A popular and stylish Beetle infestation
BOB SOWERSBY has owned roughly three dozen cars in his life. A couple of Porsche 356s, a couple of Corvettes, even a 1982 De Lorean DMC-12 complete with gull-wing doors. But his first love, his true love, is much more prosaic: the Volkswagen.
Modest yet distinctive with a decidedly cheerful look, “the people’s car” -- developed in Nazi Germany and pitched in post-World War II America as a practical, economical people-mover -- has an auto fetish community all its own. For Sowersby, a 60-year-old Irvine middle school teacher, the mania started innocently . In 1985, he purchased a pink-and-white 1965 VW bus. After restoring it to stock condition, he bought another VW. Then another. And another.
These days, the undisputed star of Sowersby’s stable is a breathtaking 1953 Atlantic green deluxe oval window Beetle with a roof rack, whitewall bias ply tires and a snazzy spare tire tool kit. It routinely beats Bentleys and Rolls-Royces in concourse class judging at vintage car shows. Sowersby’s meticulous attention to detail -- every accessory on the car, down to the smallest gewgaw, is specific to a 1953 Beetle -- defines the phrase “labor of love.”
“It’s probably the best oval-window Bug in the world,” says Richard Kimball, organizer of Bug-In 33, a VW-specific drag race, car show and swap meet. The original Bug-Ins, held from 1963 to 1988 and revived in 2005, met with huge success. This year’s show includes a special exhibit of the Type 181, a jeep-like model that was popular as a Mexican taxi from 1970 to 1975; a display of Meyers Manx dune buggies, fiberglass off-road VWs invented by Bruce Meyers in the 1960s; the Bug-In Flashback, a display of race and show cars from the original Bug-Ins; and, for the kids, a bounce house shaped like a VW bus.
The obsession runs deep, although no one actually knows what transforms a typical auto fancier into a Volkswagen obsessive. Kimball can only say, “Once you become a VW guy, you’re a VW guy for life.”
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-- Elina.Shatkin@latimes.com
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BUG-IN 33
WHERE: California Speedway, 9300 Cherry Ave., Fontana
WHEN: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
PRICE: $20; children 12 and younger, free
INFO: (714) 544-1759
