Get in, everyone! Let’s take a trip to the colorful, magical, All Air-Cooled Gathering on the beautiful grounds of the Swim and Sport Club in Flanders NJ.
The weather was perfect for spending a day in the park with this well-loved, long-lived, super colorful collection of vintage air-cooled vehicles.
What do you mean, air-cooled?
Car engines generate heat; the cooling system aims to keep an engine at just the right temperature for optimal performance. Today’s cars are almost exclusively liquid-cooled;
A liquid-cooled system includes a radiator and a fan, and a thermostat and valve that prompt the water pump to circulate coolant through the engine. (https://www.cars.com/auto-repair/glossary/engine-cooling-system/).
Due to their simplicity and ease-of-maintenance, air-cooled engines were once very popular. They were more reliable, with far fewer parts that could fail.
This car show is specifically for air-cooled cars; there were a few American air-cooled cars being shown, but they were sorely outnumbered by Volkswagens. These cars were ideal for reliable performance and easy maintenance and repairs that even a novice could do. As such, these iconic cars became cheap, versatile freedom machines for people all over the world.
The Beetle
The first Volkswagen Beetle was made in 1938; the last Beetle was made in Mexico in 2003. In those 65 years, more than 21 million Beetles were built and sold, and many are still rolling down the road today. There were some pristine examples on display, such as the one above. Perhaps even more charming are the ones showing their age and experience.
I loved to see the custom Beetles! There were several modified for rugged terrain.
The Scooby Doo Gang never looked cooler than when they were riding around in their Dune Buggy. There were a few of those, too:
Beetles are the traditional taxi-cab in Mexico. This one was awesome:
Kharmann-Ghia
The sporty contemporary of the Beetle is the Karmann-Ghia, designed by Italian coach-builder Carrozzeria Ghia in the 1950s. Often dubbed the “poor man’s Porsche”, the Karmann Ghia was based on the Volkswagen Beetle, but it had a distinctive body design that set it apart from its more utilitarian counterpart.
This is a beautiful car, and there were some gorgeous examples of it on display in Flanders.
VW Bus
An incredible variety of busses turned out – the yellow one above was incredible and perfect. It makes you think of who of your favorite people you’d put in the seats for a fun road trip. Check out the windshield windows:
This one is ready for a self-contained, fuel efficient camping adventure:
This van was intended to be a work truck; tradesmen in Germany don’t drive pickup trucks, they drive VW vans! Look at the handy tool boxes on the side:
Here’s a newer van/pick up type vehicle:
VW Thing
This strange looking car was the German Army’s Jeep, and later marketed as a utility vehicle.
Porsches
Porsches kept their air cooled engines until 1998, when Germany decided that they were too loud. The Porsches at this show were incredible – some were nostalgic of 80s movies and the yuppy status symbols they showed, others were classic beauties from well before my time.
This was my favorite car of the whole show. A 1966 Porsche Speedster. I’d love to drive it.
Lots to see and do at this event – I can’t wait to come back next year!