That's Zyncro Young Man

So, after spending a couple post Turkey Run days out of town for a small project, this olelongrooffan returned to my home in the Birthplace of Speed around mid-afternoon. I had eaten a sturdy breakfast prior to leaving but had spent the lunch hour, on a rare trip on a portion of the Eisenhower Highway System here in central Florida, without bothering to stop at any of the multiple corporate roadside eateries along the way. Upon the culmination of that road trip and knowing I had almost no food left in the frig at my condo, also realizing how much I can spend shopping an my local Publix when I am hungry, (hummus anyone?) I did something relatively unheard of in my world; I hit up the Golden Arches for a quick, cheap and tasteless sammich and fries prior to doing the whole grocery thing.

Well, I have say this about that, the experience around the acquisition of that McChicken sammich was unlike any other.



As I desolately awaited, in that ubiquitous drive thru lane, for my sustainable, abate cheap, mundane sammich and fries (this olelongrooffan seldom does not have a couple Diet Cokes just a reach away) to be prepared, I innocently looked over to the parking area just a driving lane away.

While there may be a couple vehicles in the next image that may be of some interest to those Counting Along With Me, the above infrequently seen decal was, well, seen on the front of a parked motor vehicle, and it immediately drew my attention. Yeah Counters, it was a Volkswagen Syncro. Rarely seen however there is one round these here parts but it is a bone stock version and, trust me based on experience, "Not For Sale."



Anyway, I saw this treasure and the couple sitting in the front were demonstrating their ability to Celebrate Life as was evidenced by her reading the text as seen on her laptop and his giggling all time.

Well, this olelongrooffan knew at that moment the then hot, quasi chicken sammich was going to get cold while I checked these folks out. And it did.

I circled around those clueless Seabreeze High School kids hanging at Mickey D's after school let out and I parked adacent to that palm tree possessing parking median next to my Holy Grail, that Syncro.

As I approached this laughing, obviously enjoying life couple, Rainier lowered the driver's side window to accept my presence.

I introduced myself and them to By The Numbers and commented I am a contributor to all things Hoon, and he introduced himself and, cordially, allowed his partner, Bridgitte, to introduce herself. She graciously spelled it out for me. She then mentioned she was on a local to the Sunshine State blog looking for a great place to stay the night. As she, the 60 something retired secretary for an "American firm" in "the middle of Germany," had decided on a location to retire for this evening, she was prepared to let her partner, a 71 year old retired owner of a German AutoDriving Instruction company, get them safely to their destination down near Cape Canaveral.



Of course, this olelongrooffan had a couple million questions for them and they were gracious enough to let us all know what they were up to.

"Longroof, we're retired. Can you think of anything better to do than tour the world?"

"After touring the rest of the US and western Canada, we are headed to the West Coast of your States then through South America to either Australia or the south of Africa, It really depends on the next ship leaving the port."



It turns out that Rainier, at a young and enthusiatic 71 years of age, has done a previous "Around The World" trip with his, now 30 something and offspring expecting, son joining in for various segments of that trip.

"It was three years ago," he commented, with some translation from Bridgitte, "that we finished that year long trip. That one was also in an older Syncro through Africa and the Middle East, but not as much fun. I didn't know then what I know now," he shared with me, along with a wink of the eye as he, and his longtime traveling partner, Bridgitte squabbled over the something trivial that is still beyond this language impaired olelongrooffan.

But they are still laughing and she mentioned they had often been approached for photographs but noone had ever asked about their adventures.

"Of course, touring the world in a 1989, somewhat relatively obscure, (c'mon, a Syncro?) machine has to be problematic? Is it not?," I asked.

"This time the only problems," Rainier related, "on this 20,000 km trip thus far, we have had have been with the fuel filler tube leaking and the 'gearbox B-needle' problems. However we have met a couple guys, one here in Maryland and another in Canada who have been instrumental in getting those problems resolved." Rainier did comment on how polite everyone has been thus far about their adventures and the limited number of obstacles encountered. Note here that Bridgette offered a whole damned bunch of translation for this conversation to have taken place.



As we all may imagine, the conversation evolved toward the "when, where, and why" questions my journalist father, TheGentlemanFarmer, always want to know.

Bridgitte and Rainier left "the middle of Germany" five months ago and caught a ship to Nova Scotia. On to Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, (or vice versa)then down "into the States" via Minnesota. They spend no set period of time in each locale, it all depends on the weather, the local yokels (yeah that is this olelongrooffan's term) and Bridgitte and Rainier's own state of mind.

One of the many endearing aspects we spoke of during this conversation in the parking lot of that corporate American icon, thus far ignored by our visiting brethren Hoons (other than the free wifi), was the fact they are choosing to stay off the Eisenhower Highway System so as to see the real life sights that our country has to offer.

As a fellow follower of the whole "stay off the beaten path" philosophy, I asked about the overnite experiences they have had.

Although this olelongrooffan does not immediately recognize the most comfortable language Bridgitte and Rainier possess, I identified with Bridgitte when she put her hands in the air at the command,

"Hands up"

when they encountered a constable up in Canada. But it was immediately noted that "they were very polite."

Bridgitte added she thought those officers may have been surprised to see a "couple of such advanced age" enjoying a free overnight spot in their mode of transportation.



Rainier immediately popped in with the comment that the power to that laptop, as well as the frig and lighting, is supplied by the solar panel he installed in the fixed top a buddy of his and he had constructed just above the contoured map of the world on the driver's side of their Syncro. Their heater is powered via propane.

He took me around some more of the modifications including "raising the body" (a lift kit), an "open sleep tent" (that diamond plated folding tent at the rear of that fixed top, and a bypass for the carldan shaft. Rainer even looked that term up in his quick reference book of translations. This conversation occurred when I asked about gas mileage and "do you ever take it off road?" I tried several times to comprehend what the name was but I finally got that it was the forward driveshaft on that highly desirable Vanagon. Yeah, this guy and a buddy engineered a way to disengage the front driveshaft to increase the fuel mileage of this old four wheel drive Bus! And yes, Rainier pulled the old rubber encased VW knob on the dash and mentioned how it is engaged for off road use.

Our conversation then evolved into the inevitable "Why in the hell a Syncro?"

Of course, the bulk of this conversation was with Rainier as the primary spokesman, so it was not a "Syncro" but a "Zyncro". It took me a moment to catch on but then this olelongrooffan figured it out.

His response?

"My first car was a Volkswagen Type II with 15" tires."

"My second one was a Volkswagon Type II with 16" tires."

"Why wouldn't I want my best traveling experience to be around the world with a wonderful partner in a Zyncro?"



After we discussed the means of powering this beast, an intercooled, ssupercharged, fuel injected 2.0 liter motor sourced from a Golf, and the idiosyncratic rules concerned the length of time one can stay here in the States on a government issued visa, we took our leave from each other.

As I was returning to my Comanche, I felt truly happy for this couple and wanted to offer them something for their journey to remind them of our visit. I passed by the rear end of my old truck and noticed the "DB" magnet that has adorned every automobile I have owned since I moved here. I pulled that magnet off, returned to Rainier and Bridgitte and offered my small token of appreciation for their time. Rainier immediately jumped out of that Zyncro and shook my hand. "Thank you very much young man," were his final words to me.



I again returned to my "beater" truck and moved on down the road to my next adventure all the while wish Rainier and Bridgitte all the best on theirs.

Yeah, It Was A Fun Drive Back To The Taj Mahal

So, this past Sunday while this olelongrooffan was driving back to the Taj Mahal from administering that construction continuing education class, I spotted this and it was my first
What I Saw Today post in some time. If you missed it, you can find it here.

So, anyway, after spotting that cool old woody, this olelongrooffan just cruised up US 1 for a few scenic miles along the intercoastal waterway.
It was an absolute Chamber of Commerce day out and see that speed limit sign to the left in the above image? That is why I choose to stay off the Eisenhower Interstate System whenever I can. All those Hoons out on I-95 missed sighting that ole woody and this calming view of the water.

They also missed seeing this vintage GMC motorhome in beautiful downtown Sebastian, Florida. It had a faded for sale sign in the front window and I called the phone number but, sadly, got no answer so this olelongrooffan is unable to provide the year or the price. While it has a current registration tag on the rear, the tires were extremely dry rotted and the interior was full of boxes. Oh, and the Toronado 455 cubic inch engine's air cleaner was on the kitchen table. But this olelongrooffan would sure love to have one of these rare RV's. More info on these works of art can be found here.

And those travelers on that Interstate system also missed this. I spotted this when I doubled back to get that image of the coastline. It was parked in a marina about 1/2 mile from the bridge I was crossing. Although buses aren't my strongest suit, I think this one is a Crown Coach but all I've seen via google image show just two headlamps as opposed to the four on this one. And the ominous sign declaring this to be Private Property detered this olelongrooffan from getting any closer than this to get a zoomed in image.

So, as I was passing through Cocoa Beach, heading north on A1A, this olelongrooffan spotted a 30's era street rod heading south. Since they had the top up on that oleragtop, I knew they weren't just out cruising around. I immediately remembered this happened so this olelongrooffan kept an eye peeled for any sign of a car show.

Well Counters, this olelongrooffan and my oleragtop had traveled less than two city blocks and a car show was spotted in the parking lot and along the promenade of a pretty upscale beachfront hotel.
One of the first vehicles I really appreciated was this 1960 VW double cab parked in a highly desired spot along the promenade. It had a "Hawaii" theme, ie stickers, license etc. so this olelongrooffan walked up to that dude in the above image and struck up a conversation with he and his wife, the owners of the sweet double cab.
It turns out they retired to north central florida after living most of their lives in Hawaii and two of their three sons still live there. We got to talking about car shows and old cars in general. I asked them did they attend the VDub fest in Daytona Beach? "Definitely," was their response. "The last two years, we won Best In Class with this truck." Yeah Counters it is just that nice.
Further discussion took place and it was revealed that this couple had owned a '60 double cab when they lived in Hawaii, as well as some later generation single cabs. He mentioned he was a carpenter and would carry all of his tools in the "treasure chest" underneath the bed and rear seat and noone was the wiser. He commented, with a twinkle in his eye, "The bed was reserved for surf boards."

When I took leave of that genuinely amusing couple as this olelongrooffan was walking away, he says, "Hey John." I turn and he says "Hope to see you at the VDubfest next year." Know this Counters, I'm going to be keeping my eye out for that cool ole doublecab and its wonderful owners.
Just down a piece from them was this sweet Pontiac Parisienne convertible. If memory serves me correctly, I think Pontiac marketed the Parisienne only in Canada.
The automatic transmission shift lever was located in the console providing for a bit of a sporty feel.
And it was about a mile long. Both my Uncle Frank and TheGentlemanFarmer would lust after this sweet oleragtop. I know I do.
There were a ton of other cars, coupes from the 30's
and from the 50's. This show is put on by Mike Wolf, who runs the weekly shows over near MickeyMouseLand in Old Town. This show, like a Concours d'Elegance, was by invitation only and limited to 200 vehicles.
There were a bunch of "run of the mill" muscle cars
restomods
and street rods to be found all around the show.
In addition, included in this show were the kissing cousins of the MOPAR variety, the Cuda above and the Challenger below.
I thought this license plate was pretty humorous. I like to think this olelongrooffan lives on "One Happy Island" of my own. This Offy, tri carb motor was included on this rare
race car. It was blue oval derived and an extremely nice piece.
This Bowtie Camaro restomod was pretty and its bright yellow and gloss black paint job really showed well in our Florida sun.
This is an extremely rare Mercury Cyclone and was set up in excellent stock condition. One of the rare Detroit derived coupes his olelongrooffan would love to have in his livery.
I also spotted a couple of big Fords of the coupe and convertible variety. The following image is what I remember to be a 1969 or 70 Galaxie 500. It was equipped with a rare 429 cubic inch motor. I am confident it was, and still is, a real sleeper in its day.
I also spotted another Galaxie 500 from the 1963 model year. This one was of the convertible variety and sported a 390 under the hood.
As you can see in the following image, there was a large variety of vehicles in this show.
This souped up z28 from the 1969 model year bore
huge shoes on the rear axle.
This olelongrooffan finds it funny. I hadn't seen a Dodge Dart Sw*nger in many years of car show hooning but I have seen a different one at each of the last three shows I attended.
This street rod pickup was put together nicely but I thought the color combination was a bit odd.
I spotted this 1957 Buick Special hanging out at the local watering hole at the end of the promenade.
And like the Buick Super this olelongrooffan spotted here, the fuel door was located in the rear bumper.
I left the promenade area and headed out to the parking lot which had drawn this olelongrooffan off of A1A in the first place.

One of the cooler things I spotted was this cool Triumph TR3. I don't remember the exact year but this body style came out of Canley, England during the late 50's and early 60's.
Under the bonnet is either the 1,931 cc or the 2,138 cc Standard/Triumph Vanguard power plant capable of propelling this sweet little sports car up to a top speed of 109 miles per hour! H*ll Counters, my 1963 Ford Falcon Station Bus is scary as sh*t at 50, I can just imagine this oleragtop at twice that speed!
It is a typical little two seater and it would be fun to hoon around during the warm summer months.
And look where the spare tire is kept! Pretty cool car and the first one I have seen in recent memory.

Over on the tennis courts were several street rods of indeterminable make to this olelongrooffan. And, of course, there were the usual variety of tri 5 Bowties and Shoebox Mustangs.
Out in the parking lot, across from that TR3, I spotted this original year of production, 1964, Pontiac GTO. There is an interesting history to the Pontiac Gran Turismo Omologato.
In the early 60's, all US manufacturers decided to get out of racing. Pontiac management was a bit upset about this as performance on the track was a big part of their reputation and publicity. Apparently an ad exec named Jim Wangers came up with the idea of putting a 389 cubic inch motor under the hood of Pontiac's version of the GM's "A" body, their Tempest. At the time GM had a policy of limiting the "A" body to a maximum of 330 cubic inches. John Delorean, yes that John Delorean, Pontiac's chief engineer at the time, decided to offer the 389, and some suspension upgrades to the Pontiac Tempest as an option and was able to get that by Pete Estes, then President of the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors. However, by the time the GTO went into producdtion, it was included as an option on the slightly more upscale LeMans as opposed to the somewhat lowly Tempest.
The one this olelongrooffan spotted at that unexpected show was equipped with "tri-power", that is three two barrel carborators attached to that 389 motor.
This GTO also included the 4 speed manual transmission common to most of them back in the day.
Only 6,644 convertibles were produced that year out of a total GTO production of 32,450 cars.

This olelongrooffan remembers that a high school buddy, Mark Wissbaum, had a 64 post GTO and it would lift the left front tire off the ground from a standing start! Yeah, Wizz was the first real gearhead I had ever met.

One of the last vehicles this olelongrooffan spotted was this 1957 Ford F1. It appeared to be in original condition and was a highly desirable piece of Blue Oval history.

It possessed a Fordomatic two speed transmission
and this cool *ss hood ornament. The tailfin on this is light blue acrylic and is just awesome.
And like my fellow blogger, Tamerlane, observes, sometimes the parking lot of a car show has some pretty cool vehicles also.
As I was heading back to my oleragtop to head get On The Road Again, this olelongrooffan spotted this Lamborghini Diablo resting comfortably in the non show parking lot of that beachside hotel.
While not really my tastes in members of the vehicular persuasion they are pretty cool and relatively rare.
And, yeah, it was white.
And although it is a bit difficult to make out in the $50 Polaroid provided image, the targa top is stored on the rear deck lid when removed. Pretty cool for a supercar.

So, as I mentioned, this olelongrooffan jumped in my oleragtop....see what I mean about parking lots?....that is a current gen Challenger parked next to my oleragtop....and headed on up A1A to see what was to be seen.
As I was driving along, this olelongrooffan got to thinking about thejeepjunkie and his declaration of "No More Jeeps" and I spotted this ole "pontoon Mercedes" and circled around to get an image of it as I thought thejeepjunkie might want to change his name.
Well, as I have mentioned in a previous post, this olelongrooffan met up with Manuel Labor earlier in the week and I stopped by on that Sunday afternoon to see thejeepjunkie at that jobsite. He was there and related that he and TheGoodAttorney had retrieved, yet, another Willy's product from oblivion and it was parked behind his shop.

Well, you Counters know this olelongrooffan had to go take a look.
This CJ3B was every bit as nasty and worn out as thejeepjunkie described it and, after some serious parts removal
by this olelongrooffan, it is, unfortunately, destined for that metal recycling yard on LPGA Boulevard.

So, after spotting that rusted relic over on the Mainland, this olelongrooffan took the Main Street drawbridge causeway back to the Beachside island upon which I live.

As I was passing by Our Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church, this olelongrooffan spotted a bunch of trucks and trailers in their parking lot and school yard.

Oh sh*t I remembered, it is JeepJamboreeWeekend. So, of course this olelongrooffan whips a Ueee in that oleragtop to go see what's still around at the end of this weekend.
I sure am glad I did as this ole CJ2A, much like thejeepjunkie's and the Bus's was parked up on his "toy hauler" getting ready for its ride back to Duval County, home of the largest geographically anyway, city in Florida, Jacksonville.
It was a nice piece having received a frame off restoration not to many miles ago.
It also sported the same black head light bezzles as thejeepjunkie's 2A but I really like the chain hooks welded to the front bumper.
Yeah just a really nice example of an early flatfender Willy's product, demonstrated by the split windshield.
And hey there jeepjunkie, this one has wipers!!
So, all in all, an eventful day in the life of this olelongrooffan, as most of them are. Well, the ones that make this blog anyway.

But know this Counters, on that fun Sunday in mid May, 2010, this olelongrooffan really was able to

Celebrate Life.