All Air-Cooled Gathering
It was a great pleasure visiting the “All Air-Cooled Gathering” in Flander, NJ today (September 17, 2006). This event was hosted by the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society and the Swim and Sports Club of Flanders, NJ. I must admit, I am often disappointed by shows that have fewer than 10 swap-meet vendors, but this was a rare moment where as I did not seem to mind. It was a pleasure taking part of an event that was slim in size, but had just about every aspect that makes a car show great. Everyone at the show was exceptionally friendly and was willing to talk about almost anything, from restoration advice to where to find parts or their take on the good live music played at the show. It was the first time in about 5 years it felt good again to be at a Volkswagen show and not being overly obsessed with pushing my nose into piles of old swap parts. Unfortunately (fortunately), as time progress, I can envision the size of this show growing to great volumes. I only hope that the show can still maintain that personal appeal that I felt today. Another thing I must mention, the show was put together for a very good cause!
“Little Johnathan born with a illness”
Right before departing the show, I sat down with a woman from England, who had been in the United States for the past 4 days. She was visiting her son and grand daughter in New Jersey. She told us the greatest story about a Volkswagen Beetle that was handed down to her Son after he finished college and the car was present in the show today. Her and her husband both had their own Beetles around 30+ years ago. They upgraded one of the cars from a 1300cc engine to a 1600cc engine for added towing power. They took the engine out of the car and sat it in the yard for thirty years with just plastic covering for protection. Once their soon graduated from college, he decided he wanted to restore the car. At that time, he requested the original engine that for many years was on its way to the junkyard, but never made it. Thank God! The son worked with his farther for three weeks and restored the car completely. The amazing part about this story is the engine was bolted up to the car and started on the first try. I only wish I remembered their names, but she was a lovely woman and her British accent gave the story much more appeal and warmth. She reminded me if Mrs Doubtfire (demenor and accent only). The baby had cute eyes, you all should be proud of her.
While there were a lot of great cars at this show, I have included pictures of my favorites. The one above, I have nothing to say, because this Rat-rod speaks for itself. Spectators all paid special attention this slammed bus. If you are ever planning to selling that one, give me a shout! Then there was this beautiful 1956 Beetle. I loved it because it is the same car I own, but I haven’t begun the restoration process. I was so caught up in taking pictures that I forgot to record the details like the seat color and carpet. I still need to know a lot about my car. And the final picture was the happy ending car that led the way as I exited the show.
Keep it up guys. You have a really good thing going! I’ll see you next year.
Response to comments:
Uzi, Thank for the Information. That baby has been around the world and going! I’m going to Denver in December. I hope to find one for sale. Unfortunately, I’m going to the mountains and not the desert. So,I doubt if I would find something so beautiful. If not, I guess I will still in enjoy my snowboard!