LAWA‘I — There is little that tells you what is beneath the shell of the 1967 Volkswagen.
“I call it ‘The Grocery Getter,’” said Kevin Huff, the car’s owner. “When my wife and I roll into the store parking lot, all these young people look at us, but then they just look away — ‘Oh, it’s just old people!’”
But little do these naysayers realize the racing legacy that comes with this little VW Bug that Huff purchased for less than $300 while attending college in Denver, Colo.
“It’s raced at the Kaua‘i Raceway Park in Mana,” Huff said. “It’s also raced all over in some of the more famous race tracks.”
Huff said the VW would probably be on the Mana race track now, but it’s waiting on slicks since the car is too powerful for the street tires it currently enjoys.
“I tried some race compounds for stickiness, but the engine is too powerful and the car just spins,” Huff said. “For me, everything is safety first so we’ll just wait until we can get some slicks.”
Huff said when he purchased the car, he and some college buddies were just looking for a shell to build a racing car, and the owner of the car barely had the engine running, giving them a discount because of its condition.
Since then, Huff’s latest motor is a home-built powermill which develops 220 horsepower. Taking the place of the rear seats, a special nitrous bottle can provide a 100-horsepower shot getting the Bug up to between 300-310 horsepower, Huff said. The engine also features braided lines and stainless-steel tubing.
“The best time it’s done is 10.94 on the track, getting 125 mph,” Huff said.
A racing transmission provides the drivepower featuring ring and pinion customized to street. The gears are all race gears and, in the process of getting the car de-tuned for street, now has tapered bearings to help absorb the load.
Huff said the home-built motor is a 2386 VW engine with some parts purchased and some coming as favors. The machine work was done at C&C Machines in Denver where Huff used to work during college.
“We did work for at least 15 race teams while I worked there,” Huff said.
Since semi-retiring from the race scene, Huff said he’s gotten a lot of help from Kaua‘i racers in getting the Bug de-tuned for the street.
Bobby Matsuda helped re-work the framing that is made of 1 and 1/2 inch military spec chro-moly, the original framing made by the person who helped build racing frames for A.J. Foyt, Huff said.
Although Huff is working to de-tune the bug for the street, he continues to help at the Kaua‘i Raceway Park, helping teams like Timmy Lopez who moves a VW rail, the Matsuda Brothers, and Bruce Akaji.
Huff said for now, he joins other members of the Kaua‘i VW Club and goes out on the street gatherings like the monthly meetings at the Kukui‘Ula Shopping Center.
• Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
