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Photo by Drew Fleming A two-toned Volkswagen reflected off another VW's hubcap is considered in the "bug class" at the Jackson County Exposition Park in Central Point. About 65 cars, vans and trucks from 1949 to 1999 were brought to Sunday's show -- some restored to original looks and some customized. Reflecting on an era VW fans gather tales for show By BILL KETTLER CENTRAL POINT -- Fifty years of Volkswagens covered the parking lot Sunday at the Jackson County Expo Park. Restored Beetles from the '60s and '70s stood beside gleaming Karmann Ghias and spotless Squarebacks with custom paint jobs. Men and women who grew up with the "people's car" shared stories about their adventures in VWs, while a younger generation of Volkswagen aficionados admired the old cars and several newly-minted 1999 Beetles. About 65 cars and trucks came to the show, which featured everything from a 1949 Volkswagen with a tiny, split rear window to several immaculate restorations of the mid-'60s Beetle that won a generation's heart. "Everybody either had one or knows somebody who had one," said show organizer Sue Roberts of Medford. "You talk to anybody and they have a Volkswagen story to tell you." The same features that first attracted people to Volkswagens continue to win fans for the original Beetle years after production ceased. "They're easy to work on," said 21-year old Ryan Bierly of Grants Pass, "and they're affordable to trick out." "When you put your time and sweat into them, you can have something that's really cool," said his brother, Joshua, 13. The show attracted VW clubs from Bend, Eugene and Northern California, along with cars from Jackson and Josephine counties. David Pacheco drove his restored 1971 bus from Harrisburg. Pacheco, who drives his bus daily, said the Volkswagen simplicity earned his loyalty. His 28-year-old VW has none of the sophisticated on-board computers and electronic circuitry that are standard equipment on modern cars. "It can't break if it isn't there," he said. "You can't wear it out if it's not there." Jeran Gamby, of Grants Pass, brought a customized teal-green 1968 Beetle with a chopped roofline and rear-opening "suicide" doors. "Nothing's original," he said, regaling curious onlookers with details about the car's custom engine, tuned exhaust system and electronic door openers. Gamby spent $13,000 transforming the ordinary Beetle "just to be different." Others spent just as much or more to restore their cars to look the way they did when they rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany. Dan Brown, of Salem, drove a pristine white 1964 Beetle that won oohs and ahhs for its original wicker package tray under the dashboard and the bud vase on the dash. Brown spent $15,000 restoring the car, but he added a few luxury features such as white leather upholstery and gleaming Porsche wheels. He said his little Beetle turns plenty of heads on his daily commute from Salem to Portland. `You'd think I was a rock star," he said, "the way it gets people's attention." The ancient custom of stuffing a VW was revived briefly for the show. At least 25 people, or parts of them, were crammed briefly into a 1970 Beetle, but temperatures in the mid-90s made their stay a brief one. "It was so packed nobody could breathe," said Julie Perry, of Brookings, who came with her family to see the show. "I was basically put in there like a pretzel," said Ryan Bierly. Barely old enough to buy liquor, Bierly was surprised to learn that stuffing people into Volkswagens was a popular college sport years before he was born. "No way!" he said, when someone told him people old enough to be his father crammed themselves into Beetles in the 1960s. Many people old enough to remember the original Volkswagen stuffings still have fond feelings for the cars. Gary Marlatt came to the show from Eugene with a 1967 Squareback that his dad bought new. Marlatt, 57, restored the car after his father died and installed a car stereo that features two pairs of 10-inch speakers like the ones young men put in their "boom-cars." "I can blow them clear off the road," he said. "They're all surprised by the old guy in the VW with the big stereo." George Shackelford drove his 1964 21-window micro bus (a Kombi to VW purists) from Bend. "I bought it from an herb farmer who lived in it," said Shackelford, 53. A child psychologist, Shackelford said many baby boomers seem to be drawn to Volkswagens as they seek to recapture their youth. "You don't go anywhere but that you hear a Volkswagen story," he said, "and I love to hear 'em." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA