Cal-Look.no - The Lounge Nostalgia Corner by El Dub

- El Dub's NOSTALGIA VW Corner -

Those Custom 70's Bus!

4 Banger Hanger!

Larry MARTIN China Beach

Airmighty 43 Nostalgia chapter

Airmighty 41 Nostalgia chapter

Airmighty 37 Nostalgia chapter

Bug-in time !!!

Those Custom VWs

EMPI GTV

Period literature

Profiles

- Rickie Mc Garity

EMPI - RACE SHOP racers

EMPI Inch Pincher

Revell Inch Pincher Baja

Jouster

Race Shop Ghia

Race Shop Fiat 850

HISTORICAL racers

Wunderbug Sedan

Lightning Bug

Here Comes Da Bug

Stutt Bee

Iguana

Mouse Trap

FORGOTTEN racers

Glass Wag'n

Italy 1

Pink Panther

SLALOM racers

Aint no Big Thing

WHEELSTANDERS racers

Super Bug'2

V8 powered racers

Durachrome Bug

EMPI

EMPI Rise & Fall

EMPI demo cars

THE RACE SHOP

Back to Main Page...

BENJ'S CORNER - LARRY MARTIN & THE VIETNAM CHINA BEACH !!!...

LARRY MARTIN, SURFING SOLDIERS AND HIS CUSTOMIZED VWs...

Larry MARTIN is from Pensecola, Florida USA and spent most of this life surfing the waves wherever he was. And from 1967 trough 1969, he found himself surfing China Beach waves in Da Nang, right in the middle of the vietnam war!

And as soon as he was returning home in Florida after the war, the urge to own a practical car to carry the surfboards to the beach around was evident... And Larry bought an early 60s panel VW bus... A panel that saw many different paintjobs during Larry's ownership... In fact, it seems that he has special paint skills...

This is the very first VW bus owned by Larry with rounded arches, customs rims and paintjob and rear scoops as well. Note the 'Islands Surfboards' signwriting on the panel sides.

The bus looked very nice with is one of a kind paintjob. Do we have to mention that all the interior was moved to leave room for the surboards.

It seems the rear window was extended at one time... Look at those tiny bumper... Looks like shoes to me... :-)

It seems the rear window was extended at one time... Don't miss those tiny bumpers... Looks like shoes to me... :-)

THE CHINA BEACH SURF CLUB...

This is how the entrance of the Da Nang China Beach looked like during the Vietnam war...

When larry arrived in Vietnam, he was like all these young americans, far from home, without landmarks, with the fear of staying there, larry took a long time before being able to leave the military camp to discover the surroundings.

One day, he made up his mind and discovers with surprise a magnificent beach and surfing soldiers!

Surf & Soldiers on a Vietnam beach during the war... Those were the days...

Over time he became friends with the lifeguards, his experience of surfing in florida helping, he was entrusted with the organization of the safety and training of surfers, because any soldier seeing this beach and these surfers in fatigues wanted to try, whether they come from California, Florida or Kansas and Wyoming, they did not all have the same level and some had never seen the ocean!

This classic photo of the China Beach lifeguard station and Surf Club, circa 1967. The China Beach Surf Club was a place for rest and relaxation on the beach, a little touch of home that meant so much to so many servicemen and women during their tour in Vietnam. It offered a place to relax and escape the realities of the war..

This club has allowed young soldiers, far from their families and homes, to find a small American side in the middle of the Vietnam war, and makes the time pass faster, its history and the history of china beach is at the origin of the series of the same name and a documentary tracing the whole thing.

A FRENCH TRIBUTE
TO THE PIONNEERS OF VW DRAG RACING
---

This is Larry's wife brand new orange '71 bug that he already repaint in full 70s fashion...

It sure looked awesome from the side also... Groovy baby... Looked like a Rick HARRIS painting, but no, it's Larry paintings.

This is the 2nd version of Larry's panel, a full yellow paintjob, with a bright orange roof and some endless custom lines...

Over the years, Larry painted many cars and vans in the 70s, before it was fashionable, in his city, his combi was the only one to be customized, of course his surfer friends also wanted a customized van, so Larry took care of them. The orange one in the background was one of them...

This was the final painting before the sale, a custom mix between the very first painting of panels and the endless lines.