TheSamba.com :: View topic - Not really a barn find but close...SCCA Rally veteran in NH

Mon Apr 20, 2009 5:48 pm

holy wow! good luck!

Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:43 pm

Freak182 wrote: GatorJZ wrote: 73 Sports Bug steering wheel and seats. Thanks for checking out my thread and the input...

..but nope:

73 Sport Bug Steering wheel-

The one in this car is by Formuling, recognizable by the 9 bolts holding it to the adapter collar (I have a similar one in my Emory-tribute baja)

and nope, though the pics are pretty dark so you couldn't tell that the seats are Scheel-Manns like used in the 914-6GT and 911. I lightened the pic so you can see them better.

The steering wheel in your top picture is absolutely, 100% NOT a Sports Bug steering wheel....not even remotely close. The one currently mounted in your car is definitely a Sports Bug wheel. I believe it was also used in the GSR Racer.

You are probably correct about the seats....they are at least very similar, but the side bolsters on yours are more pronounced.

Check these threads out if you are interested in learning about Sports Bug steering wheels:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=289258&highlight=sports+steering+wheel

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=331973&highlight=sports+steering+wheel

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=159864&highlight=sports+steering+wheel

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=736731

Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:07 pm

Interesting on the wheel and I stand corrected after looking at the pics in the links you posted. It is almost identical to the one in my other bug which is a Formuling (and it is a Formuling, has the the stamp on the back as well as the logo'd horn button) and I was under the impression (incorrectly I assume) that Formuling were unique in the mounting. Since the two are virtually identical except for the center button, I assumed....you know the rest.

I have a question since the topic came up and you are quite knowledgable, the pictures I have found in the gallery and the threads show the wheel to have what appears to be a carbon fibre look, is this correct? The wheel on my car is a matte black finish, did they come in both? Thanks for educating me, I lurk in the Split and Oval forums (as well as the Bus ones) just so I can learn things I don't know so I appreciate any info I can get.

The seats I know I'm right on since they have the Scheer name and logo in the middle of the seat back like below. Unlike the Sport Bug seats pictured in the threads you posted, these are fabric in the seating area.

There was a lot to take in in short period of time as the sun was setting and lighting not that good. I will be bringing it home on May 2nd and will be going over it in more detail from that point on! I welcome any comments/questions/help/support or just plain interest any might have. They are trying to find their copy of the R&T article with car in it as well as any of the old paperwork related to its career. I've started putting out feelers to some old racers for anything that might help as well. Have a great night!

Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:17 pm

Matt black is correct. Here's a link to a picture of the back of one (see post #14):

http://www.superbeetlesonly.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6186

Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:22 am

Yup, saw it this time. Thanks!

Wed Apr 22, 2009 3:03 pm

Quick little update. I'll be bringing it home on May 2nd. YAY! I got an email today from Bill, the former navigator for some of the races with the car, I had asked him for anything he might remember:

"I can't help with its origin and only remember a few specifics about
rallies that Al and I ran with it. Two Alcan 5000s ('85 an '86, I
think), two 24 Horas de Mexico (out of Mexico City - don't recall the
dates), an occasional SCCA Pro Rally. My early rallying with Al (from
1968 through the early '70s) was in his 911 (not the Targa - he got that
a lot later but never rallied it)."

Now I have a few points to research and see if I can find more details on. The widow is going to donate some photos and information to the cause as well.

Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:55 pm

Ok, so I started some research and found:

in the Budweiser Forest Rally Chillicothe, Ohio, SCCA PRO Rally Championship, August 27-29, 1982, this car was number 13 and finished 49 out of 75 starters over the 273 mile course, 9th in class. Overall winner was John Buffum in an Audi Quattro with Rod Millen a close second in an RX-7.

Lancia/Wonder Muffler Press On Regardless Rally Marquette, Michigan SCCA Pro Rally Championship November 8-9, 1975 it finished 41nd after DNF behind winner Sobieslaw Zasada from Poland in a Porsche, 66 cars started, 32 finished.

The 1982 Texas Big Bend Bash press release had this "Al Schmit was originally listed as the second place finisher with Bill Todd in their Volkswagen Beetle 1600 making the provisional results a sweep for Volkswagen of America. However, when stage 11 got thrown, Schmit dropped to 6th. "

There is a lot more as I go through the results on the Rally Racing News site.

Finished 15th in the Northern Lights rally in 82, 9th in the Miller Centenial

THIS IS SOOO COOL!!

Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:59 pm

wow. id hate to think how bent this car could be after all that punishment.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:39 am

Well, I've collected some more information in the past week. The car was run with several different co-drivers over the 10+ years it ran. It won Class A and Class B several times in regional (Northeast) competition. The same car was run all those years with only mechanical replacement, the actual car was never destroyed or replaced. I joined a couple of motorsports forums in my quest for more information and one of the former co-drivers posted up comments and pics!!

" Originally Posted by Paul Jaeger View Post
When I started to read this article, I wondered whether this could be Al's (AJ) car. It wasn't until the end that you confirmed it was. I codrove in this car for three rallies. One was the 1977 Criterium Du Quebec, and the other two were the 1980 100 Acre Woods and Northern Lights. I have some photos of the car in competetion I will send you. AJ was from Luxenburg and lived in Fort Lee, New Jersy and worked for Pan Am airlines. He competed all through the 70's and early 80's. In 1970 I believe he ran a Porsche 911 in the POR. After that he ran VW bugs. I don't know how many, but AJ didn't destroy cars, so it probably wasn't very many different cars.

The 77 Criterium was on the World Rally Championship. At this Rally Fiat entered a 5 car team of Fiat 131's and Ford had two escorts for Roger Clark and Ari Vatanen. Timo Salonen won in a Fiat. We came up early and made pace notes for the rally. The Beetle was pretty quick and we were well placed among the private entries after the short stages of the first two days. The highlight of the rally was a stage around a lake in the Village of St Agathe. The school kids laughed at a beetle, but they were impressed with the speed when they saw it on course! Unfortunately, we lost the engine on the second stage of the third day and DNFed. This rally had one stage of 33 miles (repeated 3 times) and one of 70 miles repeated twice."

AJ Schmidt & Paul Jaeger at start of first stage of 1977 Criterium Du Quebec. Stage is on an island in St Lawrence River in city of Montreal.

AJ Schmidt & Paul Jaeger at 1980 100 Acre Woods.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:02 pm

thats pretty damn sweet!

Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:26 pm

It's cool to see pictures of the car back in it's heyday. Great story and find.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:55 pm

Amazing to see they did all that with stock wheels and tires. Makes you wonder why so many others feel the need to make a change.

Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:00 pm

drscope wrote: Amazing to see they did all that with stock wheels and tires. Makes you wonder why so many others feel the need to make a change.

i was thinking the same thing... that most rally cars you see are completley modded... this seems to just have a cage and some lights... if anyone ever watches a british show called "top gear" there was an episode they raced across africa...deserts, swamps ect... the guys had 3 cars... tore them all to bits... and their punishment if their car quit was to ride in a beetle the rest of the way... at the end they decided the beetle was the most capable offroad car since it had NO mods done to it at all to make it across.. and their cars didn't even look like cars anymore...

Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:05 pm

Freak, fantastic story and find! I hope your enthusiasm for the car does not diminish when you see the inevitable rot it has, but I wish you lots of perseverence to get it fixed and running again!

Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:29 pm

It never hurts to ask, so I'm gonna ask......Is the stock motor in storage available for sale? If it is, I might be interested. I am in NH, so I could come down to you and pick it up....provided it can be had.

Thanks, Bob
603-569-5995

Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:34 pm

freak, again i have to say that is just bad ass. the research you've done, along with eyewitness/rider accounts is rather impressive, nevermind the photos.

again i say, nice save....and have some great fun bringing it back to "life"

l&l light the way...

roger

Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:05 am

Rome wrote: Freak, fantastic story and find! I hope your enthusiasm for the car does not diminish when you see the inevitable rot it has, but I wish you lots of perseverence to get it fixed and running again! Thanks! I live in New Hampshire so rotted VWs are a way of life:) I've already lined up a donor Super if needed. I won't really know what I'm up against until I get it home this weekend and up on some jack stands. Even if there is a ton of rot, I'm looking forward to just checking out all the changes that were done to it years ago. I was looking at my pictures and realized all the lugs are now studs instead of bolts, which makes sense but I missed the first 40 times I looked at the pictures and the car. Part of the fun is in the discovery:)

YankeeBob wrote: It never hurts to ask, so I'm gonna ask......Is the stock motor in storage available for sale? If it is, I might be interested. I am in NH, so I could come down to you and pick it up....provided it can be had.

Thanks, Bob
603-569-5995 I hate to say no or yes to this since I don't know the condition of the motor that is in it. That being said, I *might* have a spare 1600DP long block, depending on what I find this weekend. If not, I know a guy in Rochester who is cleaning out his collection and has several engines. Shoot me a PM and I'll hook you up with him. Us NH VW guys gotta stick together! I regularly swap stuff back and forth with a friend in Somersworth as well as have just opened up lines of communication with a guy in S Berwick ME and another in Barrington. Where are you located? There is a new VW club starting up in Nashua, the meet at the Target store on Fridays, I think. I can get you info on that too if you want.

bongon247 wrote: freak, again i have to say that is just bad ass. the research you've done, along with eyewitness/rider accounts is rather impressive, nevermind the photos.

again i say, nice save....and have some great fun bringing it back to "life"

l&l light the way...

roger Thanks, I'm having a lot of fun digging into the history and making new friends. Plus, it helps keep my antsiness in check while waiting to bring it home:)

Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:30 am

Freak182 wrote: The 1982 Texas Big Bend Bash press release had this "Al Schmit was originally listed as the second place finisher with Bill Todd in their Volkswagen Beetle 1600 making the provisional results a sweep for Volkswagen of America. However, when stage 11 got thrown, Schmit dropped to 6th. " I mentioned this to Bill last night (I have to tell you, he has been incredible with all my misc requests and constant emails), first he is surprised it was mentioned at all but he does remember that event. Al was pissed that they through out Stage 11 because they were the only car that didn't get stuck and completed the stage. That is pretty impressive in its own right, but I checked the list of competitors and not only did the Porsche 911s, Datsun 510s, Millen's RX7, etc get stuck...but finishing behind the VW and also victims of Stage 11 were an IH Scout and an AMC (Eagle) SX4...both 4x4s.

Bill remembers this rally in particular, not because of the actual rally but he drove the car back from TX to NH. During the rally the accordion hose between the heat exchangers and the heater channels were ripped and he had no heat. the Big Bend Bash that year was February 21-22nd. That had to be a cooooold trip.

Sun May 03, 2009 2:53 pm

Home at last

motor looks pretty stock to me

Rough

First bath in 14 years

I have a question, can anyone ID this brake setup? I thought maybe at first Ghia but in the second shot is a ghia caliper from my parts pile and it doesn't look the same. I was told maybe 914 parts?

I found this cool, that little switch under the plate in this pic...

....activates the light here, I like the proprod idea too

That big switch activates the airhorn:)

Highlift jack and some pretty funky tubes on the strut brace

Priorities, the radio is in the glovebox (sorta) and the stock radio location is the home for the ammeter and oil pressure gauge, the oil temp gauge is on the other side of the dash below the tach.

This little guy enjoyed the nuts I found packed around the crank pulley

God, this thing SMELLS inside!

Sun May 03, 2009 4:58 pm

Shiit!!! Change the gas, oil, battery, and she might just fire up!!