Show off your BAJA!

[whale]

We probably crossed paths a few times. From the 70s until now my entire family (parents, brother, sister, and I) each had/have Baja Bugs and are all from El Cajon.

Surprisingly, the Northwest has a fair number of Bajas lurking around.

[dustymojave]

[Fish]

[mrjeep]

Just picked this little guy up. Idles ok but getting choppy in the low and mid range rpms. Should be a fun little toy

[Mickey bitsko]

Fall hunting colors
Didn't care for it at first, kinda growing on me.
Hope it helps me sneak up on Lil duckies.

[dustymojave]

Some recent shots of my Baja

I've adjusted the front ride height a little higher since these pictures.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Wngnutmv]

Recent purchase. Loving it!

[dustymojave]

I like it. It reminds me of this picture from the front cover of the original HP book about building offroad VWs "Baja Prepping VW Sedans and Dune Buggies" by Bob Waar from 1970.
This car has been an inspiration for me for 50 years now. Built, owned and driven by Don Rountree, owner of Sandwinder Offroad in Riverside, California and developer of the Sandwinder style Baja front end and the Rountree Baja front end. Most Baja Bugs over the last 50 years have one of his styles of Baja kit on them.

Note the same color. Also note on Don's car, the wider rear fenders to cover the bigger tires.
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Fish]

[dustymojave]

In the 70s, I saw and Tech Inspected a few Type 2s that were being raced in desert offroad races.

Last one I saw was Bill Apple's bright yellow single cab split window racing at Baja de Saddleback in, IIRC, 1977.

I saw another single cab split window painted root beer brown somewhat earlier. I saw that one in here many moons ago. A woman north of SoCal, like maybe Oregon, had it then and was rebuilding/restoring it.

There's a white bay window van airborne in the San Gabriel River bed in Baja Prepping VW Sedans and Dune Buggies. Another photo from the same spot of a Revmaster WampusKitty buggy demonstrating that it didn't need wings in there.

I always thought riding the right seat in a Bus racing offroad would turn a man's hair white in his teens.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[Fish]

Dustymojave this is the bus on the (back) cover of the book getting some air.
You're right, it was rebuilt by Clara (?) and sold to j.pickens.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

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Prosit!

.·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><((((º>
.·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><((((º>

# 303 and #156

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[dustymojave]

Yup!

That's the one I referred to.

Under NORRA rules, it ran in the "Production Utility Vehicle" category. With other pickup trucks. Last time I saw it race it was lumped in with the Baja Bugs.

The SCORE rules stated that for the Baja Bug class, only "VW Type 1 Sedans, as delivered in the USA" were allowed. That would sort of allow Ghias and Things, although the word "Sedan" could be interpreted to eliminate those 2. In the 1980s, after my dad retired as SCORE Tech Chief, Bill Savage adjusted the Class 5 rules to allow Porsche 900-series cars. Which allowed his pal, Rich Minga to race his Porsche 911 in Class 5 when Ghias and Things were specifically excluded by Bill's interpretation. Minga won a lot of races. Nice car, but it most certainly was NOT a "Baja Bug". Bill Savage's interpretation of the rules made no sense to me. I would have included Type 3s along with Ghias and Things in Class 5 Baja Bugs. Far more similar to a Bug than a Porsche 911 is.

Currently, a friend and member of our team, Tom Bird, owns a Class 5 Porsche 914. Cool, but I would have built it mid-engined. A couple of guys in So Cal Bajas have (or had) Vanagon Syncros for offroad use, one at least had a Subaru 6 cylinder engine that looked like it was installed by VW. I've seen that thing wheely over a boulder on a 4-wheel drive trail in the Sierras.

So show us your Baja Ghias, Baja Things, Baja 914s and 911s and busses!
_________________
Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[pshme5104]

Good morning, new to the Samba and I thought I would post some pics of my recent completed buggy.

Are they really ever completed???

[Fish]

Very interesting front cover. In my 40 + years of off-roading, I have never seen a front end like that one.
_________________
Prosit!

.·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><((((º>
.·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><((((º>

# 303 and #156

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[pshme5104]

Took inspiration from all the older buggies of the 60's and 70's. It seemed everyone had a individualized idea on what a baja bug looked like. Its an all steel front with the front fenders shaped to fit the rear.

[dv8]

Did that exhaust come with your Baja? Or did you purchase it recently?

Back in the 80's I had that same dual cannon exhaust on my Baja - and it sounded great. Rust eventually claimed it and I have wanted to buy another setup like it ever since.

Anyone know if its still available?

[dv8]

Oh, and its not quite a Baja but its pretty close.

'61 Beetle on Thing chassis with beetle floor pans.

And our next Baja candidate. Remarkably solid '72 on a '69 pan. This is the day we bought the body shell, simply took our pan along and sat the body on and strapped it down.

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desired speed > disposable income

[bjdavis2282]

Here is my latest purchase! paid $450 for this little guy, was told it did not run but 15 minutes later i was driving it around! All it needed was some interior parts.

[Hnoroian]

Picked up this up back in July 2020, been fixing the little things and planning on more structural components. It is registered as a ‘64, it was a standard sedan but a previous owners cut the top off as a permanent convertible, which is just fine for me as it is a fun toy.

Would live to find the PO’s and find more about its history. From what I’ve known the last two owners were in So. Cal and it was previously green (almost lime green) from what I can tell.
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Stupid people do stupid things.

[pedmick]

1968 Baja

1968cc Singleport motor: CB 2280 cam, ported heads, maxi pump, 1.25:1 rockers, dual PDSIT carbs

Pro street trans with reduction boxes and John Johnson No Hop Kit (with adjustable torque arms).
Adjustable Thing Beam

Pics from various stages of build- Have bigger front tires now.
Building a 2276 ripper for it.