Vintage Show 2016, or Just another trip to Seattle

[PICTUP]

Last year Volktales made his first trip to Seattle with me to take in the Vintage VW Show put on by Cascade Kombis. After the success of that trip, it was determined quite quickly that the Show was not to be missed. So plans were made, money was saved, vehicles were readied and time was taken off work. This year instead of going down the I5 we opted to take an extra day and add a stop-over in Port Townsend WA. Since going to Wooden Boat School there in 1991 I have maintained a good friendship with the person whose house I lived in for the 18 months I was there(school lasted only 6, but I liked it so much I stayed down there longer ). I was lucky to have been able to make reservations on the COHO ferry from Vic to Port Angeles. It is a great old boat and has been on duty for the better part 56 or so years. The latter part of the first day we spent taking in the sights and sounds of Port Townsend after having got there in the early afternoon. We also went to the renowned Berstrom's, the old car museum/store. It is quite the place with a little of everything…. mostly american, but some interesting VW stuff was spotted(and some bought). From there the next day we made our way to the ferry at Kingston and took the short hop to Edmonds. At this point we figured the I5 would be the best to get on to make our way to the Burger Meat at the BurgerMaster Restaurant in the University of Washington Seattle Pacific. One of the joys of the I5, however, is that there is usually lots of traffic and on a Friday afternoon headed into Seattle from experience is always a bit brutal. There were ways around it if one had a smarter GPS, but not wanting to get lost I just followed my nose to the known exit and Russ tagged along staying behind me the best he could in the cutthroat/cut-off traffic that was either 60 mph or crawling bumper to bumper. But all went fairly well and we made it and managed to get a decent spot after asking a Westy owner if he would be so kind to move a few feet to his right(he was thankfully very amenable to the idea).

Waiting for and on the COHO ferry





In Port Townsend at my friend Carol's. The house is known in PT as the "big pink" and is situated well away from the water, but easy accessed and soooooo quiet!



A quick look at the oil levels before setting off the next morning



It couldn't be breakfast at any other place than The Blue Moose down in Boat Haven



Checking out the amazing North Beach



Then on to Fort Warden, where "An Officer and a Gentleman" was filmed(yes, I realize I am dating myself).



Stopped at a temporary light near Port Gamble



We were on the ferry with Greg Noble(Camping Box on thesamba), and his partner, the equally well-known Clara in Split Bus circles. Her dad(Sam) from California and a guy(Matt) from Pennsylvania was tagging along after he had just come back from Alaska. Here is Greg and Clara's "new" rare 15 window Camping Box Bus



Our spot at BurgerMaster



Lots of diversity to see















A Barn Door SC with smooth gates



Where would the VW Bus' reputation be without the Grateful Dead and the 60's hippies…the Buses didn't look like this back then though!!



A Dormy's interior



Displaying the correct Dorm fabric





A beautiful 72





Victor only sorta like a few cars and this was one…..teenagers…. . Kinda got the German Look going on , with a twist.





Bikes are big with truck and bus owners



A real off-road Buggy I quite liked





The three MIACVW vehicles who were "representing"



A super beefed Baja Bus… major mods to the sliding door keepers to clear the tires in the rear



The next day it was on to the show and I will let Volktales post his pics before posting my "faves"

[Volktales]

I will have some of the pictures up a bit later tonight... Some interesting points on the trip included meeting a real Wolfsburg employee in the ferry line up. He was on a well deserved holiday after working daily twelve hour shifts to come up with a solution to the "dieselgate" problem. He was extremely apologetic for Volkswagen's screw up and very unhappy the company let this event happen. Too bad all the engineers did not have a conscience like his... It was harder for me this year to visit my favourite junk food aisles in US supermarkets. The huge selection they have down there is unbelievable, and probably responsible for at least some of that obesity... Sadly I could only drool this time... More coming later...





They pack you tight in the ferry lineup in Victoria!

[Volktales]

Ok onto some more pictures. These shots are from day two while waiting in the parking lot for the Kingston-Edmunds ferry. We had quite a chat with several other travelers as well as local people. Had an "interesting" conversation with a Trump supporter who was quite obviously mentally damaged. Insert you own joke there...

I was surprised that many of the people we talked to had heard of Nanaimo and had nice things to say about it too.  I was also surprised you could buy beer on the ferry, but you had to chug it because the sailing was only about 20 minutes.  Don convinced me I needed to sample American culture and eat a corn dog on the ferry.  Blah.

Now we eventually arrived at the Burger Meat after spending lots of time fighting traffic.  Low geared standard transmissions in bumper to bumper is not a lot of fun.

A rather nice Notchback.  These were never officially sold in the US.

Even ratty barn door VWs get respect.  Note the lack of roof overhang over the windshields, which is one of the early bus identifiers.

This, um, interesting Ghia, featured the rear sub-frame from an Oldsmobile Toronado, which accommodated the 500 cubic inch Caddy motor shoved in the back!

A decent Yukon Yellow '67 Cabriolet.

Nice early bay.

As usual, a lot of the splitties were very ratty.

Mark and his Dad made it down from Nanaimo for the show, and had a good time.

This Beetle was one of my favourites last year, but now seems lower than I remember...

I really liked this colour on a Ghia.

Bugs 'n'  buses galore.

This Fasty was owned by AJ Simms, once well known as Mr.Kadron.  He has moved on to big turbos and EFI.  Didn't look that pretty, but was fast, and I am sure that is all he cared about.

This split was quite nice.

So were these two Beetles; '66 on the left, '67 on the right.

More to come...

[Volktales]

Both Washington and Oregon must have very lax vehicle safety laws.  This Ghia was far worse then the '72 I scrapped a few years back.  The front bumper was missing due to the lack of any structural integrity whatsoever.  This particular Ghia was a special editions however, but the name escapes me at the moment.

This '72 was somewhat better and still has its bumpers firmly attached.

This '62 was sporting some patina, but original paint.  Apparently the owner intended to paint it, but the body shop refused, stating they didn't want to ruin the cars originality!  You know I loved those tires...

1963 was a popular year.

This made me smile.

Don liked this Doormobile topped camper.

Not my style, but was nicely done.

This was nice too.

Ever seen a Vanagon water pumper in a Baja bug with a 34 PICT 3 carb on it?  Now you have.  Apparently it runs great!

An early VW with the wheels painted like original is always nice.

Mitch will like this one...

Late Ghia was for sale for a cool $20,000.  Was a nice colour.

Sooo, last year I ranted about an Oval window rustbucket bug that everyone thought was just great.  This is the object of the same rant this year.  This car was so structurally unsafe, it was amazing it moved at all.   Bits of metal tacked in place to keep it from collapsing, but it sure looked "kewl", didn't it???

Once again we stayed overnight at Steve's place.  This is his daily driver and he seems to have invested quite a bit of $ into it since we were last here.  Note the texture to the hill it is parked on.  It is so steep that the texture is a necessity for traction!  Backing off this into his driveway on a very steep angle is downright scary in a top heavy campervan!

Now onto the main show...

[Volktales]

The main event of this weekend is the show and swap at Shoreline Community College.  The swap meet is held on the College running track and there are vendors all they way around the oval.  This time I didn't buy anything on the first circuit, but eventually dug through various boxes and came back with a few useful goodies.  Nothing interesting enough to photograph, however...  This early single cab in Sealing Wax Red did it for Don however.  It was quite nice and featured original paint too.  Looked just right on the proper tires as well.

Buses as far as the eye can see.  Would you believe 32 split buses and 41 bay window buses?  A few Vanagons were thrown it too as well as a 1989 water cooled Kombi bus.  No other water cooled VWs are allowed at this event.

Brent once owned one like this, although his was not quite so shiny!

There were lots of '72 busses at the show, this one a Riviera conversion.  Riviera's are very common in Washington State. 

And there is my '72 Dorper.  Many people were interested in the unusual top design.  And yes it was the only one there...

And yet another '72, this time a passenger bus.

More...

[Volktales]

More will be added tomorrow...

[PICTUP]

Jul 18, 2016 18:05:51 GMT -8 Volktales said:

It was harder for me this year to visit my favourite junk food aisles in US supermarkets. The huge selection they have down there is unbelievable, and probably responsible for at least some of that obesity... Sadly I could only drool this time... More coming later...

Well, not really… remember you did get some A&W Root Beer flavoured Pop Tarts. I know because I tried one of them…. and it was gooood! I got my own Orange Crush flavoured ones along with Peanut Butter flavoured ones. Haven't broken into them yet… maybe later in the month/year!

[Volktales]

And there they are.  You have to have a least a little fun eating on your vacation.  Amazingly, there is still one remaining, too!

Back to the show...  Whether you liked your bay window buses early or late, there were lots to choose from.

This early bay featured the popular foglights.  Wonder how many bus owners have ever actually used them?

This nice late Riviera camper was one of many at the show.

These mini motorhomes were actually produced in the '70's.  This one is the "Super Bugger" and has a bigger engine then stock.  I think it was from California, too.  And no a '67 was not cut up to make this...

Was more room in there then you might think.

There were oodles of Beetles in attendance. The most popular class was '58-'67 Beetles with 47 at the show.

Bare metal and clear-coated Beetle was distinctive.

This '58 was stock-ish, so naturally I was interested.  Nice detailing but the car actually sat higher then stock in the back and looked a bit odd.

The engine was done in the Okrasa style, but I don't know these well enough to know if this was original or repro.

The interior was very nice with some extra accessories.

Another early square-window Beetle with really big rims.

One of the many cars entered by the Kahiko Kula VW club.  This Beetle had many unique features including the custom tires with their club name on the raised white letters.  How did they do that?  This car had an interesting colour and I think won it's class.

This was Don's favourite Beetle at the show.  Gee, I wonder why???

A Brazilian made Puma.  Not a kit car, these were actually sold as complete cars.  They do deserve a closer look and have some nice detail features.  I have driven one of these in the past, although in MUCH poorer condition then this one...

 

Five of the six dune buggies that made it to the show.

More...

[Volktales]

Now onto some more Beetles.  Liked this late model yellow version.

Liked this green one too.  No shortage of tattoos at the show either...

Paint strip similar to the "Aussie trim".

There wasn't as much patina as I expected.  They did have a specific class for cars like these with 11 entered.  This is a faded Ruby Red '65.

Nice and clean. 

You don't see many VWs running T-bars nowadays, do you?  I had them on my old '70 Bug for years.

Nice paint on this one.

You can't get bigger then a rack like that, can you.  Amazingly it was free of the usual show crap.

There were only a few Fastbacks at the show.  Of the eleven type 3s, the majority were Notchbacks which is ironic because that model was never sold in the US.

This grey one was nice.

So was the green one.

But the Sea Blue original version, was definitely my favourite.

Engine was nice too.

One for Tony.  I think this one was allowed  in as these cars were sold as VW-Porsches in Europe.

More...

[Volktales]

This was my favourite Type 1 based Ghia  at the show.

I quite liked that steering wheel too.

But this type 3 based Ghia was still my overall favourite.

I am really liking these more and more.

I would chuck that cheezy tach in the garbage in three seconds if it was mine, however.  Hopefully a temporary addition for the trip.

There is that nice Neptune Blue Ghia again.

I like that orange on Ghias as well.  Not normally a chrome rim fan, but it works on this car.

I got my pictures mixed up a bit, and have one of Marks car coming up later...

[img src="i.imgur.com/TOWQAezh.jpg" src="http://i.imgur.com/zaeop0Lh.jpg"]

A couple more patina bugs for you...

How about this pile?  It is actually a road legal daily driver.  The owner is in his '70's, and is obviously somewhat eccentric.  Apparently the car was stolen years ago and driven into a tree.  When the cops found it, the engine was still running and one of the back tires was spinning in the mud.  For reasons known only to the owner, he elected not to fix it, and drive it as is.

The back looks almost as sweet as the front.  And yes the car was full of junk, and structurally rotten too.  And somehow legal? with those headlights pointing toward to sky.  I saw it leave the show under its own power as well.

A shiny Ruby Red '65.  Several cars were running those chrome Porsche style rims.

Anthracite grey with more Porsche rims.

If grey is too boring, how about this.  The flip-flop paint can look good on some cars, and a custom Bug is one of them.

More...

[Volktales]

Bahama Blue is always a great colour on a Beetle, this time a '65.

This Pearl White Beetle features the steel sunroof that was new for 1964.

This was the most interesting Thing, of the seven in attendance.

This Coral Red oval featured some smoked flat lenses over the stock headlights for a different look.  It was one of several cars that featured widened smoothies on the back.

A couple of black ovals.  The two-toned rims always look better on early Beetles.

This was probably the nicest of the nine cabriolets at the show.  Most of them were Super Beetles...

Some more of the Thing lineup.

This nice Ghia was parked away from the others.  I am not a fan of silver paint, but looks good on this car.

This '68 Sundial was at the Victoria show.  Was probably one of my favourite buses and just about the only early bay I would consider owning.  I have a thing for light yellow and this was similar to my old '67 Cougar...

One of three split window Beetles at the show, and all were heavily modified.  In actuality for an even billed as the "Vintage Meet", there were very few stock or original cars there...

Now onto the splitties.  I was surprised how many single and double cabs were at the show.

A thirteen window with the obligatory safari's and roof rack.

There were several split campers in beautiful shape.

Simple but functional layouts in most of them.

As is the usual case,  most of the real ratty VWs were old buses.

This Westfalia was loaded with all the goodies.

More than a bit cramped in the back of this version however.

Features one of those flip-seats and I think it had a sub-hatch as well.  Probably a very big dollar bus.

And there it is.  The mighty shorty split truck.  It ran great  on the trip so I was rather happy.

Make it a double.  Why not?

I think this '50's panel was a double-door.

Yet another nice camper with awning.

There is that barndoor single cab again.  Was the oldest commercial there.

And there is Mark's '71 Ghia.  Mark and his Dad enjoyed the show and said it was worth the trip.  Will we get more people from this website to go next year???

And there is Don, bombing back North in the shorty split.  He said he would take it slow, but I seemed to be doing almost 70mph to keep up with him at times!  What a surprise...

And that concludes the trip to Seattle for the 2016 Vintage Meet.  Hope you all enjoyed it, and hope to see more of you make the trek in the future.  It is definitely worth the time, effort, and expense to go.

[PICTUP]

Well, my speedo must need some adjustment… or the tires need changing…check the needle 




Oh Mr Storyteller…I think you are missing out a couple of stories. Like what exactly are you doing here? All those people, the tent, the mug in your hand? I think you need to explain yourself



Also, didn't we figure out another way to get into a locked early Bay with those tricky little locking levers in the door by the handle? Why did we do that? Hmmmmm? 

[Wongai]

Thanks for putting in the effort to document and post the highlights of the trip. Stoked for you guys!

Looks like the journey itself was pretty awesome. Thanks again and welcome back to the island!
B

[Wongai]

Thanks for putting in the effort to document and post the highlights of the trip. Stoked for you guys!

Looks like the journey itself was pretty awesome. Thanks again and welcome back to the island!
B

[Wongai]

That comment was so good i posted it twice.