Solvang ACVW Show, 2004
We went to an ACVW show soon after arriving in SoCal, which was held in the "quaint" wine-country town of Solvang, West-northwest of (or just plain North of, if you're a SoCalian) Santa Barbara.
Beetles with two-piece rear windows are called "Split-Windows", not to be confused with ≤1967 Busses, which have a two-piece windshield and are called "Splitties". The last Split-Window Beetle left Wolfsburg in 1953.
The market for Splitties has gone through the roof in the last several years, with prices on immaculate examples like this one approaching $50,000. If you count all the windows on this jaw-dropping late 50s Deluxe properly, you'll come up with 23.
This was the oldest VW at the show, a 1946 or 47 Beetle. (I don't remember which it was, but I remember it was the oldest.)
If a bus was built before February 1955, it has a giant rear hatch and is called a "Barndoor" (cf. this engine hatch with that on the Deluxe above). Note also the ridiculously small taillights, and lack of a rear bumper.
One might notice that I'm more apt to take pictures of ACVWs from behind rather than from in front. I suspect that this is an unconscious manifestation of my preference for how they look from the back. In any case, the above is an example of why one might wish I'd keep doing so--the beautifully ugly Type 3 Ghia (aka the Type 34). That is a face only a mother could love. This one had something in the windshield claiming it was the lowest-mileage Type 3 Ghia in existence, and was all original. I'd love to see Melissa tooling around in one of these things, but they're super rare. The two we saw at this show (both 1965s, I think) are the only two I've ever seen in person.
I didn't pay attention to the show's rules and thought we might enter Ludwig. (It's often cheaper to just pay to get the vehicle into the show--which includes free admission for whoever's in it--than to buy tickets and just be a spectator.) But it turns out he was seven years too young, as the show was only open to ACVWs from the "classic" era, 1967 and older. So he had to spend his time exiled in the parking lot with this 1973 (Ludwig at right).
Beetles with two-piece rear windows are called "Split-Windows", not to be confused with ≤1967 Busses, which have a two-piece windshield and are called "Splitties". The last Split-Window Beetle left Wolfsburg in 1953.
The market for Splitties has gone through the roof in the last several years, with prices on immaculate examples like this one approaching $50,000. If you count all the windows on this jaw-dropping late 50s Deluxe properly, you'll come up with 23.
This was the oldest VW at the show, a 1946 or 47 Beetle. (I don't remember which it was, but I remember it was the oldest.) 
If a bus was built before February 1955, it has a giant rear hatch and is called a "Barndoor" (cf. this engine hatch with that on the Deluxe above). Note also the ridiculously small taillights, and lack of a rear bumper.
One might notice that I'm more apt to take pictures of ACVWs from behind rather than from in front. I suspect that this is an unconscious manifestation of my preference for how they look from the back. In any case, the above is an example of why one might wish I'd keep doing so--the beautifully ugly Type 3 Ghia (aka the Type 34). That is a face only a mother could love. This one had something in the windshield claiming it was the lowest-mileage Type 3 Ghia in existence, and was all original. I'd love to see Melissa tooling around in one of these things, but they're super rare. The two we saw at this show (both 1965s, I think) are the only two I've ever seen in person.
I didn't pay attention to the show's rules and thought we might enter Ludwig. (It's often cheaper to just pay to get the vehicle into the show--which includes free admission for whoever's in it--than to buy tickets and just be a spectator.) But it turns out he was seven years too young, as the show was only open to ACVWs from the "classic" era, 1967 and older. So he had to spend his time exiled in the parking lot with this 1973 (Ludwig at right).
2 comments:
I just noticed the photo of that cute little type 3 Ghia, and it is so adorable! Too bad it's so rare, I'd love to have one.
Like I said, it's a face only a mother could love (in this case, my mother).
There's a somewhat rusty one for sale in Colorado Springs for $6500.
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