We love it when we see new ideas at car shows, and an idea we had not seen until only a few years ago is pictured here: The “Dub Push,” a one-on-one drag race between teams pushing air-cooled Volkswagens, engines off.
The photo was taken at the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society’s annual “All Air-Cooled Gathering” on September 21, a show that is of course VW-centric but which welcomes air-cooled vehicle of all stripes, which is why it includes Porsches and Corvairs and other air-cooled cars far less common.
For the Dub Push, a 100-foot drag strip is laid out on the lawn and teams physically push the cars, one person in the car to steer and brake, the remaining team members giving it all they’ve got. It’s great fun and a great change from the usual car show.
Each year has a “theme” car, and this year it was the second-generation VW bus, referred to as the “bay window” because of it’s expansive windshield. There were oodles of bay windows, and substantially more than 100 VW vans and pickups of all vintages among the more than 300 air-cooled vehicles in attendance.
Also, you could likely build an entire air-cooled Volkswagen from the wares available in the swap meet, starting with the whole chassis on one vendor’s trailer and then moving on to another vendor’s engine, a third’s wheels and tires, and so on.
The rules governing vehicle eligibility are expressed as “if it’s air-cooled it’s cool,” and the members of the Central Jersey Volkswagen Society are no snobs: Last year the best-of-show trophy went to a spiffy 1964 Corvair camper van from Virginia.
This show is most definitely worth a visit next September if you are anywhere within reach of Flanders, New Jersey. Cars come from great distances, and you’ll see vintage Volkwagens that represent every conceivable taste in motordom – and some inconceivable ones, too!