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They did it again. Who did what you ask? Joe Chirco and General Manager Don Wiggins along with their new side kick and boy wonder Lemorris Harris pulled off a spectacular all FREE Volkswagen Extravaganza Show. The big event began Saturday October 17, 2009 with 80 plus Volkswagens lined up for a 30 mile cruise.

The caravan winded their way around the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona ending up at a FREE barbeque in the parking lot of Chirco’s. The lot was packed and burgers and hot dogs were a grillin’ into the early evening. Next morning “The Blues” and I arrived at Chirco’s at 4:30 AM and began lining up the cars and showing them where to park. All the money collected on the raffle prizes and engine blow competition was given to the local food bank along with food donated by all car entries.

The day ended with the engine blow out contest. They take a VW air cooled engine and run it full throttle with no oil until it blows. You pay a dollar to guess to the second how long it takes. The winner receives a $100 Chirco gift certificate. This year that engine held out for 3 minutes and 47 seconds. I believe that’s a record for the Chirco engine Blow out contest. They gave out lots of snazzy trophies and even though “The Blues” didn’t win this year we had a great time as always.

Funfest For Air-Cooled VW 2009
Celebrates Mid America Motorworks’ 35th Anniversary
Story and photography by Nancy Bushur

EFFINGHAM, IL – Mid America Motorworks’ corporate campus in Effingham, IL was invaded with Volkswagens of all types during the 11th Annual Funfest for Air-Cooled VW. Throughout the two day automotive show on June 6 and 7, 2009, there were over 1,300 Volkswagens and 8,000 enthusiasts that flocked the grounds at Mid America Motorworks.

This year Mid America Motorworks honored the company’s 35th anniversary along with Mike Yager’s soon-to-be 60th birthday. Customers were invited to park their Herbie car with the Mid America Motorworks collection of Herbie cars to create an outdoor display in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Herbie’s Hollywood debut in the movie “The Love Bug”.

“Each year, we all put our thinking caps on to develop new and exciting activities that we can offer to our guests,” said Mike Yager, founder and Chief Cheerleader at Mid America Motorworks. “Again this year, I think we achieved a fresh and original event.”

Mike Yager led over 160 Volkswagens on a 16-mile RoadTour/Cruise In through the scenic central Illinois countryside and around a beautiful lake. Mid America Motorworks switched this year’s tour up a bit by changing the tour to Friday night and ending at a local eating establishment for wine tasting, food specials, live music and games.

One highlight of the event was the 1st Annual Volkswagen Auction that was held late on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of Volkswagen enthusiasts enjoyed viewing and bidding on over 35 Volkswagen vehicles in the auction. After the auction, a BBQ dinner was offered to the guests along with a FREE outdoor concert.

Some of the event’s other highlights were:
·         Free Tech seminars and product demonstrations
·         Free event t-shirts, pins, and posters for registered entrants
·         Free camping on the grounds
·         Exhaust sound off
·         Wheel and tire Installs
·         Kid’s events – shirt tie-dyeing, model car races, face painting, and much more.

Fur Rondy Grand Prix: Downtown Alaska Street Racing
Courtesy Hemmings Auto Blogs

First, Fur Rondy. AKA the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, the Rondy is a 74-year old, 10-day downtown street festival. You’ve got your mix of traditional Alaskan and street carnival fare, so there’s the World Championship dog sled races and MultiTribal Gathering, plus a frostbite Ferris wheel and a midway. And naturally, a road course.

Aside from Pittsburgh and Long Beach, I’m having a hard time coming up with other major metropolitan areas that hold downtown races, and none have the provenance of the Fur Rondy. In a nutshell: Starting in 1960, the Alaska Sports Car Club started running a .61-mile race downtown in association with the Rondy. After the Anchorage earthquake destroyed the course in 1964, it moved onto ice and ultimately became the North American Ice Racing Championship.

That attracted drivers like Daytona 24-hour winner Pedro Rodriguez, Chris Cook, Elliot Forbes-Robinson, Dennis Aase, Swede Savage, Bob Bondurant, Judy Smith and our own Satch Carlson (who went on to become quite involved with the race in the Eighties). Sports cars predominated, with light MGs, Triumphs, Fiats, Porsches and the 911-powered Beetle of Jim Hemmesch which is best suited for the conditions – cooling was never a problem for the air-cooled vehicle. As Datsuns and Toyotas came into vogue, they joined the ranks, then RX-7s, with a smattering of American compacts, muscle cars and other interesting warriors.

In 1977, the GP came back downtown; it’s moved around since then but now runs a .71-mile course, which is where it was over the weekend of March 7. The only major change looks to have been the addition of a Legends class (Yamaha 1600-powered), which Strohl (who lived for a while in Oregon) says he didn’t think were big in the Northwest.

But it’s one of the two most popular Rondy classes, about even for entrants with the “Improved Touring,” which includes GTis, RX-7s, Neons and Rabbits. Door- and and snowbank banging are common, but serious injuries are somehow rare, and despite serious speed, there’s never been a fatality (I might credit track conditions that yield slides rather than rolls).

Getting power down is usually a problem, as it’s always cold and usually wet. The result is corners taken in a four-wheel drift and, when it’s a high power-to-weight car, a lot of excitement when they put the hammer down. Chad and Jim seem to spend most of their races sideways There’s remarkably little mainstream media coverage of the Rondy GP in the US, although it’s one of those only-in-America things that sometimes attracts foreign media. But the Rondy homepage has some information (and will undoubtedly bring 2010 updates as they happen), and there are a couple of galleries around.

Downtown Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square experienced a Beetle Invasion when more than thirty Classic Volkswagens showed up for a charity event to raise money for the Sick Children's Hospital. This was the second year for the Punch Buggy 4 SickKids Beetle Invasion and organizer Mitch Petty couldn't have asked for a better location or weather for his show. "My inspiration comes from my daughter Veronica who got a bad blood infection and spent a lot time at Sick Kids,” says Mitch. "Since then she has been diagnosed with a kidney abnormality which means we will be regular visitors to the hospital for monitoring."

The event got underway at 8am and before long one of Toronto's most famous intersections was swarming with Classic Beetles and Busses. Local sponsors really stepped up with Mattel donating over 2,000 Hot Wheels that were sold for charity during the day and M&M Meat Shops generously donated their Mobile Barbecue Unit to sell hot dogs and hamburgers for the cause to the hundreds of visitors that were busy snapping pictures of the world's most recognizable vehicle. During the event, which ran until 6pm, award winning artist Kim Koren and her friends kept everyone "grooving" with sounds of the 60s and 70s that were a perfect match for the "Hippie Era" when these vehicles were the most popular imported cars on the road.

An email sent to Petty summed up one parent’s feelings about the event. "I just wanted to say thanks for the Sick Kids fundraiser this weekend. We noticed the Volkswagens from our son's room at Sick Kids Hospital on Friday night but didn't realize the connection. On Saturday my son and I were out for a walk and ended up at Yonge-Dundas Square where we found out what had been happening the night before. After picking up a Hot Wheels for my son, eating a hot dog and checking out the VWs, we headed back to the hospital feeling great, having been reminded that so many people care a lot about what sick children have to go through. Thank you."

Dozens of Volkswagen Beetles - also known as Bugs - have converged on the Kathmandu area for the sixth rally run by An-Bug - The Association of Nepal Beetle Users Group.

An-Bug President Gopal Kakshapati says hippies driving to Kathmandu in the 1970s brought the iconic car to Nepal and this is his sixth one. The frog-like design is by his daughter.

There are 84 listed Beetle owners in Nepal. The rally was flagged off by Beetle owner and German Ambassador, Franz Ring, who says there was even a Beetle club in Burma.

For Satendra Bajracharya, Beetles were "a childhood obsession". He bought this one seven years ago: "It was junk. I restored it gradually." The sponsorship is for this event only.

Anjam Bisht (left) bought her cream Beetle third-hand, about 25 years ago: "I feel secure and safe - there's solid metal around me. I've been hit by a minibus without realizing."

These children happily squeezed into the back seat. The event's proceeds will fund two new teachers for a rural school and also pay for operations on children with cleft palates.

"I also have a Nissan but on weekends I prefer a heavy, sturdy car like this - it's a matter of passion," says Anup Maskay. His father bought the Beetle in 1980.

Beetle owners prize their cars' classic interiors as much as the exteriors. Many enthuse about the cars' reliability - but one woman says spare parts have to be imported from Brazil.

During the rally, one of two of the Beetles did fleetingly fail the reliability test...

...but they did reach their string of destinations including the world-famous Patan Durbar Square in Kathmandu.

The day started early at 5:30am when I drove out of my driveway on the way to the VW Nationals held in Sydney, only 290kms to go. First down the highway 75kms where I met up with four other Beetles. We had breakfast at McDonalds and turned off the highway to go over a narrow, steep and very winding road that goes over a mountain range, where the temperature dropped suddenly to around 0C. It wasn't long before I was overtaken by the other Beetles, but my Beetle was struggling to get up the steep hills, until I reached the crest of a hill and the engine stopped.

I quickly opened the engine cover and found the inlet manifold from the carburetor to both sides covered in thick white ice, I realised my manifold heater pipe was blocked. There was too much cold air coming into my engine compartment as I had fitted a large external oil cooler above the engine and I couldn't close the top of the engine cover, which was fitted with alloy stand offs. The engine cover was open approx 2 inches at the top and that was a problem. Luckily I had thrown a roll of wide masking tape into the boot, along with spare parts and tools. So Itaped the gap between the engine lid and body and all over the engine vents, allowing air into the engine bay from the sides only.

This allowed me to continue on and to catch up with the other four Beetles that had stopped on the side of the road. For the rest of the journey, my Beetle went like clockwork, and we all arrived at the venue. I had been to the VW Nationals at least ten times before, but this was the first time driving my own Beetle.

The show was up to its usual standard with all the cars being under cover. Although I didn't enter the show 'n shine, I did however park with all the show cars, lol! This year there were many water cooled late model Volkswagens at the show, which I really didn't look at as I was there for the early models with Air cooled engines.

I had taken off all the tape over my engine lid vents as Ientered the show, so I had to retape all the vents again for the return trip. My engine purred like a kitten all the way home. And even over that very cold mountain range, with my heater was working beautifully. After another 290 kms I was home again.

After talking to the other Beetle drivers I drove down with, I found that because of the inlet manifold freezing on the way down I had used twice as much fuel to go down. Nearly a full tank for only 290 kms! On the return trip I only used half a tank of fuel, Now thats better! And just like that the VW Nationals were over for another year.

EFFINGHAM, IL - Mid America Motorworks' 150 acre corporate campus in Effingham, IL was flooded with Volkswagen's of all types during the 10th Annual Funfest for Air-Cooled VW. This year's Funfest had, yet again, record breaking numbers. Throughout the two day customer appreciation party, there were over 1,300 Volkswagen's and 8,000 enthusiasts that flocked the grounds at Mid America Motorworks.

This year Mid America Motorworks honored special guest Bruce Meyers and his creation, the Meyers Manx Dune Buggy. There are many different styles of Dune Buggies, but Bruce Meyers is the man who started it all.
"Funfest for Air-Cooled VW was a huge success," said Mike Yager, founder and Chief Cheerleader at Mid America Motorworks. "As we played host to attendees from 29 states and Canada this year, we made sure there was something for everyone."

One highlight of the event was the Dune Buggy Build that took place during the free two day event. A group from dunebuggyarchives.com was challenged with the task of building a dune buggy from the ground up in just two days. Without a doubt, this was exciting to watch. The group achieved the impossible late Sunday afternoon and had the Buggy outside the tent for a photo shoot.

Mike Yager led 250 Volkswagen's on a fun filled 20 mile scenic Road Tour. Mid America Motorworks added a twist this year to the tour by turning it into a Poker Run Road Tour. $1,000 worth of gift certificates were awarded to the best hands at the completion of the tour. After the Road Tour, Mid America Motorworks still had more in store for their customers that evening. A Chuck Wagon BarBQ, bonfire and live entertainment were waiting for the participants upon their arrival from the 20 mile cruise.

Some of the event's other highlights were:

"Free Tech seminars and product demonstrations"
"Free event t-shirts, pins, and posters for registered entrants"
"Free camping on the grounds"
"Kid's events - shirt tie-dyeing, model car races, beading classes, Chalk the Bug, and face painting"
"Spa for manicures, pedicures, and massages"

Plans are already in the works for the 2009 Funfest for Air-Cooled VW, set for June 6th and 7th, 2009. To register for next year's event visit http://www.mamotorworks.com/acvw-1-116.html.

Planning a Volkswagen event can really take a lot out of you. First you have to pick a date (hoping that the weather will cooperate), and then try to contact enough Volkswagen owners to make the whole thing worth while. After that it's off to the city to try to get permission to use some park land for the event. Then you have to try to line up some sponsors to help carry some of the expense for the day. If you have a cruise planned, you have to plan out the route and print out enough copies of the map so that none of the participants will get lost. Add to that refreshments, prizes, entertainment, and so many other things you might think, "Why would any sane individual do this?"

Well Mitch Petty had a very personal reason for taking on this monumental task, his 8 month old daughter. Little Veronica got a bad blood infection and spent a lot time at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, Ontario Canada. She has since been diagnosed with a kidney abnormality, which means that Mitch and his family will be regular visitors to the hospital for monitoring. Needless to say, he totally believes in Sick Kids and wanted to raise money for the hospital, and have some fun at the same time. This is how Punch Buggy 4 SickKids was born.

Mitch planned to drive his 1974 Baja Beetle on a 40-hour Drive-a-thon to raise money to benefit the hospital. The cruise would take him up and down some of the busiest streets in the city and help to raise awareness for his heartfelt cause. During the week prior to the event the weather forecast was not looking too good, and on the Friday night before he really wasn't sure if it was going to happen as it was calling for rain and thunderstorms for the entire day. I said a prayer for Mitch and his daughter (what could it hurt?) and went to bed. My wife and I woke up at about 8am and looked outside, no rain. So we got dressed, hopped in our Super Beetle and set a new land speed record heading for Coronation Park just outside the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

We arrived to about a dozen Volkswagens parked in a semicircle with more coming in by the minute. Once we got our VW set up we made our rounds saying hi to all of the fellow V-Dubbers that made the trek out to help Mitch realize his dream. A radio station was on site and a couple of local television stations were busy recording the event and interviewing our gracious host. Around noon Mitch fired up his Baja and announced that it was time for our "Victory Lap" around the city.

We had about twenty or so VWs in tow, including a Karmann Ghia and a couple of Buses as we traveled eastbound in front of Lake Ontario and then up through the heart of the city, where were did a couple of laps around the Sick Kids Hospital. With the sun shining down on our little parade it was pretty hard not to get a little emotional over the whole thing. Holding myself together my wife and I gave the peace symbol to all of the people that where waving and taking pictures along the route.

After about an hour we were back at the park eating hot dogs and listening to the sounds of Kim Koren and Punchbuggy Yellow. At this point we knew that the day could not have gotten any better and we were happy for Mitch and his enthusiastic crew. Spectators were busy checking out the Volkswagens while their owners were making sure that Mitch knew that they would be back again next year to support this great cause.

It's great when all of the planning comes together so that an event can go off without a hitch and I don't what happened to all of that rain that was forecast, but it might be nice to think that someone was watching over us and Veronica. Please click here to donate and thanks to all of those people who did.

Joe Chirco, a living legend in his own mind, and his trusty sidekick Don Wiggins put on another fantastic V-Dubya car show. The two-day event began Saturday evening, October 20, 2007 with "Joe's world-famous night before BBQ." The food was terrific and free, and fun was had by all.

Chirco's is about an hour's drive from where I live, so I got up at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday to get over there in plenty of time to secure a good spot and help our VW club "The Dry Heat Panzers" (DHP) direct the parking. I thought I would surely be the first car there. However, a bright yellow bug was sitting in the parking lot when I rolled in. It seems the young man drove down from Mesa, Arizona for the BBQ and show and just slept in his car.

The show drew entries from all over the southwest including a guy from Sonora, Mexico in a 1997 Mexican Bug. Entry into the show was free, although everyone was asked to bring a bag of canned goods for the Tucson Food Bank. Dash plaques were given to show entries.

As usual, there were some amazing cars there including a green bug with no engine in the back, but it had a V-8 in the front. Volkswagens in all kinds of condition from the beaters to the big-dollar show cars were proudly displayed. The total number of cars this year was 160, and trophies were awarded in different categories. The system used to ascertain the winners was "People's Choice."

The swap meet area was packed, and people got some great deals. Joe opened the store and offered a 10% discount on items purchased during the show. There was a raffle, food vendors, music and the highlight of the day…..the engine blow, where a VW motor was run full-bore with no oil, until it gave up the ghost. People purchased a chance to win a prize by correctly guessing how long the engine would last.

Now on a personal note…I have entered "The Blues" in quite a few shows, and it has never won any award at any show, as usual I was entered into the "daily driver" category. I had been awake for what seemed like days, and although I was enjoying myself, I did have a few irritating moments during the day. I was sitting in my brand new blue camping chair with a nifty fold-out tray… all set to eat a big, juicy hamburger and enjoy an ice cold coke from the small ice chest I had sitting on the tray. Anyway, to make a long story short…mustard on my shirt…knocked the can of coke off and spilled it in my lap….hamburger now in the dirt…ice chest tipped over in the dirt, too. I cleaned up the mess as best I could, and then went to the bathroom to get the mustard off my shirt. While I was there, I figured I would just get rid of what coke I did manage to consume. I was doing just that when a woman walked in…….just another proud moment. Guess I either didn't lock the door, or the lock was broken. I really think she was more embarrassed than I was.

By the time I got back to the car the engine-blow had started. I noticed that someone had moved a car, which meant that I was no longer "pinned in. So I decided that this would be a good time to make my exit…..before the rush. As I said, I was tired, sunburned, and was still wearing most of my lunch. It seemed like a good plan.

Well, I hadn't been home much longer than thirty minutes when my VW mechanic called and said that I had won "Best Daily Driver - Type 1 - 1968 & Later." I was flabbergasted. Wouldn't you know……. the one year that I leave early "The Blues" wins. I am already looking forward to next year, and hoping that I won't be such a clumsy doofus at Bugtoberfest XIII.

The event was held at Harewood House, Leeds, England. Built in 1759, by the late Lord Harewood, Harewood House, home to the Queen's cousin, the Earl of Harewood, provides a wonderful day out for all the family and an excellent location for the event. The House, with its outstanding art collections, splendid State Rooms and fascinating 'Below Stairs' exhibition, is set in spectacular grounds, which include formal gardens and gentle woodland walks. A visit to Harewood offers the opportunity to marvel at the collections in the House, explore the Gardens and Bird Garden, take a boat trip across the lake, while youngsters can enjoy the challenge and excitement of the Adventure Playground! With an extensive program of events and exhibitions, Harewood offers something for all.

It certainly wasn't the kind of weather you'd expect in the middle of August, but despite it raining pretty much constantly from Saturday through to late Sunday morning, the show went ahead. And apart from the mud and associated loss of lanes and disarray, it seems that a good time was had by most. It certainly didn't stop people coming out in droves, and by early afternoon the showfield was looking very full.

The Show and Shine: For some enthusiasts this is was most important part of any show... their chance to show off their project cars and to try to win prizes. The competition is split into different categories which are judged by professional adjudicators. Prizes are given to the winners of each class at the end of the show, which is a great photo opportunity. Congratulations to all the winners, and in particular Peter Wray, the owner of the Beige 1300 Beetle that won the "Best of Show - Air Cooled"....he has owned the car for over 30 years; it has been used daily ever since, has never been painted, and never been welded. In fact he has only ever spent £1500 maintaining it since he purchased it for the princely sum of £800 all those years ago! Those of you that saw it will agree it was a worthy winner; not only was it one of the nicest Beetles we have ever seen, but he had painstakingly spent over 1000 hours polishing the engine and carburetor with a toothbrush....not chromed, but polished! Amazing!

It was great to see a much more balanced split between AIR and WATER this year, probably assisted by the camping on the Saturday and the fantastic support by some of the air-cooled clubs. This was our first tentative step to a two day event, and it is safe to say that we learnt a lot from the experience. After all they say, " What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".

For more on this show go to http://www.vwfestival.co.uk. You can see pictures of the event and check out the winners of the Show and Shine and tickets raffle winners as well. I would like to give a HUGE thank you from myself, Paul, Kev, Shirley and Shane, to all the volunteers that helped us to ensure the show went as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

On Sunday August 12, 2007, under a beautiful sunny day in the municipality of Embrun Ontario Canada, Volkswagen enthusiasts were gathering to share what they love the most: Volkswagens. This one-day event is a non-judging Volkswagen car show. Whether you have a VW air cool or a VW liquid cool, the public has a chance to see Beetles, VW buses, Westfalias, Kharman Ghias, Dune Buggies along with new Beetles, Golfs, Rabbits, Siroccos, Cerrados and etc.

On Sunday morning, a dozen of us (members of the Capital City Volkswagen Club) left from Ottawa towards Embrun, which was a 25 minutes ride. Every one of us had a smile and was anxious to get to the biggest Volkswagen car show in Eastern Canada if not in Canada, but that we did not know until…We arrived in Embrun at around 8:45 am. Surprisingly, the site was already packed with German cars from all over Ontario, Quebec and some areas of the United States. We all had the feeling that there would be a lot of "folks" (volks…cough) for this 16th edition of Volksfest.

Year one of Volksfest had 90 vehicles on display. In 2005, Volksfest recorded 300 vehicles; then in 2006 it went up to 350 Volkswagen cars. This year, Volksfest recorded a phenomenal 425 cars. The Volksfest show is situated in a large park with plenty of trees providing shading areas and even with 425 cars there was still some space left for more entries. Can't ask for a better location!

The entry fee is only 5 dollars per car and Volksfest chief organizer Bob Lyons and its volunteers make donations to various local charities. Entrance to the site is free for the general public! Overall we all had a fantastic time and everyone on site had a chance to either buy a "nostalgia" souvenirs, toys, books or purchase brand new Volkswagen parts.

The North Alabama Volkswagen Club held their 8th Annual Bug'n in July charity car show earlier this month on July 14-15, 2007 in beautiful Point Mallard Park in Decatur, Alabama. Point Mallard Park, hidden among North Alabama's wooded pines, is a 500-acre family park that features an 18 hole golf course none of the South's best golf courses, a 25-acre wooded campground, and America's first wave pool, and an indoor ice skating rink!

The show and swap meet took place under the giant blue pavilion that used to house the old ice-skating rink. It was the perfect location for a summer car show, providing ample room for the 70+ cars and offering protection from the hot July sun and occasional summer sprinkle. The show benefited Crisis Services of North Alabama, a multi service agency for individuals and families in crisis. For the second year in a row, Bug'n in July was a two-day show, featuring lots of great info and entertainment for the whole family including Tech talks, an engine blow, and R/C drag racing!

The Tech talk was hosted by Vic from Online Air-cooled Part. Vic discussed the importance of maintaining your Volkswagen's fuel system and the proper location and placement of in-line fuel filters. The engine blow, always a crowd favorite, was handled by Airkooled Kustom's own Eric "Spook" LeClair. Using a discarded 40 hp motor, Spook invested a little time and a few parts to get the greasy derelict engine back to life. Bolted to an engine stand and outfitted with a thunderous exhaust system, the engine roared to life on Sunday and ran for just over two minutes before smoking and succumbing to thermal breakdown.

New this year was the R/C Volkswagen drag-racing. Track conditions and crowd participation were a little off on Saturday, but on Sunday, the track was moved to grippier concrete and several more spectators and R/C VW's showed up. Kevin Howlett won the unlimited class with his "invisible" New Beetle (unpainted body shell) with his wife Sandra taking a close 2nd in her red classic Beetle. And in case you forgot your miniature racer, Dolphe Mills was on-hand during the show selling goodies from his large and enviable collection of die-cast Volkswagen toys and collectibles.

If you got hungry during the weekend, the Boy Scouts were ready with peanuts and soft drinks, and the Hickory Barn BBQ folks returned this year with fresh smoked pork and BBQ sundaes!" For dessert, Cakes, etc. brought out an amazing Herbiecake on Saturday to share with the crowd. The showed wrapped up on Sunday afternoon several more door prize giveaways and finally the trophy presentations.