I woke up at 4:30am last Sunday, April 28, 2013 to prepare
myself to drive to the annual Bug-in show at Irwindale. The day before the
event, I wanted to bring some VW parts and vintage items to sell at the show.
But after thinking things over, I decided to just skip the idea and go to the
show without the hassle of hauling around a huge baggage pile of junk.
I jumped in my 62 bug and turned on the ignition—nothing
happened. I was then feeling a bit flustered and so I started talking to my 62
bug, “I
know it’s very early in the morning but we need to get going, man. Do you want
some coffee mixed with starter fluid?” Then I spotted the problem—the
headlight switch is on the “ON” position. I forgot to turn the lights off the
last time I drove it and it drained the battery dry. UGGH!!!!
My 63 bug & 66 bus are tightly packed inside my garage
with inches to spare on all sides. It would take time to pull them out of their
tight squeeze safely without scratching them. At that moment, I did not really
feel like spending even a brief period of time pulling out batteries from my
other cars because I have got to hit the road and head towards the VW show.
Bug-in show is quite popular among VW enthusiasts and so a
lot of people show up at the gate early to avoid the long line at the main
entrance. Every minute that I am delayed in leaving my house would mean that I
will be further and further behind the line of cars waiting to get to the show.
If you are a swap meet vendor, it is to your advantage to be
at the show early. Both VW club members and vendors would normally show up in
force very early in the morning at the gate. If you are not an early risers,
chances are you will have a long wait at the entrance line.
The only option I have is to drive our 1988 Toyota pickup. I already
started feeling sick to the stomach by the thought of showing up at the Bug-in
show driving a Toyota Pickup. I am sure my VW buddies are going to have a field
day poking fun at me.
The fuel gauge of my Toyota
showed that it needs to be refilled and so I drove by a nearby gas station from
my house. When I stopped at the gas pump, there was a shiny early bug parked in
front of me loading up fuel. I asked the owner if his bug is a 1960. He said it
is a 59. I did not see his engine but I would guess he has a 2180 under his
lid. I asked the guy if he was headed to the Bug-in show. Initially, he was
surprised that I knew where he was going and nodded confirming my guess. When I
told him that I was also going to the same place, he immediately looked at my Toyota pickup and gave
that “puzzled” look. (I knew this was going to happen and it only took 7
minutes after I left my house for it to occur). Trying to be polite, the guy
asked me, “What do you have?” (Meaning, what VWs do I own). I told him
about my tiny collection of bugs and buses and briefly explained the small
misfortune that caused me to bring my Toyota
to the show instead of my beloved VW.
While I was at the freeway, two early mint looking
squarebacks zoomed by me traveling at a high speed. I guess some people are
just too eager to arrive at the show. As I approached the show area, I
immediately noticed a very long line of VWs waiting outside the gate.
I parked behind a white bug and sparked a conversation with
the owner. VWs from different clubs started arriving. A group of 15 VWs from
one club drove by and parked behind us. By then it was around 6am and I heard
someone said that they will open the gate soon. I walked around checking out
trucks packed with parts and did not find anything interesting to buy.
While I was walking by a groups of guys talking in English,
I heard a familiar accent—A Filipino. I spotted the Filipino guy and looked at
him briefly to show that I recognized his accent and wanted to say hello. He
looked at me for a second and immediately knew me as being a fellow Filipino.
But strangely, he immediately looked away and pretended that he never saw me. I
rarely see Filipinos at VW shows and this guy was the first one that I met at a
Bug-in show. I have seen this type of behavior among a number of Filipinos who
feels uneasy to be seen talking to other Filipinos. It also made me wonder if
my Toyota
pickup contributed to the snobbish behavior of this Filipino guy because my
pickup made me look “uncool” and an outsider among a crowd of VWs. Going back
my Toyota pickup, I tapped its hood and said, “Don’t worry, old guy. You have
more power under your hood that any of these guys near you”.
The line started moving indicating that they finally opened
the main gates. As usual, one or two VWs struggled to get their engine to
start. One bug owned by a young guy flooded his carburetor while trying to
start it. His friend(s) had to push him while he struggled to get his VW to
start.
After parking my car, I saw a guy acting quite upset because
he was directed to park in the wrong area even though he clearly had parts to
sell. During his brief venting, he complained that he drove to the show very
early in the morning so that he can park at the best spots in the swap meet
area. Because of the parking snafu, he now has to content with whatever
leftover spots that are still left at the swap area.
After witnessing the flustered person at the parking lot, I
began to sense a sour mood in the air. My feelings were confirmed when I
stopped at one of vendors selling old tools. I saw he had a couple of used Wiss
snips (brand of sheet metal scissors) that he was selling. When I picked them
up, the seller said, “Do you know what they are? Do you know how
to use them?” His voice had a tone of arrogance and viewed me as a
person who is clueless about metal fabrication. Not wanting to be annoyed, I
simply said that I know what they are. He then asked me, “Do you know what each of these
is used for?”. At that point, the man was beginning to annoy me. I
still kept my cool and told him that I am familiar with the design of the snips
and why the handles have different colors. He then asked me if I know what
brand of snips they are. When I told him that they were Wiss snips, he became
quiet for a moment.
Since I was looking for auto body hammers, I asked the man
if he is selling any. He said yes but said that he left them at his house. I
figured that if he owns good brand hammers like Snap-on or Mac tools, I would
be interested in buying them from him even though they cost more. I asked him
what brand of hammers does he have? He became irate and started telling me that
if I want good hammers, I will have to pay more for them (Huh?!) This guy is a lunatic and his brain is not firing on all
four cylinders. I calmly explained to him that I am just asking what is/are the
brand of hammers that he owns because I am looking for a particular brand only.
He finally puffed out the name of the brand of his hammer that sounded like the
name of an extinct baboon. I am wasting my time with this bonehead and so I
decided to continue my search around the swap meet.
A spotted a 13-window mid-60s bus that has a “For Sale” sign
on its window. I asked the owner how much is he selling his bus and he said
$XX,XXX (double the market value of his bus). I quietly walked around the bus
and it seemed decent enough, but not $XXK decent. The middle seat in it came
from a 1967 bus but its grab handles were missing. While I was checking the
interior of the bus, I noticed several holes that were drilled through one of
the support frames of the roof. I casually asked the owner the purpose of why
the holes were drilled? For some odd reason he became a bit angry telling me, “Those
holes are not relevant to the bus. One of my friends asked me about holes in my
bus and I told him F-you and I have not spoken to him for more than a month
now. So, don’t start pointing to holes, cuts and rusts because they are far
detached to what the whole bus is all about”.
Oh boy, this guy is more looney than the first one with the
tools. This nut has obvious anger issues in life and so I decided to peacefully
walk away before he starts biting people or worse starts tearing through nearby
VWs with his teeth. Other prospective buyers were also turned off by this guy’s
attitude. He wants to deny the fact that condition heavily dictates the price
of any bug or bus. If he is asking for a “dreamy price” for his bus then the
only buyer he will meet are those that exists only in his dreams.
After encountering seemingly deranged and edgy people, I
looked up to the sky and started wondering if there was a full moon that
evening. Almanac indicated that a full moon occurred in Los Angeles last April 25th. I
guess its effects are still lingering in some people’s minds three days later.
As I walked around the swap area, I cannot seem to find
anything interesting to buy. Most of the parts are just common junk. One guy
had a box of vintage California
plates and so while I was sorting through them, I saw three 1956 CA plates.
Only one of them had a renewal tag. I asked how much for the plate and he said
$20. I haggled a bit and got one for $15. This 1956 plate is joining the small
but growing collection of wall decors inside my garage.
I made the mistake of not buying an event t-shirt during
last year’s Bug-in and so I made it a point to buy two t-shirts this year. One
shirt is the regular Bugin #38 design and the other one is for the 45th
anniversary souvenir t-shirt.
I observed that there were only a few sellers at the show
that had rare parts. Almost all the rare parts are priced beyond the reach of
any regular buyers. I saw a guy selling a complete cutoff dashboard taken off
from a 1965 bus and wants $80 for it. I initially was interested with it but
had to back off after discovering small portions of the frame was missing. I
found a NOS doghouse oil coolers and stands but they were priced at full
retail. I did not really score on anything during the show except the 1956
plates that I got for a cheap price.
By 10am, I was ready to head home. The crowed then had grown
with more people arriving after attending the morning service at their church.
Now these church-going people are more sane than the ones that I met earlier in
the day.
As for me, I have a bathroom and shower to restore and so I
packed up my stuff and headed back home…driving my Toyota pickup.
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