Little Brown 1965 Beetle

Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Jon Gilbert
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Dom's Cal-look Beetle

How many people reading this can claim still to have the same Cal Look Beetle that they built 20 years ago? Dominique Adler from Switzerland can, and he hasn't stopped developing it yet

Yeah, yeah, we know, no self-respecting Cal Looker built these days has gravel guards and finger plates, let alone a flamed aerial ball or pinstriping, but then how many California Look Bugs exist in Europe that were built the best part of 20 years ago, let alone are still with the same owner? Not many, we can assure you, yet when we first spoke to Dominique Adler at Le Bug Show in Spa two years ago, we were amazed to discover that this was exactly the case with this car. And with that in mind, we thought you all might like to know a little more about it, too. Look beyond the chrome add-ons and you will see that this car is Cal Look through and through: it is nose down, has big 'n' little tyres, a great period colour and a 120bhp 1915cc screamer in the tail, while the story behind it makes it an interesting part of the European California Look movement in its own right. And who better than Dominique to explain to us how it all came about in the first place: "I visited California with a friend in 1986. We were both heavily into body building back then and we wanted to visit Muscle Beach and do some weight lifting at the famous Gold's Gym. But one day, on the way to Knott's Berry Farm, we passed an interesting-looking store in Buena Park. It was called Johnny's Speed & Chrome and in the parking lot outside was Bob Sager's pink Ghia dragster. I brought my rental car to a screeching halt and we went into the store to admire all these strange-looking parts: chrome engine tin, wheels, shifters - the works. I was amazed and I got a big, fat parts catalogue with some beautiful, almost bare-breasted women on the cover, washing a gorgeous-looking Ghia. For the following three weeks, this catalogue was my only reading..." he remembers with a twinkle in his eye.

For the full story check out the February 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 28th December and then available through back issues.

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