COSTA MESA : Old Beetles That Didn’t Fade Away

Bugs and beetles were crawling all over the Orange County Fairgrounds on Sunday.

But hold the exterminator--these critters were on wheels, gathered for the seventh annual Volkswagen Jamboree, a car show and swap meet filled with nostalgia for automobiles that have not been sold new in the United States for more than a decade.

Hoods were up and doors open to display rebuilt engines, jazzy interiors and sparkling paint jobs on vehicles with nicknames such as the Pink Panther and Rick’s 66. Meanwhile, manufacturers sat in a shed with heaps of new and used parts, everything from spark plugs to side windows to back seats.

About 500 cars competed for trophies up to seven feet tall and cash prizes up to $500 in 26 categories. Hundreds more cars were on sale, and dozens more--a little less shiny--dotted the parking lot outside the festival gate.

The oldest car around was a German army jalopy, built in 1942. Volkswagen began commercial production in 1949, and a bright-orange, split-window 1952 model was on hand to showcase the early years.

With its top chopped and a spray-painted umbrella sticking out from where the antenna might go, Tim DeYoung’s 1968 bug attracted a lot of attention. The turquoise body is covered with artful graffiti in purple, pink, red and yellow. Inside, furry cow-pattern seat covers sit behind a fluorescent green steering wheel. Under the hood, fluorescent tubes surround a purple-painted engine.

“This is California, you know, this is America,” said DeYoung, whose bug has “USA--United Street Artists” emblazoned on the right side.

“Everyone has the right to do what they want to their car.”

For Kenny Pfitzer of Fountain Valley, the car show represents the American dream. Pfitzer, 19, built his shiny, light-blue and white 1960 deluxe bus “from the biggest piece of junk you’ve ever seen” during the three years since he learned to drive and now says lovingly, “This is my dream right here.”

Judges were looking for originality and attention to detail, not outrageousness or showmanship, as they perused the entries. Rebuilt engines and interiors must have coherent color and style, they said, adding that prizes were reserved for perfection.

“This definitely is an ego thing,” said Adam Renteria, one of the six judges at the jamboree. “You’re part of your vehicle. Your vehicle is reflecting on you.”

The Pink Panther--with pink felt feet, cans of oil, gas, air and “panther juice” under the pink hood and a huge stuffed animal with a silver VW medallion hanging from its neck perched on the pink corduroy back seat--did not win the judges’ favor. Instead they rewarded Rick’s 66, an understated teal and white bug parked next to the Panther, with first prize in the Driven Daily category, for the second year running.

On sale, but not in the competition, was one car that was driven daily for decades. After 33 years of ownership, Charles and Virginia Culwell were ready to part with their beige 1955 bug, if someone would offer $12,500 in return.

Recalling that her four grown sons had learned to drive in the bug, Virginia Culwell, 65, was nostalgic about the car, which retains its original engine, radio and semaphores--tiny turn signals that pop up from the side of the car.

“Now it’s just kind of a baby, a special toy,” she said of the car that had followed her family from Virginia to Georgia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California. “We’re very fond of it, but it’s time to move on.”