Cool Pics...

[speedwell]

nice picture mark  love those early 80's cal look 

[javabug]

Nice shot of the orange car.  Proof in living color that 5-spokes should never be polished.

[Lee.C]

Nice shot of the orange car.  Proof in living color that 5-spokes should never be polished.

Dam right dude 

[low oval]

Mark,
cool photo's, keep em coming.

[Sarge]

Somewhere in France - Summer 2007

Nice pic!!!

I grew up living very close to El Dorado Park in Long Beach, So Cal. Same park where many of us took our Cal Look VWs to wax 'em and hang out. Same locale which many photo shoots took place. D.K.P., D.K.K., VW Trends' Club issue, etc. But it was also for my longtime friend, Ray Z. to shoot photos, as well. Ray was going to college, taking photography classes and often used our colorful cars for assignments. He just found the negatives from said photo shoots. These are from 1981 or '82.
I just got back from Ray's house and was stoked to find many Bug-In drag race, D.K.K. cruises, and other car photos. Hopefully, we can get some more scanned when he has more time. I'm happy to get these three, tonight. Saw some cool shots of Rick Cowles' car and Dave Kawell's dragster. Also saw one of The Gambler dragster. And someone's Manx doing a wheelstand from the rear view. Can't wait to get 'em on a computer.

Very cool, Mark.... keep 'em coming!  In the early '90's, I'd get off work at Follmer Porsche in Montclair on Thursday's and haul ass over to Eldo for bicycle racing... something like 15 laps around the park.  Oh to be young and fit again...

[Rennsurfer]

Wow, thanks for the kind words, everyone.

Yvre, that's a VERY COOL picture of those cars in France. What kind of building is that in the immediate background? Interesting structure shape(s).

Mat, I know Ray used Fuji film on that shoot and that's mostly what he used and still uses (when he shoots film). I don't know the exact type, but a simple phone call will solve that. As for the mirrors... hated 'em then and still hate 'em now. But they were available and a quick fix for my car. When I bought my car, it came with a Talbot flat black mirror on the driver side only. It looked neat, but totally non-functional. Couldn't see anything in it. So, I purchased a Vitaloni Baby Tornado mirror. I painted the flag orange. Later, the base, Then, removed the flag paint and only went with the base being orange. I was bummed that my car had been drilled for an aftermarket mirror on the side of the door. At one point, when I had Fuchs 914 2 Liter wheels, I had a factory '66-'67 pear shaped mirror. And I used small plastic black plugs for the side holes. Loved the way the car looked, that way. Again, the holes always looked bad to me. The last mirror I used was a Vitaloni California mirror, which was a Ferrari 308GTSi replica shape. My friend, Robert Miller, and I took apart the entire assembly and he painted only the glass holder orange. BIG difference! Finally, I had a round mirror that complimented the round body lines of the car. At the same time, we both thought that painted headlight rings/bezels would match the look of the mirror. I was very pleased with the overall vibe of the car at that point.

And I agree... the only five spokes I'd use are EMPI originals and only sandblasted with a polished outer lip. Right after Dave Rosique (whom Ray Z. introduced me to) sold me those wheels, I personally sandblasted 'em and had the lips professionally reshaped and polished. When the sun hit the wheels... they looked GREAT!

[speedwell]

mark it look like some french(sncf) train coaches

[Rennsurfer]

mark it look like some french(sncf) train coaches

Thanks, Fabian... don't know why I didn't catch that, earlier... I'm gettin' old. HAHA!! At any rate, they still look really cool and make a nice backdrop for those great looking cars.

[Jon]

That's what I love about this, the different ingredients people throw in the pot. Probably the only thing I don't love about those cars is the mirrors! Don't get me wrong I don't especially dislike them I'm just not too keen. Are you thinking about running a set of those then? They do date the cars nicely though.

I just dig old pictures of lookers, to me they represent the Californian dream all us in Europe have, they get me thinking about a time and space we never got to experience... a sort of fake nostalgia.
Anyway, there is always something that dates the pictures, either the picture quality, the background, clothing,  or the car itself, and it's the later that interests me.
Parts or colors that you don't see used anymore gives the car THE LOOK, or as we that are way into narrow way of thinking say, it looks real.
After spending way to much time thinking about this we have arrived at a conclusion that to really give the car the real feeling you need to add something that no one in their right mind would do today... in this case Baby Turbo mirrors... or as we jokingly say "every car need's one ugly part, to look real"  

But to answer your question, no I actually cant stand the mirrors.  

[ESH]

... As for the mirrors... hated 'em then and still hate 'em now ...

... But to answer your question, no I actually cant stand the mirrors ...

  

... Mat, I know Ray used Fuji film on that shoot and that's mostly what he used and still uses (when he shoots film). I don't know the exact type, but a simple phone call will solve that ...

Fuji's always been good but I think maybe that big yellow ball of Sun you have over there helps a little too! Like I said looking forward to seeing more of Rays shots, all things considered an appropriate name.

 

... As for the mirrors... hated 'em then and still hate 'em now. But they were available and a quick fix for my car. When I bought my car, it came with a Talbot flat black mirror on the driver side only. It looked neat, but totally non-functional. Couldn't see anything in it. So, I purchased a Vitaloni Baby Tornado mirror. I painted the flag orange. Later, the base, Then, removed the flag paint and only went with the base being orange. I was bummed that my car had been drilled for an aftermarket mirror on the side of the door. At one point, when I had Fuchs 914 2 Liter wheels, I had a factory '66-'67 pear shaped mirror. And I used small plastic black plugs for the side holes. Loved the way the car looked, that way. Again, the holes always looked bad to me. The last mirror I used was a Vitaloni California mirror, which was a Ferrari 308GTSi replica shape. My friend, Robert Miller, and I took apart the entire assembly and he painted only the glass holder orange. BIG difference! Finally, I had a round mirror that complimented the round body lines of the car. At the same time, we both thought that painted headlight rings/bezels would match the look of the mirror. I was very pleased with the overall vibe of the car at that point ...

It's cool getting the story on a car and how it came to be the way it was, that's probably the exact reason they were used throughout the period, they were what you could buy and they fitted! Not only do we have more parts easily available now, albeit a lot of repro a lot of todays cars are the subject of restorations and rebuilds so welding up holes and putting in new ones to fit a specific part isn't so much of an issue since you're likely painting the whole car anyway. Anyway I'm pleased my comment didn't cause offence! Everyone has a slightly different take on things which is cool though in this case it seems a few people are in agreement on the mirrors. And yes that's the way to do 5s.

 

... I just dig old pictures of lookers, to me they represent the Californian dream all us in Europe have, they get me thinking about a time and space we never got to experience... a sort of fake nostalgia.
Anyway, there is always something that dates the pictures, either the picture quality, the background, clothing,  or the car itself, and it's the later that interests me.
Parts or colors that you don't see used anymore gives the car THE LOOK, or as we that are way into narrow way of thinking say, it looks real.
After spending way to much time thinking about this we have arrived at a conclusion that to really give the car the real feeling you need to add something that no one in their right mind would do today... in this case Baby Turbo mirrors... or as we jokingly say "every car need's one ugly part, to look real" 

I know exactly what you're saying. Whenever I look through any of the older magazines I'm always looking at the stuff in the background whether it's the cars, people or whatever else you can see. What's also interesting is that an event article may feature many similar cars yet in the background there's a much greater diversity of styles, sometimes good, sometimes not so good but whatever always interesting to see. Somewhat alarmingly I find now that even the early 90's are starting to take on a slightly alien feel.

 

... After spending way to much time thinking about this we have arrived at a conclusion that to really give the car the real feeling you need to add something that no one in their right mind would do today... in this case Baby Turbo mirrors... or as we jokingly say "every car need's one ugly part, to look real" ...

(One of the photos connected with VWs that made me laugh was one that Tero Virta took at the VolksWorld show in 2007, there isn't a car in sight (see below) but it seems appropriate for a show full of obsessives).

 

I think there are alot of people that spend way beyond way too much time thinking through details but the 'Ugly Part' theory is an interesting one. With Sal's '73 car she wants it to be what it was, that is to say a '73 so whilst some things have been changed there are other areas that have been left and the finished 'look', whatever that is will have to work around those. I think some may consider them ugly. They're not additions as such though, more a case of things that we omitted from the 'deletion' list.

 



 

[Dave Rosique]

Nice shot of the orange car.  Proof in living color that 5-spokes should never be polished.

Dam right dude 

Mark, your orange car without a doubt had "the look"

Your attention to so many small details added up to one nice complete package... I never regretted selling you the wheels. You took the time to make them look like they should... (it was a waste on my part to have them on my Wife's ratty old Squareback anyway).

We're looking forward to more photos as you have the time... How about the Java Green car? I dug the "fake" p-shooters

~DR.

[Nico86]

mark it look like some french(sncf) train coaches

Thanks, Fabian... don't know why I didn't catch that, earlier... I'm gettin' old. HAHA!! At any rate, they still look really cool and make a nice backdrop for those great looking cars.

Yes that's old french train wagons. Some are now often parked near train stations and used as temporary living spaces or tool stock by the people that comes to repair railroads. That's a nice pic Yvre !

[Rennsurfer]

Mark, your orange car without a doubt had "the look"

Your attention to so many small details added up to one nice complete package... I never regretted selling you the wheels. You took the time to make them look like they should... (it was a waste on my part to have them on my Wife's ratty old Squareback anyway).

We're looking forward to more photos as you have the time... How about the Java Green car? I dug the "fake" p-shooters

Thank you, Dave. It made my day when I bought those from you. Those and BRMs were just the coolest wheel to many of us, back then. I never cared for fully polished Fuchs 911 wheels like everyone else was into. I dug the subtle low-key look of the EMPI wheels or an anodized set Fuchs.

I can't believe that you and John still remember my Java Green Berlin model with the fake pea shooters and the Phoenix exhaust system tucked up in the passenger side fender-well. HAHA!! Had a lotta fun with that engine. Even beat my roommate's dual Kadron engine with it! He was NOT happy, that day. We were taking our cars back to my house. We noticed that traffic opened up and there was no one at the stop light. So we pulled up next to each other, smiled, then went full throttle till the lanes funneled down to one. I was so stoked that my 1641cc beat his (same size). I only had a replacement Solex single carb that I jetted up as big as I could with the Auto Haus shop jet reamer. K&N cone filter, Engle 100 cam, Bosch .019 distributor, blue coil, and with the great advice of Gene Berg, I balanced/blueprinted every moving piece that I could. Also smoothed out the intake and exhaust ports, myself and cc'd the combustion chambers. At the VW events, I'd ask him tons of questions and he was always so nice about it & gave me the best advice. Between him, Les Purnell, and Mike Jeffries (Auto Haus)... I learned how to build some fast small engines.

I'll have to post the pics of the Java car in Off Topic, Dave... it was never Cal Look. And there was a very gosh darned good reason for that, too. HAHA!! But that's another story for another thread.

[yvre]

mark it look like some french(sncf) train coaches

Thanks, Fabian... don't know why I didn't catch that, earlier... I'm gettin' old. HAHA!! At any rate, they still look really cool and make a nice backdrop for those great looking cars.

Yes that's old french train wagons. Some are now often parked near train stations and used as temporary living spaces or tool stock by the people that comes to repair railroads. That's a nice pic Yvre !

I have some nice memories from that trip so I'll tell the story and share some pics... (everybody likes stories, no?)

It was early june 07, and a few guys from the club had decided to attend the Super VW National, which is France's biggest VW event since more than 20 years.
We had about 7 cars in total; 3 on a trailer & 1 on a tow bar, and 3 cars driving (one of which me).

As usual before any big event, my car was in a million pieces just days before leaving for the 500km road trip.
I had yanked the old 1300cc singleport out of my car and Roland let me borrow a spare 1600cc DP he had in stock (thanks again mate...). Pat lent me some 40 Dells, I bought a Bosch 009 and a blue coil, and 3 nights later I had a running engine. I actually finished doing the electrics a few hours before leaving.

I was a bit scared to have forgotten something (like tightening a nut or goofing my timing), but the trip went without any problem. We had beautiful weather all the way down, and arrived in Richelieu in the middle of the afternoon.




We had left 2 days before the opening of the event to see an old friend who had opend a belgian bar in the middle of nowhere (but close to the National). You can imagine we were quite the center of attention when we arrived in this small rural village, with the sound of the IDAs barking between the houses in the narrow streets...




Near our friend's bar was an abandoned railway track and some wagons, so we took a few pictures there.




We then went to book into our 'chambre d'hôte', which turned to be a castle more than anything else!!!



The next day, we cruised the region and went to a vineyard for some wine tasting (and buying...).
(In the picture below, you can see Damien checking his new turbo engine. The engine wasn't setup correctly, and he couldn't drive more than an hour with a full tank...  )




We left for the VW National on friday evening, and spent the next 2 days at the event (we camped there).

When we left the event on the sunday evening,  we had some torrential rains.
It went better after a couple of hours, but then I broke down... twice... due to a fuel pump going dead. I still managed to make it home safely though, and will have some great memories from that trip (it was my first big trip abroad with my own beetle).

[Rennsurfer]

Yvre... VERY nice story and pictures to accompany it. That's one of the best reasons I prefer this site and don't visit any other VW one(s); the stories of good times, fun, and people enjoying their cars the way they're meant to be. Two thumbs up!

On a related note, that convertible beige car with 911 wheels is just beautiful eye candy. Kudos to whomever built that cabriolet.

[andy M.]

Not quite cal look but still a very cool pic, stolen from the Life magazine archives,

[Rasser]

Not cal-look related... but cool desktop background 
(my 66 deluxe bus)

[Sarge]

NICE REPORT, Yvre!!  No matter how many times you visit the track or VW shows you attend, NOTHING beats cruising around in a bug with your friends.  One of these days, I see a VW cruise to Solvang... loads of nice back roads and scores of wineries to visit not to mention some outstanding places to dine and it's only 3 hours away.  Thanks for sharing!

[vwcab]

Cool story and beautiful pic's Yves.There is now a thread started about the(your) DAS club.
Maybe you can tell more story's and post some pic's. 

[58vw]

very cool pics everybody

[Nico86]

Some 80s stuff

[Nico86]

[Dez]

Stirling Moss in Mille Miglia...

[ESH]

That's exactly what I remember driving in Belgium being like! 

[Lee.C]

That's exactly what I remember driving in Belgium being like! 

Now imagine they same condictions and being in an OPEN manx  you need 2 sets of windscreen wipers 1 for the outside and 1 for the inside

[speedwell]

 

[benssp]

I've been collating my Outlaw Pics, you can view them here: http://callookvw.skynetblogs.be/tag/1/outlawflatfour

[Rennsurfer]

Some really nice pictures on this thread. Sarge, you're right about Solvang... some very pretty roads and scenery to be had. I went up there, last year, with a bunch of friends to hit the Solvang skatepark and bbq all day. Only three hours away and felt like we were in another country.

Fabian, VERY VERY cool Big Deal™ red Beetle that you posted. Is that yours? I wish that I would have kept the ones that my Dad and I built back when they were new.

[Sarge]

Some really nice pictures on this thread. Sarge, you're right about Solvang... some very pretty roads and scenery to be had. I went up there, last year, with a bunch of friends to hit the Solvang skatepark and bbq all day. Only three hours away and felt like we were in another country.

Fabian, VERY VERY cool Big Deal™ red Beetle that you posted. Is that yours? I wish that I would have kept the ones that my Dad and I built back when they were new.

We gotta do a Solvang cruise sometime!  ROAD TRIP!!

[Rennsurfer]

We gotta do a Solvang cruise sometime!  ROAD TRIP!!

Amen to THAT, brother.