Nationally Recogonized

The Annual Pumpkin Run Nationals is one of the region's largest car gatherings, drawing over 2500 vehicles from 1970 or earlier. It is also one of the longer running events, celebrating its 39th year this past October. None of this has been lost on the national level as magazines and even the guru of car television, Dennis Gage, have covered it. (Full disclosure, I happen to know Dennis but that doesn't detract from him being the king of car show television.) To see the story on the 2013 Pumpkin Run, check out this link to My Classic Car (http://www.myclassiccar.com/episode/18/23/).

Fastiques

The Southern Ohio chapter of the Fastiques Rod and Custom club sponsors the Pumpkin Run Nationals each year and uses this event to raise money for a number of charities. Their biggest charity is the Shrine Burns Institute. They were able to give $50,000 the the hospital in 2013. They were also able to contribute to other charities helping children, including the Earth Angel Foundation and the Hillbilly Clan. Yes, this is what car people do.

39th Annual Pumpkin Run

Here it is near the end of the year and I'm finally getting around to posting photos from the shows that took place at the end of our season. This week I'll post from this year's 39th Annual Pumpkin Run. The Pumpkin Run Nationals is one of the largest car gatherings in the region, pulling in over 2500 vehicles; at least that's how many had registered when I was there on the second day of this three-day event. You can find information about the Pumpkin Run on their web site (http://pumpkinrunnationals.com/).

That Thing Again?

Technically it was dubbed the Volkswagen Type 181 Kurierwagen and was never really intended to be sold to the public. But when it was it became known as The Thing (if you're interested, here is an earlier blog about this machine: http://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-volkswagon-thing.html). There were some nice examples on hand at this year's VW Porsche Family Reunion.

Dune Buggies at the Familiy Reunion

Since VW Beetles are so easy to work with (let's face it, a screwdriver and a wrench and you can take one apart and put it back together) people began using that durable frame and drive train to turn the car into all new creations. The most fun, perhaps, have been dune buggies. Some are basically re-bodied Bugs while others are completely new machines all together. In any case, the VW Porsche Family Reunion had a bunch on display.

The Perfect Hippy Vehicle

At the very end of the 1950s, countries throughout Europe and North America were building roads to crisscross their continents. Families were beginning to take their vacations in their cars. Some folks wanted to go camping while others just wanted a little extra room when they traveled. To accommodate this new breed of traveler, VW created what they called their Camper.

In the 60s, it seemed, that the VW Camper became the vehicle of choice of the new, young hippy generation and this compact classic continues to hold that association even today. A large number of Campers were on hand at this year's VW Porsche Family Reunion and in talking with a number of owners they my not have been hippies but they did enjoy taking their rides camping.