Inhaltsverzeichnis für Autumn 2020 in VolksWorld

Compiling the contents of any issue of VolksWorld is always a pleasure, but this issue has been particularly enjoyable, due in no small part to the tribute theme running through not only three of the feature cars, but also multiple archive features, too. The whole VolksWorld team loves the colourful and rich history surrounding the west coast VW scene through the ’60s and ’70s, hence the opportunity to thumb through some original EMPI catalogues and brochures was a real treat for us all. More importantly, it’s great to see we’re not the only ones with a passion for the psychedelic days of the classic EMPI cars and buggies, so I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Kerry Coe, Dennis Slater and Damon Reynolds for assembling some of the coolest…

Pretty much everyone in the VW scene knows about the EMPI Inch Pincher, arguably the world’s most famous Beetle drag car. But what about the EMPI Inch Pincher Bajas? There appear to have been several of them, though as they all wore the California licence plate SHT 207, maybe it was the same car with different paint jobs? Or maybe the plate was just, ahem, moved about between different cars? “from Tijuana to La Paz” Either way, the red Inch Pincher Too Baja was built for the inaugural Mexican 1000 race from Tijuana to La Paz in 1967, before which EMPI struck a deal with Revell to produce a plastic model kit of the car, which came with a vinyl record, 27 Hours to La Paz. The following year, a…

If you’re going to build a replica of anything, it all comes down to the details. Porsche 356 Speedster owners, for example, will always look at the handbrake of a car as that’s the dead giveaway of a Beetle-based replica. But these days, with the current trend for ‘patina’, some truly outstanding aged paintwork techniques are making it almost impossible to tell whether a car’s outward appearance is original, down to years of exposure to the elements, or, well, fake. Fauxtina. But when this sun-baked car turned up at a swapmeet in California in the late 1990s, nobody had any reason to believe it wasn’t the real deal, a genuine 1967 EMPI GTV. It was loaded with genuine EMPI goodies, from the licence plate surround on the overrider-equipped front bumper…

Growing up in Huntington Park, California in the early ’80s, just minutes from the birthplace of ‘Cal-Style’ or ‘Retro-Style’ as it’s more commonly known today, Robert Quezada and his cousin, Pete Varela, began cruising local LA hot spots such as Elysian Park, Whittier Boulevard, Pico Rivera and Legg Lake at an early age in Pete’s ’59 Bug. “155ft.lbs at 4,500rpm and 170bhp at 6,500rpm” But it was through attending the Orange County Bug-Ins that Robert really began his lifelong addiction to the VW scene. His first VW was a ’69 Bug, which his dad bought him for his 16th birthday. In line with the trends of the day he had it painted, installed polished Fuchs, Toyota Supra seats, a boom box with Cerwin Vega speakers and modified the stock 1600cc…

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Last month we covered the amazing story of a Brazilian-built Bay Window Bus transformed into a show-stopping, 23-window ‘pseudo’ Samba by Yudhi Yumos and the expert team of metal meisters at Yumos Garage in Semarang, Indonesia. Amazing as that Bus might seem to us, such conversions are commonplace at Yumos, so this month we thought it apt to look at one of the company’s more unusual projects. This one came about following the 2013 Jogja VW event when a ’77 Bay Window show Bus was destroyed in a road traffic accident on its way home. Tragically, the driver lost his life in the accident, and his family eventually decided to part out the remains of the Bus, which is where Yudhi stepped in with a plan. Tribute project “I decided…

The short-lived GTV story starts in 1966 when Joe Vittone, inspired by what he saw happening on the streets, decided to offer a range of ready-customised VWs to the public that could be sold through his Economotors Inc. VW dealership in Riverside, California with a full dealer warranty. His master plan was to franchise the idea to other VW and import car dealers all across America and comprehensive literature was produced telling people exactly how to do that. Again, acknowledging the power of the media, Vittone made sure GTV models were made available for magazine editors to road test and write about, and the idea flew. Except VW of America (VWoA) didn’t like it one bit, and made it clear to Vittone he would lose his dealer agreement if he…

Not only was this super-cool ’65 Notchback sympathetically restored before it was slammed and upgraded, but its owner, Bruce Costa from Las Vegas, Nevada took a lot of time to focus on making everything work like it did when it left the factory. Hell, even the stock, pressure-based squirters (windscreen washers to us here in the UK) work. Now that’s a sign of a job well done! But before we get to the finer details, I’m going to make a sweeping statement here, based on my own experience of buying cars in the USA over the last 20 years. There’s a big difference between a roadworthy daily driver in the UK or Europe, where there are annual inspections and roadworthiness laws, and a similarly described car in the USA, where…

Not everyone suddenly found themselves with nothing to do when Covid-19 lockdown hit the UK. Kerry Coe, who usually works alone in his Coe’s Kustoms workshop, had ample things to keep him busy, including a Baja Bug project he scooped up cheap. Let’s face it, the lockdown rules were, at the very least, open to interpretation. Many self-employed people who need to keep earning a living had no choice but to carry on virtually as normal, relishing the time alone without the constant distraction of drop-in visitors. So, while half the country was being paid to sit at home posting on social media about toilet roll and being bored, it was business as usual at Coe’s Kustoms. However, working on his own projects, which amongst them include a full-on ’62…

The story behind Dennis Slater’s superb EMPI GTV replica begins in 2011 when he picked up a Royal Red ’69 Bug that had a front end prang. Though in truth, the story really began long before the vehicle was even purchased, as Dennis had been collecting parts to build this car for many years: “Yes, I’d hoarded a huge stash of EMPI goodies over the years and, believe it or not, I’d even tried to buy this very car many moons ago. But, as you say, the project really began when I picked up the car, which was advertised as an insurance write-off and was in need of a little TLC.” The masterplan was to create an authentic, era-correct GTV with all the bells and whistles and, as Dennis knew…

You’ve probably seen vintage car coolers, often referred to as swamp coolers, before, but have you ever stopped to think how they work? Made from the early 1930s onwards, they’re a primitive form of air conditioning that’s actually pretty effective, albeit generally only for a range of around 100-150 miles, depending on ambient conditions. While they may look like just a large air scoop, they’re a bit smarter than that, chilling the air that passes through them using the latent cooling power of vaporisation. To achieve this, you fill the cooler with ice, or around a gallon of iced water, before setting out on your journey. Though some we have seen contain balsa wood shavings, most swamp coolers contain a piece of Hessian cloth, or similar, with a string. Tugging…

If the powerful marketing machine that pushed the EMPI Imp on an unsuspecting American audience in the late 1960s is anything to go by, we should all be zooming around in one of these Buggies by now. See p82 for an explanation. Of course, the Mad Men banging out that copy wanted to paint a Utopian picture for you, it was their job. “Build your own car,” they cried. “It’s as easy as changing a hub cap (almost).” Yes, that “almost.” Tucked away at the end of a bombastic sentence and cowering in parenthesis, those six letters immediately render the whole sentiment void. Well, almost. The list of options available made an Argos catalogue look barren. But that’s okay, EMPI had you covered. “If you’re short on bucks, start with…