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Club Kombi -
Installment 10 (2007) - Official Launch
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The
completion of the sign writing marked the end of the real work on the
van. A number of tidy up jobs were completed by Rob, while the van was
back at his place.
Over the last couple of years the Committee had spent plenty of time
trying to work out the best forum to publicly launch the Club
Kombi. Eventually
they settled on a "Nostalgia Day", to be held at the Austrian Club. The
event would include a display of some historic cars, plus the official
unveiling of the completed Kombi. To help make the celebrations
memorable, the Committee agreed to covering the cost of a BBQ lunch and
drinks for those in attendance.
In the end over 80 adults and around 15 kids attended the day. After a
brief welcome it was down to a bit of socialising and a few drinks.
Plenty of the discussions for the day centred on the cars present and
various people's recollections of them. After lunch, the owners of the
cars were given a chance to talk about the cars and their own VW
journey.
Ken Virgin Drag Beetle
After years of effort to progressively improve the drag strip times of
his Beetle, Ken Virgin became one of the first racers who officials
tried to have banned for having an unfair advantage. Although having a
tiny motor by comparison to its rivals, the Beetle, with its engine
over the rear wheels, was said to have an unfair advantage over the
front engine, rear wheeled cars.
After passing out of Ken's hand, the beetle has gone through a couple
of owners before ending up in the hands of its current owners - who are
committed to keeping it as a piece of racing history. One that all VW
lovers can be proud of.
Googoomobile
Since the release of the Telstra "GooGoo" ad, the name Googoomobile is
instantly recognisable to a whole new generation. Both the car from the
ad and the actor who mouthed those memorable lines have been taken up
by Shannons as part of their promotions - once again to very good
effect.
Years before these ads, a tiny Googoomobile was making its presence
felt in the competition field.
In its present guise, the car is fitted with a supercharged VW engine,
giving it an unbelievable power to weight ratio: after all its little
more than a lightweight fibreglass shell on a flat floor pan.
Herbie - Kruger Motors
Herbie was built by Kruger Motors for use in dirt
track racing. The car has even been pitched against vehicles driven by
Peter Brock. The car has been extensively lightened to improve its
performance. The car has been fitted with a set of dual rear wheels -
an experiment which sounded promising but never really worked. It seems
the extra rubber on the ground didn't really provide any benefit, the
best results always being aobtained by a decent set of wide tyres.
Split Window Beetle
This would have to be one of the oldest road registered VWs in the
state, if not in the country. It was built as a RHD vehicle and sent to
South Africa CKD form. It was purchased there by Barry whilst working
in the country and he later shipped it back to Australia.
Club Kombi
With everyone's head well and truly filled with anecdotes, it was on to
the main event for the day. Club President, Jon, called on Rob and his
key helpers to unveil the van - which had been hidden under a recently
purchased Splittie Car Cover. Most of those present had seen the car
before in various guises, but very few had seen it complete. For those
of us who had been with it all the way, the experience of seeing it
unveiled was no less thrilling than those who had not seen it at all.
The look on Rob's face as he handed over what had definitely become
"his baby" said it all: a real mixture of pride, at seeing the old girl
complete, mixed with a tinge of sadness, as the years of working
together had now come to an end. For those of us who had all but
given up work on our own projects to help on the Club Kombi, we can
take solace in having some time to re-start those long neglected
restorations.
At the end of the day, once all the visitors had gone, it was once
again with considerable pride that Rob jumped into the cab, turned the
key and smiled as the little 1500 engine bobbed in to life. Watching
him slip it in to first and ease out the clutch one could not but help
share his joy - for him the inconvenience of giving up his parking
place at home to make way for the old girl is a tolerable price to pay
for the privilege of getting to be its first regular driver.
With the official launch out of the way, it was time to start planning
for the Kombi's next outing: as delivery vehicle for all the club
goodies for Volksfest (see Events - VolksFest 2007).
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