Hot VWs Drag Day in Irwindale

Words and pictures by Sean Spear

Irwindale, California—The warm weather on Sunday brought out not only the Bugs, but also all sorts of critters to the Irwindale Event Center.  Rabbits and even the occasional Thing were seen either soaking up the sun or scurrying down the quarter-mile drag strip at sub-six second speeds.  Microbuses, Karmans, Fastbacks, and Coupes were also hard not to miss.

Reuben Navarro, founding father of the “German Folks” VW club describes Drag Day as “…a chance for all of us to get together, hang-out, talk sh*t.  You know, like family.”  German Folks started more than 33 years ago with 15 guys, and now has chapters in Arizona, Texas, the UK, and Japan.  “We’re not one of those clubs with all those rules and dues and mandatory stuff.  My Dad gave me his VW as my first car.  After I took a break from the club for a while, my Mom and Dad asked me to come back in.  It is really a family thing with us.  It’s deep.”  While all of German Folks’ VWs were spectacular, a beautiful ’65 21-window Microbus demanded the most attention.

Over at the races, spectators’ jaws dropped when they saw another Microbus do a burnout and speed down the strip.  Even some water-cooled models made their presence felt (taking one of the six racing trophies won that day).  But in the end it was the air-cooled marvels that dominated the field and strip.  LA Car’s camera was able to catch a few before they got away.

The writer-photographer is a contributing editor for LA Car. To see more photos from the event, go to LACar.com or Facebook.com/lacarcom.