Luke
07-24-2007, 10:25 PM
Stock New Beetles:
Is There a Place Amongst Custom and Modified?
Random Rants
by VW Professor Luke
Old air-cooled beetles went through a period of several decades (1970s and 1980s) in customizing history where everyone seemed to be after the ‘California Look’ (or its variations). To obtain the lean lowered look, parts where cut away, holes filled, etc. The result was that huge numbers of old bugs looked great as customs of the time, but were altered significantly from show-room configuration.
After a decade or two, some enthusiasts began commenting on the few original condition, un-restored bugs available. A new trend began to unfold soon afterwards to ferret out original, unaltered VW of all types. The huge success of recent vintage VW shows (especially Southern California shows like the ‘VW Classic’) is now testament to preserving the ‘stock-look’ for historic air-cooled VWs.
Could the same be happening to the New Beetle already? At one of the past Roswell shows (R2Kv4, June 2003) an odd situation was revealed after the judging had been completed, and the numbers were tallied. Out of 250 (plus or minus) NBs in attendance no stock category prizes could be awarded for 1998 model-year cars. Why, you might ask. Answer: there were no 1998 stock NBs entered in the entire show. The 1998 bugs that were entered had all been altered in some form or another so they fit into ‘modified’ or ‘custom’ classes. In only the first 6 years of production it was sad to discover that the first-year New Beetles, in stock configurations, are not represented at the largest NB-only show in the universe. As a result, the promoters now have three awards from 2003 (1st, 2nd and 3rd) for stock 1998 cars sitting on a shelf somewhere. The previous year (R2Kv3), only two stock-class 1999 NBs were in attendance to receive the intended three prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Note: after the 2003 Roswell event prizes no longer where divided by the build-year and stock-only categories).
My point is this: Is history repeating itself for the NBs? I am not against customizing in the least, but some of us might want to consider saving a few ‘bone stock’ first-year (or later) NBs in clean original condition to show to the next generation of enthusiasts at the VW Classic Show in twenty-five or thirty years. I believe they are special cars that will be highly coveted in the future (especially 1st year and special edition models), just like their air-cooled ancestors are prized today.
Is There a Place Amongst Custom and Modified?
Random Rants
by VW Professor Luke
Old air-cooled beetles went through a period of several decades (1970s and 1980s) in customizing history where everyone seemed to be after the ‘California Look’ (or its variations). To obtain the lean lowered look, parts where cut away, holes filled, etc. The result was that huge numbers of old bugs looked great as customs of the time, but were altered significantly from show-room configuration.
After a decade or two, some enthusiasts began commenting on the few original condition, un-restored bugs available. A new trend began to unfold soon afterwards to ferret out original, unaltered VW of all types. The huge success of recent vintage VW shows (especially Southern California shows like the ‘VW Classic’) is now testament to preserving the ‘stock-look’ for historic air-cooled VWs.
Could the same be happening to the New Beetle already? At one of the past Roswell shows (R2Kv4, June 2003) an odd situation was revealed after the judging had been completed, and the numbers were tallied. Out of 250 (plus or minus) NBs in attendance no stock category prizes could be awarded for 1998 model-year cars. Why, you might ask. Answer: there were no 1998 stock NBs entered in the entire show. The 1998 bugs that were entered had all been altered in some form or another so they fit into ‘modified’ or ‘custom’ classes. In only the first 6 years of production it was sad to discover that the first-year New Beetles, in stock configurations, are not represented at the largest NB-only show in the universe. As a result, the promoters now have three awards from 2003 (1st, 2nd and 3rd) for stock 1998 cars sitting on a shelf somewhere. The previous year (R2Kv3), only two stock-class 1999 NBs were in attendance to receive the intended three prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Note: after the 2003 Roswell event prizes no longer where divided by the build-year and stock-only categories).
My point is this: Is history repeating itself for the NBs? I am not against customizing in the least, but some of us might want to consider saving a few ‘bone stock’ first-year (or later) NBs in clean original condition to show to the next generation of enthusiasts at the VW Classic Show in twenty-five or thirty years. I believe they are special cars that will be highly coveted in the future (especially 1st year and special edition models), just like their air-cooled ancestors are prized today.