What I saw at the VW Drag Day at Irwindale Speedway March 2013

Drag racing is one of the events that never fail to draw a crowd of spectators here in southern California. The thrill of the speed, the loud roar of monster engines, the blast of humongous exhausts and the experience of witnessing real acceleration….while watching the beautiful women walk around in their skimpy wear.

Last March 17th at 5:20am, I drove to Irwindale Speedway at the city of Irwindale to attend the Hot VW Drag Day event. While driving towards Irwindale, I saw strings of vintage VWs also heading to where I was going. After I exited the freeway, I started to smell burning oil and gasoline which alarmed me. But I immediately found the source of it and it was from a 64 VW bug that was driving ahead of me. They don’t call those things “oil and gas drippers” for nothing.

When I arrived at the Speedway, there were already two very long lines of VWs waiting for the main gate of the parking lot to open. During the 30 minutes that I was waiting for the line to move, I started checking out the trailers full of parts being pulled by trucks. I spotted in one of the trailers a 36 HP motor and asked the driver how much he wants for it. He said $250 but if nobody buys it by the end of the day, he will let it go for $150. He told me that the motor had been sitting in his garage for 8 years and wants to get rid of it. Though I was a bit interested with the 36 HP, it did not fall under my wish list and so I just decided to skip the deal.

All of a sudden, one VW after another that are in the line started starting their engines. The gate is now open. As always, there are some VWs who had some difficulty starting their engines. They tried to start one bug by pushing-starting it but the bug refused to start. They finally just parked it on the side for repairs because it was holding back a long line of waiting VWs behind it.

I was almost to the main entrance when I noticed the silver early Porsche convertible next to me. I asked the owner if his car is for sale. He said, “I’ll sell it at the right price”. (That line is almost a cliché). I asked how much. He replied, “Lots of money”. When I tried to find out if he had a price in mind, he told me to make an offer. Instead of trying to extract an amount from the guy, I asked him how many pre-67 buses equals the value of his Porsche 356 speedster. He lifted 10 fingers. I though, “This guy’s nuts!”. I don’t even know if his Porsche is a factory made or just a replica. I know that companies like Beck, Intermeccanica and other kit car companies produce Porsche 356s kit cars that sells for substantially lower amounts. I even saw one for $11,000. The real factory made Porsche 356s are the ones that bring in beaucoup cash.

Like always, the trick in buying rare items is to be next to a truck or trailer once they park their vehicle. I always peek through the pile of junks and boxes to spot a familiar rare item. If everything in the pile is just common junk, I would immediately move to the next trailer/trailer. Of course not every rare item is snatched because many of them are priced like gold bullions.

I have a short shopping list and the items in it are: Doghouse shroud, fan, upper & lower ducts, snap-on body hammers and rare license plates. I bought a fan for $5. There was a chrome doghouse shroud that is almost brand new being sold for $20. I was about to buy it when I felt that it might not have a perfect fit compared to the factory shroud and so I skipped it. Going down two aisles, I saw two factory made doghouses being sold by one of the guys I know. He wants $50 per shroud. Heck no! I tried to tell him that his price is way above everybody’s shroud. He did not want to budge on his price. I walked to another guy selling parts nearby and found a factory doghouse shroud complete with a generator, fan, upper & lower ducts plus a coil, all for $20 only! Sold!

I spotted a reverse light that has a red lens. I haggled with the owner and we settled for $8. I gave him a $20 bill but he said he does not have any change. I told him to reserve it while I get change for him. When I came back, he sold it already. Oh man! He is a cool guy so I did not make a big deal out of it.

There is a seller that specializes in rare old tail lights and license plates. I pointed to a single 1951 CA license plate that he was selling and asked for the price. He said it is for $130. Over priced! At the end of the next aisle, I came to another seller that was selling old license plate frames and a few old license plates. I picked up a beautiful vintage license frame with a single 1951 California license plate in it. I asked the seller for the price and he said that the frame is $130 and the license plate is $30. I knew then that $30 was cheap for a license plate but I figured that I might be able to shave off a few dollars still off of the price. I asked the seller if I can buy just the license plate from him for $25. He hesitated a bit but I used an old negotiating line by saying, “Come on, man. Make me feel that I am getting a good deal!” It worked like a charm and I got the rare 1951 plate for $25. SCORE!!!

Different clubs took their usual spots in the show. Most are quite territorial in their spots and they would send advance parties to the show to cordon a certain spot in the show area for them to park their cars for display.

I was hoping to buy myself an event T-shirt as a souvenir but I did not find one whose design is worth the money.

After a review of the safety and race rules, the drag race finally started. I went to the fence about half way on the race track to watch the race. I saw one of my friends who parked his bus near the fence to watch the show. He is one of the few Asians I personally know who has a deep fascination with vintage VWs. The parking spots along the fence near the race track is highly sought after spot because you can watch the races while selling your junk. People would go to Irwindale speedway as early as 3:30am just to be one of the first in line at the gate.

While watching the races, my cell phone rang. I regret answering it because it was my wife who was wondering where I was. When I told her that I was at the drag race at Irwindale, she said, “Really….”, with a tone indicating that she is not buying it. Fortunately, a pair of Ghias loudly zoomed by on the race track confirming my story as authentic. She then asked me, “Can you please come home now and replace the brake pads in my Toyota?”. I replied, “You want me to leave in the middle of the drag race event? Are you serious?”. Then she said, “Your daughter and I are planning to drive to the mall using the Toyota”. I relented and said, “Alright then,. I am heading home now. Darn *&%# stupid brakes!”…