What got you started?...

[hybrid_john]

Now, just about every one has read Alex's thread on what's your definition of "Germanlook", which, Alex, was a great thread...KUDOS!

Now that most of us have replied with our feed back and definition of "german look", it should be time, now, to discuss what exactly got you started with the german look "genre", let alone ACVW's!

So the question is....
What exactly got you started?
What keeps you going?
What excites you the most about the "German look" VW?

Yours truly,
John

[boygenius]

I was just going to post the same thread when I got home from work. Anyway, it all started June 2000 when I went into the local vw shop intending on purchasing a rebuilt progressive carb. That didn't happen. I ended up leaving the store with dual solexes and a direct port fogger nitrous kit. Lets just say that I was there enough and spent enough that they still know me on a first name basis even if I haven't been there in a while. But I switched from a cal-look to a german look when I read the August 2001 issue of VW Trends. There was a article about this new thing called the german look. above all else it came down to one sentance of one paragraph. "Did you know that 944s rear trailing arms can be installed quite easily on a bug?". That was all it took for me go nuts with my car.:silly: At this point I have passed the point of no return and I'm in too deep. My bug was my first car and I feel a certain attachment to the car that only other car nuts can appreciate. I am also strongly motovated to finish my car becaus eI haven't seen my garage floor in three and a half years.:silly: And finaly to respond to your final question, everything excites me about the german look. Trying to pick one thing is like asking someone what's the speed of dark... I just can't decide.....;)

[samcat]

Originally posted by hybrid_john
What exactly got you started?


Seeing a Remmelle bug in a copy of volksworld... I had my first bug, a 1303 (73 super beetle, curvy windscreen) and previous owner had tried to cal look it.... Didnt work, just looked wrong IMHO. I really dislike cal look.
The remmelle bug was a 1303, looked SPOT ON, and had huge power and good handling... Form and function.

Originally posted by hybrid_john
What keeps you going?


Just take my car for a drive, works everytime :D

Originally posted by hybrid_john
What excites you the most about the "German look" VW?


Form & function :) Being able to make a car that not only looks quick, but is quick (around corners too ;) )


Cya,
Sam C

[vujade]

well, Ive been into aircooled VW's since around 1985 when I bought my first beetle in high school.

since that time Ive owned

2 standard beetles (66 & 67)
2 karmann ghias (69 & 71)
2 type 3's (69 Notch & 68 Fasty)
2 supers (71 1302 & 74 1303)

I've always been into CalLook & custom VW's. Thats whats in my blood.
I love custom stuff. seeing what people have done to their cars has always fascinated me.

To answer you first question, In 2000, when I got back into VW's after being away from them for about 3 or 4 years I decided I was going to build a 67 Cal Look Beetle. The old school Cal Look way with no chrome & super clean. Only I was thinking of putting a modern spin on it with using 17" wheels because I knew they would fit. Plus I had alot of other ideas to make it more modern.

Then in 2001 when VW Trends did like 3 features on German Look Beetle from Europe I was hooked, this what is exactly what I was looking for.

In regards to your second question, I would have to say a lifelong desire to have a Bad *** VW.

Finally, its everything Ive always like about custom VW's & more.

[Sandeep]

My beetle was my first car and was my parent's first car when they bought it from the dealer with 200 miles on it. I know that the car has been maintained and have the whole history on any bit of work that was done to it.

There was a Silver Remmele beetle in an old copy of VolksWorld that I saw and said to myself ... That is one BAD *** beetle ! So this is what got me started.

What keeps me going is driving my bug everyday in the summer. With 2.0L T4 power, its like driving a modern car, only its aircooled ! I LOVE driving my bug. This winter, I'm switching over to 18" wheels and 993 Biturbo / 944T brakes so I can be ready for the 'Track' season for 2004.

The best thing for me about a GLVW is form and function .. a car I can drive to work everyday, and also take to the circuit when I feel like it. I'm an ex 125cc shifter kart racer so I need to drive fast every once in a while ! In my area there are 3 major racetracks with a 4th in construction so 2004 will be AWESOME !

Sandeep

[NYBugman1972]

I got into VWs in general in July (i think) of 1999, when I bought my 72 Super.

I first realised that I wanted to do a German Look car when I recieved my copy of Hot VW's with a Silver 68 sedan on 17" twists. I don't remember the month, but it was an issue from 2000.

After that, it was all downhill. I began to be more involved with SBO, which didn't help the situation at all :) Started doing research on how to fit the wheels, brake and suspension upgrades, the whole nine yards.

What keeps me going is simple. First off, GL.com keeps me interested. Most importantly though, it's what I have yet to do that keeps me going. The ideas I have not executed yet. The "what if" factor.

The most exciting part about German Look for me? Teaching an old dog new tricks. Innovation. The desire to be different.

Perhaps the number one thing that I love about the German Look, over performance and all the other things that make GL special, is beauty. I love making something that's beautiful. I guess that's the artist in me.

[TitoRay]

My family still has the '74 Super my mom bought brand new off the lot back in the day so I naturally inherited a beetle when I got my license.
Originally I wanted to go Cal-Look, EMPI's and all, but. . . .
The Silver Arrow 1968 Beetle that rode on 18-inch TSW Hockenheim R's was my first and is still my main inspiration. I was gonna go in that direction. The "old" Germanlook website also really got me going.
Somehow along the way I found out about Aircooled Technology and have drooled over a monster TIV since. Especially after some moron w/ his girlfriend in a 96-99 Mustang Cobra toyed with me in my Beetle one night.
That little event is what keeps me going. I will never be satisfied until I have a moster engine and absolutely WASTE the same car someday on the street. I always figured if I were to spend the same amount on my Beetle as others do on their Honda's, Mustangs, etc., I would have far superiour automobile that is original, unexpected and absolutely bad-a$$.
And that is what excites me about the German Look. It gives me a reason to have a Super Beetle. It will be more original than 99% of the import and domestic trash that is out there, it will perform better, look better, and make non-beetle owners look foolish. The motto "form follows function" is perfect. Its something that a lot of things lack these days.
I live close to and work in Redmond, Washinton. The home of Microsoft. I cannot wait to pull up next to some filthy rich dude in his $50k whatever car, and have me, a 21-year old kid, blow his doors off in my VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE. Its the ultimate slap in the face. Then he can go home and realise what just happened, hide it from his friends and be haunted and have nightmares about the rear-end of my car dwindling in the distance in front of him. Someday...
:silly: ;) :D :cool:

[hybrid_john]

so far every one is right on target with their reasons for being so entusiastic about their rides, and completely enveloping theire lives around the GL community...

I tell you that my reasons for getting started in the Germanlook is simply being a VW nut from my early child-hood, my family never owned or even worked on a VW and I was never exposed to them either. I remember exactly when I first noticed the odd looking car for the very first time, I was ridding in the back seat of my mom's 1970 Caddy DeVille and noticed a white car scream by the window, I can even remember asking my mom what kind of car it was, I was about 9yrs old at the time...
Several years passed and I began working on ditbike and Harleys.
One day my freind asked me if I would like to help him and his dad work a car that he bought, it was a 1971 superbeetle, and it looked almost exactly like the one I saw that day those many years ago...
After spending a couple years away from my family I finaly came home and got a job... saved up enough money to buy myself a car...my first choice was a Beetle, I bought a 1966 standard on a 58 pan, cut up the body to make a baja ( because out here in Nevada you really like to have one). Then as I was reading my VWTrends back in 2001 (I dont remember which month exactly) I read an article on the German Look VW. I was sold, right then and there I wanted to buy a another VW and and start ove rin a German Look kinda style with a little added flair as I saw fit...BEEN A GL FANATIC EVER SINCE!:D

what has kept me going ( with out support, I might add) is the fact that I know I have the abbility to build an amazing car on built for speed and handling, while encorporating outragious cosmetics and A/V componants.
My motto: "form=function=luxury=comfort"

Actually I think that NYBugman1972 said it better:
The mos exciting part about the German Look for me? Teaching an old dog new tricks. Innovation. The desire to be different.

I know that what I build is awsome and unique just as every one elses vehicle is, unique in their own way, I think that is what helps bring the German Look community togetherand allows everyone to be open and help those in need with their oppinions and experiances:
Thank You GL.com... thank you for helping me when no one else would! I really appreciate it alot:D :cool:

[Pillow]

I just love old custom cars (any of them really) and making them unique. part of the fun is making them modern if you will and that is half the drive for me to replace all the drums and put on big brakes.

The more I get into it though the more I am getting to like the greaser car influence (like DeLux magazine) and Chopper (Jesse James) look... Yes a lot of this can be used on a GL car.

It gets hard to blend different influences, but if well executed can produce something horific or art :)

Really my goal that drives me is to have an SUV killer. At first I targeted Explorers, but then the BMW X5 and stuff came out and raised the bar :( So now I just want a cool van that can kind of kill a select few cruddy cars out there! ;)
... Hey it is a Westi I can only dream so big LOL

[Eurolook71]

I've been a bug nut before I even knew it.

My mom had a bug, when I was a kid, (around 7 or 8) and she hated it! I always loved getting in there, and taking grip of the dash handle...humming along with that very distictive fweem of solid lifters...good times!

Anyway, kind got lost along the way though junior high, my friends were into hondas and lowriders, and I was intrested because they were cars, but I could tell from instinct that's wasnt quite what I was into.

Then, my freshman year in high school, my friend had a 72 super for sale, and I just KNEW I needed that car!! I also noticed that some bugs had a long skinny hood, and others had a squished front end, that stood out to me for some reason...i liked it better (this of course, ended up being a Super...why is it "super", i remember thinking :) ) I never even looked at a bug mag by this time, but the first time I went to look at it, I was hooked!! I too was going with the cal-look...t-bars, 8-spokes, etc...cuz this was like...a standard that you always see in the mags. I just kept reading and reading about bugs, getting catalogs mailed to me all the time...

Later, I moved to CA with my girlfriend, and bought a 71...which I still have, but its now in Idaho at my moms with a dropped valve, and the cost to get it here would be greater than getting another bug here in CA, so thats what I'm doin!! I found another 71 for $800, which I'm going to go see this weekend...

Ne way...the GL look got me when I first saw BRENS bug (summer of 00), with 16" Konigs...SOOOO different!!!! That started it all.

Now im 21, full time student, and still work 35+ hours, living on my own in the most expensive state to live in....without a bug to work on, I just might go nutz, but as soon as I get this car (lets hope its a good project) I'll get my FIX!!!

As for what keeps me going?? Innovation/originality says it all....that and I can't see my self in ANY other kind of car....its just me!!! I think of VWs EVERYDAY, while at work, eat, school! etc....it keeps me up at night!! Thinking of ideas, etc etc etc.....jezz...I'm hooked!!

[super vw]

Well i got into VW's some time when i was 11 or so. i cant remember what got me hooked, but once i got a tast... I WAS HOOKED. i got my first and only beetle (74 super) when i was 13 years old, my father traded a set of orginal 16" porsche fuchs for it from a friend (yes it did run and drive, we drove it 50 miles home lol)
To tell you guys the truth, i have NEVER driven my beetle more than around the block a few times, im 17 now but cant wait to get this beast on the road!!! even without driving a VW im still adicted to them :D. I do know i was first atracted to the resto-cal look and cali-look. but once i got researching supers i found some pics of GL cars and was like, damn! gotta have it... gotta have it :P
I also own a 87 Audi 4000 CS Quattro (Might i add this is my daily driver/Snow car.. and its a beast in the snow)

[bc1303s]

MY dad had VW's for a long time In fact he gave me my 1303S yes a sports bug he had know clue it was a sportsbug but I figured it out now lots of $$$$$$$$ later it will be road worthy again very soon!!! YOU JUST CAN'T LOVE THAT FRONT END?

[hybrid_john]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

I wonder what the reason for so little replies could be?

Come on there has to be more people out there that have a story to tell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

some one?

ANY ONE?...Give us your story if you are not bashfull!:D

John

[craazy Cooter]

I got started when I was 13 (1993). My parents bought a bug, but sold it a year later because they needed the room in the driveway. I was armed with an old spiral bound Idiot's Guide, and a few boxes of extra parts. I replaced fenders and the decklid, and did a little bodywork. In 2002 I bought my '70 T1
from a freind for $500 and a holley 750 4bbl rebuild. It was cal looked and I think cal look is pretty hoopty, with the lack of front wheel traction and all. I first fixed everything, and then started to modify.... And here I am. My heads just arrived today after 4 MONTHS of my car being on jack stands, I forgot wat it's like to drive it. It should be running in the next few weeks.

[eldavid]

What exactly got you started?
- 2001 VW Trends article showcasing the German Look.
- My neighbor replacing the 15" Rivieras with 17" Rotas on his 1303.

What keeps you going?
- The fact that someone showcasing his 1302 at the Sacramento Bug-O-Rama put up a sandwich board titled "What is a 1302?".
- The Cal Look crowd.

What excites you the most about the "German look" VW?
- That someday, I will show up at the Sacramento Bug-O-Rama with a sandwich board titled "What is German Look?".
- Did someone say 944 brakes?

[justdubbin]

What exactly got you started?
I've all ways been into cars, my earliest memories was my third birthday.....wanting cars instead of a bike/trike
I started off with Mini's and come into VW's late in life, early 2000.
Wanting a cool ride but with all the mod cons of a new car.

What keeps you going?
Ummmm not to sure, I think it might be the fact I have oil in my veins instead of blood :D

What excites you the most about the "German look" VW?
Individuality, ohh did I mention I have a 71 bay window bus.
I haven't got the bus the way I want it yet, I'm slowly getting the parts needed so I can take the bus off the road in the summer as it's my daily driver.

[NO_H2O]

What got you started?...

In 1986 a guy that worked at the parts store I used to go to for VW parts had a 73, it was red, shaved and blacked out, race seats, 5 spoke Fuchs, CCC turbo tail, 2275 with 45 Dells and every VDO gauge he could think to put in it. He would run it in Auto-X at a local fairgrounds. Germanlook didn't have a name back then but it was a Bad @$$ Porsche style Bug right down to the black Carrera script on the back of the Turbo tail.

Years later I started seeing the GL cars from Europe pop up in the mags.

Just had to have one.

[kdanie]

I rarely visit the off topic forum, so I am a little late....

I'm not a hard core VW/GL fan and don't live my life around it but....
I liked VWs back in the day (early '70s) and read HVW mag when I could get it. I bought a Manx style buggy in high school, kept it for a couple of years. I have owned about 60 cars and a several motorcycles in the past 35 years, everything from a tiny NSU to a 4x4 Chev pick up, including a custom van (uggh!) and several muscle cars (3 GTOs, 2 SS Chevelles, 4 'Cudas and more). I love anything with an engine and NEVER leave a car stock. I currently own 5 cars-The family minivan(race toaster), '82 BMW 320i (lot's of modifications), my '68 "trash bug" commuter (almost stock), my '68 GL bug project (stealth GL) and a new Scion Xa (1 month old, just installed 17" tires, Eibach springs on the shelf to install very soon).

Why did I decide to build a GL? "Mission Creep"! I bought the trash bug 3 years ago to do a quick low $$ restore for a decent daily driver. I soon realized I needed more HP to keep up with traffic on the freeway and a 5 speed would be nice. I discovered the STF and began on a type 4 engine and Porsche 5 speed conversion. A friend gave me a decent '68 for parts and it turned out to be in better condition than my driver so it went into the garage so I could focus on it and still drive the other to work. Well if you are going to go fast you had better have good brakes so a 944 N/A system was installed and things snowballed from there. It's 2/3rds done and my wife is pretty pissed because it's not finished yet!!

I had to roll it out of the garage so I could do some repairs/maint/new mods to the minivan that have just been completed. Time to install the Eibachs on the Scion then BMW needs to be converted to programable EFI from the Bosch CIS, a header fabricated, and some new aftermarket seats (it will become my new commuter until the GL is completed). Then the GL goes back into the garage for a push to complete it by June when my youngest daughter gets her license and starts driving the BMW to work/school.

Hmmm.... a lot to do in the next six months, considering several people want me to fab some type 4/bug headers and several more want me to fab some good BMW headers. Sooo much to do, sooo little time!!!

ken

[chigger]

I got back into bugs after a long time away from them. I went back to college and I wanted something that went well in the snow and was cheap and easy to work on. Once I bought it I decided to moderize it. Disk brakes so you didn't have to adj the brakes all the time, an oil filter, Pertronics ignitor an electric fan so I would have heat. Well I have been driving that car every day for the last six years and the body is just about rusted away do to the salt on the road. I just love it even if it is stock which is fine for daily use.
Wanting to improve the handling I started looking at mods in that direction. Then came brakes, five speed trans, and a T4 engine. A lot of the modifications were suggested, but there only a few places where you could actually get information which is why I showed up here.
I have all the parts and most of the mechanicals assembled. I am on hold at present since I don't have a job and their aren't any around here.
At present I have 944 disks front and rear. A 901,911 trans with GL style rear reinforcement, a Dragfast shifter converted to 5 speeds, a T4 engine with 1800cc heads, custom exhaust, Dellorto 40mm carbs, 914 guages, BMW seats, and I hope to put in a roll cage. The wheels are Porsche Phonedials with Contential tires 45 series at present as they came with the rims. After I get the Konis and hugh swaybars sorted it, it should corner pretty good.
I may even get around to painting it some day!

[oicdn]

Bringin this thread back from the dead, lol.

I think the fact that the car has HUGE aftermarket. Comparable to that of a Civic, only, the stuff for a Beetle isn't junk like pbnoxious spoilers and retarded body kits with vents, etc. The ratio of crap to useful is alot more in teh favor of useful.

Also, cheap. Brake kits that are worth a damn on imports are $$$$$. I can get Porsche brakes for the same amount, and in the end will see a better performance result.

Also, performance is alot more exponential IMO. Simple HP. And it's noticeable because of the low power:weight ratio. You appreciate the money and work more when you can see differences and results.

Not to mention, a GL beetle looks sicker than anything. I would take a nice GL Beetle over a Porsche anyday.....

[Troy_Audio]

So the question is....
What exactly got you started?
Back @7yrs old or so we had a Bug (Not Sure on year maybe a 67)
My dad let me drive it to school 1 day.. (Funny Thats the day The School Knew who I was..lol lil 7yr old Pimp drive'n to school)
Ok I was only able to steer the car..lol
I was alway do coloring books with herbie & all that..
in 97 I got my 1st Job & Started to save..
Called my bro in cali asked if he knew anything about them..
He hooked me up with a Friend that worked for Berrnie Burgman
He had a Viper Blue 69 just painted & ready to be put togeather..
I picked it up rust free New paint & a Very Heathy 2176cc Duel Weber 44's
I had to sell the Bug before I was finished dew to a Dirtbike crash..
I will have that sick Bug I see in my head..lol 1day

What keeps you going?
This Site Helps me dream of the best things..
I think its to-late for me to be saved Im in for a long time..
I cant wait to pass the Exotc cars in the Turn & know I saved $100k & saved some History
But I will Have The car Of My Dreams

What excites you the most about the "German look" VW?
#1- The Race Ready Parts & Super Proformance You can get out of a Bug/Ghia Im realy in ah with what some of the members have made & are Make'n A-Arm Kits,Massive T-4 DTM's, Sick Audio Systems & Killer rims
I must may I spend 4hrs on this Site everyday waiting for reply's..lol
Peaceout GL'erz Tr+oy

[Uber Affe]

I always wanted a Karman Ghia.
My girlfriend owned a bug.
I almost bought one 3 times before. but talked myself out of it.
I hate the bus and I'm not fond of walking-takes to long.
I bought my girlfriend's bug for $5.00.
That's right, I said FIVE DOLLARS.
Over $3,000 later...hehehe
I am now obssesed with my car as I am everything else I get into.