Vintage Volkswagen Club of America

Owner: Rick Rojas, Santa Barbara, CA

Owner: Jim Bevan, Cambria, CA   Club Feature Car Fall 2011

I purchased the 1968 VW Cabriolet in 1991.  It was a desert car (I lived in Ridgecrest in the Mojave desert at the time).  It had a cheap red paint job, the top was shot (as was the bow that seals the top in front), and the interior was shot.  It had been souped up a bit--porshe distributor and rims, lowered front, race car steering wheel, dual trumpet pipes, etc.  It was mechanically pretty good so it was a fun car to drive and I used to drive it to work a lot, especially in the summer.  I had the engine rebuilt and replaced the carburator, distributor, and speedometer while in the desert.

I kept it as a retirement restoration project.  But when I retired, I flunked retirement.  I went back to work.  Unfortunately, the VW suffered in the coastal climate.  In the month I had it outside while I moved in, it picked up more rust than its entire life in the desert.  I did stop that process by garaging it and covering it. It was great to drive in Cambria but over time it slowly degraded and eventually I couldn't drive it.  About 3 years ago I found a guy here in town named Brad Jarvis.  He loves VWs and begged me to let him restore it.  My approach was to return it to stock/new condition.  Since I was still working, I agreed to pay him to be the lead/mechanical guy in a restoration.

It was not a frame off restoration but we did pull everything off!  We stripped out the interior, pulled the motor, totally pulled out the dash, and pulled off fenders, everything.  It was painted inside and out at Cambria Auto Restoration.  I had to replace one fender due to damage but that was it for the metal.  There were six coats of paint on it....the original tan, orange, blue, green, yellow, and finally red.  The restoration guys sand blasted it inside and out.  It turned out (unknown to me), it had been hit on the right side.  They redid all the damaged parts from that.  After painting, the restoration guys put the fenders etc. back together.  We replaced every piece of rubber.  Next we towed it back to Brad and he put the car back together.  That meant putting the engine in, putting all the windows and their mechanisms in, and redoing the dash.  The biggest problems were replacing the dash, replacing the broken drivers side window regulator, and replacing the steering wheel.

We had also restored and repainted the hardware for the top, ordered a new top, and ordered all the wood pieces (very expensive).  We then drove the vehicle to Mike Wray in Cayucos.  He has a home shop and is well known for his fabulous interior work.  He agreed to do the VW. In the only significant move from stock, I couldn't bear to put in rubber mats and vinyl seats etc.   It has a canvas top and very nice seats and carpet.

With all the work I have done since I bought the bug, I have about the same costs as a new car.  Since I view it as my around town car, it was like buying a new, American made car!   It is great to drive it around town!

Owner: John Borchert, San Luis Obispo, Ca

Owner: Darin   Paso Robles, CA

Very original family owned car from new.

48,000 miles

Owner: Eddie Galvan, Redondo Beach, CA

Owner: Jerry Rex, Buena Park, CA

Owner:  Tim Borges, Atascadero, CA

Owner:  Don Helffenstein, Templeton, CA

Very early production (September 1963) 1964 113 still using early peanut front turn signal lamps. Bought by me in 1974 for my wife to use as a daily driver (we didn't want to put miles on the 65 111 Sedan "A") from the second owner who owned the car for about two weeks. This girl sold the car because she thought she had really hurt the car learning to drive a stick, and what she did was break the front trans-axle mount. The original owner lived just down the street from her so she introduced me to him. The original owner blew up the engine after it's first year and had Rivera VW ( Manhattan Beach Ca.) put in a factory re-manufactured engine from the Kassel plant in germany. The re-man engine is still in there. I painted the car in my driveway in 1979, and on 10/25/08 after 160,000 miles I burned all four exhaust valves going to Pismo Derelicts-I had barely enough compression to get home. This is the picture at Pismo that day; http://www.pismoderelicts.com/photogallery/new%20format%20843/images/p1090855.jpg. So a rebuild was in order and thanks to Matt Kinney I was able to get the needed stuff to get it back together. Since then I just drive it about once a month to Cider Creek bakery or Pismo Derelicts and sometimes to AACA events.

Owner: John Crowley, Santa Maria, CA

Owner: Kevin Bibby,  Lompoc, CA

Owner:  Eric Lykens, Orcutt, CA

Owner: Tom Reay, Los Osos, CA

award wining Sea Blue 1965 T34 electric sunroof M345

Owner: Javier Mariscal, Santa Maria, CA -  Feature Car Summer 2011

Owner:Tyler Horton, Grover Beach, CA

Owner: Peter Lee    Santa Maria, CA

Owner: Tom Reay, Los Osos, CA

Owner: Diana, Paso Robles, CA

Nice original Bug.  Sunroof, Ruby Red, Unmolested.  Upgraded to an H case 1500 SP, but still 6 volt.

Owner:   Kevin Shay,  Lompoc, CA

Owner: Dietrick Boost, SLO, CA

Owner:  Stephen Murray,  Westlake, CA

Owner: Tim Sizemore, Atascadero, CA

1641 Cal Bug

doubleugly

Owner: Brian O'Kelly, Paso Robles, CA

Owner: Javier Mariscal, Santa Maria, CA   -   Feature Car Summer 2011

Owner: Randy Monroe, Santa Maria, CA

Owner: Paul Rockwell, Paso Robles, CA

Looks like Pauls got some connections!

Owner: Sergio Ramirez, Lomoc, CA

Owner:  Miguel Flores, Shafter Ca

Owner: Randy Tate, Lompoc, CA

Owner: Bruce Lomath, Atascadero, CA

Owner: Tom Reay, Los Ososo, CA

1968 Type 34 electric sunroof automatic  M345
One of Seven known to exist.

Owner: Jeff Hamp, Pismo Beach, CA

Owner: Eloy Huitron, So Cal

Owner: John Childers, Paso Robles, CA