German Look

These cars does not really fit my taste. Even my nickname here in Austria is 'German', because I'm from Düsseldorf.
But this vid is very cool:

I do not understand a word!

Here you see my squareback in a hungarian VW magazin. I made it to the frontpage. It is the February 2006 Issue of VW-depo.

Volksworld Show 2007 Report (Part 2)

Naturally I had to examine a few things.

It seemed as Joe Cool had a long journey to the show. He looked a bit tired.


Here you see the underside of a very cool bus:

And this is the upper side:

Here you see one of my favorite cars:


This year 'Best of Show' goes to switzerland. Best regards from Austria!
(I have taken this pic from the terovirta page, because you can see me in the background of this shot)

Volksworld Show 2007 Report (Part 1)

After four days with full english breakfast, fish and chips, cheese out of a tube and english beer

my girlfriend transformed into Lady Di. I hope this will not last for a long time.

We have seen a lot of cool cars. Here are some examples:

This black Squareback is really lying on the floor (without airride!)


Some cool Type 34s:



This one was for sale:


More to come......

VW Dragracing

A rollcage is a must!

London calling

Thursday morning we will leave Vienna towards London to visit the Volksworld Show at Sandown Park. I'm sure to see some cool cars and meet some nice people.
(London)

(Sandown Park)

I allways thought I like golden Type 34s

But now i found this:
(click on headline for more pics)

Rare Cosmic Steering Wheel

Here you see a NOS Cosmic steering wheel from my collection. I just have taken it into the car to take some pics. It still has the 'made in england' sticker on the inside of the boss. Peter Noad a famous english VW specialist and journalist used such a wheel back in the 'days' on his racing bug. This is much rarer than an original Empi GT steering wheel.


(copy of original brochure)

(copy of original brochure)

(mounted in my squareback)

'Slammed' Police Car

I just found this 'slammed' Type 34 on Ebay. I hope I can resist to bid, as I have already three Ichiko models in my collection.

Glovebox Details

inside



If anyone needs those stickers for the inside of his glovebox just post a comment with your mail adress. I have got one set for sale.

and outside

It has got an engine again.

At thursday Fredy a I mounted the engine back into the Karmann. I hope it will work this or lately next week.

My first Type 34 (Part 3, the last one)

When we left the ferry at Calais in darkness it started to rain a bit. This made things quite dangerous without the wipers working and with only front- or backlights to choose. We drove our way towards Belgium behind a truck and decided to stay in a motel near the highway. We had to go more than 1000km back home. The weather forecast was bad. So I thought it would be safer to change our plan.
The next morning we drove from Belgium to Düsseldorf (my old hometown) and I parked the car by my parents-in-law.

This evening we had a real good time in the 'Altstadt' of Düsseldorf. The next morning we flew back to Vienna but not without visiting the 'Kölner Dom' (a world famous church where we were able to make our prayers)

I picked up the Karmann the next weekend.

This time I was travelling with a trailer and had no technical problems. Of course it was not as exiting as driving the Karmann.
After my arrival home we tried to solve all the technical problems. Due to lack of time and space at that time I finally decided to sell the Karmann again.
I sold it on ebay and it is now based in Ulm (Germany) and the new owner wants to build a perfect Type34 out of it. Good luck to him.
The decesion was easy because I found a Type34 in Vienna!! This one was already fitted with a 1776 engine and the owner wanted to trade it for a KTM. So as I work as a storemanager of Viennas biggest motorcycleshop a deal was done. I still own this one. It is still in progress as you have seen here. I will let you know the next steps soon. Have a good time and enjoy your live with aircooled VWs.

My first Type 34 (Part 2)

After we arrived in London we found a little hotel beneath the north circular road. It looked like the Karmann belongs to this house since the late sixties.



Then we headed out to have a really good time in London:



(This is art and not a request to take illegal drugs!!)


At Camdentown market we thought about taking a second car home.

Then we found a 'new' motorcycle dress for 'HRC Franz'

We decided to drink just some beer to be fit for the next day. We wanted to take the ferry from Dover to Calais the next afternoon.
But take a look at those guys:

(Fortunately I was the photographer at that time, but I didn't looked better)


The next morning we missed the breakfast due to the need for sleep. So when we woke up we were allready in a hurry to catch the ferry. To hurry with a big hangover is not really a pleasure as you know.
But it became still worse. In front of the hotel was a big police control. Every car was stopped to be checked for technical details.
Remember my car was nothing but illegal with my austrian plates. We waited until every policeman was busy and left the scene luckily. After a few miles in the city traffic next trouble started: smoke was coming out of all four fenders, because the brakes stuck. We stoped at a gas station to check out the situation again. After half an hour the brakes were cold and free.



We didn't know exactly why this has happened, but that was no longer interesting because the next problem appeared. Due to the brake problems the clutch started to slip when I tried to accelerate. Riding the car smooth and slow threw the sundaymorning was the solution! Finally we arrived in Dover and entered the ferry, but not without being controlled by the customs. After the guy asked me if this is my car I honestly answered YES and he replied 'It is a very nice car, have a good way home'


So we left England on our way home.
Stay tuned for the last part of the story.

My first Type34 (Part 1)

After three happy years with my Squareback I decided that I have to own a Type34. At that time (2003) there was none available around, so i took a look at Ebay. There she was: A 1969 model with electric sunroof and IRS in the back, lowered all around and whitewall tires.



The description: This is one of the finest ones in Great Britain.
Great Britain? Yes it was in Sheffield and I was in Vienna. So, what to do?
After asking the seller about the quality of the car, I decided to take it. So I made my bid and won the auction.
Yeah baby, I own a Karmann!!
But how to get it? There was only one way:
Vienna-Graz by train, Graz-Stansted with Ryan Air (That's cheap and that's good because I have paid 6000.-EUR in advance for a car I've never seen before), Stansted-Sheffield by Train and then drive it back home.
The seller told me that the car was ready for the 2000km trip, so I and two friends (yes two friends and I in a Type34) flew over to London.


(on the left you can see me, and on the right is the happy seller? No that's Bernd a good friend of me)
When we picked up that nice looking car on a dark,cold evening in december 2003 I was very happy. But that was just for the first 10 minutes before we recognized that we had some electrical problems. After a short testride it was also obvious that the car was so low, that tires made contact to the fenders in every corner. So what to do? Looking for a hotel, drink one or two beers and think about it tomorrow!
We decided to try the trip home:
Franz the other friend of me (He is only around 1,65m, so he is the man to sit behind) is a mechanic and tried to fix the electric problems:

NO CHANCE!!
Remember: It was december and we had the lights working in front or in the back (I could choose this with the highbeam switch), the wipers did not work and we had no turn signals, but we had to drive on the 'wrong side of the street'.
First step to do: legalize the car by fixing the numberplates of my squareback...

then we started our way to London. The only map we had was this little plan:

and a print of viamichelin. But we made it to London without any problems, except the ones we already knew.

To be contnued....