OVWEC Newsletter September 2009

OTAGO VOLKSWAGEN ENTHUSIASTS CLUB
OTAGO VOLKSWAGEN
ENTHUSIASTS CLUB
NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2009
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FAREWELL FROM THE PRESIDENT
The past two years have been very exciting for the club with new members and ex-members
joining, a new club event at Tautuku, second prize at the Auto Spectacular and happy,
friendly gatherings at the Christmas picnic and ‘The Garage’ at Daphne and Grant’s. We’ve
seen an excellent website setup and new fliers to seduce new members to the club. We’ve
had some great runs and fantastic weather to keep us all in good spirits.
All in all it’s been a great two years and I’ve enjoyed being club president but now feel it’s
time to move on and hand the reins to new blood. So “Good Luck” to my successor and
here’s looking forward to more fun times, antics and great VeeDubbin’.
The Secretary and Treasurer intend to stay on if they’re invited to and I’m sure they’ll make a
sterling contribution as usual!
In the coming year we have fireworks at Barry Day’s as organised by Grant, a grasskana at
Barry’s, a trip to Edmond Hilary’s Centre at Mount Cook, a great road trip to Nelson for the
Nationals at Easter and looking further ahead we have our own hosting of the Nationals in
Dunedin in 2012 which is going to come round faster than Marty van Elst after an invitation
to a cup of tea and a biscuit!!
AND, you never know but Jim might have his engine in Lil’ Lil in time for the Nelson trip. I
hope so ‘cos sometimes I forget what he looks like, he spends so much time under her with
his bum in the air!!! AND, Chris may have got his steering wheel on straight by then!! AND,
Ken might have his Beetle ‘all shook up’ and ready to ‘Rock-A-Hula Baby’ but who knows,
one can only live in hope…. ☺
If you have any suggestions for the direction of the club or any outings ideas please contact
Jim, Chris, Ken or the next president, whoever that may be…
Auf Wiedersehen!
Elaine
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FORTHCOMING VW NATIONALS
A couple of points worth mentioning about forthcoming VW Nationals :
• 2010 Nationals in Nelson – a number of you have already booked your

accommodation at the Tahuna Beach Holiday Park (which is now fully booked, by the
way) and are making plans to travel up to Nelson in time for the Friday night check-in.
Although we have no plans for a Club convoy “en masse”, it might be a good idea to
share your individual itineraries and routes, both there and back, in case some of us
may wish to hook up en route (it might also help to know who else is around at any
given point in case of breakdowns or emergencies). To this end, would you please let
me have your anticipated travel plans, stopover locations and mobile phone numbers
so I can co-ordinate them and distribute them to other members? Obviously if you
don’t wish to share this information that’s entirely up to you. Thanks.
• 2012 Nationals in Dunedin – we have formed a co-ordination sub-committee for this

prestigious event, and are looking into ideas for activities, accommodation, etc. If you
want to join the committee, or have any ideas you might think are worth sharing,
would you please let me know. First on the agenda is fund-raising options, so I’ll be
forwarding details of the first sub-committee meeting shortly.
Jim Young
OVWEC Secretary
THE SMALL PRINT

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Club Officials :
Patron Ken Berry

President Elaine Young
Secretary/Editor Jim Young
Treasurer Chris Timms
Address PO Box 7101 Mornington, Dunedin The Otago Volkswagen Enthusiasts

Email contact@vwotago.co.nz Club Inc meet on the first
Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm at
Website www.vwotago.co.nz Robbie’s Bar & Bistro, South Dunedin
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As officials of the Club our first duty is to the members and that means organising things that you want to do,
and being a focus for any requests, queries or suggestions you might have.
If there are any activities or events that you would like to suggest, items for the newsletter you might have, or if
you cannot attend the monthly meetings, please contact Jim Young directly as follows :
Telephone 03 455 8729

Post PO Box 7101, Mornington, Dunedin
Email j.young@rawlinsons.co.nz
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NEW MEMBERS
Johnny Fung joins us after a couple of other members tracked him down via the
www.nzveedubnuts.com forum, having seen his oval window Beetle “VINTAJ” around town.
We managed to persuade Johnny to add his car to our Autospectacular display on July 4th,
which he happily did despite a few engine gremlins. Many thanks to Johnny for helping to
make it two Ovals on display that day. Here’s his car from the show :
Also joining us at around the same time is Wayne Hillary and his 2003 New Beetle. Wayne is
an old member from years ago, and came with us to the track day we held at Teretonga last
year to test out his Nissan* powered single seater race car. We don’t hold that against him
as it was a pretty entertaining site seeing him thrash his car up and down the track. In any
case, long-time member Grant Patrick took along his Nissan* powered Mk I Ford* Cortina*
to the same event, so we’d have to throw both of them out of the Club on that basis…
Wayne in the hot seat →
* the editor of OVWEC Newsletter accepts no responsibility for any injury or loss, either physical or
psychological, suffered by members due to references to non-VW automobile brands within this publication.
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IMPROMPTU JUNE CRUISE Words and pic by Jim Young
To celebrate my own car, Lil’ Lil, being back on the road following some fairly dramatic front
suspension surgery, a surprisingly healthy turn-out of Beetles enjoyed a short Sunday
afternoon back-road jaunt to Outram. Many thanks to John Noble for being convoy
pathfinder for us, and for kindly signing us all into the Mosgiel RSA for a pint afterwards -
much appreciated, but obviously not by the two Beetles that failed to re-start afterwards,
one of which was my own…
HYDE TRIP Pics by Marty van Elst and John & Diane Noble
Organised by Grant Patrick we enjoyed a wonderfully sunny winter’s day for a road trip up
to Hyde, where we enjoyed afternoon tea in the beautifully appointed Hyde Hotel lounge.
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HYDE TRIP (Cont’d)
More photos at. www.vwotago.co.nz
GERMAN CLASSIC CAR SHOW
Club member John Noble forwarded on these photos taken at Castle Dyck car festival,
Duesseldorf, on the 1st August 2009, sent to him by a fellow Ford* Mustang* owner and
member of the German Mustang* club.
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READERS’ RIDES
I’ll kick this one off again, with details of progress on my 1964 Beetle. Now the front
suspension is sorted it’s time to replace the old and asthmatic 1200 engine with the new
1776cc twin Dellorto’d motor I’ve built for it. But before that happens I wanted to swap the
1200 gear box for a taller-ratio’d 1500 ‘box. This was pretty straightforward, and I’d like to
thank Bruce Adams for giving up a Saturday morning to help me whip out the old engine
and ‘box. Much appreciated!
Putting the new gearbox back in was pretty easy, but then I discovered that the longer 1500
axles were in fact way too long and would have made the rear tyres stick right out, so after
seeking expert advice from Ken Berry I swapped out the 1500 axles for the old short 1200
ones, and now I’m in the middle of up-grading to the one-third-wider 1500 brakes which
will give me more stopping power yet, now, still keep the tyres under the ‘guards where they
belong. A huge thanks to Ken for help, advice, and letting me have the 1500 brake parts.
← Old gearbox out…
…new ‘box in ↑
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Chris Timms has recently scored himself a beautiful Nardi Classic woodrim steering wheel
from a well known internet based auction house, which must fall into the category of “Best
Bargains of the 21st Century”. How this one managed to slip through for such silly money is
a mystery, but needless to say Chris was there to catch it when it did. As you may or may not
know, the Nardi Classic woodrim is a favourite among style-conscious air-cooled VW fans
the world over. Let’s just hope that one day Chris will manage to fit it up straight – he’s on
his third attempt now and it’s still on wonky….
Chris’ tasty new Nardi – I’m guessing the front wheels are pointing to the left for this shot
I recently received these anonymous photos of a freshly repainted 1303 Beetle undergoing a
full-on rebuild, allegedly taken somewhere in Dunedin and dated July 2002. Does anyone
out there know what happened to this car or where it is now?
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Where oh where has Ernie gone? Words and pics by Rory O’Brien
Some of you may have missed the Blue

Streak at club events recently and perhaps even
wondered where on earth he’d got to... Well, Ern’
had for some time been suffering from some nasty
and embarrassing rust-rash, particularly around the
bum end, and having given it some time to see if it
would go away on its own (it didn’t), we eventually
concluded that maybe it was time to administer
some vital VWTLC (and, contrary to what your
mother may have told you, in fact it won’t get better
if you don’t keep picking at it...).
So for the past few months, Ern’ has been slowly been poked away at to find the bad
bits and replace them with good. Some areas actually weren’t as bad as we expected; other
areas were more of a surprise. Those areas where Beetles usually tend to have (expensive)
problems were quite sound whereas areas where they’re normally pretty good were actually
quite nasty; bloody typical. Most obvious problems were around the rear guards as well as
the usual suspect areas at the bottom of the windscreen and back window. The rear valance
also presented some problems and needed replacing. We stripped the body of everthing that
wasn’t welded down, taking the opportunity to
tidy up the floorpan in the process which was
showing the effect of the leaky windscreen
(...and if I never hear the word underseal again,
it’ll be too damn soon. – R.). After that, Ern’ was
trundled off down the road to Harrow Motor Body
Works (Cheers Don...) and entrusted into the
very skilled hands of Deane (who wields an
angle grinder like a scalpel blade and has a
wholly excellent bedside manner, particularly
when it comes to reassuring worried parents...).
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Rustybits around the guards, bottom of the windscreen and front, right quarter have
been deftly excised and replaced with donor metal. A replacement, donor valance has been
grafted in and the front right quarter pulled back out by some 15mm to correct for some
historical run in with something which proved to be even more solid than a Volkswagen. All
four guards were problematic to some extent, especially around the bolt holes and headlight
buckets, and the replacement of three of them presented one of the biggest obstacles; the
growing pile of rejected guards on the floor at Harrows did become a bit of a worry at one
stage (many thanks to Bruce Adams for coming up with the elusive, useable front right guard
to finally complete the set). Under the paint, the bottom of the engine lid was also exhibiting a
history of shonky repairs which has now also been put right (the ∼57 ‘W’ lid is of course not
original to the car and we have no idea how it ever came to be on there but it will be staying;
but thanks anyway to those who have very kindly offered to exchange it for a more ‘correct’
lid ;-). Thankfully, no more nasty surprises were lurking underneath the body paint and overall
Ernie seems to be in pretty good shape, for an old fellah.
So, all in all, old Ern’ has really been in the wars lately. Stay tuned for future
developments on Project Fuchenbröken, the fun part is only just beginning... With thanks, as
always, to Mr Berry, Mr Higgins, Mr Haynes and Mr Bentley.
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NEW STANDARD BARBECUE RULES
As the open season on barbecues is almost upon us, please note the following rules, kindly
sent in by John Noble :
New Standard Operating Procedures released today - please learn BBQ RULES. We are
about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the
etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ
the following chain of events are put into motion :
1) The woman buys the food.
2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary
cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill -
beer in hand.
4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the
exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without
the interference of the woman.
Here comes the important part:
5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.
6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery.
7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her
and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat
Important again:
8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.
9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings
them to the table.
10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
And most important of all:
11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off, and, upon seeing her
annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women.
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2009 DUNEDIN AUTOSPECTACULAR Words and pics by Jim Young
An extra special invite from the organisers to put on a display four times bigger than usual
in celebration of 70 years of Volkswagen meant all hands on deck to get as many and as
varied a collection of cars together as possible. I won’t list all the cars or all the helpers who
made this show such an impressive sight, but I will thank a few key players :
Bruce and Richelle Adams for the flags and poles, Bruce Adams for the lighting roundel, the
running around collecting, towing and general organising of the whole display, Donald
Stewart for bringing his Type 181 Thing up from Milton, Don Woodward for two cars, Marty
van Elst for two cars, Shane and Erana Plusa for their two cars, Johnny Fung for his last-
minute Oval, Adam Harvey for both his Kombis and for his hard work in towel drying most
of the cars on arrival, Mark Stevens for both his cars, Paul and Cathy Andresen for their two
cars, Dean Driver for two cars, Foley Plumbers for their vehicles, Southern Motor Court for
the loan of the new Scirocco, Grant Patrick for the roundel stand and for organising and
collecting various cars and general hard work, and Clare Madden for artistic direction.
Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves :
Many more photos on the website

www.vwotago.co.nz/photos
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2009 AGM and Prizegiving

Tuesday 06 October 7.30pm
Robbie’s Bar and Bistro, 67 MacAndrew Road, Dunedin
Dining beforehand from 6.00pm
A glittering star studded gala event featuring all your favourite OVWEC celebrities!
Come and have your say, nominate and vote for new club officials, eat food, drink beer!
We are currently accepting nominations for club President. Nominations so far :

Grant Patrick
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GOTCHA!
Here’s a picture of Club member and keen air-cooled fan Clare Madden taken during the
setting up of the Autospectacular display, dutifully placing a drip-card under the engine of a
late model VW Transporter. Has anybody told her yet…?
Here’s another picture, this time of our own Marty van Elst, taken at a wedding for which he
supplied one of three Beetle wedding cars. It had obviously been a gruelling day for him
and he must have been feeling a bit peckish, as here he is, thinking that everyone’s back is
turned, tucking into the contents of one of the picnic baskets presented to the bridesmaids
as presents. That poor girl looks so embarrassed…
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BEETLE WINS LOCAL RALLY
John and Diane Noble, as well as being OVWEC members, are also members of the Otago
branch of the Vintage Car Club, and I was pleased to hear from them that on 16 August they
won the Club’s Post 1960 Rally in their 1966 Beetle “Nobes”. It’s good to see someone
taking the fight to those “other” cars!
OLD NEWS?
Club member Bruce Adams sent in this newspaper clipping from the Dunedin Evening Star,
dated 21 August 1964. The number of VWs being assembled in New Zealand back in those
days was obviously having a big influence! Thanks to Bruce for preserving this from a very
early age…
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A beetle being assembled at VW Motors in Otahuhu 1962

Photo courtesy Tudehope studios, from "50 years of Volkswagens in NZ" by Philip Coyle
VOLKSWAGEN NEWS
Volkswagen May Add Two Brands After Porsche, Chairman Says
By Chris Reiter and Andreas Cremer
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, may add two more brands
after acquiring Porsche SE’s sports-car business, according to Supervisory Board Chairman
Ferdinand Piech.
Volkswagen may expand its collection of marques, which include Audi, Skoda and Seat, to as
many as a dozen, Piech said last night at a VW event at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Wolfsburg,
Germany-based VW is taking over the 911 sports- car manufacturer, making Porsche its 10th
brand.
“It’s all in discussion,” Piech said, when asked about the prospect of VW adding more brands.
“Twelve is easier to remember than 10.”
Volkswagen is turning around to acquire Porsche’s sports-car business after Porsche’s holding
company, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families, failed to take over VW.
Volkswagen’s purchase of a 42 percent in Porsche AG as a first step of the combination is due to
be completed by the end of the year.
Volkswagen, which already owns truckmaker Scania AB, also holds a 30 percent stake in German
truckmaker MAN AG. Piech declined to identify possible targets.
Hans Dieter Poetsch, Volkswagen’s CFO, played down the possibility of a rapid expansion to 12
brands. Speaking at the same event, he said Volkswagen needed to first complete the
acquisition of Porsche, which is “demanding.”
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SOMETHING FOR THE KIDS
Vintage VWs to colour in!! This time a Karmann Ghia cabriolet :
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BLAST OFF! - VW DRAG RACING
Ever wondered why so many people the world over have dreamed of turning their humble,
underpowered VeeDub Beetles into giant-slayers of the drag race strip? Apart from the
obvious pleasure in seeing the underdog win, together with the much admired tortoise-
beats-hare story, what is it that makes people want to believe that these cars can somehow,
against all odds, take on and beat what are often much faster and more powerful cars? Is it
that we all want to believe that our VeeDubs really are blessed with a Herbie-like tenacity
and a will to win out in the face of adversity? Or is there really some fundamental quality
which gives the Beetle a genuine advantage when staring down the length of a quarter mile
drag strip?
Well, the answer is, yes, there is, and it’s a matter of simple physics. A Beetle can potentially
get off the line quicker than almost any other type of car because all its weight goes to
exactly where it’s needed – over the driven wheels! Of course, it does take a little bit more
horsepower than standard to be able to take full advantage of this….
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VW ODDITIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
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VINTAGE VW ADVERTISING
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OVWEC Newsletter September 2009

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OTAGO VOLKSWAGEN ENTHUSIASTS CLUB

A couple of points worth mentioning about forthcoming VW Nationals :

• 2010 Nationals in Nelson – a number of you have already booked your

• 2012 Nationals in Dunedin – we have formed a co-ordination sub-committee for this

THE SMALL PRINT

Patron Ken Berry

Address PO Box 7101 Mornington, Dunedin The Otago Volkswagen Enthusiasts

Telephone 03 455 8729

Wayne in the hot seat →

More photos at. www.vwotago.co.nz

GERMAN CLASSIC CAR SHOW

← Old gearbox out…

Some of you may have missed the Blue

1) The woman buys the food.

5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery.

And most important of all:

Many more photos on the website

2009 AGM and Prizegiving

We are currently accepting nominations for club President. Nominations so far :

A beetle being assembled at VW Motors in Otahuhu 1962

By Chris Reiter and Andreas Cremer

Vintage VWs to colour in!! This time a Karmann Ghia cabriolet :

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