You don’t need much to motivate a Car Guy. Just say the words “Car Show” and we’re off packing ice chests, gassing our rides and hitting the long pedals, blogs Jim Palam, our man on the Left Coast.
When I realized that there would be two cool shows within 50 miles of each other right here on the Central Coast, I set the alarm and hit the road – for the first of my weekend shows – the VW Veteranentreffen Weekend in Solvang, CA.
Truth be told, I could have walked to the VW show, just blocks away from my home. But hey, I’m a Car Guy, so I fired up my leaky British roadster and launched her straight to Old Mission Santa Ines. And so began my Weekend Get-Away – Saturday in Solvang for the VWs – and Sunday in Montecito for the Montecito Motor Classic and somewhat pricier motor-driven gems. What you’ll be viewing are images I was lucky enough to capture and share here. Ready to get away? Come on, let’s go!
Find a vintage VW wagon and you’re bound to find some vintage travel gear inside – like this nicely aged Napp-Monarch Therm-a-Chest, above.
This year’s Montecito Motor Classic celebrated Porsche and Ford’s Model A. Ken Partch’s beautifully restored ‘31 Model A sits high and ready on Coast Village Road, Montecito’s retail thoroughfare where the show was held.
How many Germans does it take to haul a ‘66 Ward’s Riverside 350S motor scooter to Solvang? A: One and a half.
If you want to pick up a shiny silver ’64 Porsche 356 Coupé for your next Car Guy Get-Away you’ll have to dig pretty deep into your pockets. Low-end prices are in the $90K range, high-end over $200K.
Before shiny four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles stormed the ski-slopes, many a savvy skier slapped their woodies on the back of their grippy Beetles to schuss-away to their mountain adventures. This ’56 “Oval” Deluxe sits ready for winter fun.
If you want to get-away quickly, a Porsche Carrera GT will do the job nicely. This yellow ’05 has a top speed of 205 mph and is set-up by the factory for unlimited thrills.
What a brute! This “Orange You Gonna Get Out of My Way” ‘68 Dodge WM300 Power Wagon is actually considered a light-duty civilian vehicle. The power for the WM300 comes from a 250 cubic-inch, 125 horsepower Six fed by a one-barrel carburetor.
Here’s something else you might find in a vintage VW wagon: a vintage bicycle. This locked-to-the-bumper Schwinn Panther II bicycle features dual headlights, a Trim-line tank and cantilever frame.
One thing I learned from the VW show is that owners are quite comfortable accessorizing or adorning their vintage “Bugs” with personalized touches – like this beautiful St. Christopher Zodiac Sign horn emblem.
There are some well-heeled Car Guys in the Montecito area so it was no surprise to see a recently uncovered treasure from The Mullen Museum on display. You are nose-to-nose here with Peter Mullen’s ‘29 Talbot Lago M75 De Vizcaya – a First Place winner at the show.
Heaven sent? This divine, 12-cylinder 275 GTB Ferrari had hearts a-flutter on Coast Village Road in Montecito. As one Car Girl admirer sighed, “Oh my!”
Sure. You want a Porsche, but you want something special. How about a bespoke Rünge Flyer Competition Special? This hand-brushed aluminum, mid-engine, limited-edition racer features an air-cooled 160 horsepower, flat-four engine with custom Sebring exhaust, and a “long box” transaxle.
What has three wheels, one cylinder and a bubble? Yes, you’re right – the Bubble-Top’56 Messerschmitt KR200 cabin-scooter. Tandem seating and a low center of gravity give the KR200 impressive handling characteristics. A complete disregard for personal safety gives one the chutzpah to drive it.
The Montecito Motor Classic is a smallish show with just around 150 cars on display. What it lacks in size it makes up for in the high quality and diversity – like this impressive ‘66 Porsche 906 racecar. Also known as the “Carrera 6” this street-legal racecar was one of just 50 produced in 1966.
One of the attention-grabbers at the Montecito show was this Raymond Lowey designed ‘36 Hupmobile Aerodynamic Coupé. With its swoopy Art Deco lines, waterfall grille, chrome hood flames and Flash Gordon spaceship hood ornament, the Aerodynamic should have helped Hupmobile rocket to success. However, the manufacturer closed its doors in 1937 – a victim of marketing miscues, production delays, stockholder squabbles and dwindling customer support.
I can’t help it, but I want to take a big spoonful of this creamy Porsche 1600 Super. This delicious 356A is from the collection of Victoria Jackson. New, this four-speed, four-cylinder car sold for around $2,995. Today, expect to pay well-over $100,000. Got one in your garage?
The orange color first caught my eye, then the six C pillar slots. It took a closer look to realize this is a well-maintained and somewhat rare ’74 Alfa Romeo Montreal. This Bertone bodied 2+2 coupé is powered by a 2.6 L V8 mated to a ZF five-speed transmission.
It wasn’t all cars at the Classic on Sunday. The wild boys from Vintage HD Racers in Santa Barbara brought a collection of their stripped-down Harley-Davidson Street Trackers to the show. They also brought #55 here, a ridden-hard ’36 HD VLD that was one of the bikes featured in the Marlon Brando film classic, The Wild One.
Ray Van de Star drove his Judson-supercharged ’54 VW Beetle down to Solvang from Sebastopol, CA. I had a chance to check out many of the personalized touches that Ray, an artist at heart, added to his trusty Bug – like the vintage Oldsmobile hood ornament adorned chrome fender skirts!
I wanted to wrap up our Weekend Get-Away report with this visual reminder that almost any Car Guy trip in your motor vehicle can be Phukengrüven. It’s not about owning the most expensive, the rarest or the fastest car. It’s about owning the day and living it fully. That’s Car Guy Style.
Words & Photos: Jim Palam, http://www.jimpalam.com/