There is no school like Old School!!!

[Wünderwolff]

Well, it's been lingering on my laptop for long enough now. I had very big plans for a very small magazine, but I'm missing both the time and the drive right now. But I had started working on some stuff already and can't keep on holding back this one finished piece. Just wouldn't be fair to the guys that participated in it.

Thanks again by the way!

[Wünderwolff]

THERE IS NO SCHOOL LIKE OLD SCHOOL!!!

HotVW’s, Februari 1975, invention of the California Look moniker. Finally all the kids had a name for the style of cars they had been driving and rebuilding and racing all those years before the printed proof of it. Already a decade old, still Cal Look could be considered young. Definitely when considering that half a century later the same basic rules would trigger build after build of hot aircooled Volkswagens. And even if “less is more” will never be out of fashion, the same movement today can hardly be called modern anymore. 2003 saw the last beetle rolling of Mexican production lines and actually the preferred models to be hopped up are even years and years older. Currently it seems that besides the need for speed, a love for vintage cars is a prerequisite for being involved in Cal Look.

So imagine a young John Lazenby (Der Kleiner Panzers I), Gary Shubrook (Der Selten Kafers) or Mark “Fred” Kessenich (Der Kleiner Kampfwagens) anno 2011, brand new driver’s license in their wallet. The same wallet burning, with just the right amount of cash to buy the modern equivalent of a bug. One simple question, what would be their car of choice?

John: I don't know if this will answer the question or not.  If you read my post (on the Lounge) about how my VW came to be you will know that I loved cars and as a Southern California kid HOT RODS.  My VW came to be because my parents wouldn't allow me to have a big horsepower American car.  I guess they thought I'd be safer in a small underpowered car, but I proved that theory to be incorrect.  Once I had the VW and was able to start changing it the interest really became strong.

Mark: Well... beings that I've always been attracted to German cars since I was a toddler, I'd most likely build either a late '60s air cooled VW (with a large modified Vanagon engine & 52mm IDA carbs and a Porsche 5spd. transmission) or an early '70s Porsche 911. Either of which would have factory Porsche wheels, suspension modifications (better handling), high performance engine & transmission modifications, upgraded headlights, a custom built high performance exhaust that would exit the factory cutout(s) on the rear valance, and something in an Earth tone color that offered from either factory. Either car would appear to be pretty much stock on the exterior, other than the stance, to the untrained eye. Less is more.

Because no other automobile sounds better than that of a high performance air cooled engine, in my opinion. That, and they're different than what most people/lemmings choose to drive. They're very rewarding cars to own and rather easy to modify and work on, as well.

John: Had I not gone the route of Volkswagen I would have probably had a Ford Galaxie or a Plymouth Fury.  I hung around with the owners of such when I first had the VW and they typically couldn't understand why I drove such a car.  At the time the college crowd was getting into VW's, but I was one of the first for the High School group to do so.

Great stories, but in a way I find it hard to believe. At least John is being honest about there being other attractions. It is indeed a tough question Mark, must be hard to negate all those years of good taste in cars and now choose something else like a Fast and Furious Rice Rocket. But other than the bugs being wolves in sheepskin, there must have been something else that influenced you to pick exactly that car.

Mark: I despise rice rocket cars. The only Japanese cars that ever held my attention were the the Datsun 510 and the Datsun 240Z. Both were rear wheel drive and are easily hot rodded cars. Thankfully, I've never seen those stupid Fast & Furious movies... none of that makes any sense to me.

John: As for me, all of my life I've been what some refer to as "a car guy".  I've always like certain marks such as VW, BMW, PORSCHE, MERCEDES and of course my beloved Chryslers, but would not purchase anything that the latter makes today.

Funny you’d mention the Datsuns, I’m using the 13 and 14 inch wheels for my Fiat 600.

Mark: Yes, I remember seeing EMPI eight spoke wheels offered for Datsuns in the '70s.

John: at one time Auto Haus tried to get heavy into the Japanese car arena and it never really worked that well for us.  Possibly EMPI had the same results.

It’s true, you have both been doing quite a lot of behind the counter work for VW, both aftermarket and official. Did you start a career at the VW workshops because of the car you bought or the other way around?

Mark: I took the job at Les Purnell's German Car Repair, a VW service garage, shortly after I bought my orange '66 Bug. Then two VW parts shops (managed Long Beach Auto Haus), two VW dealerships as a service adviser, and also at a Porsche+Audi dealer in the parts dept.

John: Thing is, if I had gone the route of one of the American marks I don't know that the friendship bonds would have been the same.  Looking back on this era of my life I never realized at the time that the VW would lead me to my career in the parts business.  Maybe most important to me is the fact that I might not have ever met my wife Christie.

Mark, I guess by the time you got into Volkswagens, there must have been quite a scene. So instead of blaming Family like John to get you interested, I guess you must have hung around with the good crowd. Or was it rather you that was able to turn them onto the Small Cars?

Mark: There was really no VW peer pressure, for me, growing up. In fact, I got teased for driving a VW, listening to punk rock/new wave music, surfing and skateboarding. Most people at my high school were into sports, drove U.S. muscle cars from the late sixties, and listened to conventional rock and roll. I wanted to be different and not be a follower. So my reasoning was a little less common than one might expect.

Don't you think a lot of the comradery of those days is now replaced by the forums on internet? Say at the time you were "forced" to drive Volkswagens just by sheer peer pressure, would that not be different now? Today you can find enough like minded people online that it would make you feel supported enough to drive the only tractor to school and still not consider yourself an outcast (I'd be driving a Porsche Tractor, so not that different after all).

Mark: The Internet, of course, has brought more like minded people together... especially in the car realm. But long before I got on the Internet in 1994, there was a very tightly knit tribal bond with people that were passionate towards these cars. And I'm quite sure that same theory can also apply to other genres of cars.

John: For the most part I'd say it is good as it brings the world closer and information can be had much quicker.  In some instances this may not be good.

I don’t know if drag racing was as alive during the Deeks’s days, but it sure was during the reign of DKP I. That must have been quite an incentive to buy a bug, the Underdog beating those big American battleships. So would it be fair to say that the wins on the local track sold some cars and would it be a big leap then to assume the current crop of racers would sell cars today? Not Formula 1, far from accessible to the regular Joe, so those are out (would be hard to take your girl to the movie in one anyway).

John: I don't think that race cars today (drag type) have much effect on sales of the like product.  Example: NASCAR used to be close to what you could purchase at the local dealer. Not the case these days, as all of the cars are alike today and only carry different name plates.

Mark: Drag racing was very much alive during the entire time D.K.K. was a club. We were at O.C.I.R. not only for the VW events, but many of us simply either hung out at the track and/or raced our cars during the week. Plus, there was always a good street race happening after cruising Whittier Blvd. on Friday & Saturday nights. Usually behind the old Nabisco factory or in Long Beach off of Santa Fe Ave. or Suzanna St. Always made me smile when I'd beat a V8 American car or some heavily modified Japanese car.

To me it always seemed one of the most clear-cut reasons Beetles have such a fatal attraction to the kids, the ease with which they can be hopped up in your own garage or backyard and compared to other makes for little to no money. No other car that could quench that need for speed so easily. So did you upgrade your engine from day one? Imagine you’d have to do that now, all there would be to it is hooking up your laptop to do some chip tuning and that would be about it. Doesn’t that kind of takes all the fun out of it.

Mark: Since the first day I drove my '66 in '79, I had a modified engine. Nothing fancy at first, but the Holley progressive two barrel, Bosch .009 distributor, and S&S header/quiet pack made it fun to drive. Only had the slip in 88mm cylinders/pistons at first. Since I'm on a budget, I'll never take my laptop to my cars. If I can't do it myself, I just don't see the point. I'm a fossil when it comes to technology. For most things, I'm perfectly happy doing things the old way... they always worked and plus, I entertain rather easily. HA!

Even changing a light bulb is work for a trained mechanic now and most parts can only be bought in dealerships. And I'm not even talking about Hybrid or Electric cars, those will be even harder to upgrade. So, buying the smallest least potent car now will result in exactly that, you will be driving the smallest least potent car.

Mark: If there comes a day when I'm forced to do that with cars, I suppose I'll adapt and go that route.

How about you John, given the options of today what would have been the sensible car to buy from a caring parent’s perspective?

John: If all conditions were the same with my parents I suspect I would have something like a Honda or possibly a VW product of today.  But in further thinking my Dad was a Ford guy (my daily driver today is a Ford Flex) so it might be a Ford product.

[Wünderwolff]

Now, with the reason for buying a bug instead of just any other car all cleared out for the instigators and the early adopters of the Cal Look movement, we’re still none the wiser as to what the current replacement of the bug would be. Perhaps the only conclusion is that whatever the circumstances, whatever the time, for some it will always revolve around Cal Look and Less is More!

Today it is the time to talk to one of their inheritants. Jim Ratto is a member of DKPIII, the latest iteration of one of the most famous clubs of California. Here’s the story of how the Volkswagen conquered a special place in his heart, even though he self-admittedly really is into any of the many European sporting cars.

Jim: I grew up under my father, who has been a devout car enthusiast since his childhood. He grew up behind the wheel of a myriad of cars, but his favorites, like me, have always been the “off the wall” and quirky European sports cars. We never had anything really exotic like a Ferrari or Maser, but he owned several MGA’s, TR3’s, Hilman Minx, a few air cooled VW’s and what we all remember best, the string of Alfa Romeo coupes and sedans. Of course we also had some pretty mundane crap in our household too, like To#¤ta Corolla Liftbacks and Ford Granadas. I guess I was about 7 or 8 years old when he started passing down his Road and Track magazines. I remember one particular afternoon his educational discussion with me regarding the Road Test Summary (basically a quick glance at the contemporary cars available at the time and their performance capabilities, which were for the most part, awfully dismal in the mid 1970’s), and two cars branded their specs into my elementary school brain… the Porsche 930 Turbo and the Ferrari 512 Boxer. Both were light years ahead of everything else, rocketing to 60 mph in well under 6 seconds. That afternoon was the beginning of my love with the car. The VW Beetle wasn’t even on my radar yet.

Fast forward to 1984-1985…. Sophomore year @ Amador High School in Pleasanton California (Northern California). My BMX bike was hopefully soon going to give way to some unique, small sporting car. I remember sneaking Auto Traders into class, and tucking them into textbooks, much like some kids did with porno mags. I was constantly scanning the pages for the likes of an MGB, an Alfa Spider, a Bugeye Sprite, Lotus Cortina, Austin Mini…. All pretty heady goals for a 14 year old kid with a part time job sweeping warehouses. Around this time, I was enrolled in a drafting class during fourth period. The class would begin @ 10am and go for 90 minutes. My drafting table was within earshot of two guys, each a year older than me. Most every day, these two guys would talk non-stop about their VW Bugs. Their conversation would ramble and course back and forth, with things like “Dellorto DRLA’s”, “bored out cases”, “VZ cams”, “flycutting”, “Eliminator heads”… from the subject and the tone, it was obvious to me that these guys were in a fantasy land of attempting to hot rod their stupid Volkswagens, and coming up on the losing end. What a couple of morons. Thing is, I was naïve and thought I knew it all, and once I had the dough together and I was old enough, for sure I was going to show these knuckleheads “what for” with my MGB or Alfa. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

A few weeks later I was parked on my trusty Schwinn Sting, sucking down a Dr Pepper in front of a Safeway grocery store, just a few blocks from our school. It was about an hour after school had let out and I had just inquired about a job as a bagger. While finishing my soda up, I spotted one of the older guys, in his yellow VW, pulling into the parking lot. I kind of rolled my eyes and watched this idiot idle through the parking lot. I had to admit, the car sounded pretty good. Once he got close enough to see me, and we made eye contact… I pointed at his Bug, and started gesturing laughter, and holding my stomach, and then pointed again and mouthed “pieeeece oooofff SHHHHIIITT” and flipped him off. What happened next I will never be able to forget. With a dismissing shake of his head, this guy (Dan) wooded the throttle of his car and it immediately replied back with a deep guttural growl of intake noise and whining valve gear and the rear of the car became enshrouded in a huge cloud of tire smoke. Everybody in the lot stopped, jaws dropped, children ran ion fear, birds scattered. It was like an A bomb detonated. The kid backed out of it, after the car was completely sideways, roared past me and returned the finger to me. I had to concede. The look on my face must have said it all. “Dude, you win… your car is bad ass.” It was The Day I Noticed Volkswagens.

By May 1987 I had taken ownership of my current ’67.

So, it could have gone many other ways and not all of them would have ended well. For all you know you might have ended up driving an MGB (though I guess you first would have to have moved to San Francisco and become a hairdresser). Or if that first impression of raw horsepower would have been made by a grafficked Toyzutsarunda with plenty of boost and NOS, you’d be rice-rocketing away and entering decibel drags! Or God forbids, you’d have gone Muscle Car, or would that have been out of the question considering the upbringing with Smaller Cars.

Jim: I never would have gotten into mini trucks or muscle cars. Too much flash, too little “all around” function. Muscle cars always kind of represented the kids in school that would punch you in the gut just because they were bigger than you, but you secretly hoped you’d meet them in a dark alley one night with a metal pipe in hand or something….which of course never happened, so they had to answer to my Bug instead.

[Wünderwolff]

Early February 2011, time to wrap up the story, just waiting for Gary Shubrook to get back to me with his undifferentiated view on what Cal Look is all about. I was sure he’d jump to the occasion to speak his mind and sure he did.

Gary: Hi Tim sorry I have not got back to use I have been Very Busy I am in Calif on Vacation staying with my sister I dont have the extra time right now but would love to  add something Thanks Gary

Well, comes February 7th, and I guess it’s time to say a final ‘No, thanks to you Gary’. Race in Peace Shubee!

[johnl]

Tim,

Interesting read with almost three different eras of VW owners and their views.  I will be curious as to what the readers of this forum will have to say.

Thought I'd share this ditty with you.  Forty seven years ago yesterday, Thanksgiving day 1964 in the early morning I pick up my high school buddy Ronnie Munoz (Chevy guy) and we started just driving east on the 91 freeway.  I'd been at his home the night before eating family Tamales that only the Mexican people can do correctly.  The Munoz family's were EXCELLENT.  At this time my '63 was still in the original Ruby Red but did have Fourtuned Headers and the Judson Supercharger.

By the time we turned around to come home we had passed the Barstow State of California Inspection Station.  We had no plan to go anywhere and could have ended up in Las Vegas had it not been for the "hick-up" which I think was the beginning of #2 piston having a hole burned in it.  We were cruising around 70 mph and remember this was just a 1200cc 40hp.  Even with the Judson and headers we pushed it.  We returned home in time for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but that was one of those trips I'll always remember.

Every year I think of that day and my friend Ronnie that I've not been able to locate.  So with that thought I felt I needed to do something VW related.  Out to the garage I went and pulled the Solex carb off the motor and rebuilt it using, what else, a Royze #100 carb kit.  Now this carb hadn't been touched in thirty years and was beginning to stutter a bit. 

The rebuild went well except for my eyes not being able to see much of what I was doing, but it went back on the car and fired up.  Today I took it for a test ride and it is once again smooth as these simple motors should be.  On December 4th Christie and I will be driving it in the DKP annual Christmas Cruse and we are looking forward to it.

So there is another bit of useless info from my past life, but I guess I just felt the need to tell it to you all............

[Rennsurfer]

Tim, thank you for posting that article. John, cool story.

[plasticblack]

Thanks for sharing.

   A new magazine, however small, would be very welcome.

      One with a Seriously Retro bent would be better still.   

     

[Rick Meredith]

There's some good stuff there 

[wolfswest]

Tim, you found a new job yet?  You should send your cv to humo or knack focus!  good stuff here. 

[Wünderwolff]

Thanks Guys! But honestly the cool and interesting parts are the ones that were sent to me by the 'Oldtimers'!

And if Humo or Knack (read UltraVW/Volksworld) likes my writing, they can always drop me a line