Patina Deep

Escrito por Mike Madriaga para la revista Vochomania
Scroll down to view the story in English.

Somos Vochomanía Digital, el medio electrónico que cada mes, desde hace tres años, llega a más de 60 mil entusiastas del legendario Volkswagen Escarabajo y todos los modelos clásicos VW, de México y el mundo.

El cliché “la belleza es sólo superficial” por lo general no se aplica para mostrar a las personas que modifican autos. Sin embargo, en el caso de Mario Peña, él tuvo el derecho de evaluar lo que es bello o no, en la Aircooled Fiesta, uno de los mayores eventos Volkswagen celebrado en San Diego, California.

Peña y su club San Diego Air Cooled (SDAC) han estado colaborando con A.B.L.E. (Habilidades Más Allá de la Limitación a través del Club de Educación, por sus siglas en inglés) para unir a los propietarios de Volkswagen a ambos lados de la frontera.

Hace algunos meses celebraron su cuarto evento masivo donde recaudaron fondos para los estudiantes discapacitados de Southwestern College. Dos meses antes de este evento, Peña tenía un dilema personal: no tenía un vocho que presumir en su propio evento.

“Yo debía tener mi propio coche”, afirma Peña. “Me hubiera sentido muy mal de no tenerlo para mi propio evento”.

De esta forma comenzó a tirar anzuelos en sus redes sociales hasta que encontró un Volkswagen Sedan 1966 en la ciudad de Alpine. Este coche había estado abandonado en un granero durante cinco años, debido a que no contaba con una transmisión. El interior fue eliminado y cuando Peña remolcó el vocho hasta su casa en Imperial Beach, el ragtop salió volando por los aires.

Este proyecto necesitaba mucha atención y Peña era la persona adecuada para llevarlo a cabo. Casi todos los días después del trabajo, se metía de lleno en la restauración de su vocho, hasta bien entrada la noche.

Los tres fines de semana previos al evento fueron de trabajo exhaustivo: “Mi esposa estaba enojada conmigo, pero acabé en el plazo planeado”, comenta Peña. De hecho la restauración llegó a su fin, una horas antes del evento. De esta forma, nuestro amigo llevó el coche hasta el lugar del evento y se dispuso a iniciar su evento. Peña debe su pasión por los vochos a su antiguo vecino en Tijuana, B.C., Meño Carrillo, y a su tío, Eddie Machado.

A los 11 años de edad inició en el ambiente de los Volkswagen. Mientras la mayoría de los adolescentes andaban patinando, Peña andaba paseando en vochos por la avenida Revolución.

“Mi tío me llevaba al “World of Wheels” en San Diego”, dijo Peña. En 1982, cuando tenía 17 años, nuestro amigo obtuvo su primer coche, un Volkswagen Sedan 1966.

A lo largo de los años, Peña ha construido muchos vehículos Volkswagen, lo cuales posteriormente vende.

“No compro coches que funcionan”, comenta. “Los únicos vehículos que compro son los que me encuentro bajo un árbol en alguna parte. Siento un gran gusto restaurando esos autos y devolviéndolos al camino”.

Peña afirma que construye y vende aproximadamente tres Volkswagen por año. De igual forma comenta que allá por el año 2002 formó parte del club Tijuana Aircooled, lo que posteriormente dio paso al nacimiento del San Diego Aircooled, un club que actualmente cuenta con 50 miembros activos a ambos lados de la frontera.

“Para ser parte de nuestro club, sólo debes ser fan de la marca Volkswagen y portar la camiseta”, afirma Peña.

Ya para finalizar, Peña nos dice que la “Aircooled Fiesta 5” ya está en el horno y que espera realizarla durante el mes de mayo del 2017. Restaurador de autos, organizador de eventos, esposo, padre de familia y presidente de un club, así es la vida de este vochero del San Diego Air Cooled.

The luggage rack was made for cars with sunroofs or a ragtop. Note how it sits further back.

The cliche “beauty is only skin-deep” usually does not apply to show-car builders.

In Mario Peña’s case, he has the right to assess what is beautiful or not, at the Aircooled Fiesta car show. It is one of the biggest Volkswagen (predominantly vintage) car gatherings in San Diego County, and Peña is one of the judges.

May 22, 2016 was their fourth annual car show which also raised funds and awareness for the handicapped students of Southwestern College, where the show transpired. Here, Peña and his car club, San Diego Air Cooled (SDAC) collaborated with A.B.L.E. (Abilities Beyond Limitation Through Education Club) to unite VW owners from both sides of the border.

Let’s reverse a little bit. Two months prior to the show, Peña had a personal dilemma.  He didn’t have a Volkswagen Bug ready for his own “fiesta.”

“I had to have my own car at my event,” he said. “I would feel out of place if I didn’t drive into the show without a Bug.” He put the word out on social media, then found a 1966 Volkswagen Bug in the city of Alpine. Peña said the car was sitting dormant next to a barn for about five years because it didn’t have a transmission. The interior was stripped and when Peña towed it to his home in Imperial Beach, the sunroof flew out. This project needed a lot of attention and Peña was the best candidate because he’s been building these since the 1970s. Almost every day after work, he labored on his newly found Bug until midnight.

“On this car, there was neither a nut nor a bolt on the pan four weeks ago,” Peña said, “There is no way I would roll in into my show in a ‘civilian car.’” The three weekends prior to the show were also utilized for the 30-day “pan-off restoration” but not all people were cheering on the sidelines. “My wife was so pissed off at me,” Peña laughed, “but I did make the deadline!”

1835 Engine, Counterweighted crank, Dual 44 Weber Carburetors, Compu-fire ignition system, Modified transmission with a super diff and positraction

He barely finished the project in the early morning hours before the show then drove the car to the Southwestern College parking lot.

Hard and sleepless deadlines are common for show-car builders.  Show car builders usually finally get to rest when the car is finally parked and cleaned for the show spectators and judges. For Peña, although, his day just started.

Peña owes his passion for building VWs to his old neighbor in Tijuana, B.C., Meño Carrillo, and his uncle, Eddie Machado. At 11, he began wrenching on VWs in Carrillo’s dirt backyard, then on weekends, he cleaned up and cruised with his Tio Eddie to attend car shows. While most teens of the day were navigating the rollerskate rinks, Peña’s goal was set on rolling on four Porsche alloys, on the streets of Avenida Revolucion. “My uncle would take me to the “World of Wheels” car show in downtown San Diego,” continued Peña.  In 1982 when Peña was 17, he got his first car which was a 1966 VW Bug.  His personal bug went viral and the rest is history.

“I don’t buy running cars,” he said.  “The only cars that I put together are the ones that I find under a tree somewhere and my thing is getting them back on the road again.”

Throughout the years, Peña built a swarm of air-cooled VWs and constantly bought and sold them. He builds and sells approximately three air-cooled VWs a year and has been since he moved from Tijuana to San Diego in 2006.

Mario Peña – President of San Diego Air Cooled car club

Peña also relocated the Tijuana Air-Cooled car club that he started in 2002.  The transition was the birth of San Diego Air Cooled (SDAC).  Now SDAC has over 50 active members from both sides of the border, with Peña being president. “To join our club you just need to hang out and buy an SDAC t-shirt,” Peña said, “that’s it.”

Back to the car show, 279 vocheros entered the Aircooled Fiesta IV car show that Sunday. Peña said, “It was a success.” As this story goes to print, Aircooled Fiesta V is already in the pipeline, the “patina bug” that he finished in May is listed at $6999 USD.

It is one thing to acknowledge how Peña rebuilt his 1966 VW in a timely manner. Let’s not forget how he did the build while managing a car show with 279 entrants, performed presidential duties for his car club, and also was a father and husband simultaneously.  The beauty in this VW’s “marathon build,” as Peña coined it, is more than skin-deep, it’s patina-deep.

JC Vintage reupholstered the interior in burgundy vinyl.

“These are “Smart Car tires” which when you narrow the beam and lower the car, it doesn’t hit the headlight buckets when you turn, unlike when you use the traditional 135s,” said Peña, “it’s wider with more meat on the ground to provide a much smoother ride.”
The 155-60-15 size tires are $25 cheaper than the standard 135s.

JC Vintage usually works on airplane interiors at Brown’s Field.

Aircooled Fiesta IV 2016 poster