Ever sleep in your VW waiting in line for a VW event?

[rick m]

This shot is in 1977.  Anne and I usually planned our family visits with her mother in Tustin around the BUG-INs. I would drive down from Northern California, dropp Anne off at her Mom's and then proceed to attend a BUG-IN.

This shot is of my 67 Cal Looker that I slept in while waiting in line for I believe BUG-IN 21 or 22. It was the one where Frenchy's yellow ghia won.  He'd remember the exact BUG-IN number. Anyway, it was the WORST sleep I've ever tried to get.  Everyone was up all night drinking, talking loud, starting up their motors, etc.

This was the east side entrance of OCIR, the long back road you would take off the Sand Canyon exit off the freeway.  For those who attended early BUG-INs you would remember the road. 

Have any of you ever tried sleeping in your VW waiting in line for a VW event? Share your stories.

Rick M

[Gary Justus]

Used to be a ritual for me (Cindy always said I was crazy). Although, I'd have to say, didn't get much sleep. At Bug-In 31 I slept on top of the camper we towed the "Presicion Bug Builders" car with. Later it was arriving at "Classic" at about 10:00 the night before with an OLD sleeping bag or scroungy blanket. I'm not a big guy, BUT MAN! curling up in the back of my '64 left me feeling like Amos McCoy when I got up in the morning......No more of that stuff.

[Bryan67]

Many many times. But I think the worst was the night at Pomona in my 64. Daniel and I had both had to because it was raining out. You ever tried to sleep in a poly lowback bucket seat?

[Dave Rosique]

Been there-done that...

Mid 70's Bug-In's, tried to sleep after TMB (too much beer), slept in my '64 Bug a time or two and once in my '59 Ghia... what a treat that was.

My favorite part was the drunk guys tripping over my 30" black stinger sticking out the back! It was always good for a laugh

~DR.

[SlingShot]

At Bug-In 33 Zach and I "slept" in the back of the single cab. Couldn't really sleep though because it was windy and cold, and I mistakenly brought a twin size air mattress instead of a Queen, so you could say Zach and I are fairly close.

[2manytoys]

Oh yeah I have. Drove to Sacto Bugo in about 1985 or 86 in a 63 Ragtop. My buddy had just finished it. Looked for a hotel, but by this time it was about 2am,...said forget it drove to the track and lined up. Got first place at the show and drove home,...very very tired, but happy.

I drove the Green M&M (pre-chop) to a show in Medford Oregon about 1988. Rick Eichler and I left Sonoma, California about 6 pm, drove for the better par of the night and arrived at the show and slept (waited more like it) in the car. Drove in set up the full display included real Green M&Ms all over the place. The day was split in two. The show portion first and then race time. The car made two strong passes with the 1850cc mini stroker and we packed up and headed home with a first place trophy in the custom class. There was a local favorite that was in the "daily driver" class, so we were bumped up a class without our knowledge. Still a great time. Got to the gas station in Medford, put in 10.4 gallons of gas,...yes 10.4 gallons in a 10 gallon tank,....trickery at the pump? Headed home  and buzzed through Mt Shasta and stopped after about 4 hours of driving dead tired. We tried to sleep in the Corbeu fixed back seats at a mosquito infested rest stop,....it was HELL! from then on I get a bed with a pillow,..I know I got soft.

[deano]

I think I have fallen a sleep during a VW event before...

[Zach Gomulka]

At Bug-In 33 Zach and I "slept" in the back of the single cab. Couldn't really sleep though because it was windy and cold, and I mistakenly brought a twin size air mattress instead of a Queen, so you could say Zach and I are fairly close.

Twin? Was it that big!?

[Rennsurfer]

Waiting in line at O.C.I.R. for Bug-Ins... too many times to remember, but yes. I hate sleep, but if I'm tired enough, I'll sleep anywhere. For those events, I'd literally be up for 2 days straight, getting my car ready. I'd also be helping other people with their's, as well. So waiting in line was the first opportunity that I'd get to rest after two full days and nights of living on coffee and No-Doz.

[yvre]

This must be a typical US thing. We don't seem to wait in line at the gates of european events - a lot of meetings start on the friday night already.

[Nico86]

I slept many times in my bug, but never waiting for a meeting. It was often after too many beers in the night .

[nicolas]

that is why i have a squareback. last summer we went to england and except for the very nice gesture off paul T3D, who let us sleep in a parked camper at his place we (Cindy, Jeff and me) slept in the car. can't help it but i love to sleep in it although it is just 2 inches too short. 

[Wünderwolff]

Friday before  European Bug-In 1 I slept in the back of my '59 along the road up to the strip, all curled up in my sleeping bag. It was raining so bad that night and I was so wet when I went to sleep that early in the morning I woke up with the windows all misted up. I wiped the window clean and lo and behold it was the dawn of a wonderfull sunny weekend.

I slept in the car before but not when attending a meeting. It was when me and Jelle went to pick up my 59 in Norrköping, Sweden. We flew in by plane, had a good night sleep at the guy I bought the car from. In the morning he had to go to work, so he gave us the keys to his house so we could go out for breakfast. Real nice people those Sweets. In the afternoon we started heading home, some 1800 km down south. As this 1800 km was a bit too much for one day, we decide to camp out in a parking lot along the highway just after crossing the Storebælt Broen. We had slept there before in a Twingo (with reclining seats) when picking up a 65 in Helsinborg. For some reason I always end up in Sweden in winter. So it was some degrees below zero. But we came prepared with subzero Sleepingbags (on paper anyway). Jelle slept on the backseat, I tried to do the same on the two front seats. Trying to ignore the shifter poking my ass. The biggest problem was that the room is so limited that you have no choice but touching the doors head and toes, freezing them off.

When we woke up in the morning the already dead battery was now frozen as well. And i can assure you that bumpstarting a stone cold car is not a joke. We ended up pushing it up backwards on the off-ramp to get the momentum to get her going. We managed doing that twice on a sober stomach. Then we stopped two Danes on their way to work who helped us push the care twice again. And off we went, back to hot Belgium.

[rick m]

Some great stories.  Recently I drove to Jerome to meet an old workmate. I slept in the back of my chopped top...off and on for 30 minutes at a time.  The bus people never seem to sleep.  I had not done that for 25+ years and don't plan to for another 25.  Still survived it and had a great road trip with the chop. Managed 30+mpg out of the 1914 motor with a lot of driving in the hills of Arizona.

My white 67 also had fixed fiberglas seats in front so I had to crawl into the back of it waiting for the BUG-IN gate to open. It's crazy what we do as part of this hobby.

Rick M

[Lee.C]

"It's crazy what we do as part of this hobby."

Dam right dude  try a 2412 mile round trip just to go to a show in norway 

or an 18hrs drive to Bad Camberg in Germany 9hrs of which were in the rain - oh yeah did I mention this was all in a Manx 

[Wünderwolff]

I met Lee at EBI 1 and had seen his Buggy a Bad Camberg prior to that. I hust had to know what it was like to drive his buggy in so much rain 

He was doing 80 km/h on the European Highways, so all the big trucks were going faster than him and taking him over. Most of you can imagine the enormous lane-wide spray of water such these trucks make and you also know a buggy has no doors. Talk about a bathtub 

And come to think about it, I always wondered why he drove so slow on the highway. It's a RHD car in a LHD world. He was driving, his girlfriend was the passenger. Now If he would have driven faster and he would have been the one doing the overtaking, make the equation, think about who would be in the wet seat all of the sudden 

[speedwell]

i have already slept several times in my vw during meeting, but never to expect for the opening of a meeting
 here is 2 pict  of my daughter this year sleeping in my back empi bucket seat during kgm6 in ....... which said that rear empi bucket seats empi in fiberglass was incomfortable 

[Jim Ratto]

slept in my Bug many times.
passed out in my old buses too many times

[vwcab]

i have already slept several times in my vw during meeting, but never to expect for the opening of a meeting
 here is 2 pict  of my daughter this year sleeping in my back empi bucket seat during kgm6 in ....... which said that rear empi bucket seats empi in fiberglass was incomfortable 

Lovely pictures,"SWEET DREAMS" 

[Lee.C]

I met Lee at EBI 1 and had seen his Buggy a Bad Camberg prior to that. I hust had to know what it was like to drive his buggy in so much rain 

He was doing 80 km/h on the European Highways, so all the big trucks were going faster than him and taking him over. Most of you can imagine the enormous lane-wide spray of water such these trucks make and you also know a buggy has no doors. Talk about a bathtub 

And come to think about it, I always wondered why he drove so slow on the highway. It's a RHD car in a LHD world. He was driving, his girlfriend was the passenger. Now If he would have driven faster and he would have been the one doing the overtaking, make the equation, think about who would be in the wet seat all of the sudden 

Sorry dude the guy with a girlfriend was my mate Rob with the bronze manx - As for going slow, its quite hard to go faster when you can't see  you see all that spay ends up on the inside of the screen  its hard work driving a manx in the rain 

[Neil Davies]

I've slept inside my bug a couple of times at shows - usually when it's rained and my tent flooded! Last time I slept in a car at a show was EBI 1 - I'd given our tents to Richie to take in his van, as my Dad, my friend Brad and I were flying out on Friday after work. We ended up getting to the track after everyone had gone to bed so had to sleep in our hire car - a little Kia!
Slept in my Golf at the first ever Outlaw Flat Four meeting too!

[LuftsickTero]

Not on the waiting line, but on the drive to last Bad Camberg our entire crew ended up sleeping one night in cars. For me that's the third time I've done it; first time, the last time and the only time I will! Poor planning or no planning at all lead to it, but even it was in front of well lit 24x7 gasoline station it isn't safe thing to do these days.