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Oval Envy
Where Exactly Can You Find a Car Like this? At the Swap Meet!

By Karl Funke
Photography: Henry DeKuyper

One of the better known, regularly occurring swap meets in the Southern California area is Pomona--yes, that Pomona, also famous for its drag racing events. Pomona is where Alhambra, Calif.,-resident Cesar Huerta found his car, the pictured 1957 Oval. Huerta had always searched for the perfect Oval to restore, and finally found it sitting on the Pomona grounds with 55,000 original miles and corrosion-free sheet metal.

"It was all original, but just tired," Huerta said. "When I saw it, it was like love at first sight."

The car's owner was waiting for a Japanese buyer to take delivery, but he informed Huerta it wouldn't happen for a month or so, and he needed cash right away. The sob story worked; Cesar couldn't bear the thought of that car slipping through his fingers, much less making a transoceanic trip to Japan, so he bought it himself.

Ecstatic with his purchase, Huerta immediately called his girlfriend, Erica--who is now his wife--and told her about it. Erica was less than thrilled, because they were supposed to be saving money for a wedding. And she wasn't the only one who thought him foolish for buying the Bug.

"I brought the car home and everybody laughed at me and told me I wasted my money," he recalled. "Even my mom was against me and wouldn't let me park it in the garage."

Since he was already in hot water with his girl, Huerta assured everyone that he would restore the car over a long period of time; that way he wouldn't spend too much money doing it.

Huerta disassembled the car himself and took the body panels to Bob Vogel in San Gabriel, Calif., where they were taken down to bare metal and prepped for paint. There was no damage to any of the sheet metal, and the body required minimal prep work before the whole was repainted in its original color, L324 Polar Silver. Chrome pieces from both the interior and exterior were handed off to El Monte Plating, in El Monte, Calif., for restoration, including the bumpers, door handles, hubcaps and various trim pieces. The running boards were restored by Wolfsburg West, which also provided the "Cheese Grater" exhaust and interior carpet kit. The original vintage license plates were restored by Darryl's Plate Restoration Service in Duryea, Penn.

The interior was restored by the crew at West Coast Classic Restoration in Fullerton, Calif. It's just another example of a masterpiece from the WCC stable, and like many others serves to illustrate why the shop is famous for its interiors. Red vinyl, edged with white piping, now skins the seats. The dash has been improved with a Koch's-restored steering wheel and floral print porcelain bud vase.

Like the rest of the car, the 36hp engine was not altered or improved in any way other than merely refreshing and restoring to its original state, which many would argue is all the improvement it really needed in the first place. Unlike many fully restored VWs, this one still relies on the very same powerplant it was equipped with on its way out of Wolfsburg.

Since its completion, the Oval is finally starting to get the respect it deserves. Nowadays, it gets to sleep in the garage, leaving its nest only to take occasional Saturday or Sunday morning drives to the coffee shop, or on special weekday mornings when Huerta takes his young daughter and her carpool friends to school. They call it the "Cool Slug Bug."

Even Erica Huerta--once the Oval's greatest detractor--has become one of the its most stalwart defenders. One day, the pair, along with the Oval, attended Pasadena's South Lake Car Show. The field of cars was made up of mostly classic American muscle cars. Early in the day Mrs. Huerta overheard one of their competitors asking sarcastically, "What's that Volkswagen doing here?" Of course, at the end of the day the Huertas' Oval won Best of Show, and on their way out of the event Erica had no qualms about telling people exactly what the Beetle was doing at the show.

"We camed here to take this first-place trophy home," she would say.

Even so, she isn't quite ready to give in completely to Cesar's automotive whims. "I'm ready to do another one," Cesar professes. "But my wife won't let me."

Maybe it's about time for the Huertas to take a trip together--a trip to the swap meets. That way she could pick out her own car, and that way Cesar would have another project to sink his teeth into.

See, it's all about compromise, Cesar.