July 30, 2009

Christmas came early this year!

I have to thank both Blak Squirrel and the future missus WRS for an outstanding early Christmas present. Ms WRS made the purchase, and Blak Squirrel put up the product for an outstanding price....his well used, well loved, and really quite nice Nikon D70. YES! A real camera. Many a quality photo and cover has been shot with this camera, and I'm honored that he sold it to me (and that MsWRS bought it) for such a killer price. As he said he hasn't used it once since he upgraded a couple years back, but I think it still has the goods. As an example, check out some super-awesome pictures I took this fine evening...yeah I know it's not car related, that'll have to come in the near future...

Not bad right? J wasn't about to give up any of his lenses for the paulty sum I paid for the body, so I did some searching and decided to order from www.usedcameras.com. In my searches I knew that I needed a zoom with a little range, but the pricey 18-200 jack-of-all-trades was a bit too much in one package, and I wanted a little more range than the venerable 18-70 that the camera originally came with. So it was down to the 18-105 and the 18-135. I also didn't need, nor could I afford, a mondo awesome pricey lens. A basic Nikkor kit lens is fine for me right now.

Basically I decided that my amateur eye would benefit more from the lens shake reduction on the 105 than it would with the extra range of the 135...and so I placed an order and just a couple short days later it arrived in NYC! I know there are a lot of used camera gear spots out there, and although they were short on the info during the shipping process, the lens was a steal, exactly as described, and I got a free hat, so I'll definitely go to usedcameras.com next time I need a lens.

Anyway, I'm just super stoked on this one, as I am with my newsed (that's new to me but used) 1984 Schwinn Super Le Tour. And before you ask, no I'm not doing a fix gear conversion. I like the old-school stuff to stay pure and natural, and honestly I don't have a death wish to ride a fixie in NYC. Plus I read Bike Snob NYC,I'm not about willingly make myself a target for a gentleman with a wit as sharp as his!

More to come my friends, more to come...but in the meantime check out the MUCH higher quality pics over at the WRS Flickr Page.

_WRS

July 29, 2009

Always and forever...VW my friends


It's often suggested that VWs are merely stepping stones to bigger and better things. The basic logic is that a VW owner in their 20s will soon be an Audi or BMW owner in their 30s, and probably a Porsche owner once the big four-oh mid-life crisis hits, and then Mercedes from there until death. It's kind of an insulting assumption in my opinion, after all who are "they" to judge me for driving a VW my entire life, and although I aspire to ownership of a Porsche 911 or perhaps an E30 M3, it has to do with the driving experience, not the status. After all an E30 M3 is still 3-8 years older than my humble daily driver.

I suppose some people succumb to the pressure to do what is expected of them...you get older, you buy a bigger / nicer car to haul around the kids and impress the neighbors out there in the suburbs, that sort of thing. I would like to consider myself successful (thus far) at not falling in line like the rest, which I guess is why I drive slammed Mk3 in NYC on a regular basis. Would I drive a slammed M3? Sure, but I'd still own that VW. Always have an always will.

One of my recurring fantasies involves me becoming rich and / or famous enough for an episode of cribs. People will think I'm insane. Rather than lame SUVs with chrome wheels and stupid, boring Bentleys, I would have row after row of humble, but highly modified Volkswagens.

"Yes that's my 1989 Rallye Golf. One of 5000 made you know. I've converted that one with a 16v head, much like the G60 16v as used in the Golf Limited...which is the car parked right here. One of 70 made, this one is 100% original, but I still drive it at least once a week."

"That red Rabbit GTI in the back is the first ever car I ever owned. Yes, I tracked it down and bought it from the current owner and restored it to the original condition, to the same specification it was just before I sold it in 2003 like a dumb-ass. Over here is my Berg Cup racer...."

And so on. I guess that means I'm a pretty terminal die-hard VW case. I know others like me, but being dedicated and not having say, the lure of a 911 to work on instead of a VW is partially situational, as in not being in the situation of being forced to choose between a VW and something else. Not many people have their 911 sitting next to their Mk2 thinking "forget that exotic sports car with all the racing heritage...let's wrench on the early 90's economy car instead."

This is exactly what my buddy Robert does however. He owns and runs a fairly well regarded Porsche shop. He has driven and worked on pretty much every kind of exotic and desirable 911 ever built. Modified turbo 993s, 996s, GT3s, 930s, old 70's Carreras, not to mention plenty of GT3R race cars. This guy has a plethora of stuff that dreams are made of sitting around, yet he is consistently finding some way to work on his Mk2 Jetta.

Case in point: He swapped an ABA block into his old daily driver a year or so ago, and ended up having the thing stuffed in a parking lot thanks to some random dude chatting away on a cell phone rather than paying attention to things like speed, steering and brakes. A car was bought to replace it. Another red 1992 Jetta. A shell was (eventually) found for the completely rebuilt ABA 8v engine...yet another red 1992 Jetta, as seen in the background here.

Here is Jason and Robert after a minor lack-of-fuel problem on the way back home...pesky gas tanks never seem to fill themselves up!

Talk about a sickness! Naturally swaps were made, parts were stored or sold off, and the old shell was deposited at the scrap yard for a cool $50. So now Robert is down to just two Mk2 Jettas in Tornado Red, rather than three, and he still has all those 911s waiting their turn as well.

People like Robert and his buddy Jason, who often helps with the junk-yard searches and multi-state reconnaissance missions for parts and donor cars, make me happy. I know I'm not alone in this world of being a die hard VW head. I don't really like Audis that much, so sue me. I know they're basically the same as their similarly sized and shaped Volkswagens, but they just don't do anything for me at the end of the day. Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it makes me happy that there are others like me. People who realize that life is not always about aspiring to the bigger or better thing, it's valuing what you have and what you love, and if you love old Mk2 Jettas, well, the 911 can wait.

More to come from Project Jetta Beater by the way....Robert has some wheels in storage and more work ahead before she's 100% back on track, and when she is, I'll have more on perhaps the only Mk2 Jetta 8v that is loved more than a 911. Seriously.

_WRS

July 26, 2009

APR does it again, Baas and Hurley finally take a win

The same weekend that I was busy slangin' parts at Waterfest 15, the guys from the APR Motorsport team were heading into battle in the Koni Challenge Street Tuner class at Barber Motorsports Park in their home state of Alabama. The team was on a streak, with the 181 picking up wins at the previous two rounds at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio, but the 171 car had yet to put a notch in the old gun barrel, despite being in prime postion more than once.

All that was finally to change at Barber, with Ian Baas holding off the hard-charging 111 Subaru Legacy of Andrew Aquilante during the first half of the race, and Josh Hurley finishing up strong, finally scoring a victory. I had a chance to speak with Baas at Waterfest, the very next day after his win, as he had flown up with Stephen from APR to check out the festivities. He was obviously enthused, and said he really had to work to hold off the Subaru for the first half of the race. Apparently the track really did not suit the APR Mk5 GTI, as the Glen and Mid-Ohio did, and it was a hard-fought, and much deserved (in my opinion) victory.

There are three races left to the season, and with the last three going to APR, you can bet that Grand-Am (the sanctioning body for the Koni Challenge) will impose some penalties to try and even things out between the GTI's and the rest of the field. More weight? Probably, although Grand-Am monitors boost response on the engines very closely, and I wouldn't be surprised if they took a pound or two of boost instead. Either way, with the success that APR has finally found for Volkswagen and themselves in the series, you can bet that sheer optimism and determination might be enough to carry them through to at least one more win this year.

Me personally, I can't wait to see the new Mk6 GTI race cars...I'd assume that VW has already delivered a few down to Auburn to get a jump on the 2010 season right?

_WRS

July 22, 2009

Waterfest 15 - my excuse for not posting

Holy lack of updates! Man the show season sticks it to me. Honestly it's not that I'm complaining, as there are way worse ways to make a living, but when you're working 12+ hour days and planning out the booth, placing orders and generally making sure the wheels don't fall off, there's not much time for thinking up cool things to write about. I think I promised something about the A59 story a couple weeks back? Well we got some more time on that one my friends...

Waterfest 15 is the "big one" as far as VW shows on the East Coast, and probably the USA goes. I would guess that H2O International actually has more show cars at this point, but Waterfest has the bigger venue, the drag racing, the autocross, the burn out contest, the vendors, the girls. You get the idea. It's the hottest, most stressful and generally the hardest thing we do all year. Preparation takes weeks before hand, and recovery takes at least two weeks after, and in the meantime we don't get much sleep, but as far as shows go, it still has the goods as far as I'm concerned. We're so busy working that I never get a chance to see any of the show, and so I never take any pictures or anything, but I snagged a few on the way there.

Here we have the NGP Audi A3, sporting its slightly updated look. The Oettinger body kit remains, as does the APR Stage 3 turbo system, but the old RH wheels, which never really suited the car in my opinion, have been replaced by the Miro STP-3 19's.

The only real downside is that the Stoptech brakes were removed to fit the new wheels. I'm not a big fan of downgrading strictly for the sake fashion, but then again it wasn't my call.

The WRS Mk3 made an appearance, and despite some temporary moments of trouble with the speedometer not working, things were good. Anyways, there were some really awesome cars at the show, at least that was my impression on the walk from the booth to the bathroom and back. Up next will be H2o International (for me) but Jason and the rest of the gang (or maybe just Jason) will be hitting up Mk1 Madness and VAG Fair in the very near future. I'd go but I just don't have it in me. Maybe next year!

_WRS


P.S. - This is R32 guy, and he approves of this post.

July 10, 2009

Rose colored glasses day at the WRS

They say that the past is always seen through Rose colored glasses, and I think to a certain extent that is always true. Was the racing really that much better back in the day? It certainly seems like it, but then again it probably wasn't. We've seen our fair share of very close racing these days, and there are a ton of manufacturers involved in a wide range of motorsports, but none seem to capture the power, the look and the insanity of the late 80's Group C / IMSA GTP racing. I look at the 90's as a pretty significant period in sports car and endurance racing, but back then all I could think about was how I wished the mighty Group C cars were still around. Another 10 years and I'll be doing the same thing. (right now I wish that there was a proper Porsche P1 car..turbocharged 6, natch)



Here is a clip (one of twelve!) of the 1987 IMSA GTP series at Laguna Seca. Check out these cars. The Lowenbrau 962, Jaguars, Nissans. Scary fast turbocharged brutes...I mean the Nissan was running 900 horsepower! They'd never let you get away with that these days. Anyways, words don't do much justice. Check out part one, and then head on over to the Youtube for the full race.

_WRS

P.S. - I didn't forget about my last post saying I'd have more about the VW Powered Sports Prototype, I just don't feel like writing it yet...

July 7, 2009

Busy = Slow / Slow = Busy

So I have to apologize for my slacking. With things gearing up for Waterfest my brain only has so many hours left over to think about cars, and sometimes it just doesn't have anything to say. Scirocco Madness has yet to get any serious work done on it, and we're pretty much status quo on the Mk5 as well. I don't want to just post stuff I've found elsewhere unless it's cool and unique and well, not the MOST commonly seen things in the world.

So I'll do a little "tease" if you will, on one of the more long term installements which I've been working on. I was kind of hoping to have more info on the whole project but I've reached a lot of dead ends and so I'll have to go with what I've got. What do I got? A multi-year Le Mans (class) winner, all powered by a diminutive little 4-cylinder VW engine. More tomorrow...

_WRS

July 3, 2009

Video Post: Team Benninghofen @ Nürburgring Nordschleife

Team Benninghofen just posted up this video of their Golf 3 Nürburgring racer from back in May, which I'm assuming is from a test just prior to the 24 hour race. I'm fairly sure the Benninghofen Mk3 ended up a DNF, but you have to give the guys kudos for entering, and that certainly doesn't stop the car and the team from being pretty much just plain awesome. They have a bunch of very cool videos posted to their You tube channel, including some old Mk2 action. I always wondered what it would be like to tackle the worlds most notorious circuit in an old tank like a Mk2....scary is probably a good way to put it. But probably a good kind of scary.

_WRS