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Post by Volktales on Jul 25, 2018 20:33:38 GMT -8
Well once again it was time to head off to the land of cheap-ish gas, and beer in grocery stores. Time to visit the Emerald City and take in the 37th annual VW Vintage Meet. This is the fourth time for me coming to this show, and once again it lived up to expectations. The original intention was to take my '66 Beetle with the replacement engine installed, but I wanted more seat time before committing to such a long trip. So I chickened out and rode with Don in his '70 Single cab instead... So without further ado, lets get into some pictures...  It is always a bit tentative, when crossing the border into the US. Things got off to a poor start, when the guy's truck in front of us stalled out and would not restart while waiting in the border line-up. Then once we got to the booth, Don looked extra sketchy to the border guard, and it was time for the dreaded "secondary inspection". This was somewhat ominous, as I recognized one of the employees as the woman who gave Don an extremely hard time when he imported his Saab a few years ago. Luckily we did not have to deal with her and soon were on our way again... The trip down was largely uneventful except for one thing. While nearing Burlington, a Chevy Blazer with BC plates passed by us and shortly after blew a hose and dumped out all of it's antifreeze in a matter of seconds. Luckily for them, there was a turnoff just after this with a gas station and garage. Except they did not stop and kept on the throttle. I told Don "We would see them again soon". In reality they got a lot further down the interstate then I thought they would, but eventually they were spotted on the side of the road with a likely molten engine. They did not look very happy...  As usual, traffic upon entering Seattle is something else. At least I could get a shot of the iconic Space Needle while Don was doing all the hard work driving...  Eventually we made our way to Steve's place in Seattle. It should be noted it is an interesting drive to get their. We exit I-5 in the tunnels under the bowels of Seattle and turn left to go up a VERY steep hill. There is no chance for momentum, and there are several stop lights on the route. This is so steep, that park brake use while waiting is mandatory, And your clutch BETTER be GOOD! Fortunately Don had replaced this before the trip, but we noticed the clutch pedal and linkage was now starting to creak... In previous years we have dropped our stuff off at Steve's where we stay the night and then head out to the "Burger Meat" held at the local Burgermaster restaurant. For a variety of reasons, we managed to miss this part of the event this time. Steve's Vanagon Doka would not start, and Don and I ended up fixing that in the hot sun. Then we went for a ride in Steve's latest VW, a Vanagon Carat that was kind of set up as a party bus.  This thing had been heavily modified with a Subaru conversion, and Steve took us for a scary ride at high speeds through narrow residential areas. Was a pretty decent vehicle however, and he is contemplating keeping this one for awhile... Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 25, 2018 20:47:41 GMT -8
 So up bright and early the next day, it was off to Shoreline College to the site of the main show. Don had brought some items down to potentially sell at the swapmeet, so here he is setting up shop. I left him to this while making my first lap of the swapmeet. Lots of parts for pretty much every VW air-cooled model you could think of. I was looking for a couple of mirrors; one for the Ghia, one right side mirror for the Fastback. Despite digging through many boxes of mirrors, nothing of use could be found. I did manage to find something else I liked, though...  A little filthy, but in generally decent shape is this old '70's era toy bus. Given that it represents an early bay camper, I snapped it up for $10. Later picked up a few more VW books, and another toy Beetle. My favourite item spotted in the swap was a Judson supercharger however...  This '62 was one of the few cars for sale, and was definitely rougher then it looked. He wanted $3300 for this non-runner, but had no takers at the show. Now onto the show itself... Continued tomorrow... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 6:33:06 GMT -8
So after a couple of laps of the swapmeet, it was off to the actual car show...  First up was the Type 3 section, and this was the best Notchback there. And very nice it was. Most of the others had too much "patina" for me...  This '66 Fastback was also new at the show this year. Not my style, but very nicely put together.  And it was decked out with the full Pigalle interior, which was a rare option at the time on Type 3's, but more common on Beetles.   Ended up with two pictures of this decent early Squareback for sale. They wanted significant dough for it and it has been for sale on TheSamba on and off for some time.  There were lots of cars like this Fasty. "Shiny Patina" seems to still be popular.  There was even a Type 4 this year, and they are still kinda ugly, but it was nice to see one on the road in nice shape.  Roomy and minty interior in this model.  Lots of Things this year; still not sure about the bug-eyed version.  There were three Snow-Cats present this year. Two of them were in operating condition as well.  Yes they do have air-cooled engines in the front... Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 6:50:59 GMT -8
 There was quite a line up of dune buggies, and this was the one that caught my eye.  There was also a few Porches in attendance. I assumed this 356 was real, but Don looked closer and said it was in fact a replica. Didn't know they even did a replica of the coupe version...    No replica here. This one was the real thing and I loved the interior of this model. Kinda pricey these cars are...  One for Tony. 914's are not seen very much, but this was one of two at the show.   Now onto some Ghias. My favourites were the red low-light with a black top and the Type 3 Ghia. To avoid repetition, I didn't take further pictures of those two this year, but you can see them in last years show coverage.  Slammed and narrowed is the motto for some...   This Ghia received a lot of attention for its stance. It was not with the other Ghias, as it was part of a club display from the Kahiko Kula Hawaiian organization. Their membership is tight knit and their cars were jammed very tightly together in their own area of the show, which made it difficult to get many pictures. A shame because they had some of the nicest cars there... Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 7:13:51 GMT -8
 Now onto some Beetles, starting with the cabriolets. This '67 is a regular to this show.  Mmm, fatty whitewalls...   This '58 looked fine in Glacier Blue.  This is one of four split window Beetles that attended this year.  This one was the most original, so naturally I liked it the best.  Just another split Beetle...  Now onto the '58-'64 Beetle class, the largest at the show. And no shortage of very nicely detailed rides.  No crappy patina here!  Nicely done on the inside as well.  There were a few Beetles done up in this sort of theme...  This oval was here last year, and features some unique details.   Another well detailed and presumably fast Beetle. Huge tachometers mean huge speed, right???  As a contrast, here is a stock '66 in Bahama Blue.  Here is a '65 Beetle with a period roof-top tent. I think I would get a bus instead...  You can't go wrong with Sea Blue.  Another original car, this time a '67. Restored/original cars are in the minority at what is billed as a "Vintage Meet". Hmmm.  This was my favourite Beetle at the show. This '60 looks nice and original, doesn't it?  The interior hinted that their might be more to it, however. Look at those vintage extra gauges...  Yep. That there is the mighty Judson supercharger. This gave up to a 50% boost in power over the stock 36! Cool. Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 7:52:22 GMT -8
   Now onto the "late model" section. Funny that the earliest of the "late" models are now 50 years old... You know it is not that hard to fix your parkbrake...  Umm. Just weird.  This one actually had one of the brightest paint jobs at the show.  This picture is just for Frank...  Not my scene, but some of you might like this...  Odd over rider bar on this one. Otherwise nice.  Now back to the Kahiko Kula club display, and this full custom was getting a lot of attention.   Was nicely put together, but kinda not much use as an actual car...  No onto some buses. As is usual with the split windows, there are a few fully restored/custom versions surrounded by lots of, shall we say, distressed vehicles. Here are some of the nicer ones.  No old coffee sack door panels here...  This was my favourite early camper bus.   Very cozy looking inside...  There were a few Deluxe Microbus versions as well.  Shiny, but seemed to be missing a few things.  Double door panels are pretty rare.   This double cab was one of the nicest splitties there.  This single cab was not however. But was kind of cool.  This one was rough too. Hard to tell what is fake sign-writing and what is real nowadays.  Surprising how many split trucks have survived out there.  I think the splits out-numbered the bays this year... Now finally onto the bay-window buses... Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 8:09:07 GMT -8
 This pile was for sale and is showing off it's unique double-decker front bumper. Why???  Nice work on that tire cover...  This bus was showing it's local origins off with pride.  I like my fatty whitewalls, but not on bay windows. To each his or her own...  No comment required...  This Vanagon is ex-German police, then ex-German fire department. Several Vanagons were on display. I have to say that the bay window section was poor this year with lots of shabby well used vehicles, and honestly only one nice version that I was unable to get a good picture of...  This was very cool however. A highly original 1954 Terry Travel trailer.   It was for sale too. Yours for $7000 USD.  Now back to the swap meet. Several vendors were selling vintage camping equipment. Brent would have approved.  I also found and bought this Matchbox Beetle on my final cruise around the swap area. Managed to buy ZERO parts at the show, a first for me...   This '51 split was in the swap meet section, but I don't believe it was for sale.  After a long day at the show it was time to use the facilities. This made me laugh. Can you imagine transporting that across the border??? Continued... |
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 8:55:25 GMT -8
 So with the show now over, it was back to Steve's house for the night. We went out to dinner together at a place called the Derby Restaurant. This place is interesting as the eating area is a corner of a large warehouse that stores classic and exotic cars, as well as a workshop area. The dining room has glass windows so you can drool at that Lambo as you gobble your food. There is also a private club/bar attached as well. You are allowed to go into the garage area and view the cars which are safely roped off. Happy hour pricing made it moderately affordable as well, although the Canuck buck ain't going very far these days!!! This couch on wheels trike was sitting in the parking lot when we left...  As an automotive themed restaurant, there were all sorts of things on display. Spot the Type 3 Ghia in this cabinet built into the wall...  So before going to bed that night, Don decided to check into the squeaky clutch cable. This was removed and the cable and pivot were found to be quite dry. A trip to the local AutoZone was in order, and it was an interesting cultural experience as it was the hang out place for nearby residents. One had a '76 Eldorado on huge rims. Don was happy as he got his hands on some Marvel Mystery Oil and some grease for the clutch cable. This worked well, and the cable was smooth and silent there after. In the morning we said our goodbyes to Steve and his family, and headed for the Bainbridge Island Ferry. Descending steep hills was in order, complicated by road works. Eventually we figured out how to access the Ferry terminal... Lots of nice things to see on the ferries in Washington State...  While heading towards Port Townsend, we had to cross this floating bridge. Managed to capture a custom '57 Ford hot rod crossing the other way. Later on the trip on Whidbey Island, we spotted an absolutely mint looking '57 Ford for sale on the road side...  After staying the night with Don's friend Carol, we went into town and checked out this local 1917 garage that is now an automotive antique shop. On consignment was this rust free '67 Beetle with low mileage and all paperwork from new.  One of those rare "VolkswagOns"!  Car had a long ago cheapo paint job, and the interior needed some work, but was decent enough...  If that didn't float your boat, you could by one, in the shape of this '58 Caddy. This was an all original, local car, with full history for $18,500. There are tons of cool old cars in this small community, and it was also unbelievable how many old Toyota, Nissan, and even the odd Mazda trucks could be spotted here. The early '70's Datsun was particularly cool. This antique shop had piles of boxes to dig through, and they do have some VW parts buried in there. Prices varied considerable, from downright cheap, to exorbitant. A full set of early German hubcaps for $60 might not sound to bad, but all had some damage in some way. I did find a nice mirror that once resided on an early Volvo, but looked like a good match for my Ghia. For $18 it was mine, and a later test fit shows it will work perfectly. Given that there is no such thing as a "correct" mirror for early Ghias, this high quality Swedish version will do the job just fine...  The final day, it was a mad dash over Whidbey Island. We left Port Townsend later then we wanted to, as we discovered the Whidbey Island ferry now requires reservations in the summer. Here we see the view from the bridge over Deception Pass. If we had more time, we would have stopped because this area was very scenic.  Whidbey Island has a large Air-base, and there are no shortage of military jets flying overhead. Here are a couple of earlier versions on display. Once we finally left this area and back on I-5, it was smooth sailing to the border. Or was it???  Don spotted what looked like smoke up ahead, and indeed the electronic signs warned of a brush fire ahead. Right in the centre median some F-tard must have discarded their ciggy butt and that was the result. The flames were not visible in this picture, but were definitely there, and the heat being thrown off was very obvious. If this happened on the Parkway in Nanaimo, you can be sure both lanes would be shut down for hours causing traffic mayhem. They do things differently down the States however...  The Interstates are not shut down unless it is something REALLY bad. Just a bit of smoke, and the zero visibility did not last too long.  We were barely delayed at all. The border was breeze as there was no delay and the agent didn't really want to talk to us, so let us slide on through! Pretty soon we were gobbling pizza and tacos at the Tsawwassen terminal... Was a very long day of travelling however...  And finally the next morning, I cleaned up my purchase, and put it on my own shelf to collect my own dust. A memento of another great trip to Seattle, and hope to do more of them in the future... And thanks to Don for all the driving and his truck ran flawlessly the whole time. |
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Post by PICTUP on Jul 26, 2018 15:23:06 GMT -8
Whidbey Island has a large Air-base, and there are no shortage of military jets flying overhead. Here are a couple of earlier versions on display. F*** YEAH Lest anyone get the wrong idea, though, I do quite enjoy going down there and seeing my friends. Still a great country, but if you want to start and sustain a conversation down there just bring up their current political state  . And thanks to Don for all the driving and his truck ran flawlessly the whole time. It wouldn't have been ready for the trip, let alone have run flawlessly, if it hadn't been for your involvement, Russ. So, thanks, mate! Did Russ mention we saw Mark and his dad Dave down there??   |
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Post by mitchy965 on Jul 26, 2018 15:30:50 GMT -8
you mean Mark had a day off??!!!
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Post by Volktales on Jul 26, 2018 15:41:15 GMT -8
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Car had a long ago cheapo paint job, and the interior needed some work, but was decent enough...
We were barely delayed at all. The border was breeze as there was no delay and the agent didn't really want to talk to us, so let us slide on through! Pretty soon we were gobbling pizza and tacos at the Tsawwassen terminal... Was a very long day of travelling however...
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