Whats your scariest moment in a cal-look bug?

[peach_]

Come on share them  , Was it a wet roundabout? or Straight line twitcher? or was it esacaping the "Law" 

What ever your story lets hear it 

Cheers

[Peter]

For me locking the front wheels in the rain, in a corner and heading towards a light pole.
great fun those 125 firestones

[Jim Ratto]

I have a few.... one just occured the other day on my way to Sargey's.... 

[Rasser]

Almost getting locked up between a big truck and the rails on the freeway

[Lee.C]

Almost getting locked up between a big truck and the rails on the freeway

Try that but in a MANX  Not fun I can tell you 

[Black Sheep]

Pushing the loud pedel a bit to hard on the narrow twisty lanes of north dorset  still geting used to my car 

[alfie the monster]

Racing Having some fun against another Beetle in Germany at Das Drag Day 2 on the roads near Bitburg and having to take up all of the road round a corner. Not cool... 

[58vw]

getting off at Katella ave off the 55 freeway and the pin in the pedal assembly came out leaving me with NO BRAKES....downshift like mad foot out the door....luckily he light turned green and no cars in front of me hard right turn and pulled over 200 feet later.....fixed the pin and cleaned my shorts

[jhicken]

Tooling down the 91 in my old '67 near Euclid in Fullerton, I change lanes only to find the Buick in front of me at a full stop. I lay on the skids, I feel the 135's start hopping, I'm making the meanest Japanese face I could, screaming like a little girl and just as I come to a stop I feel an abrupt thump. I step out and walk around front expecting the worse. Amazingly, the only damage is a thumb sized dent just above my hood handle >on the chrome strip!< Yes, there was no damage to the hood, no crack in the paint, only this little ding on that skinny chrome strip. I must have been barely moving, the rear bumper of the Buick barely touched the two stock over riders of my bumper, pushing my front end down a bit, and just slowed everything down enough that that big assed rear Buick bumper just barely kissed that little chrome strip. I looked at the Buick pilot, he looked at me, we shrugged shoulders, got back into our cars and got back into traffic.

I couldn't help thinkin that if I had if I had an extra muffin that morning, or if I decided to wear my Doc Martins instead of my sandals, that minor difference in weight may have pushed me just an inch or so farther, I'd be lookin at a few hundred dollars worth of damage.

Whew!

-jeffrey

[peach_]

Tooling down the 91 in my old '67 near Euclid in Fullerton, I change lanes only to find the Buick in front of me at a full stop. I lay on the skids, I feel the 135's start hopping, I'm making the meanest Japanese face I could, screaming like a little girl and just as I come to a stop I feel an abrupt thump. I step out and walk around front expecting the worse. Amazingly, the only damage is a thumb sized dent just above my hood handle >on the chrome strip!< Yes, there was no damage to the hood, no crack in the paint, only this little ding on that skinny chrome strip. I must have been barely moving, the rear bumper of the Buick barely touched the two stock over riders of my bumper, pushing my front end down a bit, and just slowed everything down enough that that big assed rear Buick bumper just barely kissed that little chrome strip. I looked at the Buick pilot, he looked at me, we shrugged shoulders, got back into our cars and got back into traffic.

I couldn't help thinkin that if I had if I had an extra muffin that morning, or if I decided to wear my Doc Martins instead of my sandals, that minor difference in weight may have pushed me just an inch or so farther, I'd be lookin at a few hundred dollars worth of damage.

Whew!

-jeffrey

  !

Your one lucky guy!

[peach_]

I have a few.... one just occured the other day on my way to Sargey's.... 

More details....................spil 

[m.m.p]

excelerating to 140mph in a turbo swing axel bug, and then using all 4 lanes of the m1 to slow down , got home and converted it to irs all good now!

[nlvtinman]

 Back about 1975, with a nice little Berg 1776 in my Zwitter, I found out the the brakes designed for a 25hp motor don't do so well when full throttle and a traffic light are combined.  I learned about brake fade.
Scott Bakken and I were flying up Grand Ave in Glendora...and then flew right past that red light, my foot clearly reaching through the floorboard trying to slow'er down to a stop.

Oh thank you for not hitting anyone in the intersection!

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

NOT Driving But Towing My 67 VERT me and Friend Larry Rick were towing  my 67 Vert on a VW tow Bar with his Lowered 65 El Camino it had a 327 with a 4 speed anyway we are towing it to his shop  and he is  going threw the gears hauling ass Driving like a Maniaic we get to the shop and I go to release the tow bar from the ball and the ball come's out of the hitch and still attached to the tow bar it seems some where along the 18 mile tow we lost the nut that held the ball on I was so thank full it did not come off the Best Thing about a real low Cal look is the weight of the car was pushing down on the ball the car would have been Totaled if had came loose since we never used safety chains back then..

[Jim Ratto]

wheel-barrow in my lane on 118 freeway, 70mph, @ 3:45am on the way to Classic this year.

[61SNRF]

Late one night WAY BACK on the way home from a rally in OC my gas pedal and speedo were both pegged for 3 miles coming up the 405N transitioning to 605N TRYING to keep up with Shubee in his '69 1700/Webers with my '61 1641/Kadrons! I know he was laughing and grinning all the way!

[Jason Foster]

One night after SMOKING a Subaru WRX I noticed a couple of Downey's finest behind me at a left hand signal in Felony stop fashion. My heart quickly sank, I was sure my car was gone. You see, here in California the officer has the option to confiscate any vehicle participating in a (cough)" street race" (cough).  Well luckily for me the officer decided to let me keep my car as I pleeded with him that I had my heart and soul in the thing. So long story short I got a misdemeanor that has since been expunged and a nice $1400.00 ticket.  So.... boys, don't street race. You Dig.

Jason

[Lids]

Had just got my 1914 running, car wasn't finished, no interior but took it up the road with the front seats just placed inside.  Floored it my brother shot into the boot area and i fell off my seat unable to see where i was going.  Just hit the brakes and hoped for the best.

[Sam K]

The saciest moment I had in my Bug was the day before Thanksgiving 1998 I was driving to work in my '67. It still had the stock drum brakes and they probably needed to be adjusted. I had just installed my first stroker engine the previous Sunday.I was hauling ass down and freeway and traffic came to a sudden stop. Just as traffic was stopping, a young lady in a Honda changed lanes in front of me. Had she not been there I would have had no problem stopping,  but I ran right into the back of that Honda. The only damage it had was a pair of scratches in the bumper from my front overriders going under it. My bug needed new fenders, hood, headlights front apron and a bit of work on the spare wheel well. It also needed a windshield because I hit it with my head. The girl in the Honda got a ticket for careless driving and I got one for following to close.

[nlvtinman]

Well, another of those "moments", although not scary, but they could have been.
This might strike a note with the old guys who were around in the early Bug-in era.

We members of the DSK would always have our twice yearly party the night before the Bug-in. Of course, there was a lot of fun and HEAVY drinking going on.
Any other other guys in clubs remember those good times too?

 When the drink ran short, the time had come. 
Now we had an inordanant number of Weber carbed built motors for a club from the San Gabriel Valley.  Didn't much matter that it was usually about 12:30-1 am, we'd all get out, fire 'em up, and quite blasted beyond reason, haul ass down the 57 & 5 to OCIR.
I think the best time we "posted"for the trip was about 22 minutes Glendora to OCIR.

And the activity in the dirt at OCIR the night before Bug-Ins! It was the happening place to be in the middle of the night. Trying to sleep in your car( or the dirt), and usually feeling pretty shitty hungover during the days events.

It was GREAT-- Then!   But as to drunk driving...ahhhh, a fun part of the past, but not really the wisest thing to do anymore.

[Speed-Randy]

august 1983, i had just spent the day installing my adjustable front beam in my first vw, a 65 sunroof, with my uncle who lived in yuciapa. finished it up around 8 pm, my dads brand new dodge ram d-50 had just had a ladder rack installed and was at my grandfathers house not to far from my uncles so i figured i would just tow the vw home and kill 2 birds with one stone. my grandfather warned me not to go to fast because the weight could cause problems stopping safely, so i hopped in the truck and started westbound on the 10 freeway at 55mph. all was going great until i got to sierra ave in fontana, a german sheppard appears out of nowhere and decides my lane is the best place to look around, i SLAM on the brakes. SHIT HITS THE FAN, instant jack-knife, the truck is doing 360's, my bug is doing cartwheels, shit is flying everywhere. suddenly all is quiet and i open my eyes, no pain so i must be alright, glass is in my lap from the broken door window, broken windshield, i look in the mirror and realize i t-boned on of the eucalyptus trees on the side of the road and wasted my dads new truck, hes gonna be pissed to say the least!!!! now i start to look for my car, not to far away, only about 10 feet, to my right, on its roof, leaning against another tree, completly totaled, wasnt a straight panel on it, 2 cars in less than 5 seconds gone. the good news, the dog was unscathed, i guess thats good news

[Jim Ratto]

there was the time I got off work and walked out to my Bug and found a huge, hulking German Shepherd panting inside of it. I had left the windows down behind my work and the vet next door thought the dog looked cute in my car.

WTF?

[louisb]

Not so much driving, but having the cops pull their guns on me and a friend after they pulled us over. Guess we should not have jumped out of the car so quickly. 

--louis

[deano]

I very good friend of mine's daughter just turned 16 and he purchased here a late model New Beetle convertible.... After two months of ownership, she got a ticket.... a biggie. Going 110mph on the Riverside Freeway, by herself... The New Beetle has since been sold.

[louisb]

I very good friend of mine's daughter just turned 16 and he purchased here a late model New Beetle convertible.... After two months of ownership, she got a ticket.... a biggie. Going 110mph on the Riverside Freeway, by herself... The New Beetle has since been sold.

Tell him to replace it with a 25hp split or oval. Wont have that problem any more. 

--louis

PS: I thought about recommending a bus, but that could present other "issues". 

[deano]

Here's another one... Remember Jeff Kawaguchi's candy red Looker on the cover of the second California Look issue? Ever wonder where that car went to? Well, about 1977, Jeff was making a high-speed pass on a long stretch of Highway 39/Beach Blvd., near Rosecrans and "Motorcycle Hill" (La Mirada) when he lost control at over 100mph. As you may know, there is a ditch between the west and east bound lanes, and Jeff ended up heading into that ditch. The car never got  totally sideways (or did he?), but did get so crossed up and out of shape that the passenger side door handle got ground flat.... But the car never ended up on its side or roof. Somehow, he saved it from going all the way over, but in the process, ripped off those beautifully molded fenders and destroying that perfect body work. The car was never seen in that condition.... until he made a Baja Bug out of it. Rumor has it, he still owns the car, still under the car cover, never to show anyone it again.

[Chuck Fryer]

I would say mine is going through the traps at 103mph ( still have the time slip) upside down, sliding on the ragtop.

[Jim Ratto]

I would say mine is going through the traps at 103mph ( still have the time slip) upside down, sliding on the ragtop.

 

glad you lived to remember it!

[Speed-Randy]

who was it from DKP in the mid-late 90's that did that at sacramento bugorama? green ragtop, brm's, i remember looking at something in yhe swap section and looking up just in time to see that car flipping and then slamming into to guardrail before coming to a stop on is side if i remember correctly. gnarly crash to witness

[John Rayburn]

That was Art in his 67.