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Well, Volks, We returned from the GroBglockner tour this past Sunday and we dragged in a listee from the T3 list -- Richard Visser and friends. In short, the GroBglockner tour, the Alpine roads through Austria and Slovenija and our first up close and personal view of the New Beetle near Bruck, Austria, made for one of the most spectacular trips in my life. My wife and I left from Zagreb last Friday at around 2:00 PM. Somewhere in Slovenija, we decided that "route 107" looked to be a shorter route to Bruck, Austria than the A55 autobahn towards Salzburg. So, around Spittal, Austria, we headed westbound on 106 towards Route 107. By the time we reached 107, we realized that it was actually the GroBglockner alpine pass that the Dutch VW club had traveled to climb over as the climax of the GroBglockner rally. Even though it was getting dark, we shifted into second gear and headed off up the mountain. One word: high. 2571m high. When we went over it Friday night, it was snowing and sleeting up in the elevations where the three meter drifts still were on the side of the road...then the fog hit. We had to creep along in second gear because of the incline and because we could only see one median line in front of us. My wife now knows why VW installed the panic handle above the glove box ;). We reached the campsite at 9:00 PM and our jaws dropped when we saw the multitude of split window T1s, Karmann Ghias, T34s, Splittie buses, T3s and the innumerable T1 cabrios (in much better condition than the one we are still restoring *sniff*). We were greeted by some ever-friendly Dutch VW comrades, registered, and found out that Richard Visser & Co. were nervously awaiting our belated arrival. At 8:30 sharp on Saturday morning, the first group of ACVWs headed toward the staging area to begin their drive around and under the GroBglockner mountain area. The roads were nice, winding and easy driving as we passed through villages, wide bends and through beautiful alpine meadow country side. We eventually made it to the Tauerntunel where we had to drive our cars onto a train that took us through the mountain. We were riding backwards at a high rate of speed through the long, dark tunnel -- an unforgettable experience. On the other side of the tunnel, groups of us started heading towards the GroBglockner area park to begin the climb over the mountain (we for the secondt time!) and back to our campsite. The sign said that the incline was 17% grade. That went on for miles. The best that any of the aircooled could do was second gear. What a climb! It was wild to see split window VWs climbing this mountain pass as they had done nearly half of a century earlier. As far as I know, no one broke down on the mountain pass. Near the top, there is a parking area to view a glacier in one of the valleys. It was very cold at that point and the wind was strong coming from the glacier. Needless to say, ALL the convertible tops were open and EVERYONE looked happy and proud to be there. We met Richard Visser half way up the mountain. He, Jens and Frank were in the first group of VWs. It was neat seeing Richard's '67 granadarot Squareback waiting for us on one of the pulloffs on the mountainside. We took some pictures, Frank exchanged seats with Ela so he could film from the convertible and off we went to the very top. The top is the EdelweissSpitze that is 2571m (8434 feet) above sea level. It was very "white" at that height meaning that we must have been in a cloud. It was also eerily quiet and very warm! In fact, all of us had a mild sunburn after being their for only half an hour. We headed down the mountain, passed an area where they were filming the baby Mercedes Benzs for a commercial and headed for the house where Ela and I saw the four new Beetles the day earlier. We found the beetles. Only two remained. They were wired up with test equipment for some reason and one of them had all the VW badges removed. Seeing as though they are still not being sold in Europe, it was a pleasure to get this sneak preview of the new Beetle. We took some pictures and headed for camp. Most everyone spent that afternoon looking at all the other cars at the meet. I have not yet seen so many nice cars as I saw on this rally. And the curious thing is is that ALL of them drove to the rally -- many from great distances (two days driving). No trailers here, folks, just all air-cooled muscle. We made a nice dinner, hit the hay and woke up for breakfast before packing up. Richard, Jens and Frank were going to stay with Ela and me for a few days before heading to the coast (we also already had tickets for the Stones concert in Zagreb on May 28, but thanks to Keith Richard's ribs....). Anyway, we had a great time at my place. We were able to show them Zagreb and since Monday was Memorial Day (observed at the US Embassy, of course!) we had off and were able take them around on a normal working day. We took our '65 Variant for a small trip to the countryside to show them some war damage that was closest to Zagreb. We even took them over an old IFOR pontoon bridge that is next to the bombed out bridge. After some refreshments at a bombed out cafe, we headed back to Zagreb. In all, it was the best weekend that we have had yet and it all centered around our aircooled VWs. Richard drove the 2000+ km from Holland in his Squareback, we met them at the GroBglockner in our '72 cabrio and then drove around the Zagreb area in our '65 Squareback. Oh, since it was our 10th anniversary, Richard and Co. gave us the most original TIII poster that has views of the three different variations of the T3, mixed with views of different parts of the car such as engine cutaway, dashboard, description of the 1600LE version, etc. -- all in German. A most interesting poster -- one that I have yet to see anywhere else in any magazines, shops or where ever. Richard, Jens and Frank left for the Adriatic coast this past Wednesday. I am sure that when they return to Holland on June 6, Richard will post the highlights of his trip. (He may even mention just how damned lucky he was to find a service center on Sunday afternoon in Austria that opened for him and HAD IN STOCK brake pads for his front disk brakes!) Anyway, all the best. I'll be signing off the lists now for a month since I will be Stateside. Hope to see some of you there! Take care, John Zagreb, Croatia '72 convertible "Franjo" '65 1500s Variant