GoWesty Camper Products ran their race Vanagon in the NORRA Mexican 1000. Our team is a big fan of Baja especially when it involves driving quickly over rough terrain with Wide Open Baja.

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast

The NORRA Mexican 1000 is a more chill version of the SCORE Baja 1000. The NORRA event is on smoother roads, while still being an off-road race, and is generally attended by those using vintage racecars, race trucks, classic buggies, rally cars, and one badass Vanagon.

GoWesty has been competing in the Mexican 1000 since 2017 with their class winning 24 Hours of Lemons van. A Vanagon wouldn’t have been my first choice, but when your day job is creating parts and accessories for the VW #vanlife community, it makes absolute sense for you to grab a Vanagon and go race in Baja.

One element of how NORRA is different from the all-out attack that is SCORE, the competitors are required to have cool beverages to hand out to the marshals working at the checkpoints. The GoWesty team had the perfect solution. An Engel fridge/freezer installed between the driver and co-driver created handy frosty beverages to be deployed at each checkpoint. Not the lukewarm liquids that might be found in the bottom of a generic cooler in the desert, but perfectly cool drinks ready for consumption. I have fridge/freezer envy. Their drink sponsor is tea, organic tea. Very on brand for a company located between LA and the Bay area.

Here is the recap video of their trip to Baja in their race Vanagon Westfalia. Does the pop top still count it as a Westfalia?

Making Friends

The GoWesty team pops the camper top announcing their location at each stop. The kids can find them easier for stickers. They also let everyone color on their race vehicle with sidewalk chalk!

I want a Camper Life Trucker Hat that they were handing out. I just need to get a van first…

If you’re curious about their van build, here is the link to a bunch of build videos from GoWesty.