2014 Fall (pdf file ~1.7MB)
Transcription
2014 Fall (pdf file ~1.7MB)
Winter 2014 In this issue: Membership information – Reports on VDub shows and events – VW sightings – New VW reading –Swap area/Marketplace Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER 2 Happy Winter everyone! It‟s with great pride that I take over the role of editor of the CCVWC newsletter, Wind & Water, from Troy. Thanks for all your hard work! I have owned a VW since the 1970s…starting with an already rusty and bondo-covered Bay window Westfalia. I left it up on axle stands after it gave up the ghost, or more accurately I ran out of time and money to keep it going, in my parents‟ driveway. My family would go “camping” and ”on picnics” in it without leaving the house! Volkswagens have been in my life since then. My 3 older brothers all own and drive VWs, but that‟s a story for another issue. Let me know what you think of this issue and we‟ll make changes as we go. Rob Criger Membership Corner A new membership is only $25 and includes one T-shirt, a windshield decal, our quarterly newsletter Wind & Water, and an annual Breakfast Banquet. Membership renewal is $20.00 per year. Memberships are valid from January 1 to December 31. Anyone who joins from August on is a member until December 31 of the following year. Please contact a team member in the Contact Patch to obtain further membership information. Welcome two new members John Learned and his son Noah bring 2 VWs with them, a 1968 panel that should be on the road this year and a 1971 Beetle that is a long-term project. Contact Patch: Web-page http://www.ccvwc.ca E-mail: [email protected] Events: Ron Bell............................................ Ralph Landry..................................... Finances: Ed Psutka....................................... Membership: Keith Walker........................... Web Page: Hans Brouwer............................. Newsletter: Rob Criger............................... Club Storyboards: Frania Granville............... BusFusion: Frank Condelli............................. Volksfest: Shawn Rutters.............................. Deadline for submissions for the Winter 2014 edition of Wind and Water: January 24, 2014. Remember, your submissions are what make this newsletter interesting, personal and enjoyable. 613-832-7294 819-771-2507 613-836-5586 613-731-8422 613-833-3227 613-293-5122 613-727-8122 613-256-6763 613-448-2836 VWBlues For the next issue, a section will be reserved for: Spring Cleaning and Maintenance Tips for our sleepy VWs. Technical, maintenance and project tips are always welcome. And there is always room for personal VW stories, as well as photos of Volkswagons that you have spotted on your everyday trips or far away travels. To submit your material, contact Rob Criger (pronounced like bigger) at [email protected] “Looks like Fritz has been riding in the back seat of his split window with his shirt off again.” Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter Welcome 11 new members: Isaac Biggin ‟68 Type 3 Notchback Leah Dixon ‟70 Beetle convertible Paul Hopkinson ‟96 Mexican Beetle sunroof John & Noah Learned ‟69 Panel Van & Beetle Robert and Liz Muella ‟66 Beetle Emad Radmanesh Stephen & Wendy Robbins „70s World-travelled Westie Jeff Rogers Vanagon Tristar Greg Sorkilm ‟87 Vanagon John Upton ‟71 Super Beetle Doug Wallace `79 Beetle convertible Tammie Winsor Weekender Van WIND AND WATER 3 Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER 4 Shows, Fests and Events June Jitterbug 2013 Niagara Falls Late June in Niagara Falls, Ontario is a beautiful time. The city is green and clean. Perfect cruising weather. And on the third Sunday in June every year, out in the City‟s north end, Firemen‟s Park fills up with Volkswagens. Sponsored by John‟s Bug Shop of Welland, Ontario, the annual June Jitterbug has been attracting Volkswagens and their admirers since 1987. There are Volkswagens of all ages, shapes, sizes and mutations. On the air-cooled side, there are bugs, bajas, dune buggies, ghias, things and vans, vans, vans. Survivor cars, restorations, resto-mods and resto-rods. Impossibly low slammed cars and vans. Bradley GTs, 914s and a Puma or two. And there are the water-cooled dubs. Golfs, Rabbits, Sciroccos, Jettas, Eos and the rest. Full stock to full custom. Vendors? You will find the usual parts and products companies, but also vendors with cool collectibles like vintage Coke coolers and tie-dye t-shirts. My favourite vendors are always the regular folks who have cars or parts for sale and stories to tell. Clutch eater contest. Engine teardown and rebuild contest. Burgers and soft drinks. And a guy sitting on his Golf wagon tailgate playing polka music on his accordion. My brothers and I grew up in the Falls. We moved away years ago, but we make it a point to get back home every June for the Jitterbug. It is always a good day with good cars and good people. Check out http://www.johnsbugshop.com/ or http://www.thesamba.com/ for more information. - Brock Criger, Proud owner of a 2009 VW Eos. Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER Coincidentally I have a go-to person for body work, paint and car-related camaraderie. Fraser owns Laurie Auto Body on Bronson at the Queensway. The shop has been there for decades and so has he. Fraser knows so much about vintage cars that you could easily stand around the shop for hours “learning”. On my most recent visit, Tuesday November 19th, he was showing me his Golden Anniversary 1952 Cadillac convertible. He had rebuilt the #s matching 331 c.i. 4 barrel motor last summer and completed the exterior bodywork and paint this year. It was a gleaming red with black top beauty with no interior, not even a floor. So where‟s the coincidence? This is a VW club after all. Well, it turns out that the Caddy came from a certain VW wrecking yard in St. Regis Falls, NY owned by none other than Joe Paquette. Joe has been the source of many project cars and buses since the 1980s I‟m sure. And, it was former Club president Ron Cashman who told Fraser about the Caddy in the first place. Furthermore, Ron arranged the purchase and delivery of the car. So therein lies the coincidence. I have included before and after pictures of the Caddy….. 5 Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER 6 Coincidentally Part II Picture yourself in Mexico on a comfortably hot Sunday afternoon. You‟re surrounded, not by tourists, but locals, most of whom are driving VWs of one vintage or another. It not only looks good but it sounds like music to your ears. Then you spot an early red Bay Window Westie with a CANADA decal across the top of the windshield. Anyone out there know who the occupants were? Red Westie? Mexico? Think I could remember their names? No? I tried in vain to flag them down, then continued on my way back to the resort, racking my brain. I had met the couple at a CCVWC dessert meeting at Island Park this summer. They were writing a blog as they traveled the world. Sounded like lots of fun to me. So the week went by, surfing, running, swimming, over-eating, repeat as necessary with no sign of the van…until our last morning. Saturday at 8 a.m. we were out for a run. A man said “Hi” in perfect English but it wasn‟t the owner. “Do you know the couple driving the VW Camper” I practically shouted at him. “Sure, Steve and Wendy are in Apt 3. Just knock.” So we did. Steve came out in shorts, it was early Saturday don‟t forget, and after a little difficulty remembered meeting me at Island Park. “The yellow convertible, right?” He dropped a valve seat so they decided to stay in Ixtapa and get the engine repaired AND have the van painted, including some new window rubber. Steve claimed it was about a third of the price of the same work in Canada. We didn‟t stay long but I promised to include an article in Wind and Water about the chance rendezvous. So there you have it. Coincidences by definition are Learning to Fly I got my driver‟s license the day I turned 16 and my father immediately took me to the Ikea parking lot on Greenbank road to practice. It was a 1995 red Volkswagen golf and we lurched around for about an hour before our stomachs gave up. The clutch is not an easy thing to master. But, with his patience – and maybe one replaced clutch, on a 1992 yellow Cabriolet we nicknamed “Lucy” – I mastered it. When it came time to get my full license, however, I failed, and the license expired days later. It was back to the starting line for me, except a move to Toronto for university was on the horizon. With the city‟s subways and streetcars, and my extreme lack of funds, driving took, well, a back seat. In the summer of 2013 I was due to turn 29 and I knew I couldn‟t hit my 30th birthday without a license. Without telling a soul, I started at the beginning again. I gained my G1 and G2 in a matter of months and began preparing for my exit test. With the help of a very kind Toronto instructor, I passed, days before my birthday. The first person I told was my dad. His response? You have to come home and try my 2013 GTI. Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER During a visit to Northern Ireland last summer, I went into a shop called Regency Gift House in the city of Bangor, in which an entire wall was filled with die cast vehicles from a company called Oxford Diecast. Showing great restraint, I purchased only four VWs: a bay single cab pickup, a bay surfboarded window van, a bay pop-top camper, and a Vanagon high-top camper. These particular models are in the Oxford Commercial range, and are 1:76 scale. Made from mostly metal, they are solid and fairly weighty. Nice, smooth bright paint and lots of detail make them very nice additions to any collection. Each of the VWs I purchased cost around£5, so they won’t break the bank. The full range, which focuses mainly on British vehicles but also includes cars, vans and trucks from other countries, in varying scales, can be seen at the following website: http://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/index.htm. Overseas shipping is possible. - Troy Heisler 7 Capital City Volkswagen Club Newsletter WIND AND WATER 8 SWAP AREA/MARKETPLACE _______________________________________________________________ _____ VWs spotted... New Beetle at a Marina in Havre de Grace, Maryland. _______________________________________________________________ _____ CCVWC 1620 Wilhaven Drive Cumberland, Ontario K4C 1M9