Robert Mossman's 1955 Oval won the Stock, '54-'57 award. Watch for a feature on this outstanding Oval.
Of course, what would Litchfield be without the "Old Red Heb" of VW Trends columnist, and Great Race participant, Bill Collins?
Any questions?
Chris Chiaffitelli, from Rockaway, N.Y., not only won the Radical Custom Award with his Street Rod-influenced '63 Split, he also went home with the Best Of Show--Custom Aircooled trophy. Watch for a feature on this no-holds-barred car.
Best Aircooled Engine, Modified, went to the entry of Nick Luccese.
Paul Maher's Clodhopper Buggy was one of the nicer Buggies on display.
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The 13th Annual Litchfield Bug In
Rain Didn't Stop This One.....
By VW Trends Staff
Photography: VW Trends Staff
I don't know how many of you read my editorial, titled "Behave Yourselves" in the October 2001 issue of VW Trends, but it concerned the June 2001 Litchfield Bug In. For the first time in 13 years, event promoter Chuck Pisconski had to call off the show because of rain. This was not just a typical get-everything-a-little-wet downpour; this was Hurricane Allison making a landfall and heading directly to the Harwinton fairgrounds in Harwinton, Conn. Chuck, in the interest of safety for the participants, called the show,and had re-scheduled it for October 13, with a rain date of October 14. I was there during the torrential rainfall in June and side with Chuck completely.
However, this is about the re-scheduled Litchfield Bug In.
First off, Mother Nature paid Chuck back for the inclement weather in June by giving him a Chamber-of-Commerce day in October. I had always thought, when I saw the New England Fall colors in a magazine that the photographs were taken with the aid of filters or enhanced somehow. Not so. The whole of Connecticut and all of New England was ablaze with the most amazing array of colors--red, yellow, orange--the whole spectrum of colors was on display. Okay, enough of the travelogue, let's get to the show.
Once again, Chuck and Dorothy Pisconski put on a top-notch, well-run and organized show. While it is true that they didn't get the car count they normally do, due to the re-scheduling of the event, they still ended up with a whopping 236 cars in the show, with vendors and swappers and all the things you have come to expect from the Litchfield Bug In. The 2,600-plus spectators and 92 vendors that came allowed Chuck not only to recoup a little of the financial beating he took in June, but he was also able to present his favorite charity, the Bronc Callahan Community Fund, with a check for the remainder of the money. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Chuck, you and Dorothy and all of your volunteers are a class act.
The caliber of cars that show up to the Litchfield Bug In never ceases to amaze me. These cars rival anything we in VW-spoiled Southern California can muster. There are quite a number of Classes from Stock to All-Out Custom and watercooled as well, so there is literally a class for everything Volkswagen has ever put out.
One of my favorite parts of the Litchfield Bug In is always the swap meet. I always manage to come home with the amazing smokin' deal, and this time, it was a Convertible "W" decklid for a price I don't think I should mention in the magazine. Suffice it to say, I was offered more than double what I paid for it before I ever left the show grounds. There were many other deals to be had, as well. Even if you aren't into the show car thing, come to Litchfield for the swap meet; it's that good.
Okay, okay, on to the show. One of the real standouts in the aircooled categories was Humberto Lapa's freshly finished 1950 Split Window. This car was amazing; it had the "Humberto'ed" attention to detail that has to be seen to be believed. Of course, Humberto walked away with the Stock-to-1953 class award and also the Best of Show-Aircooled award. One of the debut cars that really caught my attention was the Oval of Gary Constantine, of Mass. This was another one of those "attention to detail" cars that, every time you look at it, it gets better. Watch for a feature on this beautiful Oval along with class award winner Robert Mossman's equally magnificent 1955 Oval.
Once again, Chuck and Dorothy Pisconski are to be commended for the well-run, well-organized show. Of course, they couldn't do it without all of their sponsors and volunteers. The list of sponsors that help make this show the outstanding success that it is, include Langan Volkswagen, in Meriden, Conn., People Kars, Fred's Import Specialists, Bob's Auto Parts. Bug City, Canton Sign Shop, Valley Imported Auto, Inc. and Common Gear. Chuck wants to thank Tom Matulis, Todd Marfak, and Dan Climan for all of their unwavering support and help before, during, and after the show. You guys may not know how important you are to the smooth operation of the show, but Chuck and Dorothy do, and they thank you for it.
Next year, Chuck and Dorothy will most likely resume the show date of mid-June, but it would be just fine with me if they kept it in October; the weather was perfect, the Fall colors were beyond description and everyone behaved themselves this time. Folks, this is one of the premiere events in the Northeast, and if you miss it, you really miss out.
The CVA's Fall Foliage Cruise
The Connecticut Volkswagen Association puts on a Fall Foliage cruise, much like the one you read about in the March 2002 issue of VW Trends. This year, I was fortunate, in that the Litchfield Bug I show was rescheduled for the day prior to the cruise, so I was able to participate in this. It's not a car show; it's not actually an event; rather, it's a bunch of Connecticut VW people getting in one last drive in their beloved VWs before they put them away for the winter. What better time to do it that during the riot of color that is Fall in New England and what better place than the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut?
The Cruise started in Bantam Lake, in Morris, and wound around through some of the prettiest country in New England. I got real lucky, as the CVA doesn't allow anything but a VW on the cruise, but I had Chuck Pisconski, with his daily driver '62 Sunroof Beetle and John Plow, of www.cal-look.com, willing to give me a ride in his Cal-Look ( naturally) Euro '67 Beetle ("Preserved, Not Restored," August 2001, VW Trends).
If you want to find out more about the CVA annual Fall Foliage cruise, you can call Joe Hughes at (860) 274-6406, John Intagliata at (860) 747-3744, or access the CVA webite at www.designsforgrowth.com/cva/index.asp.
RESULTS STOCK CLASSES
Stock, to '53 Humberto Lapa, Stock, '54-'57 Robert Mossman, Stock, '58-'64 Rick & Cindy Pacheco, Stock, '65-'67 Ruth Chaffee, Stock, '68-Up, Paul Marchinkoski, Bug Convertible, to '72 Linda Sprick, Bug Convertible, '73-'79 Rocky & Lisa Hollenbach, Ghia Coupe John Karaban, Ghia Convertible, Vince Vespe, Type 181 (Thing) Bernard Von Barron, Type 3 & 4 Don Welsh, Daily Driver, Aircooled Dave Viselli, TRANSPORTERS Transporter, to '67 Sage Maxon, Transporter, '68-'79 Karl & Jane Bower, Transporter, '80 and Up Steve & Maria Stankowski, WATERCOOLED A-1 Stock Ted Madfis, A-1 Modified Luis Pelez, A-2 Stock Mark Massirio, A-2 Modified Jay Kilduff, A-3 Stock Glen Barth, A-3 Modified Todd Dery, A-4 Stock Shawn Welkley, A-4 Modified Tim Kovitch, Full Custom Eric Buckland, New Beetle Stock Rich DiMarino, New Beetle Custom Nicole La Vallee, Mild Custom, to '67 Fred Saez, Mild custom, '63- Up Raul Lugo, Radical Custom Chris Chiaffitelli, Bajas & Rails Miguel Diaz, Special Interest Dave Parillo, Kit Cars, Trikes, & Dune Buggies Paul Maher SPECIAL AWARDS Long Distance Don Hector, Long Distance-Vintage Kevin Cochran, Best Aircooled engine-Stock Gary Constantine, Best Aircooled engine- Modified Nick Luccese, Best Display- Aircooled Ruth Chaffee, Director's Choice-Stock Dave Haviland, Chris Bradford, Director's Choice-Custom Lonni Ciallela, Jack Raymond, Best Paint- Watercooled Geoff Wolf, Best Display-Watercooled Norbert Rafalko, Best Engine- Watercooled Luis Pelaez, Best Interior-Watercooled Glen Barth, Gene Langan Award, Dennis Keimer, Bronc Callhan Community Award Gary Constantine, Best of Show-Aircooled-Stock Humberto Lapa, Best of show-Aircooled-Custom Chris Chiaffitelli, Best of Show-Watercooled Todd Dery, Appreciation Awards Tom Matulis, Todd Marfak, & Dan Climan
Special Thanks- Wasserwerks and LIMBO
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