunset. TOO COOL  8)

Jim,

The tape you refer to may have been the one that I made.  Did it start with a VW driving into the park?  The camera would have been held in the passenger seat.  If so, then I've still got the "original".  Christie and I got it out not to long ago and watched it.  We did incorporate some footage that Greg Bunch and Ron (Big Al Taming) Fleming had worked on.

The day of the DKP reunion I also had a Chrysler show going on at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.  At that time Christie was the President of the local WPC (Walter P. Chrysler) Club and we had to be at both places.  I had two or three cars at that show as well.  My heart really wanted to stay at the DKP event forever, but I couldn't and to this day I regret that.

Don't know about us changing history.  We were just young and lived for the day and loved our cars and the Orange County way of life.  To this day I still think it is the best place in the world, but it is certainly a different world.  My standard statement when people ask where I live is, "I'm the white guy in Garden Grove".

You talk about listening to the Oldies, well back then they weren't Oldies.  We use to have a code when cruzin'.  The radios in the cars were five button I think and we all had our stations programed the same.  When a good tune came on we signaled each other via fingers so we all had the same tune at the same time.

Last, I had a phone call from Lynn Rosevear yesterday morning, but we were out for the day, so I'll need to call him back.  Here is another couple of items I found over the weekend.  There are two different cover versions.  One is loose leaf and the other bound.  They are VIRGIN!!

Enjoy,

John L.


Hey John, the VHS did include that footage, but it started out with Jefferson Airplane's "You're My Best Friend" and showed the now famous DKP eagle logo... then Doors, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield...etc. It then segues to some 8mm film movie footage of Carlsbad and cruising what looks like San Juan capistrano. It then ends with footage from the interior of your black Bug and the reunion @ Yorba Linda,

Yep, that is it.  I just got my things backwards.  Old age I guess.  Maybe I should transfer that to CD???

Here is another Auto Haus Catolog Cover.  This is the loose leaf version with a Chrome cover.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: peach_ on March 09, 2009, 23:54:57 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Jim Ratto

I think it is you younger guys in the hobby that keep the flame going for us.  It is great to have people that appreciate history and ask for the stories.  I think Jim E would agree?? :o :o

Anyway, I'll try to keep them comming. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

John L.


John, you'll have to meet my buddy Frank "Sheep" Seifert sometime. Sarge has had the "pleasure" (?)  ::) a few times. Anyway, we went to high school together in the 1980's, and after finishing that inaupiscious career, we went on to work together at most crappy jobs we could find. Not only did we pretty much always work same jobs, but we were WAY into DKP folklore, and the very early Orange Co. look cars, like Jim E's white '63, Don Crane's red '67, Fleming's black oval, your '63... etc. This was about 1989, 1990 or so. Right around time that you guys had the reunion in Yorba Linda. I remember when Hot VW's ran the little article on the reunion... what was that 1990 or so? Der Kleiner Lug Nut Toss and all that. Somehow, we got our hand on a copy of the VHS tape that Greg Bunch and Tony Alvarez made with Fleming... all those old pics set to the period rock and roll. We sat around with some other gearhead VW friends one night, 1993 I think... and guzzled a couple of 12 packs of Sheep's dad's beer and watched that tape until the thing broke in two.... no kidding. Sure looked like Sarge and the rest of ya had too much fun. Coolest bit was that most of the pics were either of people or of cars but with people around them. EVERYBODY was SMILING.  ;D Must have been a great time to grow up with a group of like minded friends. Bethca never thought you guys were going to change history, huh?
Now a days, if some oldies station comes on the radio for whatever reason, everytime I hear "Do You Believe in Magic" or "For What it's Worth" or "People Are Strange" I think of a bunch of car crazy college kids in maroon jackets raising hell on Harbor Blvd circa 1969 under an Anaheim sunset. TOO COOL  8)

Jim,

The tape you refer to may have been the one that I made.  Did it start with a VW driving into the park?  The camera would have been held in the passenger seat.  If so, then I've still got the "original".  Christie and I got it out not to long ago and watched it.  We did incorporate some footage that Greg Bunch and Ron (Big Al Taming) Fleming had worked on.

The day of the DKP reunion I also had a Chrysler show going on at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.  At that time Christie was the President of the local WPC (Walter P. Chrysler) Club and we had to be at both places.  I had two or three cars at that show as well.  My heart really wanted to stay at the DKP event forever, but I couldn't and to this day I regret that.

Don't know about us changing history.  We were just young and lived for the day and loved our cars and the Orange County way of life.  To this day I still think it is the best place in the world, but it is certainly a different world.  My standard statement when people ask where I live is, "I'm the white guy in Garden Grove".

You talk about listening to the Oldies, well back then they weren't Oldies.  We use to have a code when cruzin'.  The radios in the cars were five button I think and we all had our stations programed the same.  When a good tune came on we signaled each other via fingers so we all had the same tune at the same time.

Last, I had a phone call from Lynn Rosevear yesterday morning, but we were out for the day, so I'll need to call him back.  Here is another couple of items I found over the weekend.  There are two different cover versions.  One is loose leaf and the other bound.  They are VIRGIN!!

Enjoy,

John L.


Hey John, the VHS did include that footage, but it started out with Jefferson Airplane's "You're My Best Friend" and showed the now famous DKP eagle logo... then Doors, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield...etc. It then segues to some 8mm film movie footage of Carlsbad and cruising what looks like San Juan capistrano. It then ends with footage from the interior of your black Bug and the reunion @ Yorba Linda,

Yep, that is it.  I just got my things backwards.  Old age I guess.  Maybe I should transfer that to CD???

Here is another Auto Haus Catolog Cover.  This is the loose leaf version with a Chrome cover.


Maybe DVD Would be better  ;) :P :D

If you did I Put my name down for a copy  ;D



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 04:27:25 am
Pimp Daddy got da SHIT 8) 8) :o


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Dave Rosique on March 10, 2009, 04:38:29 am

Movie night at Sarge's house!!

I'll bring the beer!

~DR ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 10, 2009, 04:44:12 am
You talk about listening to the Oldies, well back then they weren't Oldies.  We use to have a code when cruzin'.  The radios in the cars were five button I think and we all had our stations programed the same.  When a good tune came on we signaled each other via fingers so we all had the same tune at the same time.

John & Sarge... GREAT STUFF. Please keep this thread going. Easily, one of (if not THE) best discussions on The Lounge. John, that radio story (above) is epic. It's what defines being part of not only a car club... but an exceptional one, is all about. One that cultivates camaraderie, fun, and being there for each other no matter what. After reading that paragraph about the radio push buttons (pre-sets), I smiled. From now on, when I'm driving my '67, I'm never going to look at my Sapphire AM radio the same.



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 04:47:25 am

Movie night at Sarge's house!!

I'll bring the beer!

~DR ;D


 :o Your free pass is in the mail ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 10, 2009, 04:48:56 am

Movie night at Sarge's house!!

I'll bring the beer!

~DR ;D

HAHA!! Ya beat me to it, Dave... well played.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Dave Rosique on March 10, 2009, 04:54:54 am

Movie night at Sarge's house!!

I'll bring the beer!

~DR ;D

HAHA!! Ya beat me to it, Dave... well played.

No problem Mark, he'll still need food, snacks, bail money, etc. ;)

~DR


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 10, 2009, 05:04:33 am
No problem Mark, he'll still need food, snacks, bail money, etc. ;)

~DR

True... good points all around. Bail money, however, isn't my fortè. Joking aside, if this is on, LET'S!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 05:06:57 am
PD don't need no BAIL money >:( ::)

Here's a couple shots of John when he was young and crazy.... a real LOOOONNG time ago ;D  Hey, that looks like a Johnny's decal in the vent window....


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: WCB Hitler's Hot Rod on March 10, 2009, 06:00:14 am
SECOND THAT!  ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Georg/DFL on March 10, 2009, 10:01:34 am
Awesome, guys, just awesome! I am blown away!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: guillaume on March 10, 2009, 12:28:50 pm
Cool stories. If you make a DVD version, I will buy one :)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 12:54:13 pm
Here's another shot of John... this time with my sis :o.  They were an item for a couple of hours I think  ;D.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: javabug on March 10, 2009, 13:16:08 pm
See this is what the Lounge is all about. Thanks to Sarge and John for rolling back the VW clock for us. This really is the genesis of the hobby we all follow, guys.... these guys posting their stories. Doesn't get any better....  8)

Keep it coming!

Yeah, what he said.  This is great reading.  Oh, and the pictures are priceless!  Thanks, guys.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 16:34:57 pm
PD don't need no BAIL money >:( ::)

Here's a couple shots of John when he was young and crazy.... a real LOOOONNG time ago ;D  Hey, that looks like a Johnny's decal in the vent window....

Jim,  I never knew you had these photos.  You were the wise one keeping a record of our history.  I was to stupid and just enjoyed our friendship and the cars.  Can't believe we were that young and I had that much hair!!!  Don't think that is a Johnny's decal, but really don't know what it would be.  What I'd give to have that car back today.
 ::) ::)
John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 16:41:37 pm
Here's another shot of John... this time with my sis :o.  They were an item for a couple of hours I think  ;D.

I had my share of girl friends, but there were two that made lasting memories for me.  I married one, Christie and the other one, Mary Ann Edmistion is shown here.  She was a very special person and I have nothing but fond memories of our times together.  Several years ago at Jim's house Mary Ann showed up and it was great to see her.  Today she has a son that flies military jets, but I'll let Jim fill you in on that.

Jim, these photos have not made my day, but they have made my week!!! :o :o

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fastbrit on March 10, 2009, 17:42:45 pm
Can you guys hold on a moment while I get myself a more comfy chair and a fresh bottle of wine? Thanks... :D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 10, 2009, 17:46:07 pm
John, love to see any more pics of your '63 in that Cadillac green.... very cool car.

Thanks for sharing the pics Sarge. You're alright, despite what Jayburn and Carlos say aboutcha


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 18:04:16 pm
Can you guys hold on a moment while I get myself a more comfy chair and a fresh bottle of wine? Thanks... :D

Keith,  had enough time to get a refill???  This has turned into a feeding frenzy and I am really enjoying it.  Jim and I haven't talked this much in years, to many years!! :-\


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Carlos De Alba on March 10, 2009, 18:05:52 pm

John........ Thanks for sharing..........great stories and pictures!!!  :o :o

Hope to see you soon !!!   ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 18:06:35 pm
John, love to see any more pics of your '63 in that Cadillac green.... very cool car.

Thanks for sharing the pics Sarge. You're alright, despite what Jayburn and Carlos say aboutcha

I'm still digging, so there will be more to follow.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 18:07:37 pm

Can you guys hold on a moment while I get myself a more comfy chair and a fresh bottle of wine? Thanks... :D


Bring two of everything... I'm tired and real thirsty :D


John, love to see any more pics of your '63 in that Cadillac green.... very cool car.

Thanks for sharing the pics Sarge. You're alright, despite what Jayburn and Carlos say aboutcha


My pleasure, Jim 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: speedwell on March 10, 2009, 18:23:09 pm
cool stories as usual guys and thx for the pic  ;)
fabs


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 19:51:29 pm
The photo with the decal or sticker in the windwing reminded me of something we use to do.  Pete Dayton and Gary Huggins both worked at Disneyland back in the day.  There was a Mickey Mouse decal with him holding something like a globe.  We took the Rich Rat and removed the globe and then took a DKP decal and cut the VW portion out and placed it in the Rat's hand.

This item was always displayed on the driver's windwing.  Christie and I are both annual passholders at the Tragic Kindom and are there about every week.  I've looked for the Rat, but have never found them.  Who would have ever thought a Mickey Mouse decal would be hard to find.

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fastbrit on March 10, 2009, 22:18:10 pm
Time for another bottle of Merlot... Hic! :P


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 22:58:53 pm
Time for another bottle of Merlot... Hic! :P

Keith,  You must remember that you need these stories for your next book!!! :o :o :o :o


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 10, 2009, 23:04:35 pm

Time for another bottle of Merlot... Hic! :P


No wonder nothing gets done out in the garage...... :-* ::) ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 10, 2009, 23:08:27 pm
next book?


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fastbrit on March 10, 2009, 23:10:59 pm
Keith,  You must remember that you need these stories for your next book!!! :o :o :o :o
But does anyone want books when they can read the stories on the internet? ??? ;D

No wonder nothing gets done out in the garage...... :-* ::) ;D
At least I've found time to lose the turn signals... :-*

next book?
Sigh... Don't you guys have anything better to do than read about a bunch of old farts? ::) ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 23:20:19 pm
Keith,  You must remember that you need these stories for your next book!!! :o :o :o :o
But does anyone want books when they can read the stories on the internet? ??? ;D

No wonder nothing gets done out in the garage...... :-* ::) ;D
At least I've found time to lose the turn signals... :-*

next book?
Sigh... Don't you guys have anything better to do than read about a bunch of old farts? ::) ;D

Your safe regarding the stories on the net.  By the time you get out of the cooler and into your next book we will all have forgotten the stories.  So at that time we can make them up all over again!! :o  About the "Old Farts", well all I can say is your not speaking of the Sarge and myself I'm sure because with the stellar lives we've lived to this point we are still young and have many more years to go, I hope. :-*


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fastbrit on March 10, 2009, 23:28:00 pm
Your safe regarding the stories on the net.  By the time you get out of the cooler and into your next book we will all have forgotten the stories.  So at that time we can make them up all over again!! :o  About the "Old Farts", well all I can say is your not speaking of the Sarge and myself I'm sure because with the stellar lives we've lived to this point we are still young and have many more years to go, I hope. :-*
I know what you're saying... I feel like an 18 year old, too. The trouble is, she always says 'No'! ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 10, 2009, 23:32:28 pm
Your safe regarding the stories on the net.  By the time you get out of the cooler and into your next book we will all have forgotten the stories.  So at that time we can make them up all over again!! :o  About the "Old Farts", well all I can say is your not speaking of the Sarge and myself I'm sure because with the stellar lives we've lived to this point we are still young and have many more years to go, I hope. :-*
I know what you're saying... I feel like an 18 year old, too. The trouble is, she always says 'No'! ;D

If she says "NO", then you must have chosen the wrong one!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fritter on March 11, 2009, 05:03:50 am
Very cool thread and pics, thanks for sharing! 

The paint on your green Bug looks very very nice John, even in 45 year old instamatic pictures!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 11, 2009, 16:30:49 pm
Very cool thread and pics, thanks for sharing! 

The paint on your green Bug looks very very nice John, even in 45 year old instamatic pictures!


Mike,

Thanks for the complement.  There was a lot of work regarding color sanding after the car was painted.  It looked like a mirror and in those days that was not common.  Also, I was a "wax freek" in those days and the car never saw water.  Countless memories with that car in that era.  I constatly smile when my mind takes me back to those times. ::) ::) ::)

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 11, 2009, 19:22:33 pm
Was it at this time you guys did the cruise(s) up to Hollywood?

if you have any pics (even if they have been posted before) of the early cars like Renie's or Kugel's, or even yours  ::) ::) ;D
you should scan 'em for us buddy.

 ;D

Jim "where's my belt" Ratto

Ah, the first Anaheim to Hollywood cruise!!  I remember that Sally Magill, Dwight's mom worked for the Anaheim Union School District and we made flyers in her office.  Sarge may have done some graffic work on them as he is very talanted that way.  Each of us would take a bunch and drive to super market, college, high school, etc. parking lots.  If there was a VW in site it was taged with a flyer.

The event started at 3 or 4 pm on a Saturday from the shopping center across the street from where the Anaheim Drive-In was on Lemon St.  I remember getting all "duded up" and had the car spotless.  One thing that was the rage then was raising the front end for "weight transfer".  The method that this was accomplished by was dangerous and crude, but it worked.  We would go to the local gas station, Pep Boys or where ever and buy muffler clamps.  Then jack each side of the car up which extended the shock and clamp the dust cover (which was metal) around the shock body.  This of course held the car up and your suspension became your tires and worked well until you hit a bump to hard.

Eventually we improved this method by going to see Pat Stuttsman at Anchor Muffler on then Los Angeles St, now Anaheim Blvd.  Pat would cut or torch the sheild off and extend the shock and them spot weld the shaft.  These also failed after so many bumps, but man when they worked we were coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool. :o :o :o :o

I remember Rich Kugel, John Krysack (sp) and myself kind of leading the thing.  We left the lot with close to 300 cars I think and down the 91 fwy to the 5 fwy and exited at Sunset or Hollywood Blvd.  Can't remember which one, but I do remember the looks we got.  There were kids like us and even some older folks who participated.

Somehow we ended up in the Ralph's Market parking lot on Sunset and when we exited the lot it was a left turn into traffic.  Some of the players actually went out and stopped traffic and I remember Kugel and myself "side by side" making the trun and getting both cars sideways!!! There is no way on God's earth today that you could pull all of this off without ending up in jail, but we did it.  Somewhere I  have a few photos of this which I'm still looking for.

Rich Kugel and I made a pac that we would be crusing Hollywood Blvd. in our cars when we turned 50!  He always refered tohis car as "The Volks" and it was one of the benchmarks of the time.  Don't know what every happened to the car and about meeting up on the Blvd. at 50, well it never played out, but I did and still do think about what if it had.......

John L.

PS:  James, can you add to any of this????::) ::) ::):o :o :o


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fritter on March 12, 2009, 00:23:58 am
John, thanks for the additional story. 

I don't know what it is about these old VW/DKP/Socal club stories that reels one in, is it the innocence of the time, the aura of the inception of the VW scene, a combination of all of the above or something else?  I am 38 and my parents are about all you guy's age, so maybe there is a little nostalgia about my own childhood and history mixed in there also.  My dad is 62 and had VW's when I was a kid.  I remember riding around in my Dad's '56 orange Bug with a mild motor and rusted out floor in about 1973.   ;D ;D  He was a sheetmetal worker so he eventually fabricated a new floor for it.  I wish that car was still around!

I love the fact that the early DKP cars were DRIVEN all over the place, not trailered or garaged most of the time.  That's where it's at in my opinion.

I am now inspired to build my '64 metal sunroof Bug to the style of these early cal look cars, I need a build formula for one now.   I just need some chrome wheels, some kind of mid sixties Cadillac color, and some muffler clamps.  ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 12, 2009, 00:31:27 am
John, thanks for the additional story. 

I don't know what it is about these old VW/DKP/Socal club stories that reels one in, is it the innocence of the time, the aura of the inception of the VW scene, a combination of all of the above or something else?  I am 38 and my parents are about all you guy's age, so maybe there is a little nostalgia about my own childhood and history mixed in there also.  My dad is 62 and had VW's when I was a kid.  I remember riding around in my Dad's '56 orange Bug with a mild motor and rusted out floor in about 1973.   ;D ;D  He was a sheetmetal worker so he eventually fabricated a new floor for it.  I wish that car was still around!

I love the fact that the early DKP cars were DRIVEN all over the place, not trailered or garaged most of the time.  That's where it's at in my opinion.

I am now inspired to build my '64 metal sunroof Bug to the style of these early cal look cars, I need a build formula for one now.   I just need some chrome wheels, some kind of mid sixties Cadillac color, and some muffler clamps.  ;D

my thoughts precisely. THUMBS UP 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fritter on March 12, 2009, 00:40:05 am
 ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 12, 2009, 04:02:36 am
Nice job on the paint chips, Mike... I remember seeing the R-M sign years ago while cruising around Anaheim.  John, that Hollywood / Ralph's Market deal I'd forgotten all about... it's like you mentioned a while back though, once you hear the story again, the memories start coming back.  Remember visiting the Custom House on Whittier Blvd and drooling over all the goodies in the show case.  The guy that ran the place... come on, you know his name.. had a black bug he used to park out front with every geegaw you could screw on a car.  We'd load up on Harley Tire Nu, Blue Christmas Tree air fresheners and semi chrome but not before having the dude drag everything out of the show case for us to fondle before moving on ;D.  Here's the old '63 with dash knobs that came from "The Case" along with a giant SW mechanical oil pressure gauge that required constant fiddling to keep air bubbles out of the capillary tube... WTF was I thinking???  This pic was taken in 1969... hence all the dash plaques and the DDS sticker in the window.  The key fob is a Graham's Chevron piece that finally blew up a while back :'(.  I'm fairly certain the Covico steering wheel was a Custom House piece as well.  Looks like the old Dixco tach got yanked off the dash, too... musta been 6-12v conversion time.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: low oval on March 12, 2009, 06:43:59 am
Sarge,
where was the custom house, don't remember that place.  also was the chevron station you used to work at, at whittier and euclid?  My buddy used to work at that one in the mid to late 70's.  I was always taking my 4by in there after hours to work on it.
jim


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 12, 2009, 12:33:45 pm
Sarge,
where was the custom house, don't remember that place.  also was the chevron station you used to work at, at whittier and euclid?  My buddy used to work at that one in the mid to late 70's.  I was always taking my 4by in there after hours to work on it.
jim

The Custom House was at the La Habra / Whittier border (Valley View St??) on the north side of Whittier Blvd.  Graham's was indeed at Euclid & Whittier Blvd across from Sander's Union 76 (owned by "Skinny" Sanders father of Paint by Molly Rollin Sanders).  There was always something going on at Graham's whether it was guys coming by to BS, or somebody "putting on a display" when the light turned green out front on Whittier Blvd.  Those were really the days.... 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 16:04:02 pm
Nice job on the paint chips, Mike... I remember seeing the R-M sign years ago while cruising around Anaheim.  John, that Hollywood / Ralph's Market deal I'd forgotten all about... it's like you mentioned a while back though, once you hear the story again, the memories start coming back.  Remember visiting the Custom House on Whittier Blvd and drooling over all the goodies in the show case.  The guy that ran the place... come on, you know his name.. had a black bug he used to park out front with every geegaw you could screw on a car.  We'd load up on Harley Tire Nu, Blue Christmas Tree air fresheners and semi chrome but not before having the dude drag everything out of the show case for us to fondle before moving on ;D.  Here's the old '63 with dash knobs that came from "The Case" along with a giant SW mechanical oil pressure gauge that required constant fiddling to keep air bubbles out of the capillary tube... WTF was I thinking???  This pic was taken in 1969... hence all the dash plaques and the DDS sticker in the window.  The key fob is a Graham's Chevron piece that finally blew up a while back :'(.  I'm fairly certain the Covico steering wheel was a Custom House piece as well.  Looks like the old Dixco tach got yanked off the dash, too... musta been 6-12v conversion time.

The Custom House was like going to church for me.  As James states we use to hang out there and gaze into those display cases.  The effect came close to viewing a copy of Playboy when you knew you shouldn't be going there!!  :o  The owner of the 1960 black sedan was "Willie".  He was in his early 70's then and look much younger.  He had purchased the car new and it was "showroom" perfect even when it was four or five years old.  After Willie passed on his son tried to carry on the business and as I remember moved it, but alas The Custom House closed its door forever.  >:( >:( >:( Trivia; before it was at the Whittier & Valley location is was located in Whittier on the south side of the Blvd.  It was very close to Richard Nixon's parents home which the last time I drove by it was an antuque shop.  For those of you cruzing Whittier Blvd. I think it is close to Coloma and sits way back off the street.  The roof is a very pronounced "A" fame style.  It is almost directly across the street from the Church the Nixon family attended.

Willie had a Judson Supercharger on his 36hp 1960 sedan along with every other accessory known to man at that time.  After drooling all over it for a long time I finally mustered up the funds and had him order one for me.  It took about a week to get and I remember driving up there every day waiting for the UPS truck to arrive.  Seems that it was $200 + which was a fortune then.  I was a bag boy at Crawford's Market making $1.57 per hour, so do the math.

The "knobs" James shows us are exactly the same ones that I had and may still have them some where in the garage.  Wonder if they are valuable today???  My car also had the chrome glove box door and ash tray door which came from the Custom House.

The gove box door reminded me of yet another tale !!!!  Back in the day I along with probably others carried either a bottle of Jade East, Canoe or English Leather (which I still use to this day)  in the glove box.  This was applied LIBERLY just prior to arriving at your dates home.  Anyway, Pete Dayton got the idea that you could put liquid other than water or windsheild cleaner in the tank behind the spare tire that was pressurized via the spare tire.  Peter came up with a Vodka mix and then disconnected the hose from the windsheild squirter (Kugel always refered to this item as the "Nardly") and drilled a small hole under the dash for the hose to exit.  With all of this in place once could have a "beverage" by simply holding a cup under the dash and pushing the dash button while in route!! ::) ::)  One other thing I remember regarding Peter and the Jade East was when he broke up with Dana Seal (a fellow Anaheim Hi) student he was so depressed that I watched him drink about half of the bottle while driving down Harbor Blvd. in Santa Ana.  This was aproximately where the Times building is located today, but back then it was nothing but bean fields.  Wonder what ever happend to Dana?  As I remember she was a "babe". ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Well, there you have another event in the life of us old timmers.......... ::) ::) ::)

John L


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 16:14:34 pm
Nice job on the paint chips, Mike... I remember seeing the R-M sign years ago while cruising around Anaheim.  John, that Hollywood / Ralph's Market deal I'd forgotten all about... it's like you mentioned a while back though, once you hear the story again, the memories start coming back.  Remember visiting the Custom House on Whittier Blvd and drooling over all the goodies in the show case.  The guy that ran the place... come on, you know his name.. had a black bug he used to park out front with every geegaw you could screw on a car.  We'd load up on Harley Tire Nu, Blue Christmas Tree air fresheners and semi chrome but not before having the dude drag everything out of the show case for us to fondle before moving on ;D.  Here's the old '63 with dash knobs that came from "The Case" along with a giant SW mechanical oil pressure gauge that required constant fiddling to keep air bubbles out of the capillary tube... WTF was I thinking???  This pic was taken in 1969... hence all the dash plaques and the DDS sticker in the window.  The key fob is a Graham's Chevron piece that finally blew up a while back :'(.  I'm fairly certain the Covico steering wheel was a Custom House piece as well.  Looks like the old Dixco tach got yanked off the dash, too... musta been 6-12v conversion time.

Just remembered another story after looking at Jim's interior shot again.  My Covico wheel came from the "101 Speed Shop" at the corner of Harbor Blvd. and Commonwealth Ave. in Fullerton.  That is also where my first set of chome wheels were purchased.  Some of us use to go to the local painter that lettered our fenders with "Jardine Headers, Fourtuned Headers, Anchor Headers", etc.  Don't know if I was the first but I had them paint the girl friend's name on the horn button.  I can vividly remember taking heat from some of the guys for this, but all these years later Gary Hugglins and others bring it up and we have a good laugh.   ;D ;D ;D

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 16:19:21 pm
John, thanks for the additional story. 

I don't know what it is about these old VW/DKP/Socal club stories that reels one in, is it the innocence of the time, the aura of the inception of the VW scene, a combination of all of the above or something else?  I am 38 and my parents are about all you guy's age, so maybe there is a little nostalgia about my own childhood and history mixed in there also.  My dad is 62 and had VW's when I was a kid.  I remember riding around in my Dad's '56 orange Bug with a mild motor and rusted out floor in about 1973.   ;D ;D  He was a sheetmetal worker so he eventually fabricated a new floor for it.  I wish that car was still around!

I love the fact that the early DKP cars were DRIVEN all over the place, not trailered or garaged most of the time.  That's where it's at in my opinion.

I am now inspired to build my '64 metal sunroof Bug to the style of these early cal look cars, I need a build formula for one now.   I just need some chrome wheels, some kind of mid sixties Cadillac color, and some muffler clamps.  ;D

Be very careful with those "MUFFLER CLAMPS"............. :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 12, 2009, 16:23:58 pm
Great stuff, John!! 8) 8) 8) ;D


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 16:32:39 pm
Great stuff, John!! 8) 8) 8) ;D

Remember, I need you with your "walker" beside me with mine to get through all of these memories.  Seriously, I can't remember when I've had this much fun reliving our younger days.  Wish we could go back and do it all over again.  Life was great and I couldn't have had a better pal in you and all of the other guys.

John

PS:  Did you remember that Ron Reeves VW was painted in the Firemist Red, which was almost a brown??


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Dave Rosique on March 12, 2009, 16:40:51 pm

John, Jim,

Your stories are priceless! Please keep 'em up!

A much simpler time indeed...

I never used the "muffler clamps". I went the other way and installed short chains in place of the front shocks to lower my '64 back around '72 or so :P Good times! I'm sure you can imagine how the car rode with all that pre-load :o

~DR.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 16:48:57 pm
Great stuff, John!! 8) 8) 8) ;D

Okay, here is another one.  I may have posted this before, but I don't remember, so here we go.  In 1964 one of the "Hot Spots" to cruize was Bob's Big Boy on Whitter Blvd.  Don't ask me how many of their burgers I ate in five minutes, but I'm sure I still hold that record!! ::) ::)

One weekend I was there in the afternoon, and met a very full of himself guy who had these really strange wheels on his red sedan.  The wheels turned out to be "Walkers" which Artie Alveraz has a set that I told him to buy 30+ years ago.  The guy who claimed he had designed them was the nephew of Richard Nixon.

Fast forward some 40+ years.  Christie is the office manager in a Dental office in Tustin.  One day she comes home to tell me about this strange coulple who come to the office and their name is "Nixon".  They own a memebership at Club 33 in Disneyland and want to know if the Doctor will "barter" his services for enterance to Club 33.  For those of you who are not famalier with Club 33 is was an exclusive place to eat that Walt Disney built and membership was very limited and could cost up to 25K per year. 

When she told me this I asked her to inquire if he was ever involved with VW's.  She did and he was and yes we did go to Club 33. ;) ;)

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 12, 2009, 17:53:31 pm
John,

I know the hot rodding stage at this point was NOT the focus...  yet. Sarge has told me a lot about his stages of engine upgrades... the single port with Zenith and Engle 110, the 1700 with Engle 125 and 40PII's and his rip roaring 1835 IDA motor.

I've read that most of the early DKP cars were mildly warmed over, i.e. maybe a header and an 010 distributor and different air cleaner.

When your car was the Cadillac green, did it have the 1200 stock engine? What stages of upgrades took place in your car, up to the Warbonnet car? That was 88 x 78 IDA engine if I remember reading in Keith's book.

Being you guys were young males, and obviously into your rides, I'm sure the HP virus was looming, waiting to infect you guys. How long did you guys run around with the stock motors out back? This was before Berg moved down from WA right? Deano was working for Empi out in Riverside. Nobody was really ruling the streets with big hp.... yet. When you visited Custom House, was it all just show stuff, and not go yet? Were you guys crawling over the counter @ Porsche dealers trying to get carbs and clutches and so on? Things must have been so different back then.....  a real learning curve I'm sure.
I'm guessing it was Doug's Underdog car or Crane's '67 that really got the hp wheels turning? Fleming's influence under the leadership of Gene Berg? Or were you guys watching Darrel V and Deano running the Inch Pincher and mimicing what was going on there?
Sorry for the rapid fire questions, but I live to read this stuff.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 19:08:17 pm
John,

I know the hot rodding stage at this point was NOT the focus...  yet. Sarge has told me a lot about his stages of engine upgrades... the single port with Zenith and Engle 110, the 1700 with Engle 125 and 40PII's and his rip roaring 1835 IDA motor.

I've read that most of the early DKP cars were mildly warmed over, i.e. maybe a header and an 010 distributor and different air cleaner.

When your car was the Cadillac green, did it have the 1200 stock engine? What stages of upgrades took place in your car, up to the Warbonnet car? That was 88 x 78 IDA engine if I remember reading in Keith's book.

Being you guys were young males, and obviously into your rides, I'm sure the HP virus was looming, waiting to infect you guys. How long did you guys run around with the stock motors out back? This was before Berg moved down from WA right? Deano was working for Empi out in Riverside. Nobody was really ruling the streets with big hp.... yet. When you visited Custom House, was it all just show stuff, and not go yet? Were you guys crawling over the counter @ Porsche dealers trying to get carbs and clutches and so on? Things must have been so different back then.....  a real learning curve I'm sure.
I'm guessing it was Doug's Underdog car or Crane's '67 that really got the hp wheels turning? Fleming's influence under the leadership of Gene Berg? Or were you guys watching Darrel V and Deano running the Inch Pincher and mimicing what was going on there?
Sorry for the rapid fire questions, but I live to read this stuff.

Sorry for the rapid fire questions, but I live to read this stuff  Mr. Ratto, It has become my mission to keep you reading and living!!! ::) ::) ::)

By 1964 I was doing different things.  After the Judson blew a hole in #3 we installed the 83mm kit along with a Potvin Cam.  Somewhere along there the frist set ever of "fresh air" Fourtuned Headers were installed.  Yes, we did the normal 010 Dist, Blue Coil, etc.  I remember going through Porsched Dipharam clutches like underwear.  If the car wouldn't get second gear rubber it was time to change it out. :( :(  This was all prior to the Gene Berg / Deano days.  I've told the story before that when I picked my car up at Econo Motors there was a guy working on an Orange race car.  That was Dean Lowery, but then I hadn't a clue.

When the car was Firemist I had graduated to a 69x88 engine built by Fleming when he worked at Bergs.  Also this engine had a 110 Engle, S&S headers an a Bug Spray.  The heads were fly cut, but nothing else done.  Remember, you could still buy high octain gas then.  Ron always refered to that motor as the "Tit's two barrell".  At times he would refer to anything that didn't have 48's as "azmatics".  The car in that format ran mid 15's as I recall.

That was in the days right after Berg had left Deano's and gone on his own.  There were wars going on!!!  Aronson was working at the machine shop at AJS Foreign Car in Anaheim along with Doug Haydon.  I was working the counter in the front of the store (my first parts job).  Shortly after that Aronson left and Fleming left Bergs and they started F & A Performance which was prior to FAT.  Not long after Doug Haydon and his brother Whit (both DKP) started Haydon Brothers.

I've mentioned before about Earl McMills.  He was also involved and I feel has never received the credit for his contributions during that era.  I think he was just a talented guy out there doing his thing and never wanted to go mainstream.  Possibly Sarge can shed some light on Earl and his offerings.

When the Underdog and Don Crane's cars were in the works I was in floating in the Gulf of Tonkin and Jim was getting shot at over there. So, I can't add much there, but I do suspect thats when things started to take off.

Back to my car and the Warbonnett years.  As the car was being painted by Becker's I was building the 78x88 Okrasa motor.  The original version of that had heads done by Fleming and then new special Engle cam (possibly FK-89) with Empi rockers, Empi tall manifolds, 48's, a dog house cooler, full flow system and S&S comp headers with a merge collector.  Also the gear box had close ratio's, but that may have carried over from the 69x88 motor.  It gets a little foggy in some areas as to when things occurred.

After a period I wanted heaters and more street usuable carbs.  So I went back to heater boxes with S & S street headers and 42 DCNF9 carbs from Berg along with his manifolds.  We removed the short gears and went back to standard ratios and at the same time got rid of the soldi mounts, but retained the "chrome" traction bar.  It didn't look as impressive, but I could drive it anywhere.  Once I adjusted to the gears and carbs I really like it much better.  You must remember this was my daily driver.  If I was to do one today it would be big and bad as opposed to a "cush ride".

Not to long after that Christie and I purchased our first home and we had sold our '50 Split Window to help with the downpayment.  Even with that and having the GI Bill it was a tough nut to crack.  I became more involved with the house (guess I was becoming domesticated) and put the car up for sale.  Shortly thereafter a guy named Perry something who worked for the phone company made me about the only offer and I took it. 

That car with all of what I've listed, not to mention the interior by Brads (it was really world class), the (5) American's went out of my life.  Just about a week ago I drove up Harbor Blvd. in Anaheim where the AAA use to be.  That is where I delivered the car to Perry and the last time I ever saw it in one piece.  I had emotions then, but certainly not like today.  That was over ten years of my life,  meeting people that would influence me for the rest of my life and meeting my future wife.  How does one put a price on those things???

See what you guys do to me.  I'll build another car if someone can find me a real set of American's for $100!!!!! :o :o :o :o  If things go the way I want I'll probably have another street VW before I leave this world.  Anyway, that is my plan and hope I've answered your questions.

John


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: low oval on March 12, 2009, 20:12:35 pm
John,
great stories, I was alwasy going to that bob's big boy.  my house was a couple of blocks away off the blvd. where the shell station and then gulf station was.  When I was young on friday and saturday nights the cars cruising the blvd. would turn around at my house.  Those were great times.
jim


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: vwcab on March 12, 2009, 20:34:38 pm
Great,just great.thx  ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 20:42:22 pm
John,
great stories, I was alwasy going to that bob's big boy.  my house was a couple of blocks away off the blvd. where the shell station and then gulf station was.  When I was young on friday and saturday nights the cars cruising the blvd. would turn around at my house.  Those were great times.
jim

I was there nightly as it was my favorite Burger!!!  Probably you saw me drive by, but I wasn't shooting!!!! ::) ::)

John


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 12, 2009, 20:44:51 pm
Great,just great.thx  ;)

No thanks necessary.  We should be thanking you guys for keep the thing going and expressing an interest to learn about those days.  I'm having a B L A S T,   oops sorry, That is a phrase from the past. ;D ;D ;D

John


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 12, 2009, 20:48:11 pm
Nice job on the paint chips, Mike... I remember seeing the R-M sign years ago while cruising around Anaheim.  John, that Hollywood / Ralph's Market deal I'd forgotten all about... it's like you mentioned a while back though, once you hear the story again, the memories start coming back.  Remember visiting the Custom House on Whittier Blvd and drooling over all the goodies in the show case.  The guy that ran the place... come on, you know his name.. had a black bug he used to park out front with every geegaw you could screw on a car.  We'd load up on Harley Tire Nu, Blue Christmas Tree air fresheners and semi chrome but not before having the dude drag everything out of the show case for us to fondle before moving on ;D.  Here's the old '63 with dash knobs that came from "The Case" along with a giant SW mechanical oil pressure gauge that required constant fiddling to keep air bubbles out of the capillary tube... WTF was I thinking???  This pic was taken in 1969... hence all the dash plaques and the DDS sticker in the window.  The key fob is a Graham's Chevron piece that finally blew up a while back :'(.  I'm fairly certain the Covico steering wheel was a Custom House piece as well.  Looks like the old Dixco tach got yanked off the dash, too... musta been 6-12v conversion time.

That's a great shot of your car Sarge, somehow the pics of your white '63 always seem to capture the era perfectly (the Zenith motor pics, the aluminum interior panels, your 40PII motor, the pics of your car on somebody's lawn with other DKP cars)...

Like Mike Fritz was saying above.... what is it about this golden era? If I could go back in time, I would choose to set the dial to 1966 or so and land in parking lot of FJC. I grew up a VW kid and made a lot of my life revolve around VW stuff and our small club in North Calif in the 90's and everything we did was based on what we thought you guys musta done in the late '60's. We could only make "assumptions" back then, as I didn't know you, there was no internet, etc, etc... so all these chestnut stories were more rumors that were handed down from anybody that would tell them to us. But you know, growing up carefree, and in a stong-headed car club.... we did much of the same.... met once a week, Friday nights were street racing out at ranch or in rural territory (or out at Lawrence Livermore Lab  :o :o), Saturday nights were cruising around or horsing around at somebody's house and Sunday was usually "fix what you broke Friday night" day (we met on Wed nights).
But to roll back time and be present for when it was all new and making ground... that'd be the best. Turning the radio on and hearing "Pinball Wizard" as a new song... getting around South Calif without the gridlocked traffic extending up into folks' driveways... picking off Mr. Boss 302 back when NOBODY had any idea a VW could lay waste to a lot of Detroit pig iron.... does (did?) it get any better?


I swear, i'm going to start looking for the ubiquitous "lil old lady" one owner '58-'67 Bug, leave it mostly alone, but add a set of period mags or 356 wheels, some Pirelli radials up front, Blue Streaks or Hurst slicks out back, and build the 88mm bore x 78 crank thing I keep day dreaming of. Galassi knows exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout.  8)

thanks again for all the fun


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Fritter on March 13, 2009, 01:50:26 am
Wow, very cool stories, love it!!!   ;D  The vodka/windshield washer switcheroo is genius.

I seriously am thinking about painting my '64 one of those '65 Caddy firemist colors above.....they look very cool!

I have a blue 019 distributor, were those part of the mid 60s parts bin also?  When did the Hurst shifters come along, mid or late 60's?

OK, someone needs to donate (or at least "long term loan") John Lazenby some Americans.....come on, this guy basically started the trend!  Let's get him some wheels!!   ;D ;D ;D



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: low oval on March 13, 2009, 04:52:47 am
John,
great stories, I was alwasy going to that bob's big boy.  my house was a couple of blocks away off the blvd. where the shell station and then gulf station was.  When I was young on friday and saturday nights the cars cruising the blvd. would turn around at my house.  Those were great times.
jim

I was there nightly as it was my favorite Burger!!!  Probably you saw me drive by, but I wasn't shooting!!!! ::) ::)

John



I'm sure you did turn around at my house, strub and christine one block up from the blvd.  those were the days, those v8's would rattle the windows on my bedroom.  occasionally my dad would let the local pd bike cop hide in our driveway and pop the young kids doing burnouts and unsafe u turns.  this was after many weekends of having beer bottles and other stuff thrown in our pool.  But man those were fun days/nights, where it would take about an hour to go from colima down past bob's.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: WCB Hitler's Hot Rod on March 13, 2009, 07:31:16 am
Great stories! Really enjoy them! What I would pay to get my hands on an old DDS sticker like that! Damn! Never knew they made them. 8)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Rennsurfer on March 13, 2009, 07:32:57 am
Too cool! I love this thread. Whittier Blvd. was the best. Cruised it from '79 till they shut us down. We tried to get it going, again, in 1984 or '85. Took my girlfriend out that night, out there. Cops everywhere and pissed off. So I went back down to the beach... they were ticketing anyone that remotely looked like they were cruising. At least some of us still have our great memories of being there. What a great time that was.

I know that we've all thanked you guys many times for these great stories, but like I posted earlier; this has gotta be the coolest thread on this site. As a teenager, I looked up to the Panzer cars and they're what inspired me to build a Cal Looker.

And for that, I'm grateful. Please... do carry on.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Jim Ratto on March 13, 2009, 19:33:51 pm
Sarge and John,
So when Aronson debuted the white '63 (what was it about '63 model year and your guys? ::)) that we all know now.... and I'm guessing Mahaffey's green split.... these cars were clearly different than the cars that made up the early years of the club (let's say pre Vietnam period of DKP)... when the ::) early members like yourselves got a load of the dechromed body work, the heavy rake, the no-frills bit, and then the Empi mag wheels, was it like seeing a UFO or something? I'm sure there must have been some type of strong reaction one way or another to the look Aronson came up with. Nobody else had gone "that far" yet, am I right?
And Mahaffey's car.... man, that must have really rocked your worlds.... 2000cc + IDA motor on the street on top of the "new look"

?

Thanks guys,
Jim


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 13, 2009, 19:44:33 pm
Wow, very cool stories, love it!!!   ;D  The vodka/windshield washer switcheroo is genius.

I seriously am thinking about painting my '64 one of those '65 Caddy firemist colors above.....they look very cool!

I have a blue 019 distributor, were those part of the mid 60s parts bin also?  When did the Hurst shifters come along, mid or late 60's?

OK, someone needs to donate (or at least "long term loan") John Lazenby some Americans.....come on, this guy basically started the trend!  Let's get him some wheels!!   ;D ;D ;D


OK, someone needs to donate (or at least "long term loan") John Lazenby some Americans.....come on, this guy basically started the trend!  Let's get him some wheels!!   ;D ;D ;D
Spread the love, I neeeeeeeeeeeed those wheels :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

I received an e-mail from  long time friend Don Mackay today showing American Racing is gone and the building is for sale.




Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 13, 2009, 19:51:51 pm
Sarge and John,
So when Aronson debuted the white '63 (what was it about '63 model year and your guys? ::)) that we all know now.... and I'm guessing Mahaffey's green split.... these cars were clearly different than the cars that made up the early years of the club (let's say pre Vietnam period of DKP)... when the ::) early members like yourselves got a load of the dechromed body work, the heavy rake, the no-frills bit, and then the Empi mag wheels, was it like seeing a UFO or something? I'm sure there must have been some type of strong reaction one way or another to the look Aronson came up with. Nobody else had gone "that far" yet, am I right?
And Mahaffey's car.... man, that must have really rocked your worlds.... 2000cc + IDA motor on the street on top of the "new look"

?

Thanks guys,
Jim

I guess it was just something new and maybe we had become stale.  Besides, who doesn't like to go fast????? ::) ::)  I guess if you wanted to put a "term" to it that would be "Evolution".

I can still remember all of the American Muscle stuff at Taco Villa that wouldn't run against Howdy Doody and the Brown Bomb!!!!! :D :D :D

John L.


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 13, 2009, 20:03:21 pm
Wow, very cool stories, love it!!!   ;D  The vodka/windshield washer switcheroo is genius.

I seriously am thinking about painting my '64 one of those '65 Caddy firemist colors above.....they look very cool!

I have a blue 019 distributor, were those part of the mid 60s parts bin also?  When did the Hurst shifters come along, mid or late 60's?

OK, someone needs to donate (or at least "long term loan") John Lazenby some Americans.....come on, this guy basically started the trend!  Let's get him some wheels!!   ;D ;D ;D


Wow, very cool stories, love it!!!   ;D  The vodka/windshield washer switcheroo is genius  This is all "true" even though some would doubt it.  Guess we were living our own "American Grafatti".   ;D ;D ;D ;D
I seriously am thinking about painting my '64 one of those '65 Caddy firemist colors above.....they look very cool
The Green was always my favorite, but  then I've always like the color of money!!!! ;D ;D ;D



Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Taylor on March 13, 2009, 20:42:43 pm
I also have that video Jim and love watching it from time to time!!


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: Sarge on March 13, 2009, 23:05:45 pm

I also have that video Jim and love watching it from time to time!!


That vid is good therapy 8) ;)


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/cars
Post by: johnl on March 16, 2009, 18:40:11 pm

I also have that video Jim and love watching it from time to time!!


That vid is good therapy 8) ;)

I guess I'll have to get it out and watch again.  I'm in need of THERAPY after being at the drags with you guys yesterday.  Serioulsly, I had a great time and will post some photos maybe later today.

John


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: Christoph on March 16, 2009, 23:27:32 pm
thank you guys for sharing the cool stories and memories with us!!!
i really appreciate them and hope there are coming some more  ;)

christoph


Title: Re: SARGE: tell us about the Volkswagens Limited days..the very first DKP guys/c
Post by: johnl on March 17, 2009, 15:50:14 pm
thank you guys for sharing the cool stories and memories with us!!!
i really appreciate them and hope there are coming some more  ;)

christoph

Christoph, I think I can speak for Jim (Sarge) when I say that we really enjoy you younger guys asking about those times.  It is our pleasure to accomidate. ;D ;D  We'll try to remember more, right Jim????? ::) ::) ::)