More Museum Cars

Here are a few more. These two were apparently made on the same day, shipped to the US, and purchased by people who lived not too far from each other.

Here are a few more in his collection, I like the massive VW factory pictures on the wall.

Did someone ask for a VW trailer?

 

Antique.

 The back room had about every toy you could imagine.

The owner was kind enough to take me to the shop in back. This dealership sign was sitting there.

If you do a wikipedia search on this car, you will be redirected to the Karmann Ghia. Suicide doors were stock. I've never seen one before.

And finally, the Puma. These cars are almost not google-able. Limited info on Wikipedia, most info on forums scattered around the less-fasionable parts of the 'net. What is up with that logo?

More pictures can be found here. My friend took some good ones here.

If you are interested, Mark Merrill is the Museum/shop owner, he's a damn nice guy, and a VW fanatic. (Two of my favorites.) His museum is occasionally open to the public, it tends to be around VW related events. He also constantly wins awards for his restorations.

Up next. The Concord Treffen.

Private Museum Buses

A row of buses in flawless (of course) condition sat at the back of the museum. The Ambulance was impressive, but my favorite was the mobile kitchen - that tall green one.

  

I wasn't about to ask the owner to move it around, so I squeezed between the two to get this picture:

Its a 1966 Highroof, and was designed to be a mobile army kitchen. In the back is a gas container and a stove - similar to a coleman. The side panel opened up like your standard food coach truck.

This display item was on the wall, motorized wheels made them turn.

This beautiful specimen was parked outside - I love the dual horns.

For those of you who want a Westfalia but don't want a campmobile, there is always this solution:

Use this emblem to keep your street cred.

It looks like this inside:

and remember, if you can sell her on this, you can sell her on anything.

Private Museum - Schwimmwagen

One of the things that happens when you start fixing an old car is that you begin to imagine the world of possibilities. You begin to say things like "man, if I had enough money I'd buy a..." and the endless list begins.

That guy who has enough money exists. He has a private museum and restoration shop, and the Airhead cruise took me there with them. Thanks guys.

Sitting outside the shop was the schimmwagen. It had the gun, the paddles, and all the internal parts that you would need if you are invading your neighbors estate on the other side of the lake.

I'll be posting more pics later. If you want to jump the gun, click here and see the pictures that my friend took.

Treffen Run - 2011

The picture of all the VW's on Lombard was taken last year at the Airhead Parts Treffen run. It got alot of interest, Hot VW's ran a version of it.

This year the picture was taken at a foggy golden gate bridge, and "someone" needs to check his lens before taking photos. Anyone with photoshop skills is more than welcome to edit it as necessary.

 

And here's a pic of people taking pics.

Thanks Karl

Karl Von Salzen was a veritable gold mine of information on The Samba. He passed away in September of 2009, and is still missed.

He sold me a VW clock for my dashboard, and since I was already replacing my speedometer, I though it would be a good idea to install it.

Thanks Karl. We still miss you.

Maupin Day four

Now it's Sunday morning, and I'm not too hungover. I start the day with some coffee, and begin breaking down the tent with the company of my next door neighbors who are going the same direction as I am. We talk and agree to follow each other. Well, to be precise, I'm following him. He's faster.

Before I break down the tent-of-awesome, I decide to see how big that thing really is.

Answer. Very. (It's 15 x 30 for those who are asking)

Goodbyes, hugs, see you next times, and I'm following Marius through the wide open.

The Stroms decide that the Columbia river gorge is better viewed from above, so they find the older road and take me through this:

so I can see this

Worth it.
and we continue through to Troutdale past waterfalls:

bridges:

and antique stores that have kerosene lanterns:

I get to my destination on Sunday evening. Monday and Tuesday I meet with clients, and I work my way back down to the Oregon/California border on Tuesday evening.

It's a strange drive along Oregon 5. I get beautiful skies:

odd motels:

and statues of extinct birds:

I leave Ashland on Wednesday morning, and have a clear view of Shasta:

I stop in Redding for some parts.

Joe and I meet up one more time on the drive and grab a couple of cheap tacos from a roadside stand before heading home.

I take one more picture on 505 before press the pedal a little harder and am home before 5:00.

I have bugs to clean off, and camp equipment that needs cleaning. I think it's time to redo that last panel on the ceiling and rethink the way my pop top is secured - the winds of the gorge made it clear that my stock system isn't sufficient.

I repeat a joke about car drivers: BMW drivers tip their hats to each other, Mercedes drivers nod in silent agreement, VW owners wave their tools boxes at each other. It's a constant and consistent maintenance thing. But since I live in a world that disappears once the power goes out, it's nice to be connected to something that is real and raw. The Maupin run was a refreshing return to the world of the simple. Simple pleasures, honest company, and a place where the off-color joke and caustic remark are signs of comfort and trust. Thanks again for the refresh.

-Peter

Mapuin Day three

Friday nights pot luck put me to bed, I woke up early the next day. Occasionally I sleep better in my bus than I do in my bed.

Most people were still asleep, so I made my coffee silently. It was my intention to take pictures of buses, but somehow, the dogs got my attention. Maupin is a family campout, people bring their families. For some, that means their dogs.

I haven't seen cats or birds on these trips yet, but I suspect that I'm only counting down the days.

It was too overcast on Saturday to go white water rafting, so most of us settled with drinking beer. I spent time adjusting Joes exhaust, most of his connections had rattled loose, and he lost an exhaust header stud.
I had the help of the lovely Patricia, while her patient husband looked on with both amusement and horror.

Later that afternoon we did the annual beer tasting

Oregonians take their beer seriously, the only other state that I have seen with the same level of dedication is Colorado. One of the campers is a brewer, and brought his own keg of "something special'. (If any of the attendees could tell me his name and brewery, I'd like to give him full credit, that stuff was awesome)

And like any good campout, the sun set,

the lights came on

and the people got weird. :)

Up next. Just how big is that tent?