Interesting topic.......

[Paul Bahnstormerz]

Having come back to the scene this past year after 10 years out of it, it's strange, I don't get the rusty crap with a rope tied around the bumper. But I kind of get why, the price of parts in the UK went mad! This past week I've been catching up with old club mates, and all of us are building cars and everyone is saying about the prices.
Doesn't matter though , off to resto shop next weekend, and the bug is coming back harder than ever 

[Russell]

I think it's great that someone has brought this up, also the fact that it's Russell, a person who has a pretty strong presence on the scene it's got the attention it deserves, the fact that it seems to have rallied the lounge troops and collectively it seems we realise the need for us all to make a bit more effort...
Many different reasons for the downturn have been put forward and I'm sure that for each individual it's a mixed up bunch of many factors...
For me, over the last 7-8 years I have become increasingly bored by the sea of what amounts to fast "Resto-cals"   I'm honestly struggling to think of a cal-looker built in the relatively recent past that has excited me.
Other thoughts..... I have a few long term traditional Hotrod / kustom projects on the go.... Projects that, like the California look, have pretty strict "rules/styles/do's/dont's etc"
However I see so much subtle ( and not so!) creativity and effort made in these circles to stand out a little...I find the Cal look scene lacking here.
Okay, I know....I'm a hypocrite..My car is a factory colour with chrome trim......if I was building another cal-looker now it would be very very different, which leads me into another angle, most of us have been on here with our long running projects or drivers.... I, for one feel that I've done my "garage-looker" car to death on this forum... And I'm hesitant  to post any updates until it's on the road...Maybe some of you feel the same about your own cars?   (And mine)
Also,  since having to move out of London 3 years ago to the Midlands to assist my parents-in-law I have much more time to actually spend working in the garage..... Essential, for my own sanity!  Instead of being on my PC.
If all of us old forum faces had brand new projects on the go I'm sure this forum would be thriving again.... I really wish I had the time to build another cal looker using all the ideas/innovations I've jotted down over the years...... But I have other fish to fry for the next 5-10 years I reckon......but you never know?
Also, I've gotta say Russell, that as the original poster, you've got to see the irony of bringing up the lack of site traffic, (quite rightly) and then going on to say you've made a conscious decision to not post stuff... .. You have a lot of interesting stuff to bring to the table.....you could pretty much fill the whole forum by yourself! Haha.
Anyway, I could go on about a whole variety of factors, but I'll leave it at that and in the meantime I'll post some more car stuff,  updates on my long-ass VW project, and maybe some off-topic stuff too...
Keep it coming guys!

James

James, thanks for the kind words and yes I agree by not posting as much makes me another part of the problem, but why am I and others not posting..... In my case I've always tried to hide behind the Vw gasser garage name, as all my cars have required help from friends to make the things happen, I also hate praise, but I do enjoy seeing people enjoying cars, to date nothing has made me happier to stand behind two of my cars on the start line at chimay and see two historic cars race again, the drivers love it the spectators appear to love it and I know I do. Just think of all the cars we have seen race that we all only saw in old magazines or pictures.

I am going to start a new topic  which will keep you all posted on the car things I've been up to, it may or May not be interesting but it I'll be honest

Cheers

[Lee.C]

I think it's great that someone has brought this up, also the fact that it's Russell, a person who has a pretty strong presence on the scene it's got the attention it deserves, the fact that it seems to have rallied the lounge troops and collectively it seems we realise the need for us all to make a bit more effort...
Many different reasons for the downturn have been put forward and I'm sure that for each individual it's a mixed up bunch of many factors...
For me, over the last 7-8 years I have become increasingly bored by the sea of what amounts to fast "Resto-cals"   I'm honestly struggling to think of a cal-looker built in the relatively recent past that has excited me.
Other thoughts..... I have a few long term traditional Hotrod / kustom projects on the go.... Projects that, like the California look, have pretty strict "rules/styles/do's/dont's etc"
However I see so much subtle ( and not so!) creativity and effort made in these circles to stand out a little...I find the Cal look scene lacking here.
Okay, I know....I'm a hypocrite..My car is a factory colour with chrome trim......if I was building another cal-looker now it would be very very different, which leads me into another angle, most of us have been on here with our long running projects or drivers.... I, for one feel that I've done my "garage-looker" car to death on this forum... And I'm hesitant  to post any updates until it's on the road...Maybe some of you feel the same about your own cars?   (And mine)
Also,  since having to move out of London 3 years ago to the Midlands to assist my parents-in-law I have much more time to actually spend working in the garage..... Essential, for my own sanity!  Instead of being on my PC.
If all of us old forum faces had brand new projects on the go I'm sure this forum would be thriving again.... I really wish I had the time to build another cal looker using all the ideas/innovations I've jotted down over the years...... But I have other fish to fry for the next 5-10 years I reckon......but you never know?
Also, I've gotta say Russell, that as the original poster, you've got to see the irony of bringing up the lack of site traffic, (quite rightly) and then going on to say you've made a conscious decision to not post stuff... .. You have a lot of interesting stuff to bring to the table.....you could pretty much fill the whole forum by yourself! Haha.
Anyway, I could go on about a whole variety of factors, but I'll leave it at that and in the meantime I'll post some more car stuff,  updates on my long-ass VW project, and maybe some off-topic stuff too...
Keep it coming guys!

James

James, thanks for the kind words and yes I agree by not posting as much makes me another part of the problem, but why am I and others not posting..... In my case I've always tried to hide behind the Vw gasser garage name, as all my cars have required help from friends to make the things happen, I also hate praise, but I do enjoy seeing people enjoying cars, to date nothing has made me happier to stand behind two of my cars on the start line at chimay and see two historic cars race again, the drivers love it the spectators appear to love it and I know I do. Just think of all the cars we have seen race that we all only saw in old magazines or pictures.

I am going to start a new topic  which will keep you all posted on the car things I've been up to, it may or May not be interesting but it I'll be honest

Cheers

Yep your doing a pretty good job dude, Keep it up 

[Eddie DVK]

I also noticed the decline in posting, I am on here every day to look for new stuff.
Agree with a lott off reasons already posted.
I am really in the tech stuff and the Lookers off cource.
I got to say I got also annoyed sometimes (but not anymore  ) about "the correct look" having a late look with type 4 engine and use to have telephonedails (now on gasburners)  

I think a lot got to do that the young like facebook is that they can post much easier with their mobile phones.
Posting on the lounge takes a few minutes on facebook takes a few seconds.

My 2 cents.

Had some progress on my car as well, will post it also.  

[volkskris]

Thanks Rick Meredith for posting.  I am present on this site almost daily.  Although I rarely post.  But you may be interested to know that in Orange County the scene is as always still alive.  Cal Look is alive and well in So Cal.
DKK has recently added two new members and there are a few more prospects in works.
The issue for Deeks is so many of us have cars under construction currently.
My car has been down 10 months for upgrades. Two weeks ago I popped in a solid 2276 in my 65 Notch.  It's almost road worthy (electrical and waiting on a sidewinder.....soon).  Henry and Randy's car are in paint.  Gary Grauman has paint and is getting close to done, Jim Smith is expected to unveil his 65 Notch shortly and once Geoff Hart finishes his big motor for his og DKK oval, it too will be on the road.  (Jim's oval may be the only living car that has the original white "Tank" DKK stickers in it from 1977). Epic.  Both will debut next year.  Rick Anguiano is building a sweet black vert.  Rick Meredith 67 is in works as noted. There are more than 6 or 7 "new" DKK cars in works now that will see the light of day in 2015 to go with all the others.

6 or 7 cars!   please get an in da werks topic started for those cars, I would love to see them  

[jick]

[/quote]

James, thanks for the kind words and yes I agree by not posting as much makes me another part of the problem, but why am I and others not posting..... In my case I've always tried to hide behind the Vw gasser garage name, as all my cars have required help from friends to make the things happen, I also hate praise, but I do enjoy seeing people enjoying cars, to date nothing has made me happier to stand behind two of my cars on the start line at chimay and see two historic cars race again, the drivers love it the spectators appear to love it and I know I do. Just think of all the cars we have seen race that we all only saw in old magazines or pictures.

I am going to start a new topic  which will keep you all posted on the car things I've been up to, it may or May not be interesting but it I'll be honest

Cheers
[/quote]

Hey Russell,    that's great news dude.....I'm sure we'll find it interesting! 
 We've all got to get this forum firing again, and maybe more importantly get each other enthused about the scene so that next summer there are as many cars out and about as possible, 
you never know...there could be some rat-look & bus types who see the light!

cheers...James

[Lee.C]

Amen Jick/James...... We all need a Jump Start for European Bug In 6 next summer 

I will have the Bus A framing the 65   (maybe with the SPG engine!)

I think Russell has just put into words/thread what alot of us have been thinking for a while.....

[Trond Dahl]

http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,23535.msg310459.html#msg310459

http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,17762.0.html

It's been discussed among a few members, ignored by the admin
I hope there is a good reason why it hasn't been done... I agree it would make posts much easier and more interesting.

 

 

It has never been ignord, just not done exactly how you ask for it as you make it sound like it´s just about making the decision about it. It takes a bit more than that or else it would have been fixed a long time ago :-)

The problem should not be solved by accepting normal cell phone sized pictures since they are often 2-4mbytes instead of what is actual needed for a full page picture which is more in the 250kb.
So therefore it should be solved by the software and automatically resized and store with a smaller resolution. As of right now, the forum software does not do that. Facebook has prtty much unlimited storage and a pretty large wallet to pay for it all. We are as you can imagine not there :-) Therefor accepting 3mb pictures as oppose to 250kb is just not an option.
In addition, allowing such sizes whould completely slow down the time needed to load a page in a project thread with lots of pictures.
As you understand it is not about the size, but rather having software that can receive large, but store small. I´ll do another look on what can be done on this topic as I, as everyone understand it would make things much easier than to have to resize first.

Zach: Uploading from iphone is no longer an issue, but they need resizing first to lower the size (an app called simpleResize makes this easy for those who want to try)

Tapatalk is now installed. This should make it easier to read/upload photos from cell phones.
In addition I am still looking at implementing an auto resize function on the standard attachment functionality on the forum. I am not a big fan of many shared image sites as when the photos are deleted, the threads loose their value. I would therefore encourage those that can to use the forums attachment function still.

[Lids]

Yahoo

[Zach Gomulka]

Thanks Trond!!

[Rick Meredith]

Thanks Trond!

[Deanodynosaurs]

Sorry bit of a long one, but there are so many good point brought up in this post.

Let’s pick on one, that bloody cal look guide picture that was published in 75!! Yes it was a great picture, and it probably provided inspiration for 1000’s of people wanting cal look cars, myself included. But I also think it’s one of the most miss quoted, miss used, documents going (well excluding the bible and other bloody religious books). It probably fair to say that the first incarnation of DKP cars were the blueprint for the cal look, yet the vast majority of these run trim, bumpers, have quarter light windows. Thus following the guide these aren’t cal look car?! I think that bloody photo has done the whole cal look scene as much harm as it has good!! My inspiration has always been the early DKP cars, so my cars having trim and quarter windows, and I don’t care if it don’t follow the guide.

As for the reduced traffic on here, sadly I think the bus scene has taken over from the beetle scene at the moment. Busses are very much in the main stream media, so every middle age person seem to want to own one. This is sadly pushing the prices of busses to ridiculous levels. I’m sorry but when people are asking 100K for busses there just greedy and taking the piss (I have a particular example in my mind, and although early, it’s no show car by any means).

As to what has led to the decline of post on here, as Shane pointed out there been a recession, people can’t afford to build cars at the moment. In parallel I don’t think the industry helps this, the cost of parts has really gone up over the last 5 years or so. I’m not just talking big parts like engines/ gearboxes (we all know a decent engine nowadays is around 7-10k), I’m talking about the price of all parts in general, even small parts. A decent set of sloping chrome headlight surrounds is the best part of £100 nowadays! This may be why the cal look scene is reducing at present in favor of the rat (read shit!) look cars as they’re more affordable for the younger guy wanting a VW. (N.B. I’m have no problem with patina cars, but bare metal-ing decent cars so it rusts, what is fu*kin wrong with you!). I also gotta say, although i love them, over the last 5-10 the cal look and gasser thing has been done to death, perhaps some want a change? The water-cooled scene has really taken off in the last few years, esecially over here in the UK.

Anyway, personally I will always love cal look cars, and I may even finish my own one day, then I’ll get off here, and go out and enjoy driving it!!

I will also try and contribute more on here, other than just on my build thread.

[Udo]

Russel , we can be lucky to have a forum like this. There are so much bad forums around where silly people answere questions....


Udo

[RichardinNZ]

As someone who has been away from the UK for over 7 years now, how is the club scene looking?  Do the JG54 Greenhearts still exist; what is membership looking like? In the US; hasn't DKP III lasted far longer than either of the two previous incarnations of the Club?  From the website it looks as though membership is higher than ever? 

Thanks
Richard

[Fastbrit]

2015 marks the 50th anniversary of DKP as a whole, and the 25th anniversary of DKP III. You're right, the current generation has lasted far longer than either of the previous incarnations... 

[beetletom]

i'm all a bit disheartened with it all the last couple of years
after spending years building, of what i thought was my dream bug
spent an absolute fortune on a paint job, which turned out to be the worst prep and paint job ever, it was disheartening after spending every penny i once had.
i couldn't afford to redo it, so i returned the car to stock and sold it.
the guy was bigged up by a few local vw owners, that i now know, that they know nothing at all.
getting ripped off over the years added to it
cars at the shows have no interest to me, busses everywhere, or you have the pricks who slam their cars, without any sense of style or getting the
stance looking 'right' , alot of the shows are family orientated now with busses and stuff for sale that resembles a car boot sale.

i had a bug imported over for me, but i'm not bothered about getting it done sadly
i haven't had a beetle on the road for well over a year and a bit, where before i was pretty hardcore, and didn't think twice about driving one daily!!

i now have a mk2 golf with a turbo engine, its more fun to drive than any beetle i've owned
but then again, there is nothing like the feeling of driving a bug.

i think i've lost my enthusiasm totally, will probably sell once its on the road, i hope not though

[Dave Rosique]

So finally I have the balls to post.... this may not be to everyone's liking so I will apologise in advance..... mmmm, nope I wont.

No apology needed Russell..

Why is that there seems to be nothing interesting going on in the VW Scene anymore, the lounge once a great place with great people, even seems to be quite and most topics are of little interest, over the last year or so Ive seen our loveable little bugs as they were truly intended for standard and stock grow on me even more, so much so that whilst I love the history and the old gassers and cal look, the whole hobby seems to have went AWOL, I mean how much same bus's and patina cars can we take.....

The VW scene seems alive and well here in So.cal. as long as you are open to build styles you mentioned along with Cal-Look. I have noticed The Lounge has been rather sleepy these days.

Even the magazines once our main stay of the scene are struggling to print cars we can dream of owning, instead printing cars we would'nt want to own.....

I'm a die-hard Hot VW's fan and still enjoy it as much as I always have.

I would appreciate your views on what you think and any advice to help me rekindle the vibe, if you want to moan at me for sharing my feelings, please don't, we should encourage open conversation and freedom of speech, or we will be no better than some of the dictators of the world.

For me, staying in touch with my VW friends has helped keep the fire alive. Trouble is, as we grow older life can get in the way of our car hobby. I've trierd to stay away from the internet drama as much as possible. I don't mind joking around a bit but it's best to be respectful.

One slightly down but not out VW fanatic.

Russell

I personally want to thank you Russell for all you have brought to our little world the past few years. Your passion for the humble little VW is loud and clear! Please keep it up!!


In closing, it would be a shame to lose The Lounge to FB. The Lounge has a much more personal feel than any other forum I've been a part of. I tend to drop in daily but rarely have much to say but I will try to be a little more active in my postings / replies.
I have met in person several Loungers from far away places and it always amazes me how small our world really is..
-Dave

[marcus m]

When i started to hang out here in the lounge many years ago it was a scandinavian forum, then it went european and i thougt that was really cool. After a while the americans found there way here and i think lots of people got a bit "starstruck", it turned into threads with a lot of padding on the back, people wishing eachother happy birthday and so on. After a while i noticed that if you wasnt a "known name" on the vw scene you didnt get any coments or weings in the threads. Im been wrenching with vws since i was 15 years old and in 41 now and i have met people from all over europ with the same interess and made some great friends. Im no hardcore cal-looker and not a true nostalgic fan and for me a lot of the threads about the god old Times' got a bit boring, that and the lack of updates of the "top" lists and the fact that no one semed to pay any interest in my threads made me loose intress in the lounge. I went from beeing here 3-4 Times' a day untill that i couldnt remember my login. Call me yeallus but thats how it was for me and several of others i know. Sorry about the bad english // Marcus

[plasticblack]

i'm all a bit disheartened with it all the last couple of years
after spending years building, of what i thought was my dream bug
spent an absolute fortune on a paint job, which turned out to be the worst prep and paint job ever, it was disheartening after spending every penny i once had.
i couldn't afford to redo it, so i returned the car to stock and sold it.
the guy was bigged up by a few local vw owners, that i now know, that they know nothing at all.
getting ripped off over the years added to it
cars at the shows have no interest to me, busses everywhere, or you have the pricks who slam their cars, without any sense of style or getting the
stance looking 'right' , alot of the shows are family orientated now with busses and stuff for sale that resembles a car boot sale.

i had a bug imported over for me, but i'm not bothered about getting it done sadly
i haven't had a beetle on the road for well over a year and a bit, where before i was pretty hardcore, and didn't think twice about driving one daily!!

i now have a mk2 golf with a turbo engine, its more fun to drive than any beetle i've owned
but then again, there is nothing like the feeling of driving a bug.

i think i've lost my enthusiasm totally, will probably sell once its on the road, i hope not though

I'm disappointed t hear that you've gotten to this stage.. 

I think I've supplied you some items over the years and you seemed really into the scene.

It's also sad t hear that you've fallen foul of poor service from a 'recommended' source. Sadly it's a story we hear more and more often these days?

I hope that you find your way back in at some point though.

Paul

[Baz54]

Hi, as a kid my dad had a new beetle after my next door neighbour had one, it was a dark blue 73 his first new car. At 14 i sort of inherited my first car a 64 bug after it failed it's MOT we just hapend to be the same age. I was into skateboarding and hard rock but there was something in the bug that made me want to get it back on the road. At 17 we both passed our tests. Apart from Herbie Id never seen another beetle that looked any different from mine, the only magazine I could get was Safer Motoring. One day  I decided to paint the bumpers black,I took them off and they never went back on.
In my 20s I had a good few bugs and past the bug onto a good few friends in work who carried it on a long time after I'd had enough and with 3 kids a mortgage id never thought i would ever have one again.
4 years ago I bought my 54 Oval and love it,so the Cal-look won't die out as long as the youngsters still see the cars out and about .
Some of the standard patina and the German Look cars are lovely but the well rusty and narrowed cars just make me smile..we can't all have good taste  

[Jim Ratto]

The California Look style has been and always will be timeless. And for the millionth-trillionth time typing it, the phenomenon wasn't made by following rules. The cars best remembered had a state of balance. It wasn't about how much "stuff" could be hung on a car. Still isn't.
The fads of big dollar Buses or rat look will never be looked back on as fondly as the California Look scene. What's happening is some guys got their thrill for a few years, and then moved on. They went the way of a lot of other guys I've seen go in the hobby in the last 28 years. For some of us sick poor idiots, nothing else can take the place of a well-presented VW getting its balls  stomped on and seeing 8000 revs for no good reason, other than to say "up yours" to those that don't believe.
And if the scene isn't as popular as it was 5-10-15-40 years ago, whatever.... so what? If you enjoy it, then you enjoy it. Who cares if your neighbors on both sides of you don't.

Personally, I can't keep up with all the bullshit that changes in the world around me, in life. My VW is mine and it's been a constant for me for 28 years. Will be for another 28+. I get all hot and bothered about getting an Alfa or 356 with big T4 motor, but I know neither option will replace my Bug. Just can't and won't.

Hang in there.

[Martin S.]

I understand about having a car for decades, and it being a best friend. I keep falling in love with mine every few years for different reasons. In the 80s we had it on a tow bar behind our GMG 454 powered pickup truck/camper and drove the bug around LA with no front brakes trying to find a shop to help fix the damn brakes and ended up at SCS where they slapped on drop spindles, blah, blah. Then one year I could afford an interior, like wow! Then more recently I bought AJ's turbo kit which was a disaster until I found my mechanic buddy Steve who was campaigning drag bugs along the East coast in the 90s as a pre teen while Berg was racing out west. Steve figured I needed 'a new cam' and ended up building me a full on race motor tuned for the street. It just keeps going...

[Eddie DVK]

neighbors on both sides of you don't.

I get all hot and bothered about getting an Alfa or 356 with big T4 motor, but I know neither option will replace my Bug. Just can't and won't.

Hang in there.

Jim, this one is for you.
I have n t been working on my car last winter because we were building a new track racer for my buddy, he is racing for years now in an europene old alfa class. His old car was beat up so time for a new one
So we built a complete new alfa giulia super, turned out very nice.... is our best built yet. we are very proud of this one.
It has a ,also own built, 190hp twinspark engine of a Alfa 75.

A Cal look Beetle is the only car for me, but I like building/engineering other cars also.



you can see my beetle in the back.





Oh at Spa racetrack this year


Hope you like it Jim  

[Bill Schwimmer]

As usual Mr. Ratto puts things so eloquently.
 I have been active full throttle in this hobby for close to 35 yrs & been around it for longer than that.  I have seen many people come & go & much ebb & flow in the hobby.  I dont know what goes on @ facebook &  so I dont know how it effects the Lounge. As for Cal look, Rat look patina, buses ect. Building a top shelf Cal looker is expensive today, its pretty easy to spend 50k on up & I see the patina cars as a protest to this, they are much more user friendly & if this allows more people to be a part of the hobby so be it. As for defining Cal look it is not about what parts you take off or add or about rules in some tattered old magazine you bought off the internet, I dont know how to exactly define it, but I know it when I see it.  This small part of the car hobby pool may expand or it might get smaller, I dont know, but I know quite a few people like myself where this is all we know. I live at ground zero for the start of this,  I drive an ACVW every day (a bus!!) &  will continue to do so no matter what the outcome around me.
      Have a great Christmas everybody & see you at the events next year.    Bill

[Jim Ratto]

neighbors on both sides of you don't.

I get all hot and bothered about getting an Alfa or 356 with big T4 motor, but I know neither option will replace my Bug. Just can't and won't.

Hang in there.

Jim, this one is for you.
I have n t been working on my car last winter because we were building a new track racer for my buddy, he is racing for years now in an europene old alfa class. His old car was beat up so time for a new one
So we built a complete new alfa giulia super, turned out very nice.... is our best built yet. we are very proud of this one.
It has a ,also own built, 190hp twinspark engine of a Alfa 75.

A Cal look Beetle is the only car for me, but I like building/engineering other cars also.



you can see my beetle in the back.





Oh at Spa racetrack this year


Hope you like it Jim  

Like it? I love it. My old man's first real car was a new 1967 (?)Giulia Super, white with dove grey interior. Well I should rephrase that. His first new "real" car was a sea foam green 1966 Beetle that he added an EMPI compensator spring and Abarth 4 tip to. But he said the Alfa "did it all", and was a real jewel. He bought it instead of a Ford/Lotus Cortina, which he went to look at but said it looked like a blind monkey assembled. He said the Alfas were real tanks, finished off beautifully and went like hell. I grew up, infected with his sickness for SPICA injection, rust, worn 2nd gear synchros and blue smoke. And on 116 cars, noisy driveline donuts. We recently put a Milano (75) 3.0 V6 (with 164S cams and headwork) in his '84 GTV6. The car hauls holy ass now.
Thanks for sharing and sorry for taking the thread on a momentary trip to Italia.

[Martin S.]

Looks like a commie taxi from the cold war.

[Eddie DVK]

Looks like a commie taxi from the cold war.

  Whahaha I know, lots off people in europe think it is a Lada..

[Eddie DVK]

Like it? I love it. My old man's first real car was a new 1967 (?)Giulia Super, white with dove grey interior. Well I should rephrase that. His first new "real" car was a sea foam green 1966 Beetle that he added an EMPI compensator spring and Abarth 4 tip to. But he said the Alfa "did it all", and was a real jewel. He bought it instead of a Ford/Lotus Cortina, which he went to look at but said it looked like a blind monkey assembled. He said the Alfas were real tanks, finished off beautifully and went like hell. I grew up, infected with his sickness for SPICA injection, rust, worn 2nd gear synchros and blue smoke. And on 116 cars, noisy driveline donuts. We recently put a Milano (75) 3.0 V6 (with 164S cams and headwork) in his '84 GTV6. The car hauls holy ass now.
Thanks for sharing and sorry for taking the thread on a momentary trip to Italia.

  Cool story, Glad you like it... whahaha rust, worn 2nd gear synchros and blue smoke, yep this is an old alfa for you..
better learn how to dubble clutch  

Ok back to topic.

[Jim Ratto]

Edgar I will PM you pics, stories... thanks

Jim

[Brian Silva]

I have to agree with everyone who has posted on this subject. I have been in the cal-look scene for almost twenty years and have noticed a bit of a trend shift in not only the magazines but car shows as well. I remember going to the classic, drag days, carlsbad raceway, and seeing a ton of cool cars inc. painted, primered, og patina and that fired me up. to this day, I have an intense passion for the cal-look scene and I enjoy talking to random people at car shows starting a conversation of ''back in the day''...I live and breathe vw's as much as I have grown tired at times  Luckily I have had many great influences which are too many to name but aside from this, I take note that nobody drives their cars anymore! My car is no longer perfect and has its battle scars but I will drive it as much as I can just to get the nervous twitch out of the system...usually 1-2 days a week for a quick cruise....I know there are a few people on here (Jim Ratto) who treat their cars as damn near a daily driver which is commended. I feel there are a lot of 'featured' cal -look cars that they have spent a ton of money on that never see the streets which is a little disheartning but understandable. A lot of people look up to these cars but not seeing them out an about and just seeing them staged at shows seems to not spark the interest much.."street" cars is what got me hooked in high school and is still what I enjoy to this day..Sorry for the long winded post...This is just my 2 cents. see you out there!