Showing our colors to remember September 11, 2001
We support the Vintage
Volkswagen Club of America
- If you're not a VVWCA member, you should JOIN!
We also highly recommend the Volkswagen
Club of America, the
popular VW classifieds site knowns as "TheSamba.com" and this popular local Northeast-area VW
enthusiast meeting place: The Northeast Aircooled VW Performance Forum
Site Date of Origination: 5 July 1998 | Site Last Updated: 9, 23, 29 January, 14 February, 26 March, 3, 11 April, 23 May, 12 June, 15, 24, 28 July, 8, 25 August, 3, 18 October, 10 November, 28 December 2006, 12 January 2007, 4 February, 18, 27 March, 4, 9, 11 April, 19 May, 6, 10, 20 June, 19 July, 6, 10 August, 10 September, 9, 16, 28 November 2007, 12 January, 21 February, 22 April 2008 (today's highlights in red)
Welcome to COMMON.GEAR ("common dot gear"), the official web site of the Common Gear Antique Volkswagen Society! COMMON.GEAR and the Common Gear Antique VW Society are dedicated to covering the fun & rapidly growing hobby devoted to these unique little German automobiles, and promoting positive hobby development and Antique Volkswagen fellowship.
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*4/22/2008 Brief Updates - Wanted to mention that a couple of interesting new cars for sale ads have just been added to our "Electronic Swapmeet" page as of this evening...PLUS, we also have this important upcoming event notice from our good friend Chuck Pisconski: "...JUNE 15, 2008, Sunday, Harwinton, Connecticut - "20th Annual Litchfield Bug In," at the Harwinton Fairgrounds, Harwinton, CT...All VW Car Show and Swap Meet to be held at the Harwinton Fairgrounds, 1 mile off Route 4 on Locust Road, Harwinton, CT, from 9am to 3pm. Admission is charged, with all proceeds going to charity (Bronc Callahan Community Fund). We average 325 VWs off all types from the early 40s to the latest 2008 models. Over 125 vendors with new and used parts. Camping available at fairgrounds the night before. New modern, clean restrooms. Bug In Bash with free food night before at fairgrounds. Spectators-$7; Showcars-$6; Car and driver-$13; Swap Meet-$30 Includes Driver and ONE helper; Inside buildings and up front vendors-call for info...Camping-$12...Over 100 awards. Many special awards and Best of Show silver bowls. Additional info contact: Chuck Pisconski, McBurney Road, Plymouth, CT 06782, 860-283-5256, vwsplitman@sbcglobal.net ..." (this event notice was received from "Mr. Litchfield Bug In" himself, Chuck Pisconski, via an e-mail dated 4/12/2008--thanks Chuck--sounds great!)... Other than that, please also be aware that we are getting the "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" page updated with information on this year's honorees, and so should be unveiling that "on schedule" next month... And finally this evening, please also be aware that the "Time Machines 2008" antique car show, Sunday, July 27, 2008, in which we traditionally sponsor the "VW-only" class (this year for all VWs, stock & modified, up to & including model year 1983, has been moved from Durham, CT, to the shoreline town of Guilford, CT. Check out the organizers' official info page for Time Machines at: http://www.geocities.com/tbirdsofconn/timemach.html - and here's also a scan of the front cover of the '08 (printed) Time Machines flyer: http://members.aol.com/saacregion/TM08FlyrCvr1kh.jpg . Oh, and just so you get a flavor, here's our report on VW participation at Time Machines 2007: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TimeMachines2007.html . So anyway, we do hope to see you & your antique VW in Guilford, CT on 7/27/08!... Ok, that's it for now--over and out!
*1/12/2008 Very Brief Updates - Happy New Year and welcome to "official antique status" all 1983 model-year VWs! I wish everyone good luck with all of their projects during the current "off season" (speaking for ourselves in the cold Northeast anyway). My off-season projects got a huge boost last week when a good friend helped me with some old-VW wheels needed for some new projects for my own cars. As a result, I also now have a good illustration of the visual differences between a 16" x 3" early split-window Bug wheel, and a later 15" x 4" Bug wheel (be sure to click on that hyperlink). I'm still on the hunt for at least one more 16" x 3" Bug wheel, so if you can help me out, please drop a line. Otherwise, the 15" Bug wheels project is moving ahead, with a successful re-clipping session today--next stop, the sandblast guy... I also wish this evening to direct your attention to the "Electronic Swapmeet" page where another new inquiry we received has been posted... All for now!
*11/28/2007 Very Brief Updates - In light of our recent "rediscovery" of our 1950 VW noted below in the 11/16/2007 Brief Updates section, we've been working on a page to document what we know about the car, it's history & historical significance, accompanied by a few older pictures of it. Please feel free to visit this new page (which is most certainly a work in progress at this point), which we call: "Our 1950 Volkswagen Model 11c, Deluxe Beetle" located online at: http://members.aol.com/commongear/1950VWMain.html . It's been fun tracking down the info, and it only gets us more excited about getting back to the car & getting it roadable once again... Also of note this evening is a special notice on our "Electronic Swapmeet" page, within the "Unclassifiable" section, about a unique and most humanitarian-sounding program of "old-VW goodwill"--please do be sure to check it out... All for now--have a good evening!
*11/16/2007 Brief Updates - "Don't call it a comeback..." Well,
I must admit we had been thinking for the last couple of years
about selling our 1950 Deluxe Bug. For
one thing, it's not the most driveable of our cars--nor one that
you'd want to attempt driving a great deal (at least not that I'd
want to attempt driving a great deal). Not that it's not a
great-driving car for a 1950 Bug--but it's more about the ability
to keep up with modern traffic, AND the number of amazingly
careless drivers out there that we seem to be sharing the roads
with these days. But anyway, thankfully, we took our time
thinking about that decision, and eventually came around to
realizing what a unique little gem this particular '50 was--not
only in its "solidness" and orignality, but also in the
car's unique and treasured history--being an original Hoffman
car (which is what VW archives suggest, since it was
originally delivered to the US), and also having been owned
previously by the man who I would say really opened our eyes to
what a fun hobby old VWs was--the late Tom Shoemaker
(we purchased the car from him in the mid-1980s). Yes, I had
noticed some problems cropping up with the '50 the last couple of
years, including some sort of ignition problem that didn't
(doesn't) allow it to start, and also a minor issue with the
brakes that I had known about for a while. But now I'm going to
re-double my commitment to getting back to the car and getting it
driveable again for '08. I feel I can deal with the ignition
issues, and I've also found a source for some of my needed brake
parts, "Kaefer-Nostalgie," and have some goodies coming from them now also. So,
I'm definitely getting excited about the future with our '50 VW!
I'll try to mine some more of our historical archives about the
car in the future, and share them here. For now, if you click HERE, you can
see an image that a friend of ours took from the summer of 1999,
when we drove our '50 VW in the town of Durham, Connecticut's
300th anniversary of founding (ref. the Wikipedia Durham page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham,_Connecticut) parade--that was a good memory! Also, in light of our
"1950 VW Revival" theme, I've embarked
in a quest to assemble a good set of 16" diameter, original
VW wheel rims to refinish (in proper monotone body
color, as per '50 specifications), and use on the car (and yes,
with some fresh skinny blackwalls too!). The IMAGE AT THE
UPPER RIGHT is actually a photo of a two-tone 16" wheel on a
'52 Bug that I photographed several years ago, though it's the
same type of wheel that a '50 would use. They seem to look
slightly different from 15" wheels, in that the visible
"central" part of the wheel (the convex part visible
between the hub cap and the outer rim) seems to be more
prominent. I've also scanned a couple more shots of the 16"
wheels I'm looking for, from a past refinishing project (but in
two-tone), which are clickable as follows: two-toned 16" wheel with whitewall tire mounted, two-tone wheel & ww tire on car w/o hubcap, and finally, the same combo mounted on the car, with a hub cap fitted. I wish to add that I would DEFINITELY would consider
singles, pairs, what-have-you (I realize these 16" wheels
don't grow on trees and that it may take quite some time to
assemble four decent usable ones). Needing hubcap clips is ok
too--I am able to reclip. If you have any of these 16"
wheels available, I'm interested in purchasing. Please contact
Steve c/o Common Gear, P.O. Box 3353, Stony Creek, CT 06405, or
email CommonGear@aol.com . Thanks!
*11/9/2007 Brief Updates - Happy to report we're still alive and well at this
end--busy as usual, though mostly with family, job, house, and
what-not (and old cars somewhere down there on the list too). My '68
Bug is still rolling along, now at just about 8,000
miles-since reactivation from the September '06 rear-ender
(November '06 is when I finally got it on the road again). I am
currently dealing with a couple of hopefully minor electrical
issues, and hope to be back driving again, at least until
Thanksgiving (my "traditional" stopping point for the
air cooled driving season), if not beyond... One fun old car
thing that I've managed to get together since I last checked in,
however, is a little feature page (for my other web hobby
project, "Shoreline Antique Auto Connection") about an old car event I attended this past July, in
which I dragged the old Ghia out for a mini-road trip. The event
was a large car show in Trumbull, Connecticut, held in
conjunction with the larger overall "Barnum Festival"
(an annual celebration, I guess you could say, of P.T. Barnum,
and what he meant to the Bridgeport, CT area). And what do you
know, there was at least one other VW there! Anyway, to go and
view that page, which I've entitled "The Barnum
Festival Car Show, Trumbull, CT, Sunday, July 15, 2007,"
you can click on the following hyperlink: http://members.aol.com/cgearannex/TrumBarnumFest15July07 - or click directly on the small picture at the right,
which is our '56 Ghia as it appeared on the car
show field that hot, sunny July day in Trumbull. Happy to say the
Ghia ran great that day, and it was fun to get out to show if off
a bit at a general interest type car event... Also recently for
the SAAC site (which we should
make clear is intended to focus on the CT Shoreline-area
antique auto hobby scene) we worked up a mini-feature about the
historic East Haddam Swing Bridge--with some
particualrly cool VW-oriented photos to accompany (thanks to a
few local VW friends handy with their cameras!), so please do
also check that one out when you get a chance, at: http://members.aol.com/cgearannex/HaddamSwingBridge.html ... As always, more new stuff is in the works, but for
now I must sign off and go down to the garage, to do battle with
my '68 Bug's electrical gremlins...wish us luck!!!
*9/10/2007 Brief Updates - Hey ho, we got the first draft of our Time
Machines 2007 Official Antique Volkswagen Participation Report
just completed! As always, we say "first draft,"
because inevitably there are mistakes, typos, incompletions,
etc., that we discover well after "finishing," so
please don't worry if you find any problems with the page--and
also feel free to drop us a line with anything that we may have
missed, any additional feedback you may have about the VWs at
Time Machines 2007, or whatever--we'd love to hear from you
(e-mail us at CommonGear@aol.com), and if
it's appropriate, we can also add your commentary/feedback to the
Official Report page. Anyway, for now, please feel free to visit
the new page at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TimeMachines2007.html - or you can also click on the Time Machines 2007 VW
dash plaque image shown at the right (these are the ones that we
get made up specially to hand out to the VW Class
participants--they are totally separate from official Time
Machines car show dash plaques--which all registered show cars I
believe do receive (at the time of registration). In all, Time
Machines 2007 was a tremendous day in every way. The weather was
perfect, and the beautiful antique VWs turned out in droves.
Highlights this year among the VWs included not one but two Type
181 Things, a couple of superb Type IIs, no less than three
top-notch Karmann Ghia Convertibles, and a super-nice vintage '82
Rabbit Convertible too--how cool is that! And these were not even
the VW class award winners--you'll have to go and view the page
to find out those details and much more. We wish to thank all the
fine VW folks who turned out to participate at Time Machines
2007, on Sunday, July 22, in Durham, CT--it was a great day
indeed!
*8/10/2007 Very Brief Updates - Still working in our spare time to get materials
together for a Time Machines 2007 report, so rest assured that
the super turnout of VWs this year will indeed be properly
documented "for posterity" (or at least as long as I
keep payimg my AOL bills--har har). I am happy to report that I'm
very close to 5,000 total miles-since-reactivation with my '68
Bug, and still having a ton of fun with it--though I
must also admit to a bit of mechanical difficulties lately that
have curtailed my driving a bit, while I wait for some parts to
arrive from good old aircooled.net (including some
tranny mounts, which I know are not a "trivial"
installation, but I know I can handle it, given some garage
time). For a real positive VW-related experience, I would also
like to report having gotten over to New York this past week to
visit a long-time old-VW friend, Rich Paprocki,
who made me a very sweet deal on a set of stock 4-bolt wheels
that he had already refinished in the proper two-tone paint
scheme--check 'em out HERE, and a
detail view HERE. They
are sweet indeed--thanks again Rich! Rumor also has it
that Rich might be available to do wheels-refinishing-for-hire,
so if you have any interest, please let me know, and I can put you in touch with Rich. So anyway, now I
am needing some tires "fitting" to go
onto those beautiful wheels, and I've decided that nothing less
than "classic" Michelin XZX's in size 165R15
will do. Having visited Coker's web site, however, I already know
there is no way I can afford new ones. So, I'm hoping I can
perhaps gradually assemble a good usable set of used ones. If you
are familiar with XZX's, you already know why they are unique and
desirable by us "tire-heads." I would call them a true
"old school performance radial." The image at the right
is a reduced version of an image of Michelin XZX tread detail,
and if you click on it, it'll bring up a slightly
better-resolution copy of the image. A couple of other Michelin
XZX images that I gleaned from the internet, to hopefully further
illustrate what I'm looking for are viewable by clicking HERE and HERE (that
second one being the actual image from the Coker web site).
Again, the size I'm looking for is 165R15, and I would also like
to steer clear of any age-cracked tires, since I do a fair amount
of highway driving with my old '68. If you have, or know of any
of this size Michelin XZX avaialble out there in decent, usable
(& non-age-cracked) condition--even singles, pairs,
etc.--please do drop me an e-mail. Thanks!
*8/6/2007 Even Briefer Updates - "Time Machines" was FANTASTIC! Records were broken everywhere in Durham on July 22nd, including within the VW-only class, where we had an honest-to-goodness 30 beautiful VWs participate! Rest assured a detailed review page is being worked on at this time, but meanwhile click HERE for a sample view from that fantastic day. Thanks to all who helped make it so! Please also see our "Electronic Swapmeet" page for another interesting new vehicle for sale listing posted as of this evening...
*7/19/2007 Ultra-Brief Updates - "Time Machines" is THIS COMING SUNDAY (7/22) in Durham, CT--it sounds like the weather's going to be good, so hope to see y'all there. Please view the Coming Events & Time Machines Highlights Page for any & all info about the event, or please e-mail me if you have any other questions that may not have been covered on that info page--thanks! Also, another new ad on our "Electronic Swapmeet" page has been posted as of this evening...
*5/19/2007 Ultra-Brief Updates - Happy to report that the "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" page is NOW UPDATED--Congrats to our 2007 Honorees, who were publicly announced on 5/13/2007at the Michigan Vintage Volkswagen Club's Festival in Ypsilanti, MI! Also happy to report that the Coming Events & Time Machines Highlights Page is NOW UPDATED with Time Machines 2007 Antique VW Participation info also! Please mark Sunday, July 22, 2007 on your calendar, and plan to travel to Durham, CT to enjoy the day with us! We've also recently completed a minor update to the Trudon/Lipman page mentioned below in our 4/11 update...and one more cool one to come (thanks to our old buddy Dave Irwin), so stay tuned for that...
*4/11/2007 Brief Updates - Well, wouldn't you know that we're still dealing with
crummy weather, here in mid-April (possible *snow* forecast for
overnight tonight--insert your favorite New England joke here).
Anyway, I'm back daily-driving the trusty old '68 Bug
again, as of last week, and even marked 1,000 total miles since
"official reactivation" of the car back in November of
'06 (this photo taken on the actual
day I re-activated it: 11/18/06), when I had finally completed
all my "home repairs" from the September 10th East Haven, CT rear-ender. As of this writing, we're probably now somewhere
around 1,200 miles, and counting. And yes, I'm getting
"re-acquainted," so to speak, with sharing the highway with the big trucks--"par for the course" for my daily I-95
commute--'nuff said! I checked my gasoline mileage on fill-up a
couple of mornings ago, and I'm getting just about 26 mpg's, so I
also feel good about driving a relatively "responsible"
vehicle as far as gas-consumption goes (here in the land of
$3/gallon and rising)... Anyway, to go along with the associated
image shown here at the upper right, I also wanted to direct your
attention to a new feature page that we've been having fun
working on, as a joint project with the SAAC web
site lately, and feel we're finally
ready to publish our work (though we would certainly never admit
to being "finished" with it). The image features a mint
original cast-metal license plate frame from the now-long-defunct
"Ted Trudon" VW dealership of
Talcottville, CT (a section of Vernon-Rockville, CT). And for the
photo, it's been laid on top of...you guessed it...a Common
Gear t-shirt! Photo credit goes to our buddy Bill
Silvestri, owner of the plate frame (& the original
Ted Trudon car that goes with it!), and the shirt, too. Nice job
Bill!... As experienced Common Gear-watchers might guess, the new
feature has some "significant Greg Mattesen
input." It is entitled: "A Blast From The
Past" - Greg Mattesen's '63 VW at the old Lipman VW
dealership, Talcottville, CT, circa Summer 1990,"
and is located online at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/GregM63VWatLipman.html . This new project was originally inspired by a
"flashback" photo Greg noticed, that was published
recently in a local newspaper depicting the old "Ted
Trudon" VW dealership of Talcottville, CT, from the 1960s,
and is augmented very nicely by photos from the summer of 1990,
when Greg posed his old '63 Beetle right in front of the same
dealership (which by that time was known as "Lipman
VW"--also now long-defunct). The work on the new feature
page presented an opportunity for Greg to share his considerable
knowledge about Connecticut Volkswagen dealership history, which
has been extremely interesting to us. We wish to thank Greg and
Bill sincerely for their gracious help-and a tip of the hat is
due to our mutual friend Roland Metz too, for
his careful proofreading and helpful suggestions.
*4/4/2007 Very Brief Updates - Several new ads listed today to our "Electronic Swapmeet" page - please do go and check 'em out! Also, please be aware that the 2007 "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" nominations period is now officially closed--stay tuned for our official announcement of this year's honorees coming up next month...thanks again to everyone who participated this year!
*3/27/2007 Brief Updates - Wow, as of today, I think the
Northeast got its first real taste of Spring. I didn't get
outside during mid-day, but even on my evening drive home after
work, it was positively balmy, "window-down weather,"
and I noticed a great number of motorcycles out on the
roads also (there's a sure sign of good weather!). At this end
the wheels are starting to spool up toward another fun old car
season, and two of my all-time favorite summertime old car events
(to which I always enjoy encouraging Antique VW
participation!) have gotten at least some preliminary 2007
notices out: the "Time Machines"
antique car show & flea market in Durham, CT (will be Sunday,
July 22nd this year), and the Great Connecticut
Traditional Jazz Festival's "Antique Auto Parade &
Display" in Moodus, CT (will be Sunday, July 29th
this year). You can read our "VW-report" on the 2006
version of "Time Machines" at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TimeMachines2006.html - and our comprehensive antique auto participation
report on the 2006 Jazz Festival Antique Auto Parade &
Display (composed under the auspices of our "sister
site," Shoreline Antique Auto Connection) appears online at: http://members.aol.com/saacregion/JazzFestAntiqueAutos2006.html . Needless to say, we are certainly looking forward to
getting our flyers and other participation solicitation materials
together for both, so that we can begin circulating and spreading
the word (we enjoy helping out both events with some
"advance publicity," at least on the local CT
Shoreline-area scale). So, my advice is: Stay Tuned!... In other
news, we are about to close out the nominations for our 2007 "Heroes
of Antique Volkswagening" award. We feel we have
some positively excellent candidates for this year (as we
always do--thanks to the many "civic-minded"
fellow-enthusiasts who put on their thinking caps every year and
come up with wonderful candidate write-ups). You can also read
more about the "Heroes" program at: http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html . So, our advice for "Heroes 2007" is also
"Stay Tuned!"... Finally, to go along with the small
image at the upper right, we wish to direct your attention to a
newly-created Feature Page that highlights some very unique and
very beautiful photographic images by our New York VW-friend Roland
Metz. The new page is called "Chasing A
Ghia Rainbow," July 2, 2006, Katonah, NY - Some VW-oriented
"photo-magic" by Roland Metz - and the address
is: http://members.aol.com/commongear/RMRainbowGhia.html - or you can also click on the small image here that
features Roland's '64 Ghia Cabrio, and a fantastic rainbow
background! Thanks again for sharing these striking images,
Roland, and sorry the page was so long in-the-making!
*3/18/2007 Very Brief Updates: Welcome to
Daylight Savings Time, which took effect about a week and a half
ago already--I'm liking it. But not liking these (hopefully) last
vestiges of winter, as we "enjoyed" this past Friday
(3/16) and through most of this past weekend here in cold
Connecticut. Anyway, we wanted to direct your attention to the
new page we recently put together, as a joint project with our
sister web site "Shoreline
Antique Auto Connection" (general
antique auto hobby-focus for the CT Shoreline area), documenting
some recent local "Herbie sightings," as wonderfully
engineered by our long-time local old-VW buddy Greg
Mattesen. Please be sure to view the new page: "Positive Signs of Spring -
Herbie Hits The Road in early March '07!" - which
you can view online at: http://members.aol.com/foxcraft/GregsHerbieVisitMar07.html - or, you can also click on the small
accompanying image at the right of the very cool (and "Love
Bug-proper," of course!) "OFP 857" black CA plate
that Greg recently affixed to the front of his beloved '64
Herbie, that (we hope) is hyperlinked to the above-mentioned new
feature page--good show, Greg!... Also wanted to pass along word
today about a local-to-us '68 VW Bug that looks
like it might make a very good parts car (or restoration basis,
if you're fearless?!), and is available for very cheap in Branford,
CT--the following images were taken by me back in
November of '06: Front, Back, Engine, Interior--the
seller sounds very eager to see it go--you can e-mail them
at: awc3867@aol.com (for whatever reason, the seller never
actually wrote me up a "for sale" ad, so I'm just doing
my best to pass the word along, as I was requested to do)...
good luck!
*1/12/2007 New Year Updates: First, of all, Happy New Year to
everyone, and a hearty "Welcome to 'Official Vintage
Status' to all 1982-model
year VWs"--if you've managed to survive all these
years, you've certainly earned it! I hope you're doing well and,
now that we're in the midst of the winter months, perhaps making
some productive "off-season" progress on your project
car--or, even possibly enjoying driving your old car, as
we've been fortunate to be able to do so far this winter
here in Southern Connecticut. I know it's been many years since
I've been able to enjoy driving my trusty old '68 Bug
in, say, December and January--HERE is a picture of yours
truly behind the wheel, out battling the trucks on Interstate 95
in East Haven, one day last month (eyes on the road there,
buddy!). I wish many safe and happy miles in 2007 for all of use
who choose to get out there on the roadways with our antique VWs.
There are a lot of careless drivers out there (as I was
unfortunate enough to discover once again this past September,
when my '68 VW was rear ended by a cell-phone-talking SUV driver--ugh--and ouch), so my advice is to be careful and
drive defensively!...Anyway, there are a couple of more important
reasons for me to be on here today updating the C/G site. The
first is to let you know that I've FINALLY managed to get a Time
Machines 2006 Review of Antique VW Participation feature
page completed! I know it's taken a while, but it's finally done.
The page address for this new feature is: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TimeMachines2006.html - or you can also click on the small graphic at the
upper right, which is a scan of the special VW dash plaques we
had made up to give out to all the VWs at the 2006 event
(featuring fine John Jaranson original
artwork--thanks again John!). I wish to thank all the wonderful
VW folks who came out and supported the Time Machines event once
again--and hopefully we can all do it again on July 22nd of
'07!...And secondly, I wanted also to direct your attention at
this time to our Links Page, where we've just
posted a new link from a newly-established, local New
England-area, VW-specialized (& other makes as well)
restoration business: "401 Restos, Rods, and
Customs." Good stuff!...And finally, please also
check out a long-overdue update to one of our Feature Photo
Pages--this time it's an update to Feature Photo Page 4, which is
the current "home" of "John Hamill
Updates"--John, of course, being our very long-time
old VW friend from Vermont, who runs the well-known independent
VW sales & service establishment in Westminster known as "John's
Car Corner." This time John has added a most
intereting new vehicle to his collection, from South of the
Border...
*7/24/2006 Very Brief Updates: Wow--great day in Durham yesterday at the "Time Machines 2006" antique auto show. I'm definitely not prepared to write
any sort of comprehensive report about the day, and most
importantly, the Antique Volkswagen participation aspects. But I can definitely report that it was a fine day,
with many beautiful VWs of many different years and styles on
display, and much old-VW fellowship exchanged and enjoyed. I wish
to extend my sincere thanks to all the VW folks who came
out & participated, to make it such a great showing for our
favorite marque, and also a large note of thanks once again to
the Connecticut Area Classic Thunderbird Club for welcoming us back once again for this year. *7/28/2006 Update: Just finished getting an early selection of Time
Machines 2006 Antique Volkswagen images posted online (at
TheSamba.com) of each and every antique VW that participated in
this past Sunday's "Time Machines" event in Connecticut
(plus a few "overall scenes" near the beginning).
Within the "Gallery" area of TheSamba.com, I think you can search on the event title: "Antique
VWs at Time Machines 2006, 7/23/06, Durham, CT" -
And the image at the upper right here is another shot from TM2006
that I kind of reduced & resized a bit--another kind of a
"different angle" on the Old VWs at Time Machines
'06--I'll also try to add the image collection (there are 22
total) hyperlink to this shot, so that you should hopefully be
able to just click on it (and go to the collection of TM2006
images at the Samba Gallery). Again I wish to reiterate what a
completely fun time I had at the event--checking out the
cars and chatting with the people. Rest assured that we will have
our own comprehensive full report on the Time Machines 2006
Antique Volkswagen participation eventually here at the Common
Gear site--that sort of thing just naturally takes longer,
however, than simply posting a few images at the Samba gallery...
At this end, as this is being written here in Connecticut, we're
bracing for the Big Heat that I guess the rest of the country's
been enduring over the past week or so--I guess we'll just try to
think cool thoughts and do our best with it! On this coming Sunday,
July the 30th, however, we will be out at the Sunrise
Resort in Moodus, Connecticut, to participate in the Antique
Automobile Parade & Display at the Great Connecticut
Traditional Jazz Festival. I've been assisting the
Festival with attracting antique autos to attend this event for
the past 10 or so years, and this year is no different. So, if
you're in the CT area, and are looking for a unique and fun day
combining old cars and old-time music, please consider the Jazz
Festival. It is IMPORTANT that you review the Online Flyer,
however, so please do so--click on: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/JzzFstFlyer.html . So, maybe see you on Sunday in Moodus?! And beyond
that, it's pretty much just "life as usual"--managing
the daily demands of job, home, pets, family--I certainly don't
have the time to devote to the VW hobby that I once did, back
years ago. I still try to have a little bit of "old car
fun" here and there, however I can. I'm steadily getting
closer to having my beloved '68 Bug ready
for at least some "semi-regular" use for this summer,
and that's keeping me excited. Wish me luck with sorting out the,
ah, "final bugs" on the good used 12v single-port used engine I purchased recently--it shows a lot of
promise--just need to convince myself that I've finally solved
all of it's distributor problems (many of which had nothing
to do with the as-purchased engine)... That's all for now--see
you on the road! --Steve from Common Gear
*6/12/2006 Brief Updates: Well, I must say, there's nothing like the feeling of
getting out and about in an old air-cooled Volkswagen on a bright
Spring day, following a long New England winter. I was most
pleased just a couple of weekends back, to get our old 1960 Bug
on the road for a couple of fun local old car outings since last
check-in. On Sunday, April 30th, 2006, I was most pleased to be
able to hit the "Summer Knights" big car show at the
Berlin Fairgrounds, which I've written up for the Shoreline
Antique Auto Connection site, at: http://members.aol.com/cgearannex/SummerKnightsBerlin2006.html . And then, on Saturday evening, the 28th of May, I
aimed the old '60 north once again, and had a wonderful evening
at the Oliver Wolcott Tech School car show in Torrington, about
which I've also written up a report for SAAC: http://members.aol.com/cgearannex/OWTS27May06CarShow.html . As local-area old-VW enthusiasts know, on Sunday
April 30th, when I was in Berlin, there were a great number of VW
folks gathered out in northeastern Connecticut, at Mansfield
Hollow State Park, for the Connecticut Volkswagen Association's
annual "Spring Dust Off" gathering. A couple of fellow
old-VW enthusiasts in particular, Greg Mattesen,
and Bill Silvestri were part of that wonderful
gathering, and we have a few words & images to share with you
from it (also the drive to it, and a cool diner stop after it),
that we're most pleased to be able to highlight here today. The
day was also particularly notable for Bill, in that it was the
first time, I believe, since he's owned it, that he's had his
beautiful 1958 Karmann Ghia Coupe out for a road run. Thankfully
Greg brought along his camera, and with the help of Bill's
daughter Kristen, and Greg's daughter Amelia, who rode along in
Greg's 1963 VW Beetle, some great "action shots" of
Bill's sporty '58 KG were captured, like the (slightly cropped
& reduced) one you see here at the above right. If you click
on the image (or, you can also click on the page URL: http://members.aol.com/foxcraft/BillS58SpringtimeGhia.html ), you'll be transported directly to the new feature
page: "Springtime For Ghia," that
contains many words & images from that wonderful Springtime
Old-Volkswagen Outing. And finally, please also check out our "Electronic Swapmeet" page when you get the chance, for some newly-posted ads.
That's all for now--see you on the road!
*5/23/2006 Very Brief Updates: The 2006 "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" award Honorees have been Officially Announced!--please be sure to visit the Common Gear Heroes of Antique Volkswagening Award Program page for more info: http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html .
*4/11/2006 Another Brief Update: Spring is here--and what a great
feeling it is. It's a time of renewal and rediscovery. It's also
a time for some fine early-season car shows! In the Northeast, it
was the Spring Englishtown, NJ event this past Sunday (for which
Mother Nature saw fit not to schedule any snowstorms...unlike a
few years back), and from the reports we've heard, it was a dandy
of a VW event. And out West, it was the legendary "Kelley
Park" event in San Jose, CA--and that one reportedly lived
up to it's reputation as well, as a top-notch,
"world-class" old-VW gathering. And I'm sure there were
plenty others around the country and around the world. Speaking
for myself, I'm a little subdued in my old-VW enthusiasm, due to
the fact that my trusty warm-weather-daily-driver '68 Bug is now
on unspecified sick leave--thanks to a serious engine ailment
that's going to require professional help. But before you start
feeling too sorry for me, it's also worth noting that, in the
spirit of "Springtime Rediscovery," we've manged to
drag our long-lost old buddy, "Doug" the 1960
Bug, out of the garage, and have managed to get a nice
drive around the block in already (on Sunday the 9th of
April--same day as E-town and Kelley Park). What a nice way to
forget one's "air-cooled troubles!" Though the car had
gotten rather dusty and dingy during it's prolonged garage stay, Mrs.
Webmaster and our son Matt, both got
busy and gave old Doug a nice wash on Sunday afternoon, and then
I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos of the
(cleaned-up) Old Guy the following day (Monday April 10th), one
of which appears at the upper right (in low resolution form)--and
you can also click directly on the shot for a higher-res (and
slightly cropped) version of the same shot, or click HERE. And check out those
authentic 1960 "Year of Manufacture" plates that Doug's
wearing--how cool is that?! In other news, you may have noticed
that it's now AFTER the 31st of March--our deadline for receipt
of 2006 "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" nominations
(ref. http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html)--and though we can't spill the beans on this year's
honoree yet, I can say that the plaque order has been placed!
Stay tuned for the Official Announcement on that coming up next
month...
*3/26/2006 Brief Update: They've been piling up a bit--but we finally got all the latest classified ads received uploaded to our "Electronic Swapmeet" page, which is located at: http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/SWAPMEET.html - so please go there and check 'em out some time @ your convenience...
*1/23/2006 Very Brief Updates: Please note that the nomination period is now in session for the 2006 "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" award--please be sure to visit the Common Gear Heroes of Antique Volkswagening Award Program page for more info: http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html . Deadline for our receipt of nominations is March 31, 2006.
*12/31/2005 Very Brief Updates: Well,
well, well, looks like time finally caught up with Mr.
Procrastination! Yes, it's true, I've finally completed the first
draft of our Official Report on Antique Volkswagen Participation
at Time Machines 2005...which happened a mere 5 or so months
ago(!), on Sunday, July 24th, 2005. To be fair, it was a subject
on which we didn't want to skimp--since it's kind of our
"flagship" car show. We started getting involved with
the Time Machines events (especially: sponsoring the
"VW-Only" class within them, among other things) more
years ago than I can remember--even before the '88 version,
which, I believe, marked the first year the term "Time
Machines" was ever used. Anyway, we were very pleased once
again to be involved with the Antique Volkswagen participation
this year, and had a great time as usual. I hope you'll enjoy
taking a browse of the new page that we've FINALLY put together,
to document the day's goings-on from a VW perspective. As always,
we congratulate the VW Class award winners, and wish we had more
class awards to hand out to deserving cars, but I hope folks
don't place too much emphasis on winning awards, because there's
really a whole lot more to the event than awards. Anyway, off my
soap box for now. Please be sure to visit the new page
documenting Antique VW Participation at Time Machines
2005, which is located at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TimeMachines2005.html - or you can also click on the small rendition of one
of the special dash plaques we had made u for 2005 to hand out to
all the VW participants, shown at the upper right. Thanks again
to everyone for particpating, and hope to see you back in Durham,
this coming July. Onward and Upward for 2006!
*12/27/2005 Very Brief Updates: What
about Vintage Water Cooled VWs?! If it's 25 years old or older,
it's a certified, bona-fide antique. We've had some fun lately
focusing some attention on some very fine Antique Water Cooled
VWs. First it was Charlie Russo's super-nice 1980
Rabbit that received some very fine "press" in
the well-known antique auto enthuisast publication, Hemmings
Motors News, spotlighting the car's First Junior award at
this past October's AACA Eastern Disivion Fall Meet at Hershey,
PA--which we were, in turn, very excited to "secondarily
spotlight" on our Feature Photo Page 2, which is located at http://members.aol.com/commongear/FeaturePhoto2.html . Through some spirited subsequent conversation among
the Common Gear Discussion Group membership about vintage water
cooled VWs, it was learned that there are some other very
well-preserved and/or very well-restored water cooled VWs out
there...and so we are pleased at this time to direct your
attention to another new Feature Photo page, this one #14 (actual
page location: http://members.aol.com/commongear/FeaturePhoto14.html ), which contains words and images from Paul
Blanchette and Lois Grace, concerning
their respective prized vintage water cooled Volkswagen
Rabbit Pickup Trucks! We thank Paul and Lois for their
very gracious input on the subject! And as a teaser, the image at
the upper right here is a Ron Kimball shot of Lois' mom's '82
Rabbit Pickup Truck, known as "Biff," which, if you
click on it, should also take you straight to the new Feature
Photo Page 14!
*11/21/2005 Very Brief Updates: I realize that many, if not most, visitors to this site may not be from anywhere near Connecticut, but I wanted anyway to highlight a unique inquiry that we recently received, and have subsequently placed on our Electronic Swapmeet page (in the"Unclassifiable" section). The inquiry concerns Vintage Volkswagen Wedding Transportation. Some forward-thinking folks from southeastern CT are making inquiries about this, for the Fall of 2006. If you might be interested in doing that sort of thing with your old VW, please by all means check them out--they seem like very nice people!...I would also like to take this time to wish all of you Happy Holidays, and please don't forget those less fortunate during this holiday season...
*10/29/2005 Brief Updates: We didn't actually drive on the CVA's
2005 Fall Foliage Tour ourselves, though we did attend
the "muster" of tour participants, on Sunday,
October 16th, in Old Saybrook, CT, and were very pleased
to meet up with many VW friends. Later on we received many rave
reviews about what a fantastic day it was! Some VW friends who
participated, including Greg Mattesen, Bill Silvestri, Roland
Metz, and Rob Kendrick, were very gracious to share some of their
words and images from the day (*11/2/2005 Update:
New photos now added from Dan Cornish too!), and we've taken the
time to place a few selected of their photos and descriptions, on
one of our Feature Photo pages. So, if you wish, please take a
moment to visit our Feature Photo Page 1, where all of these materials have just
been assembled (the actual URL for the page is: http://members.aol.com/commongear/FeaturePhoto.html). Or, you can also click on the image
presented here at the upper right, which is a shot that Greg
Mattesen took, from very early in the morning that day, when his
and Bill's and Rob's old VWs were lined up in front of Greg's
house, ready to roll southbound to the Tour gathering point in
Old Saybrook. Left to right, it is Greg's 1969 Convertible (light
yellow), Bill's 1960 Convertible (red), and Rob's mid-'70s
Dormobile Camper (green & white). And that's Greg's house in
the background of the photo. Great shot, Greg, and a nice
"teaser" photo to use here--thanks again--and also to
Bill, Roland, and Rob as well!
*10/19/2005 Brief Updates: Have no fear, we're getting closer to completing our Official Review of Antique VW Participation at the Time Machines 2005 antique auto event, from this past July, in Durham, CT. We're diligenly toiling away, trying to get all the details together and properly organized, to be able to present a comprehensive report. So, thanks again for your patience on that! I wanted also, at this time, to mention another Connecticut antique auto event that's upcoming in 2006--specifically Sunday, April 30th, 2006, at the Berlin Fairgrounds--it's the Summer Knights car club's Annual Autorama & Car Show, that, for 2006, will have a Special Class for All Volkswagens (not unlike what we do at Time Machines!), per some correspondence I've recently received from their representative. I've posted all the details about the event on the Calendar page of the Shoreline Antique Auto Connection (my other, non-marque-specific, Connecticut-Shoreline-focused web site project). So, very cool news on that, and hats off to Summer Knights for their very progressive thinking!
*9/25/2005 Brief Updates: Good morning!
Wow, it looks like fall is finally here--at least judging by what
my calendar says--though it's still pretty warm & pleasant
during the day (but good sleeping weather at night). Happy to
report that we are making progress toward preparing our official
report on the Antique Volkswagen participation
at this year's "Time Machines" antique
auto show & flea market that was held July 24th, 2005,
in Durham, Connecticut. Common Gear Antique
Volkswagen Society was, as always, very pleased to sponsor the
Volkswagen-only class in the car show, which this year included
cars all the way up to the 1980 model year (in keeping with the
generally accepted 25-years-old or older definition of
"antique"). There was even an '80 Rabbit Cabriolet in
the show this year, which I thought was very cool (and I think an
'82 electric-powered Rabbit also might've snuck in too...).
Anyway, I've been going through and processing my photos (a
cropped and reduced version of one of which I'll add here) and
going through my notes, and a feature page is slowly coming
together. Rest assured I'll be making an announcement here when
it's ready for viewing. And sorry once again for the (typical)
delay on this. It is something I really like to do, but not rush.
I think it is important to give a "tip of the hat" (as
much as we are able, anyway) to each and every old VW that shows
up to participate. What I have managed to do so far, however, in
order to get at least a few images "out there" without
delay, is to utilize the "Gallery" area of the popular
VW enthusiast web site thesamba.com,
and if you go to the Gallery area and do a search using both the
words "time" and "machines," you may end up
with the entire collection of the images I've uploaded from the
2005 event. I'll also try posting the link to the collection here
(not sure it will work, but here goes): http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_keywords=Antique%2BVWs%2Bat%2B%26quot%3BTime%2BMachines%2B2005%2C%26quot%3B%2B7%2F24%2F05%2C%2BDurham%2C%2BCT&search_terms=all. Hope that didn't cause your computer to blow up (a
lengthy URL for sure!). So, thanks again for now, to everyone who
participated in Time Machines 2005 with their antique VWs, and
also for those of you who've taken time out to visit us here
online today. Have a great rest of your weekend.
*8/30/2005 Brief Updates: Yes, we realize the old C/G site has kind of "gone to seed" a bit lately. Having a family with two growing kids, a real job, house, pets, and all of life's other responsibilities, seems to have the effect of taking away one's "free time" a bit, and so it's happened to me as well. We will certainly continue to work on updating things around here, as time and opportunity allow, though, and as a matter of fact, we have a couple of excellent new additions to our Links Page, that you should check out. Have a good evening and talk to you again soon... --Steve
*6/10/2005 Brief Updates: Well, we
are coming to the realization that we need to sell our '70
Squareback--too many cars, too little garage space! It's a cool,
nice looking, nice driving, and nicely un-messed-with car, and
I'm sure would be a great addition to anyone's antique VW
collection (or the start of one, since it's ready to be enjoyed
RIGHT NOW!). Here's the text of the ad for it that I posted a day
ago on thesamba.com: "...FOR SALE - 1970 Squareback, L630
Cobalt Blue, white leatherette interior, original full automatic
transmission and fuel injection. Also has a/c (apparent dealer
installed) which was deactivated prior to our acquiring the car,
and apparent factory-installed AM/FM radio that is not
operational. Recent new: Coker narrow ww radials on refinished
original rims, all new brakes (incl. front calipers, master,
& rear wheel cylinders, flex hoses, etc.), new repro
"ISP West" cargo area rubber mat. A nice
"un-messed-with" Squareback. Runs, drives, and looks
great. Needs complete carpet kit. Current odometer reading is
~63,400, apparently original miles. We believe originally from
California; car is located in south-central Connecticut. View a
few other sample photos online at: http://members.aol.com/saacregion/SQBKIMGSPG.html...Thanks for looking...." And our
asking price is "IT
IS NOW SOLD!", Or Best Offer.
If you're interested, please e-mail us at: CommonGear@aol.com . Thanks for your interest!
*6/3/2005 Brief But IMPORTANT Updates: Very pleased to report that our "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" recognition program page HAS JUST BEEN UPDATED with the announcement of THIS YEAR'S HONOREES! The URL for the "Heroes" page is: http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html or you can click HERE to go THERE! Congratulations and Thanks to the 2005 "Heroes of Volkswagening!"
*5/13/2005 Super-Brief Updates: "Time Machines 2005" planning is also starting to spool up at this time of year, especially now that we have our supply of Time Machines 2005 flyers to hand out (thanks again Fred Klaus TM2005 co-chairman!), plus our special stickers to apply to them (two versions this year: original and extra crispy) to help highlight the VW class which we're once again sponsoring this year (for all VWs, stock + modified, up to & including model year 1980). Please be sure to view our Events & Annual Time Machines VW Participation Info Page for all the latest info, located at: http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/Calendar.html - and hope you can attend!
*4/26/2005 Brief Updates: Yes, for those of you who were wondering, we are at indeed at work on this year's "Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" recognition program. Now in its seventh year, this program endeavors to give a bit of a spotlight on good people in the Antique Volkswagen hobby who "do good things," often with little to no recognition. We closed out this year's nomination period, as usual, on March 31st, and we're working toward the announcement of this year's honoree (or honorees?), to coincide, again per tradition, on May 22nd--with the "public announcement" to happen at the huge Michigan Vintage Volkswagen Festival--and also online here (hopefully more or less similtaneously). So anyway, please stay tuned for that. The other thing I wanted to draw your attention to today is a most interesting online VW feature, by a very knowledgeable and well-known automotive journalist and historian--who also happens to be from "our neck of the woods" (the Connecticut Shoreline region). I speak of Mr. Kit Foster, and here is the link for his latest (typically) interesting and well-researched new article: http://www.kitfoster.com/2005/04/whats-iltis.html . Nice work Kit! Plenty more good reading at Kit's overall site, known as "The Car Port."
*3/20/205 Updates: "Back to Campbelltown!" That
phrase has kind of an intentional double-meaning here. First of
all, this being the first day of SPRING, a young webmaster's
thoughts are drawn to...VW events--what else!? And one of the
most fun Spring VW events I've ever been to was the HAVOC
"Campbelltown" event in Pennsylvania. I was very
pleased to be able to attend in 2004 with my good friend Roland
Metz, and I'm already looking forward to the 2005 version, wich
is coming up NEXT MONTH, as we speak! Anyway, a couple of updates
back, in January, I also mentioned the Campbelltown event, in
connection with some very fine photos from that event we were
pleased to display on our Feature Photo Page
#11, which
were taken by Mr. Metz. So, what a pleasant surprise and
coincidence that the owner of one of the beautiful VWs featured
in Roland's Campbelltown 2004 photo-coverage should write to us
in February of 2005! I of course wrote back and asked if he'd be
interested in sharing some background info about his car--and
happily, he was! So, today I am pleased to draw your attention
once again to Feature Photo Page #11, which
now contains a very interesting write-up by Mr. Herb Schwab,
about his magnificent 1957 Sunroof Beetle--plus a few more of
Roland Metz' photos of this incredible machine (such as the one
displayed in reduced size m here at the upper right--check the
reflections in the mirror-straight side panels of the Schwab '57
VW; you can also click on the image to go to the Feature page, by
the way). Thanks again to Mr. Schwab for his most gracious
correspondence, and also once again to Roland for his super
photography!
*3/15/2005 Updates: Only half a month left for nominations for the Common Gear "Heroes of Antique Volkswagen Award" for 2005--please be sure visit the Heroes program page for more info: http://members.aol.com/CGearAnnex/HEROES.html
*1/17/2005 Updates: Happy New
Year (um, only about 16 days late with this greeting...but
"better late than never"...) and welcome to official
"Vintage" status (as per VVWCA definition of "vintage"--which is synonymous
with the word "antique" that we use in the title of our
own web site--in keeping, of course, with it's definition per AACA) to all 1980 model year Volkswagens (and
congratulations to their owners for "keeping the
faith")! Well, I don't know how it may be in your part of
the country, but here in Southern Connecticut, winter has
definitely returned. And with winter's return has hit my
own case of "Spring Fever." I'm finding myself drawn to
view upcoming-for-2005 events calendars at every
opportunity--both local "general old car" ones, like
the one I maintain for the Shoreline Antique Auto Connection, and regional and national ones too--like Charlie
Russo's excellent "East
Coast USA VW Events" page--one of
my most-visited VW events pages, year after year. And I'm also
looking at other ways to get a bit of a "show season
fix," like exploring files of past photos and
correspondences, to see what may be suitable for web site
features to work on. I'm very pleased to report that three such
projects have been recently completed, and I've had a lot of fun
working on them. If you take a look at our "Photo Essays Index"
page, you'll notice a few of the "Feature Photo Pages"
have been recently updated, and I'd like to specifically mention #8, which
incorporates some interesting views of our good friend Greg
Mattesen's beautiful 1963 VW Beetle--and also contains a
link to the special page we created from his report about
tracking down the original owner of the car(!), also #5, which
features the very cool latest antique-VW acquisition of another
local good old car friend Bill Silvestri, and
finally #11, which is
a fun look back at one of the best early-season VW events I've
ever attended--the HAVOC "Volksfest" at Campbelltown,
PA--specifically the 2004 version, which I was fortunate to be
able to attend with good friend Roland Metz, and
at which Roland took many great photos, many of which form the
basis of that page. The accompanying image presented here at the
upper right is one of Roland's images from that beautiful April
2004 day at the HAVOC/Campbelltown event, and shows the very rare
vintage "Hurst/Volkswagen" ("H/wagen")
shifter decal that appeared on one of the very beautiful old VW
Beetles at the event--you can also click directly on the sticker
image to take you to the Feature Photo Page #11. I would like to
once again thank Greg, Bill, and Roland, for their considerable
help with these feature pages--and also their willingness in the
first place to share their great enthusiasm and creativity! I
also need to insert one other note of special thanks to Greg for
his fantastic materials and help with a Connecticut-oriented
"local roadside culture" feature page that we recently
created for the Shoreline Antique Auto Connection site, but which
also contains a bit of VW-flavor as well--the page is entitled "Greg
Mattesen's Visit to the 'USA Motel,' Berlin Turnpike, Newington,
CT, July 2004," and is located at this URL: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/GMattUSAMotelVisit2004.html - so, Thanks Again Greg!
*12/22/2004 Updates: Ugh, "happy" first day of winter! Mother
Nature gave us a good "dose of it" just yesterday, here
in the Northeast, and I think many other areas of the country as
well. The cold weather really hit hard, and added to that was
about 3 or so inches of show, plus high winds--in short, not a
pleasant day to be outside! Having had to stay home with my kids,
who's schools were cancelled, I did at least manage to spend a
little time down in the basement attempting to organize it here
and there, including getting some old boxes-full of VW parts
gone-through and filed in a more logical, organized manner. Nice
surprise to find some decent, usable parts that you had long
forgotten you had! No "treasures" or anything like
that, but at least now it should be easier to find stuff, and to
know more about exactly what "stuff" I had! I hope that
perhaps some of you also who find yourself in a situation where
it's too cold to do anything outside can get a few indoor things
done of a VW nature, be it organize parts, or make a little bit
of progress on your project car, or whatever. At this time I also
wanted to take the time to hightlight a recent web site project
we've had a lot of fun working on, under the auspices of both
Common Gear and (our local, non-VW-specialized, hobby oriented) Shoreline
Antique Auto Connection. It features a
great story by our long-time old-VW friend Greg Mattesen, who is
also a Connecticut resident. Greg recently had the wonderful
experience of making contact with the original owner of his
beloved 1963 VW Beetle, and took the time to write about how it
came about, and what he was able to learn about the car's early
life. At the same time, it was fun for me to look through my old
photo files, and see what I could find for images of the '63 to
go along with the story--happily with some very good results.
What turned out was I think a nice presentation of Greg's story,
and some good photos--most of which Greg himself took over the
years. So, I invite you to please visit the page: "Greg
Mattesen's Interesting Story About Tracking Down The Original
Owner Of His 1963 VW Beetle", which is located at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/GregMattesen63VWHistory.html. Or you can also click on the image at the above right,
which is a cropped-down version of one of the photos on that
page. And, in another pleasant surprise, while going through some
previously-unnoticed other photo files, we came across a few
other interesting old photos of Greg's '63, and so we decided to
utilize one of our Photo Feature pages to showcase them, as well,
so please also be sure to visit Photo Feature Page 8 for a few
other cool shots. Thanks again Greg for sharing your most
interesting story! And to everyone: Merry Christmas, Happy New
Year, and STAY WARM!
*8/28/2004 Updates: This may be a record--we've actually
finished the first draft of our annual report on Time Machines
Antique Volkswagen participation! Not to pat ourselves on the
back too much, but usually it's somewhere around November or so
by the time we get our "stuff" together enough on the
traditionally 4th-Sunday-in-July antique auto event. The phrase
"first draft" is also appropriate to use, at least for
us, since we usually find our work to be "typo city"
once we've had the chance to re-read it slowly and carefully
(when typos like to make themselves apparent); we also often find
we've left out important stuff too, so we are also considering
the possibility of having to go back into "page
editing/updating mode" for that reason as well. But anyway,
we were so pleased to have such a wonderful turnout of beautiful
antique VWs, and friendly VW people, at the July 25th "Time
Machines" antique auto show & flea market in Durham, CT,
and we are very pleased to direct you to the link for the Time
Machines 2004 VW Feature Page, which is located at: http://members.aol.com/foxcraft/TM2004VWsReview.html (or you can click on the dash plaque
image at the upper right, which should also take you to the
page). Feel free to e-mail us if (when) you find typos, errors,
omissions, and we'll do our best to fix it ASAP. We also have
several of this year's official VW dash plaques left over, and
though they're not for sale, they are available for trade (for
other VW event dash plaques, perhaps?), and/or if you wanted to
make it to Time Machines but were unable for whatever reason,
please let us know, and we'll be glad to reserve one of
the left-overs for you! And finally, in other news, it's been a
long time coming this season for me, but I finally got my '68 Bug
on the road for 2004. It was no fault of the car's, but rather a
"fault" on my part, due to some other car issues going
on in our family, relating to storage and insurance, that made me
want to wait until now to get the old '68 activated. The
"official start" of the 2004 driving season for the old
Bug was this past Tuesday, the 24th of August, and I made sure to
document the day by taking my digital camera along, and trying to
get a decent shot of the car in one of my favorite spots...so if
you click HERE you can view "this year's version" (yes,
another new wheels & tires permutation, "for the fun of
it") of the '68 Bug, as it appeared parked by the Stony
Creek Village beach in the early evening, and a nice coincidence
for that New Beetle to be parked across the street at the time,
making for a more interesting photo composition. Anyway, no
mileage records this season--not even close--but glad to be
"air cooled daily driving" once again!
*8/6/2004 Updates: Please check out the Coming Events and Time Machines Highlights Page (http://members.aol.com/CommonGear/Calendar.html) for some brief updates about the very fine Antique Volkswagen turnout at "Time Machines 2004," July 25th, in Durham, CT. A co-worker found a really nice local newspaper story on the event, which included some notable Volkswagen content, and we've added it to that page for your information. And of course meanwhile we are working diligently on our own dedicated review page for this web site, so stay tuned for that as well! And in closing fr now, just a brief note of THANKS to all the VW people who turned out to support Time Machines 2004! Hope to see you all again in '05, when the 1980 VWs will be added to the ranks of "Officially Antique"!
*7/6/2004 Brief But Important Updates: "Time Machines 2004" is coming later THIS
MONTH! The date is Sunday, July 25th (as
always, the 4th Sunday of the month), and the location is Durham,
CT. And we are pleased to report that within the annual
"Time Machines" antique auto show &
flea market produced by the CT Area Classic Thunderbird Club,
there will once again be the Common Gear-sponsored "VW
Only" class in the car show, for all VWs, stock
& modified, up to & including model year 1979! THE
IMAGE AT THE RIGHT is a scan of one of the actual stickers that
we had made up this year to stick onto the Time Machines flyers
(I've left a bit of the actual orange flyer paper showing at the
edges here for that "authentic touch"--ha ha!) that
we've been furiously handing-out at various car events this
summer (and also thanks to the very gracious management of the
CVA Norwalk show and the "Litchfield Bug-In" show--both
in June--as "goodie bag stuffers"). We are extremely
pleased to report that the artwork on the stickers is a John
Jaranson original, featuring an early Squareback, and it is
also a bit of a "sneak preview" of the special dash
plaques that we also have had made up this year to hand out to
the VW class participants (some may know the talented Mr.
Jaranson is also involved with this year's "Type 3 Invasion,"
which is upcoming next month in Hershey, PA). So anyway, please
be sure to check out the Coming Events & Time Machines Highlights Page (or click directly on the sticker image) for more
details about "Time Machines 2004" Volkswagen
participation, and also click HERE to read
our report on the 2003 version. We hope to SEE YOU THERE!
*6/15/2004 Very Brief Updates: A number of very important days and anniversary dates
came together at the end of May, 2004, centering right around
Memorial Day (5/31/2004). Aside from the obvious solemn
remembrance of our country's brave soldiers who gave their all
for our & the world's freedom (the reason for Memorial Day in
the first place), the close-by dedication of the new WWII
memorial in Washington DC, the 60th anniversary of the amazing
D-Day allied invasion of Normandy (June 6th, I believe), and also
the very obvious ongoing War on Terror and the Iraq War, ALL
combined to make this a very special day to think of what our
country's soldiers, past and present, have sacrificed for all of
us. In our own home town of Branford, Connecticut, the Veterans
Parade Committee forwarded a gracious invitation once again for
antique autos to be an official part of the town's annual
Memorial Day Parade, and I am pleased to say that it was an honor
for myself and my family to drive antique Volkswagens in the
parade (our daughter and her friend rode in one of our cars, and
our son marched honorably with his Boy Scout troop, in the same
parade; our dogs also rode in our cars, adding to our
"family participation"), and also to help spread the
word among the local CT Shoreline-area antique auto community
about this opportunity (via the local antique auto hobby-oriented
web site I manage: Shoreline Antique Auto Connection, http://members.aol.com/SAACRegion/). Far be it from me to take away from the main reason,
the main focus of Memorial Day, however, I did want to report
that I have put together a page (for the Shoreline Antique Auto
Connection site) documenting the antique autos (including Antique
Volkswagens) that participated in the 2004 Branford
Memorial Day Parade (an image from the day of which is also
presented here at the upper right--featuring our family's 1970
Squareback and 1973 Super Beetle Convertible, decorated with
patriotic colors, as they appeared staged and ready for the start
of the parade--just off of Main Street Branford, parked along the
edge of Blackstone Avenue). To read the words and view more
pictures from this event, please visit: http://members.aol.com/cgearannex/BfdMemPrd04.html. Best to all and God Bless Our Country and Our
Soldiers!
*4/6/2004 Very Quick Update: As you may know, I also work on a "general interest" antique auto hobby web site (SAAC), dedicated to the Connecticut Shoreline-area scene, and wanted to pass along exciting news about a really fun event that my family and I are helping out with again this hear--here's the official blurb: Antique Automobiles are welcomed back to the Great Connecticut Jazz Festival, Sunday, August 1, 2004, at the Sunrise Resort in Moodus, CT! Please view the New ONLINE JazzFest Antique Auto Participation Flyer at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/JzzFstFlyer.html! (please note the old VWs in some of the photos...hint, hint...)
*3/8/2004 Updates: Hey, we had a fun time on vacation in Florida last month, and even got to hit a nice local car show for a brief time down there--running across a beautiful 1957 VW and meeting it's friendly owner--the car's for sale too--please visit Feature Photo Page 9 for some more info and several images of this beautiful oval window VW!...Next, I wanted to mention that the annual "Time Machines" Antique Auto Show in Durham, CT is a "go" for 2004, once again featuring the Common Gear-sponsored 'VW Only' class for *all Volkswagens,* stock & modified, this year up to & including model year 1979 vehicles. The date is Sunday July 25th, 2004, and more event info can be found at the CT Area Classic T-Bird Club web site: http://www.geocities.com/tbirdsofconn/index.html, and please also be sure to check back here for more VW-specific info closer to the event date--and also please be sure to check out the detailed review of TM2003 VW participation online at: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TM2003VWs.html...
*2/9/2004 Quickie Updates: Please check the "Heroes of Antique Volkswagen Award" page for more information about this year's award, and please note that nominations for the award are now being accepted. Please also see our "Electronic Swapmeet" page for some new listings...
*1/16/2004 Quickie Updates: Happy New Year, and welcome to "Official Antique Status" all those 1979 model year VWs!. Not too much to report at this time (mostly just trying to stay warm here in the CCCCOLD Northeast!), save for some exciting updates to one of our Type 3 Images pages, located at: http://members.aol.com/foxcraft/MoreT3Imgs.html - As of today we have some words & images on our long-time local VW buddy Jim Mayo's very cool new CT-based '71 Squareback posted there! Thanks again Jim for your so graciously allowing us to feature your words and images, and have fun with that very slick Square this year! There's also an interesting new item on the Electronic Swapmeet page, so please be sure to check that out as well. Best regards to all and talk to you again soon!
*11/13/2003 Updates: What's
this?! We finally found the time to put together a proper
report on antique VW participation at this past summer's big
"Time Machines 2003" antique auto event, Sunday
July 27th, in Durham, Connecticut! The page address is: http://members.aol.com/cgextras/TM2003VWs.html I'm sure sorry it's taken us this long to get
this page together, but we didn't want to slap together something
"half baked," but rather wanted to take the time to
include a good selection of photos, and plenty of detailed
commentary. After all, this is the Common Gear Antique Volkswagen
Society "signature" car event, and if we feature
nothing else at this web site, we need to feature the Antique VW
@ Time Machines review! So, please either click on the page
address shown, or click on the dash plaque image at the
right--yes, we figured the Type II shouldn't have to wait any
longer for it's "day in the sun," being featured on one
of our plaques (and yes, we haven't forgotten the Type
3--"as we speak" we are working on a Type 3-related
dash plaque for TM2004!!!). Thanks to everyone who participated
with their old VW in the Time Machines event this year, and also
those enthusiastic spectators who came by to check the cars out
and socialize with fellow old-VW enthusiasts. We had a great time
and hope we can do it again in 2004!
ANIMAL HAVEN BENEFIT COFFEE MUGS PROGRAM *A BIG SUCCESS* ONCE AGAIN FOR "Y2K"! This year's Animal Haven coffee mugs progam was a joint production of Common Gear Antique Volkswagen Society and Shoreline Antique Auto Connection. Click on the mugs picture below to read the wonderful letter of acknowledgement, just-received from Animal Haven's Vice President Liz Friedman, which has just been added to the overall page dedicated to our Animal Haven benefit mugs program. (Updated 1/14/2001)
"Keep It 100% Antique VW!"
Table of Contents for this
site (click on links
to bring you directly there):
PHOTOS
(& Photo Essays Index) (a ton
of photo & word features, indexed & cross-referenced -
last updated 1/17, 1/24,
1/31, 3/20, 10/29, 11/2, 12/11, 12/27, 12/31/2005, 1/9, 1/29,
6/12, 10/18/2006, 1/12, 2/4, 3/18, 4/9, 9/10, 11/28/2007)
EVENTS &
ANNUAL "TIME MACHINES" VW PARTICIPATION INFO (last updated
5/19/2007)
ELECTRONIC
SWAPMEET (our classified ads page -
last updated 1/20, 2/14,
3/26, 4/3, 6/12, 7/15, 7/24, 8/8, 8/25, 10/18, 12/28/2006, 2/4,
4/4, 5/19, 6/10, 6/20, 7/19, 8/6, 11/28/2007, 1/12, 2/21/2008; sorry, this page is only OCCASIONALLY
being being updated at this time, due to other life priorities)
LINKS
(some of our favorites) (last updated
1/12/2007)
MESSAGE
BOARD (post your old VW-related
questions, answers, comments, ideas, suggestions, what-have-you-;
we have gone to an ALL NEW board provider as of 10/17/2001; apologies YET AGAIN
to all for this inconvenience--including for the most annoying
pop-up ads that come along with this new board; we're
continuing to learn that most of the free message board
services out there seem to be worth about as much as we pay
for them!)
The
NEW Common Gear Discussion Group (latest change(s)/addition(s) 5/25/2003 with a new
image added to the Discussion Group Photos Page Part 3, from the recent Michigan Vintage
Volkswagen Club event earlier this
month; another recent update of note is a link to
the useful new "Burtonwood.com Discussion
Forums"; other
recent updates include a new-for 2002/2003 C/G Discussion Group
Photos Page Part 3; 2001 season photos appear on C/G Discussion Group Photos Page Part 2
; and don't
miss the original Group Photos Page with
images from the year 2000)
C/G's
"Heroes of Antique Volkswagening" Program (last updated 5/19/2007)
The
Nutmeg State VW Club Historical Initiative (Our attempt to document the history of first VW
enthusiast organization in the state of Connecticut, last updated
5/19/2004)
Non-internet-type
"links" we like & want you to know about (last updated 10/29/98)
C/G
Overview and Significant Developments (last
updated 6/13/99)
About
The Name "Common Gear" (slightly revised
as of 2/3/99)
What
is an Antique Volkswagen? (NEW as of
7/22/98)
What's
My Antique Volkswagen Worth? (Our
attempt to answer one of our most frequently fielded questions,
last updated 8/19/2001,
with some good advice from an antique auto appraiser who's also
an antique VW enthusiast)
OUR
ANIMAL APPRECIATION PAGE (Animals do
a lot to enrich our lives, and ask little in return; this page
highlights some of our favorite animal organizations and related
causes; last updated 11/10,
12/28, 6/6/2006)
Fine Print, Important Disclaimer, Etc.
(last updated 2/1/99)
The Common Gear Guestbook (New as of 5/10/99. Thanks to Lycos/GuestWorld for this service!)
Sign
Our Guestbook
View
Our Guestbook
We also now have an Even Newer Message Board
going--feel free to use it as a forum for any
Antique-VW-related issue (ALL NEW as of 10/17/2001)
Fine Print,
Important Disclaimer, Etc.
© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Common
Gear/House of Buggin'
P.O. Box 3353 - Stony Creek - CT - 06405 - USA
Common Gear/House of Buggin' are 100% independent and in no way connected with Volkswagen AG or Volkswagen of America or any other business or organization. "Common Gear" is a registered trade name in the state of CT, although as of February 1, 1999, there is no longer any money collected for newsletter subscriptions (and in fact, there is no longer any Common Gear newsletter, period), and Common Gear has returned to being a strictly HOBBY operation. The "Common Gear Antique Volkswagen Society" is a not-for-profit, informal, hobby-based project intended to promote Antique Volkswagen Fellowship and the positive development of the Antique Volkswagen Hobby. Though no longer an official affiliate, the Common Gear Antique Volkswagen Society supports the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America, and encourages VVWCA membership for anyone with an interest in old Volkswagens and VW history (contact: VVWCA President Peter Cook, e-mail: Bsvwoc@aol.com, 99 Pine Lane, Westwood MA 02090-1220, 781-326-7584).
Thank you for visiting
COMMON.GEAR.
We Welcome Your Feedback!
Guest Book | Message Board | E-mail: CommonGear@aol.com
And when he's not working on this
site, your Webmaster's cranking away on his other web site
project dedicated to the local Connecticut Shoreline-area antique
auto hobby scene--please drop by the "Shoreline Antique Auto
Connection" some time: http://members.aol.com/SAACRegion/
(Back to Table of Contents)
My 2002 New Year's Resolution: NO MORE HIT COUNTER - I've given myself too much "agita" over the various malfunctions (both Webmaster-induced and otherwise) of the darned hit counter over the years since we've been using one. When it comes right down to it, I am at peace with what I'm able to present here & at the Shoreline Antique Auto Connection, and if people come to visit, great, and if not, that's fine too (goodness knows, I've not been providing an overabundance of new material the past 6 months or year or so here, anyway). Things like September 11th, and more recently, the loss of our long-time faithful canine companion Megan, have taught me that some things are more important than others, and not to waste too much time an energy on the unimportant ones. And with that, I'll thank you, dear visitor, for visiting the Common Gear web site today, and I hope you'll consider visiting again in the future.
