Events Coverage
2006 Vintage Watercooled Gathering in San Dimas, California
By by: Paul Grimes, photos by author
Dec 20, 2006, 21:24

The weekend of November 3rd marked the third annual Vintage Watercooled gathering in warm and sunny Southern California. The event has been very successful in the past and this year was no exception; it drew over 150 vehicles and nearly 300 people to Bonelli Park in San Dimas, California.

Part of the draw of an event like this is the fantastic weather that graces Southern California’s valleys and for those people coming from out of state it helps to enhance the experience. The drive across the desert from Phoenix to our destination is graced with glassy smooth roads until you reach the power generating windmills just West of Palm Desert and Mrs. Ortega’s Highway.



The weekend kicked off with most of the out of state participants coming in on Friday. I accompanied a caravan of 6 cars from Phoenix but others arrived from Northern California, Las Vegas, and Oregon. Several people traveled as far as New York and Michigan and of course one such forum member Andy (PoloV8) made his way from the UK. There was a cookout on Friday night and Saturday found a group of about 25 cars going on a drive through a nearby canyon. Sunday was capped off by a group breakfast and then the gathering commenced at 10:00 am.



What makes this gathering as memorable is the amount of enthusiasm that these owners have not only for the cars they drive but for the preservation of the heritage of the vehicles that they represent. The best part of weekends like this is to talk to other owners and hear about how they overcame the obstacles involved in rebuilding and modifying a car that with each passing day becomes rarer and rarer.



With the group saying their respective goodbyes around 3:00 pm on Sunday the Phoenix group made their way across a moonlight soaked desert for the five hour drive home. As our dimly-lit taillights illuminated the road behind us it was highly symbolic that one of our more “experienced” members of our caravan had one taillight out—with some cars it is just a never-ending labor of love.

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