So this weekend is the Winterjam 2011, the annual Volkswagen show down here in the self proclaimed “World Center of Racing” and “The World’s Most Famous Beach”, Daytona Beach, Florida. As this olelongrooffan was honored to be accepted on a Hooniverse podcast including none other than our VW loving cohort, Ambersand, among many other esteemed Hoons this past week, my attendance at this event was pretty much mandatory. So, on Saturday afternoon, I made the trip down to City Island to see what was to be seen at Winterjam 2011.

This year the promoters of this event, sponsored by, among others, Volkswagen USA, moved the location of this venue from the Beachside Bandshell down on the Beach to City Island, a controlled access island down off Beach Street in Daytona Beach. So instead of parking on the beach and strolling down to the Hilton Ocean Center, this olelongrooffan had to find a more conventional parking spot on Magnolia Avenue downtown.

It was okay though. I found a spot a couple blocks away and, as always, enjoyed the cars in the lot as I approached the island. Upon arrival, I spotted a couple “Westies” and decided to catch a few of the aircooled VDub’s on the mainland prior to heading onto the island for the show.

Upon entering the air cooled section of this limited show, this olelongrooffan spotted this “baja bug” sans hardtop but it possessed a highly modified suspension and fenders everything.

Even the engine has seen some serious attention.

Parked immediately adjacent to it was this 100% restored 1972 Beetle.

The engine compartment did not escape attention either. It was bone stock and absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

As I was strolling down the sidewalk in that waterfront park, this olelongrooffan spotted these two old Bugs. I didn’t really think much about them until I got around

to the rear of this rare 1951 split window. Like the engine compartment shown in the opening image of this post, there is shit connected to those motors that I have absolutely no freaking idea what it is. Having owned several VW’s in my lifetime, I was able to recognize most components on that restored 72 bug, but on this some of my fellow Hoons will need to chime in on what the hell is going on here.

A bit down the sidewalk, I spotted a pretty cool looking Karmann Ghia that was slammed and carrying a roof rack that looked rather unusable due to the curvature of its base.

And this olelongrooffan believes the owner of this daily driver bus took the liberty of pulling an olelongrooffan move by merely pulling into the park and setting up camp. It was without credentials and in nowhere near the show quality of the rest of the participants. But you know what, other than that thing handling like a billboard in a crosswind, I liked it and got a chuckle for her/his audaciousness.

And we were subjected to the wonderful sight of three P-51 Mustangs at this VDub show.

Shortly after spotting those Mustangs, this ole bug bearing Model A type wheels was seen. It is pretty sweet and the interior sported race car type seat belts.

And this olelongrooffan thought the discreet modifications done to this Type I were in especially good taste although the red was a bit bright even in the overcast Florida skies occurring at that moment.

I then looked across to City Island and spotted several transporters and decided to head on over there to see what was to be seen. As this olelongrooffan approached the bridge on Magnolia Avenue, I was stopped by a Pretty Young Thing who inquired about my ticket. Ticket? I asked. Yes you need one to gain access to the island. I asked where this olelongrooffan could get one. She directed me toward a tent and as I approached said tent, I spotted a sign that stated “One Day Admission $15, Two Days $25.
Well, my fellow Hoons, I am definitely not a cheap skate but this olelongrooffan must apologize. This year I am not going to part with fifteen bucks to see a bunch of VDubs that I probably have seen previously, either here, here or here in a much more scenic setting and for FREE. I’m not sure what the coordinators of this event were thinking when they decided to hold this event on the island that contains my regional library as well as the stadium for the Daytona Cubs minor league baseball team and charge admission. I noticed a bunch of dudes arriving at that tent and turning around and heading away from City Island.
But all was cool. I have the memories of past VDubFests and WinterJams and this olelongrooffan merely headed over to the water cooled section of the show.

There I spotted this two tone “new’ Beetle with some pretty cool wheels and dog dish hubcaps attached.

And although this olelongrooffan is 51 years old and missed out on this generation of go fast front wheel drive vehicles, I did recognize this Corrado and I still lust after one of them.

I have to tell my fellow Hoons that I just don’t get this whole concept of creating a ride

in the image of scale vehicles of a similar look. But then I am not the Bugman, nor the Assman for that matter.

I then spotted this rare green Jetta notchback and thought that was it for the day until

another one was spotted just a few yards away. I haven’t seen one of these in quite awhile and to see two in just a few minutes was pretty sweet.

And I am just not sure what the hell the theme of this camo look is. Maybe just trying to blend in with Halloween.

Trust me on this one. If my brother, thejeepjunkie, would have approved, one of these would be my daily driver rather than my Commanche. Alas…..

And this Durant depot hack is a bit out of place amongst all of these water cooled VDubs but he seems to make it to every show in town. This olelongrooffan even spotted it a while back for one of my, similar to V.I.S.I.T, “What I Saw Today” editions.

While I am not up on the latest attachments to make all things automotive go fast, this blue Golf caught my attention and I thought I would

share some images of it with my fellow Hoons.

Huge speakers and are those Nitrous (?) bottles in the rear. Is that the proper location for those?

And as has often been opined, the best cars are seen in the parking lot or, as in this case, on the street at any given car show.

And yeah, that longroof is certainly desirable but given that suspension, the ride might be a bit rough on this olelongrooffan’s butt.

And I am not certain what this newest rendering offered by Wolfsburg is

but it seemed to me to be Phaeton sized but is certainly very nice looking even though silver is not this olelongrooffan’s favorite automotive hue.

And as I was almost done with the VDub Winterjam 2011, this olelongrooffan spotted this out of the corner of my eye.

It appears to me to be a new Ford Fiesta and I sure like the looks of it. Seems that Ford has been doing a lot correct these days. Especially if they catch the eye of an old car loving dude with their newest offering.

And with a nod of the head to justacargeek.com, I spotted this Audi 80 down on the street

and given the fact there is a valve cover on the rear deck of that car, I am confident he/she is a total car junkie.

And, as this olelongrooffan was heading back to the Taj Mahal, I spotted this Type III notchback, one of the originals, and I absolutely had to

stop and get an image of it. There were very few of this body style brought over here and this is only the second or third one I have seen.
In conclusion, my apologies for not getting more images to share with my fellow Hoons but I am confident if you followed the links in this post you will get the total ghist of what the VDubFest and Winterjam is all about…..
For a whole lot less than the fifteen dollar admission charge.
But then again, tomorrow this olelongrooffan might just commandeer thejeepjunkie’s canoe and paddle up to the other side of City Island.