Driving this car the BAJA 1000
can be summed up for me in one word,
exhausting.
You are out in the middle of nowhere,
and there is a constant [varaj]
on input [insimulus].
You get in the car,
you think it’s a really old Bug.
And suddenly it just comes to life
[roaring], fast, just incredible.
[Puchet] BAJA was born,
when a group of friends
sets about entering one of the world’s
most brutal off-road races.
In an old school
Volkswagen Beetle.
Josh: The BAJA 1000 is the longest point to point
off road race in the world.
It’s run in a single day.
We decided to race it because
we just really like a challenge.
They took a 1970 Bug,
threw in a [row] cage,
added [dirt] terrain tires,
an auxiliary [all cooler]
and a whole heap of other [mots]
Josh: We started with the Stock
Volkswagen motor.
We lifted the suspension
using all Stock components.
Put a fuel cell, breathing,
new shocks,
a GPS,
a radio
and all new lighting,
so you can see in the night.
It’s a very Stock looking car
on the outside,
but there is a few features
that give it away,
like this big [goofy] skid plates
and these really bright lights.
Chris: Every single component on it
was purpose built by the team
to race the BAJA 1000.
Josh: And addition to that,
the Volkswagen logo
was blessed by the Pope.
With modification complete,
and Holy approval,
the team named the car [Topey],
and set out for the desert.
Josh: The Beetle is perfect for this race
because of the preparation
that goes into it.
It’s able to get through
a lot of the really difficult terrain
that takes out other vehicles.
When you get into the interior of the car,
you get into the GPS, and the radio.
You got an innercom,
and you’ve got air that
pumps into your helmet
so you can breathe in the dust.
The custom dash gives you
all types of information
from gauges and switches.
You can turn on each light individually
and all the things that makes it
so that you can continue on in the race.
Every time you come back from a race,
you’re constantly rebuilding
and replacing everything.
So it’s really just throwing
money out the window.
And it’s not just about the car,
in a race where many vehicles
don’t go the distance,
to even have hope
of completing the course,
there is a whole crew behind the scenes.
Josh: There is a lot of people
that have to bring fuel and tools
along the course,
because it’s very remote.
And so we like to put all of the names
of all the people that support the car on the top.
I wanted to be part of this project
because it’s always been a dream of mine
to race the BAJA 1000.
Evan: It seemed like one of the greatest
adventures a person could have.
My role on the team is co-driver,
graphic designer,
art director and web master.
Could be doing anything
on any given day.
One day you could be fabricating a mount
for the traction boards,
and another day you could be
wiring up the communications.
Josh: This might not be the fastest car,
but it sure is capable.
It’ll go up nearly anything you point it at.
It feels great
to be seating in the car again.
Every time I drive this thing,
I’m always amazed on how capable it is.
It’s a [40/14] year old car
that’s mostly Stock
it is not originally designed
to drive on this terrain.
So good.
It’s quite a bit of fun to drive.
Man.
I love driving this thing,
it’s amazing.
You get in the car,
you think it’s a really old Bug.
And suddenly it just comes to life
[roaring],
fast, just incredible.
Driving this car the BAJA 1000
can be summed up for me in one word,
exhausting.
You are out in the middle of nowhere,
and there is a constant [varaj]
of input [insimulus].
Driving this car is like driving a bike,
feels so good
And the teamwork pays of,
as [Topey] reaches the finish line.
Every time we race this car
we learn something new,
so the next step for this thing is to
continue to develop it and make it better
so we can race it again in 2020 BAJA 1000