CLUNKBUCKET

Everything but the same old cars

Bug-In is Volkswagen History in Motion

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bug-in-lead-burnoutThe question when talking about the Bug-In is an easy one. Who doesn’t like wheelstanding turbocharged Volkswagen Beetles that run 11-second quarter miles at over 100 miles per hour? Anyone? While there is obviously a large amount of Volkswagen and America that that became synonymous with an unfortunate granola munching Hippie shtick in the ’60s, an intrepid few eschewed the slow for the quick, and modified their ass-engined economy cars for maximum velocity  and performance down the 1320 feet of the drag strip. The last thing any of the German designers of the people’s car had in mind were people hanging up the front hoops in first and second gear, then laying down rubber from the slicks over about a half mile in the quarter. Throw in a car show and a swap meet, and you pretty much have a perfect day for Volkswagens at the California Speedway. This was the Bug-In: 35th Edition.

bug-in-18
The Bug-In started in 1968, stopped in the early 80’s, returned in 2005, and has happened more or less once-a-year since. Orange County International Raceway was the home to the original Bug-Ins, but with the closing of the track in 1983 so went the event. Along with some hectic and heroic racing action, the Bug-In 35 at the California Speedway in Fontana featured a car show and tons of ultra-cool stuff at the swap meet. It’s always great to see these rear-engine Volkswagens squirreling down the dragstrip at maximum speed, instead of stinky Haight street hippies hanging out of a hemp-tempura painted vans bumming change in the Panhandle. If Volkswagen Beetles were cool enough for Catskills crackup Buddy Hackett to spin wrenches as Tennessee Steinmetz in The Love Bug, they are more than hip enough for everyone. Forever. Even you. ‘Nuff said.

More: Bug-In History and Upcoming Volkswagen Events

Bug-In 35 Super Bonus Gallery

Comments

  1. acarr260 says

    Very cool meet. This makes me wish I was in Cali… like most other cool VW posts. Nicely documented, Mike.

  2. Brian Driggs says

    That’s a solid meet, Bumbeck. Looks like a good time for sure.

    Isn’t there a part of every red-blooded gearhead in the world that wants – however secretly – to build his own Bug? I know I do. Will it ever happen? Doubtful, but it sure looks like fun.

    There’s an old yellow bug sitting in a field a couple blocks from my house. The grass around it is tall enough to suggest it hasn’t moved in well over two years (which is about as long as I’ve lived in the area and seen it. Every time I pass by, I want to adopt that thing…

    What the hell is wrong with me?

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