Dave Hord: Roadtrips and Rally Beetles

I recently had the pleasure to sit down for an online chat with Dave Hord, a friend of our US correspondent Richard Davies, and unsurprisingly, a fellow VW Beetle nutter! Read on for some serious garage and job envy!

Dave grew up in Toronto, Canada and his parents had Volkswagens as far back as he can remember. "Dad would read Hot VWs and VW Trends, so my passion for them grew from that really" he explains. 

One such VW is wonderfully referred to as "the family heirloom" and is a 1975 Beetle. Back in 1984 when his Dad picked it up as a project, young Dave (aged 4) picked the color for the respray before his Mum used it to travel to and from University after returning to education later in life.

Once its daily duties were over, the car was retired to live at their holiday cabin in Ontario. Accessed by a 5-mile gravel track from the highway into the woods, this was the perfect place for a young Dave to learn how to drive. By the time he had hit double figures, he was proficient with the pedals and could drive quite competently. 

In fact, on the occasion that he would be staying at the cabin with his Grandparents, rather than Mum and Dad, he would persuade them to let him drive himself to the corner store, back by the highway junction! However, it was on one fateful trip, he was queuing at the counter for his sweets when a Police Officer came in and asked who owned the blue VW Beetle outside. 

"Clearly there had been reports of a young boy driving a car" Dave laughs, "but fortunately the shopkeeper kept quiet, and didn't drop me in it. However, I had to lie and say that my Grandfather dropped me, and had gone into town. Which meant a 4-hour wait on the kerb, with the Cop, until my Grandfather did eventually come looking for me. I jumped in the car and told him to drive... He found it funny, and we had to go and rescue the car after dark when they had gone home."

Apart from driving the car for one summer when he turned 18, Dave has had it in storage for twenty years, awaiting the right time (and permission from his parents) to restore and modify it... But more on that later!

Things started to get serious for Dave when he graduated from University in 2007. He and a friend were driving around in a 1966 Beetle and a '69 Mini respectively, and they fancied participating in an organized road rally. Nothing competitive, but a few nights away, stopping off at different towns along the way, and enjoying a drive with fellow classic car enthusiasts. 

"The California Mille looked like fun," Dave tells me "so we tried to register, to take part. But our cars weren't considered special or exotic enough." 

Frustrated, but not deterred, Dave and his friend Warwick decided to put something on for fellow owners of non-exotica and started a business called Classic Car Adventures. 

The first road trip was called Spring Thaw and was hosted in British Columbia, attracting 45 entrants. The second year 80 cars signed up, making the event sold out. And it's been that way ever since. 

With a tight budget in mind, Dave and his team put on 3-day road trips with hotels and evening meals for around $1000. To quote their website "a sense of humour and adventure is required."

With a non-elitist attitude, Classic Car Adventures was becoming more and more popular. Not only did Dave sideline his day job as a Sales Manager for The Adventure Group Whistler, but he bought his pal Warwick out, and he was approached by Insurance giant Hagerty, to help run their events too. 

With a huge dose of irony, and the agreement that Classic Car Adventures could still run under his own management, Dave found himself as Director of Events for Hagerty Canada and Tour Director for the California Mille, running the very event that he was initially turned away from! 

"I was told that I needed to get a modern reliable car, to take on the California Mille" Dave laughs... "But there was absolutely no way I was doing that drive in anything but a VW Beetle. I even paid for my own fuel out of principle and carried the rejection letter in the glove box for good measure!"

Things kick off with the 1971 1302s 'Salzburg' Rally car. We're quite partial to this look, owning a Mexican Beetle sporting the same colour scheme, although Dave's example is built to be driven as intended! He gives me the rundown, explaining "I built this in 2012 as an exterior replica of the original, and at the time it was a relatively unknown piece of VW history. I started with 3 super Beetle shells, in order to create one solid example using only OE metal. It has the proper Porsche 901 dogleg gearbox that the factory cars had, but from there I’ve deviated. I fitted carbon seats, a 2110cc engine with fuel injection, a pedal box, an internal Tilton-hydraulic-throwout bearing, a roll cage, the list goes on. Up until this year it ran on steel wheels with period correct gravel tires, but I've since fitted the gold 16" Speedline wheels."

What a machine... 

Next up on our virtual tour of Dave's workshop is his 1958 Beetle. "It’s been lowered and runs disc brakes on all four corners, has Porsche speedster seats, a 1835cc engine, and also sports a few interesting interior accessories" he reveals. "I have a Hemo Rally odometer from about 1960, which is quite rare, in fact, I own the only three in North America. I have also fitted the Hertella coffee maker for the dash, which is not an accessory you see every day! This car is set up to handle, and despite its smaller engine, it surprises a number of people on collector car tours."

I quiz Dave as to how this one gets used, to which he smiles. "It’s the car I use hosting the California Mille, and I've just shipped it home after doing 46,754 miles since January 2023!" I question that figure, and Dave confirms. "That's correct! 17 States, 6 provinces, 7 driving events…I've spent 270 days away from home this year, and I took this one everywhere."

Wow... I'm staggered! That is some serious commitment and time behind the wheel in a vehicle old enough to claim a pension in many countries!

Even as a child flicking through the pages of VW magazines, Dave knew he wasn't a Cal-Look kinda guy, instead favouring the German Look which takes influence from the race circuits of Europe, and of course the German-built Porsche sports cars. 

Dave is hands-on, and these days will tackle everything apart from the paintwork himself. 

"I’ve put a 944 rear end into it, narrowed and lowered the front," he says matter-of-factly. The brakes are a mixture of 944 Turbo, 911 and Boxster, and it runs 17x7 Boxster wheels under factory fenders. The engine is a 2110cc, running IDF44’s, and inside are a set of Porsche 911 seats."

Questioning what his parents make of it all, leads us back to the family heirloom. "I let my Dad drive the German Looker" Dave tells me... "He's got a 1979 Cabriolet, and a 911, so he's still very much into cars. I expected he'd just go down the road, but he came back to the house after a good half an hour and told me with a smile on his face, now I understand why you do it..."

So, the question looms, what will be the fate of the blue '75, that Dave has known since he was a toddler? "Well, I sat down with both my parents and chatted to them" he said. "I told them that whilst I enjoy Dad's '79, driving stock VWs doesn't excite me. And they simply said, don't leave it stock then... I'd waited over 20 years to hear those words!"

"Whilst every modification will be completely reversible, I intend to build this car to make the German looker feel pedestrian" Dave laughs! "This one has iMohr double a-arm suspension front and rear, coupled with a full NASCAR speedway brake setup on all four corners, hidden behind a set of Magnesium WRC wheels. The chassis has been restored and is built up in my 'shop now, and the body has had all the rust work done, but I'm yet to send it for paint."

You only need to take a look at the photos to see how serious this build is going to be! But, Dave is keen to point out he is keeping every original VW Beetle part, so should he have a change of heart in the future if can return to how it was, when he was 13, almost getting caught by the Cops on the grocery run!

With the family heirloom feeling like a pretty pinnacle build, it seems logical to ask how he might top that. But it turns out he holds back a little something on each project. 

"I've got a 1303, and I was going to put a Subaru Turbo engine in it for reliability. But, now I know what I'm doing with the engine building, I can build powerful, reliable VW engines, so the Subaru swap seems a little pointless. Equally, I don't want anything too good, that will stop me from wanting to use the others!"

The suggestion of an aircooled Porsche like his Father's 911 SC is one that excites Dave, and he says, if he sold a few cars he could probably get one, but would it cast shadows over the rest of the collection?

"I'd just want to drive the Porsche all the time" he laughs "and what's the point in that?" 

A big thanks to Dave for spending an hour or so chatting with us about his hobby, his collection and his business. Please do look up Classic Car Adventures if that sounds like your kind of thing and if you'd like to share what you get up to with Volkswagen, Porsche or Land Rover then do also get in touch. 

Thanks to Meshed House for the use of the images. 

Andy