new blood.

[airstuff]

Beeing at the age of 23,the cal-look influence is getting stronger and stronger every day.As I read through the magazines,as I search the web my sickness is even worse But I am only the one from 5,If I could actually count five people of my age I know,who fancy the looks and are becoming the dreamers of the Look.Offcourse,we are not even from  country where so many people know about what's going on on the world scene.

Today,it is all about the modern cars,with AC,stability programs and airbags.Guys fancy Hondas,Mitsubishi,Subaru and other Japanese cars.The real ricers
We even have the legal competition called,the 402 street race,but Gee,when you see what kind of cars compete there, you get sick.I mean,there are some really nicely tuned cars,but to each it's own.

Often when I get out,and hang out with my friends I hear: "Hey man,when will you stop drivin this garbage and get yourself a decent car"

Not to mention,girls don't even look at it.You need to have at least a shiny color,or you have to stand out some way to get some attention.For the fat boy muffler they would say,uhhh so ugly.

And then comes the guy with the new Mercedes or BMW,and he is the boss.I tend to walk away from this crowd.

Over here,we do have a small VW club,but there are,as I said before,only few people who start to make some drastical changes to their cars.To other,money and mechanical knowledge,not to mention abillity,are the serious problems.Or the lack of will.For them,it's much better to drive the car as long as it drives nicely,and when it breaks down,they throw it away.

I have a late model,and I am trying to get the best I can from my car.My hobby is becoming more than a hobby,It really is becoming the way of life.How many young people would actually say that in the 21. century for the old bug??They lough...................

So,I will get it going as long as I have the strenght and the will,I said once: "My bug will be alive while I am alive", after that no one can garantee anything

[Neil Davies]

My hobby is becoming more than a hobby,It really is becoming the way of life.

That is the difference. We are VW people, others "car guys" are just ordinary people who drive cars that are a slightly different to factory stock. 

[71CALRIPPER]

22 love the scene , certain people have made it a pleasure to be in and i like to think there are only better years ahead

[wolfswest]

not many cal look fans within miles of the same age here in Belgium.  I'm 26 now and all of my friends are into the new stuff...  german lovers: bmw, mercedes, audi and the ricer lovers.  (the new trend is the JDM thing I guess)  I'm into all kind of old stuff, it started with an old bmx then there was 70s music, the mopeds came and then the cars...  Let's take a look at the 70s...  The "old guys now" then were nothing more then the new generation now...  Into the latest stuff around, getting yelled at because that engine is too loud (nowadays the body kits are too big and the cars sport a too little engine  )

Lets face it:  callook in the 70s is nothing more then the "rice-thing" now...

I'll hope you understand my viewing point...

[Zach Gomulka]

I just turned 27, and Slinger 26. We are the scene in northern Arizona, cal look or otherwise.

I know it's a little off topic, but this reminds me of Will Ferrell in the movie Blades of Glory when he says "Chas Michael Michaels is figure skating"! I laughed for about ten minutes.

"Were you on steriods then?"

"Yeah, a little bit, 'bout a half cup"

 

[Jim Ratto]

Lets face it:  callook in the 70s is nothing more then the "rice-thing" now...

I'll hope you understand my viewing point...

Hi, I don't know if I completely agree with you here....

Only because the amount of effort that went into making a good "Cal Look" car back then amounted to more than what most guys with Japanese tuner cars do today. Today, do you think guys with Japanese cars are tearing motors apart, increasing their displacement, radically re working their cylinder heads, ading valve timing AND lift, learning how to select, install AND tune dual carburetors, searching out (even then) obscure and rare wheels, and paying someone to fill molding holes, repaint and reupholster their cars. I don't think so. For one, many of the Japanese "hot rods" come with pretty hot engines, stock, not like a VW did. I know, I owned a WRX for many years and I absolutely LOVED it. I didn't do the typical "ricer" mods to it, as that's not my thing.... I kept it subtle and understated, down to stock wheels, stock height. I did a few very minor things to the engine tune to get more response. I know, most guys that owned same cars near me, they didn't rip into the car either....at the most they upgraded engine electronics. NOTHING like what we have done with the Volkswagen. Thing is, the guys that run around in the hot rodded Japanese cars....  are they really car guys? Do they spend most of their free time perfecting the tune of their ride? Do they know nearly every nut and bolt on their cars? Have they been driven to near insanity because of a flat cam or.....? I think the answer is probably "no." It's a fad they are following. I'd say the VW thing goes way beyond a "fad", at least for the hard core guys. Sure there are the guys that get interested, jump in with both feet and spend their life savings on some "world beater" cal look car, but soon the car is down the road and forgotten in some new owner's hands....

[louisb]

I think with ricers, the car is more of an accessory than the main focus.

--louis

[j-f]

I will be 26 this Sunday, I'm not so old 

When I go to meetings, I know lot's of people of the same age as me. There is more Older guys but I think that there is a new wave of young people. Not as much as in the 70's, 80's, 90's.

I think with ricers, the car is more of an accessory than the main focus.

--louis

I totally agree with you!

And unlike ricers, we don't need cars to exist (or have some girls). They are fashion victims.

[Zach Gomulka]

Lets face it:  callook in the 70s is nothing more then the "rice-thing" now...

I'll hope you understand my viewing point...

I've often wondered if cal lookers were looked upon back then like the ricers are now. They were tuned imports, only a few years old at the time... to a true blue hot rod guy they are probably in the same bag. But at least most cal lookers had real performance, good taste, and style- something that is rare to find in the rice world...

[John Rayburn]

Dave Mason said that about working at the dealer's. You plug in, it gives you a code, you look up the code in the book, you replace the 1200 dollar module the size of a quarter, start the car( hopefully) and the car runs like crap.

[wolfswest]

Lets face it:  callook in the 70s is nothing more then the "rice-thing" now...

I'll hope you understand my viewing point...

Hi, I don't know if I completely agree with you here....

Only because the amount of effort that went into making a good "Cal Look" car back then amounted to more than what most guys with Japanese tuner cars do today. Today, do you think guys with Japanese cars are tearing motors apart, increasing their displacement, radically re working their cylinder heads, ading valve timing AND lift, learning how to select, install AND tune dual carburetors, searching out (even then) obscure and rare wheels, and paying someone to fill molding holes, repaint and reupholster their cars. I don't think so. For one, many of the Japanese "hot rods" come with pretty hot engines, stock, not like a VW did. I know, I owned a WRX for many years and I absolutely LOVED it. I didn't do the typical "ricer" mods to it, as that's not my thing.... I kept it subtle and understated, down to stock wheels, stock height. I did a few very minor things to the engine tune to get more response. I know, most guys that owned same cars near me, they didn't rip into the car either....at the most they upgraded engine electronics. NOTHING like what we have done with the Volkswagen. Thing is, the guys that run around in the hot rodded Japanese cars....  are they really car guys? Do they spend most of their free time perfecting the tune of their ride? Do they know nearly every nut and bolt on their cars? Have they been driven to near insanity because of a flat cam or.....? I think the answer is probably "no." It's a fad they are following. I'd say the VW thing goes way beyond a "fad", at least for the hard core guys. Sure there are the guys that get interested, jump in with both feet and spend their life savings on some "world beater" cal look car, but soon the car is down the road and forgotten in some new owner's hands....

Jim,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro rice or something but I think there are certainly guys in the ricer scene that mean it even seriously then we...  There are also different looks and targets in the ricer (or other) scene.  I don't know all of it because I'm not into it.  But what I can tell is that you have the over the top spoiler boys with stock engines, JDM lovers, old skool JDM lovers etc...

Just like us, we also have different "groups" in the aircooled scene...  If an outsider look at the vw scene he probably would say that it's all the same...  Why?  Because they don't know the details of the different looks and they are not interested in this "old piece of crap vw"...  Most Car enthousiasts are into cars for the speed, just like us...  But they just don't get it that you can make a bug so damn fast...It's our job to prove them wrong and tell them that we are not the same "bunch" as a f$ck$ng hoodride or a tricycle...  

I just want to say that callook back then was just as fresh as the ricer or other trends these days...  Some trends stay, other fade away.  I'm glad we all want the callook thing to stay.

Dem

[Jim Ratto]

Lets face it:  callook in the 70s is nothing more then the "rice-thing" now...

I'll hope you understand my viewing point...

Hi, I don't know if I completely agree with you here....

Only because the amount of effort that went into making a good "Cal Look" car back then amounted to more than what most guys with Japanese tuner cars do today. Today, do you think guys with Japanese cars are tearing motors apart, increasing their displacement, radically re working their cylinder heads, ading valve timing AND lift, learning how to select, install AND tune dual carburetors, searching out (even then) obscure and rare wheels, and paying someone to fill molding holes, repaint and reupholster their cars. I don't think so. For one, many of the Japanese "hot rods" come with pretty hot engines, stock, not like a VW did. I know, I owned a WRX for many years and I absolutely LOVED it. I didn't do the typical "ricer" mods to it, as that's not my thing.... I kept it subtle and understated, down to stock wheels, stock height. I did a few very minor things to the engine tune to get more response. I know, most guys that owned same cars near me, they didn't rip into the car either....at the most they upgraded engine electronics. NOTHING like what we have done with the Volkswagen. Thing is, the guys that run around in the hot rodded Japanese cars....  are they really car guys? Do they spend most of their free time perfecting the tune of their ride? Do they know nearly every nut and bolt on their cars? Have they been driven to near insanity because of a flat cam or.....? I think the answer is probably "no." It's a fad they are following. I'd say the VW thing goes way beyond a "fad", at least for the hard core guys. Sure there are the guys that get interested, jump in with both feet and spend their life savings on some "world beater" cal look car, but soon the car is down the road and forgotten in some new owner's hands....

Jim,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro rice or something but I think there are certainly guys in the ricer scene that mean it even seriously then we...  There are also different looks and targets in the ricer (or other) scene.  I don't know all of it because I'm not into it.  But what I can tell is that you have the over the top spoiler boys with stock engines, JDM lovers, old skool JDM lovers etc...

Just like us, we also have different "groups" in the aircooled scene...  If an outsider look at the vw scene he probably would say that it's all the same...  Why?  Because they don't know the details of the different looks and they are not interested in this "old piece of crap vw"...  Most Car enthousiasts are into cars for the speed, just like us...  But they just don't get it that you can make a bug so damn fast...It's our job to prove them wrong and tell them that we are not the same "bunch" as a f$ck$ng hoodride or a tricycle...  

I just want to say that callook back then was just as fresh as the ricer or other trends these days...  Some trends stay, other fade away.  I'm glad we all want the callook thing to stay.

Dem

Hi Dem, no problem, I completely get what you're saying....I am sure some of the guys in the JDM scene are serious players.... more power to them.  The VW guys have the same yahoos as the spoiler crew...  the hoodride yahoos.

[67worshipper]

its definately a fad for most plastic rocket owners jim.ive grown up with points and condenser most kids leaving school or college havent a clue what they are or how to fit them.im glad i was on the boat.i spend alot of my time {most of it actually} following this cal look phenomenon.i spend every penny i can afford on it as well.shows,swapmeets and drag racing i love it .that definately aint no fad.ive been poor for twenty years following it and i still cant get enough of it.i think the net has been a big part of all this.the little niche we have is all good.from this thread cal look is in good hands

[Jim Ratto]

its definately a fad for most plastic rocket owners jim.ive grown up with points and condenser most kids leaving school or college havent a clue what they are or how to fit them.im glad i was on the boat.i spend alot of my time {most of it actually} following this cal look phenomenon.i spend every penny i can afford on it as well.shows,swapmeets and drag racing i love it .that definately aint no fad.ive been poor for twenty years following it and i still cant get enough of it.i think the net has been a big part of all this.the little niche we have is all good.from this thread cal look is in good hands

Right on! The scene will live on thanks to guys like you Dem....  good job! 

[Harry/FDK]

And Then The Toothed Belts.... For cams etc.  These guys come in to our shop wining about dealer prices like 600 Euro's ! to replace the toothed belt. Like some Audi models where you have to take the complete nose of the car just to start on the engine part... Michael, my colleque and me doing this shit during lunchbreak. Last week we had a guy in with a Peugot asking to replace a lightbulb. On this WPumper it would have taken us at least 45 minutes of wrenchin just to get to the headlight. Not mentioning how much f?/>kng plastic clips you break. Now we had to buy a diagnose machine just to get our leasing cars and fire trucks running. When we started working this baby it just said: problem here, replace module there...
If this is the future, and it is. so help us god. ALL car manufacturers (the word alone) will make us completely dependable on them. No more backyard wrenchers.

We checked a BMW, because its oillight was coming on in Orange, not Red. The Machine told us the oil was somehow contaminated with water/condense.

Fucking Hell.

Sometimes i'm seriously thinking of buying another aircooler for daily driver, JUST BECAUSE.

New Blood ? 52 and still not grown up, Thank God.

[67worshipper]

going off subject a little guys but do you all remember a film called christine.had a 1957 plymouth fury gorgeous in bright red.well the kiddy that owned it his name was arnie cunningham in the film.now that car i know has no relevance but his passion for the rebuild and taking care of puts me in the mind of us really.i know its only a film it aint true but the resemblance is there to see.now the local boyz in the hood didnt like the fact that arnie had a stunning car and also pulled the best girl at the school so they decided to go and beat the shit out of it.arnies parents never liked the car and he could not keep it at there house.when the car was vandalised they the parents decided to buy arnie a new car.arnie at this time started to laugh and he said now thats what everybody wants for me to have a nice new car! then he turned round and said well fuck you!! im fixing up christine. now there have been many times in my bug years when people either parents or friends that have said why dont you go and buy a nice new car!! and in true arnie cunningham stylee ive turned round and said "fuck you" i could of bought a 10 grand worthless in five years piece of shit but fuck it really.im happy driving a fast bug that drive the right wheels in a straightline really fast.

[Sam K]

I love that movie and I agree with you statement. I don't know how many times friends and family members (especially my mother) asked me when I was going to get a "grownup car". She was over the moon when I bought a Subaru WRX station wagon a couple years ago. I only bought it because i was tired of driving my Camaro and my Bug in the snow. When the sun is shining and the roads are clear, though, the Suby sits and my old cars get exercise. Sort of like those bumper stickers say - I'd rather push my old stuff than drive a modern car.