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Post by PICTUP on Dec 29, 2015 22:17:23 GMT -8
Before my sister was born, my parents drove Beetles. They not only drove them, they were really into them and were members of the BC Volkswagen Club. They participated in Rallys such as the Van-Man-Van(Vancouver to Manning Park and back) and others, what they called "Mud Runs", plus gymkhanas and camping trips…in tents(only later were they able to break into the camper market( miacvw.proboards.com/thread/220/original-family-westfalia-pics-movies )). Luckily my dad was also into cameras and compiled a record of some of these activities. I have been going thru their slides of the time and picking out some good ones. Well, okay, ALL of them, lol! I haven't edited all the ones I have uploaded to photobucket(should have done it before) but here is a teaser… The Club Cars in Vancouver BC in 1959. Theirs was a green 56 or 57(not sure) Beetle. It had the bullets down low, so I thought that made it a 56, but M+D remember it as a 57. Pretty sure that is theirs in the lower right.  And sometimes what they did with them. I think this is dad in his Black 60 that they traded up to because of the better visibility thru the bigger back window.  More to come….. |
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Post by Volktales on Dec 30, 2015 9:20:59 GMT -8
Some very nice VWs in that line up... Those extra guards on the blue one look awful however... And don't get me started on the "eyebrows" either... At least back then they were the quality chrome plated brass versions... Looks like Daddy is having some fun!
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Post by CrazyBrit on Dec 30, 2015 10:17:24 GMT -8
I think that Russ should take his '62 Beryl Green Beetle out for some muddy fun!
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Post by Volktales on Dec 30, 2015 15:18:33 GMT -8
That will happen... Never.
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 30, 2015 19:12:10 GMT -8
I think that Russ should take his '62 Beryl Green Beetle out for some muddy fun! Or you can take your Ghia(note the Cabriolet in the second pic)  Both low lights! This one was owned by Rudy with a "complicated last name". He helped run a VW repair shop for many years in downtown Vancouver from what I understand.   |
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Post by Volktales on Dec 30, 2015 19:26:01 GMT -8
So we can blame your parents and their friends for all our beloved VWs rusting away. Can you believe someone would rally low-light Ghias that still even have their wheel trim rings intact? If only those then owners knew how valuable these cars would become some day...
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 30, 2015 20:27:54 GMT -8
So we can blame your parents and their friends for all our beloved VWs rusting away. Ha, don't think so. I think all the salt BC put on it's roads helped immeasurably. Did those BC owners in Oregon and Washington not engage in similar activities with their VWs? I figure they would have  Besides, I don't think everything they did was in winter. Here they are at Shushwap in 1960. I learned today(Dec 31) that the Cabriolet Ghia belonged to my mum's friend Aileen, who still lives in Nanaimo and mum and she still see each other on a regular basis. I have vague recollections of driving in a Ghia with Aileen when I was very very young. Logic dictates that this is the one(with Aileen sitting on the bumper) but I cannot substantiate her ownership to the later sixties yet.*edit I just learned from Aileen that she sold the Ghia in 1971 for $200!!! The red ragtop was owned by Dieter and Irmgaard Graening. When I broke down in Palo Alto in Jan 1988 on my way back from the Baja, I tried contacting him but he shunned me, having been into Porsches in a big way since moving to California. Damn Porsche owners with their noses in the air, lol!!   My dad very proud of his new 60  My mum trying her best to ignore the guy on the right…her best friend's husband whom she never liked apparently…  My mum's best friend Norma, and her husband(again), probably on 4th Ave in Vancouver BC. I am leaning towards the former with the McGavin's in the background. That Beetle has a huge antenna, wonder why? Short wave? I will have to ask my dad.  |
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Post by CrazyBrit on Dec 30, 2015 21:52:44 GMT -8
I think that Russ should take his '62 Beryl Green Beetle out for some muddy fun! Or you can take your Ghia(note the Cabriolet in the second pic) Both low lights! No thanks. There are way too many places in a Ghia and way too many double skinned areas that you would never get the mud out of. I'll bet that those two Ghias aren't around today! |
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Post by PICTUP on Dec 31, 2015 10:52:50 GMT -8
More mud run fun. Looks like this red Beetle may have body work in progress with what looks to be a primered fender  Going for it thru the ruts  There were other cars too, this one needing some assistance. And check out those spectator arrangements, I bet a coffee cart would have done a booming business!  |
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 1, 2016 11:47:09 GMT -8
The road rallies looked like fun too. Here is a pic of the start of the Van-Man-Van rally in 1958. What I wouldn't give for that VW sign!  My dad drove in this rally a couple of times with his friends. Here is his or his friend's(not sure which at this point) Oval all decked out for the event. I have no idea what kind of paint they put on there.  Looks like the club was well represented  |
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Post by busaddict on Jan 1, 2016 12:05:05 GMT -8
These are amazing pictures and stories Don, the Van-Man-Van rally start looks like it's right out of a VW history book. What year would this have been?
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Post by Volktales on Jan 1, 2016 16:06:19 GMT -8
Those cars all feature 1958 plates in the pictures. Very cool!
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 2, 2016 10:48:06 GMT -8
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Post by PICTUP on Jan 3, 2016 9:33:10 GMT -8
These are amazing pictures and stories Don, the Van-Man-Van rally start looks like it's right out of a VW history book. What year would this have been? As Russ says, these were taken in 1958, but my dad competed a few times from his recollection. He mostly remembers taking the black '60 which he would would have got this:  I don't know how navigators were given separate recognition, but obviously that distinction was made. This plaque looks like it was taken off a trophy. For years the awards won by my parents in various events just sat in an old shoebox under the bench in our homes growing up with weird things like leather hole punches. Luckily, for the sake of history that box was never thrown out! In all I have 14 plaques from that era…here are a few more:       VW Owners Club events:   My Mum got in on the driving too, but they managed to spell her name with the wrong first letter:  |
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Post by Wongai on Jan 4, 2016 11:10:05 GMT -8
These are awesome shots. I have a few pics of my parents hanging with draft dodgers in the Yukon. I'll dig em out and post them up here. Not quite as old, but still pretty cool.
Some of those cars look Awesome!
Thanks for taking the time to post all these.
B
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Both low lights! This one was owned by Rudy with a "complicated last name". He helped run a VW repair shop for many years in downtown Vancouver from what I understand.
Besides, I don't think everything they did was in winter. Here they are at Shushwap in 1960. I learned today(Dec 31) that the Cabriolet Ghia belonged to my mum's friend Aileen, who still lives in Nanaimo and mum and she still see each other on a regular basis. I have vague recollections of driving in a Ghia with Aileen when I was very very young. Logic dictates that this is the one(with Aileen sitting on the bumper) but I cannot substantiate her ownership to the later sixties yet.*edit I just learned from Aileen that she sold the Ghia in 1971 for $200!!! The red ragtop was owned by Dieter and Irmgaard Graening. When I broke down in Palo Alto in Jan 1988 on my way back from the Baja, I tried contacting him but he shunned me, having been into Porsches in a big way since moving to California. Damn Porsche owners with their noses in the air, lol!! 
