#TBT | When Volkswagen Beetles reigned supreme

By John Doonan

We all dream of the day when we come across the perfect specimen for our next race car. For some of us it comes in the form of a co-worker’s beater as it sputters into the office lot. For others it may be the nose of a car that sticks out the end of a barn we spot as we scream down a country road.

For my family, it all started when a young woman knocked at our front door one cold winter night some 25 years ago.

Early in his club racing career, my father campaigned Formula Vees and sports racers, but he always wanted to build a sedan car. Those few angry thumps on the door that one chilly evening would ultimately make this long-time sedan dream a reality, and boy, would it come cheap: 50 bucks to be exact.

When we answered the door, the depressed woman broke into a sermon about this “blankety-blank” car of hers and how it had been nothing but trouble since her boyfriend bought it for her. She really only wanted to borrow our phone, but ultimately she walked out of our house minus one 1969 Type I Volkswagen Beetle (complete with a burned valve) but with $50 cash.

Six months later, after a full race preparation, this car made its road racing debut at Blackhawk Farms Raceway (Rockton, Ill.) and ran against the Volvo 122s and 142s, Datsun 510s and 610s, and BMW 2002s of Midwestern Council’s Sedan category. To this day, the same car that broke down in front of our house continues to be one of many Volkswagen Beetles that help make up Midwestern Council of Sports Car Club’s (MCSCC) unique Volkswagen Sedan (VWS) class.

It may be difficult to imagine those cute little “love bugs” of the ’60s tearing around a road course, but the truth is that on about a dozen weekends throughout the racing season you can find a handful of Beetles (among other Volkswagen models-see specifications list) doing battle at tracks like Road America (Wisc.), Grattan (Mich.), Gingerman (Mich.), and Blackhawk Farms (Ill.) as part of this sporty class.

And do they ever battle! This group of competitors is a very closeknit bunch, but they are not afraid to run doorhandle-to-doorhandle for 20 or 30 laps, exchanging the lead two or three times a lap, weekend in and weekend out.

As has been the case since the class started in the early ’70s, the majority of the VWS competitors drive Type I Beetles. There have been rule changes over the last decade, however, that allow Type Ills, Rabbits, Sciroccos, Dashers, Jettas, and yes, even the Rabbit Diesel to join in the fray.

The cars that compete in VWS range from 1200-1588cc, depending on the model of Volkswagen entered. Rule limitations keep standard body styles intact (bumpers and their supports may be removed) and prevent the cars from becoming tube-chassis GT cars. Rule changes even have to specify that no “center seating” is allowed, because a creative soul showed up with a center-seating Type III some years ago that was a real screamer in a MCSCC Sedan class.

When it comes right down to it, though, these Volkswagen Sedans are tried and true sedan road racers, and while the cars are considered “current era” race cars for the time being, most of the 1997 entries qualify for the Council’s rules in pre-1975 vintage/historic classifications.

The VWS cars run on racing slicks and usually run in the same race group with the small Production cars (F, G, and H Production Midgets and Sprites), with small GT cars, or with Spec Racers. On occasion, the VWS cars have also run with the big iron GT-1 Camaros and Corvettes, depending on the entry list for a given weekend.

In general, Volkswagen Sedan lap times typically compare to front-running Improved Touring B cars. On most tracks top speeds usually reach 125 mph on a long straightaway (like the trip down into Turn 5 at Road America). In wet weather, the rear engined VWS cars (a.k.a. “Water Bugs”) truly shine and have been known to take overall honors, even when running with big GT cars.

The main crew of VWS drivers who have campaigned full seasons of Midwestern Council road racing recently includes a diehard group: Art Schmidt from Stoughton, Wisc.; Ron Petrucci of St. Charles, Ill. ; the father/son team of Don and Kurt Meyer of Madison, Wisc.; Bill Snively, also from near Madison; and Jim Uppenkamp of Beloit, Wisc. In the end, this sextet of VWS drivers has prepared their Type I Beetles to nearly identical standards.

Who says you can't race a Beetle? Longtime VW Sedan racer Ron Petrucci and his 1969 Beetle.

Most everything under the engine cover is based on stock Volkswagen components. Rules allow the cars to run a counterweighted crankshaft, similar to those available from Gene Berg in California, as long as the engine stroke remains the same. In addition, any pistons, piston pins, and camshaft may be substituted. To keep things running cool at their 6500-6800 rpm redline, the cars undoubtedly have an extra oil sump pump on board and are usually fitted with an external oil filter and cooler.

In many other areas of the engine, drivers are allowed to use alternate assemblies (example: rocker arms and valve springs) as long as the original geometry remains the same. The engine’s compression ratio also may be increased by machining and/or using thinner head gaskets, or by eliminating head gaskets completely. California’s Performance Technology has prepared heads for a number of the competitors over the years; yet other drivers still prep their own heads.

To help the VWs breathe, rules allow for the installation of any substitute carburetor (or carburetors), provided that the number of carburetors and venturis remain the same. For coming up or down through the gears, rules govern for altering the final drive ratio, clutch linkage, and differential, as long as the transmission housing is not substituted or modified.

According to Art Schmidt of Stoughton, Wisc., these cars are producing about 90 horsepower at the clutch–a real stretch from the old 40-horse Formula Vees. Finally, rules allow for the cars to be fitted with some sort of straight-pipe exhaust, usually the Stinger-style (straight out the back on the Type Is).

When it comes to stopping power, the VWS cars have plenty, as some of the drivers use Karmann Ghia front disc brakes fueled by a dual-type master cylinder and racing-quality brake pads. Once into the corner, front and rear anti-roll bars help the handling. Coming out of the same corners, these sedans have been caught lifting an inside front wheel nearly six inches off the track. It is really something to see these Bugs go through a turn.

To set the car’s lower ride height, many drivers over-torque the front springs and replace stock shocks with Bilstein products. After all these suspension modifications, rules state that the wheelbase of the cars must not be changed or relocated in either direction.

Each of the cars’ interiors is gutted NASCAR-style, and a racing seat is typically installed. The majority of the competitors have included a full roll cage in their preparation for chassis strengthening and driver safety. In fact, the roll cages in the cars of Art Schmidt and Ron Petrucci were built by Roxanne Header and Sharland Formula Vee designer/builder Mikus Sipos of California. Sipos, himself a longtime Midwestern Council Volkswagen Sedan racer, raced the car currently campaigned by Petrucci in the early 1970s. Standard racing harnesses, window nets, window safety clips, battery boxes, and on-board fire systems are also the norm in the class.

Rounding out the safety features of the typical VWS racer is a racing fuel cell, which many competitors use in place of the stock Volkswagen fuel tank to help prevent additional danger in case of impact.

One of the original VW Sedans, built by the author's father, John G. Doonan. As shown in its original Sedan 5 configuration back in 1975, the car was once clocked at 139 mph. Art Schmidt still races the car.

Over the years, the VWS class has provided a steady venue for committed Volkswagen lovers to run. I have watched these cars run for the last 25 years and I know that each of the competitors absolutely loves running the VW sedan class. When asked why this group of VW enthusiasts continues to pound out lap after lap in these sedans, Ron Petrucci noted, “One of the best parts of continuing to run Volkswagen Sedan is the look on a stranger’s face when you tell them you are racing one of these things, that it will wind all the way up to 7000 rpm, and that it will go so fast. People just can’t believe it!”

During some of the years when class participation was down, the VWS cars found themselves in the midst of season points battles with Bugeye Sprites as part of the H Production class. In still other years, the VWS cars were part of a class called Sedan 2, which mirrors today’s SCCA GT5 class.

Outside of a few exceptions, the last 20 years have brought a VW Beetle to the top of the list in a Midwestern Council Class Championship points battle. Hopefully the next few racing seasons will continue the trend, and from the looks of things, there is no end in sight.

The flock of Beetles has been joined by other Volkswagen models over the last couple of years to help keep the class alive. For example, John Palmieri of Winfield, Ill., finished second in the 1996 point standings in his ’76 VW Scirocco after winning one event and finishing in second place three times.

So, next time you are fueling up at the local gas mart and that 16-year-old pulls up next to you in his Beetle (running on three cylinders, of course), try offering him 50 bucks for it. Who knows, with a little creativity you may be in for a ton of fun after some simple and low-buck race car preparation.

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