1999 Litchfield Bug In

Bigger and better than ever

Once again we can still say that it has never rained on the Litchfield Bug In for the 11th year! The day started cloudy and at one point looked a little threatning, but the clouds broke and one of the finest days ever was had. Promoter Chuck Pisconski's pact with the devil seems to have held again.

Once again we had an all time new record number of entrants. 350 show cars were registered by the noon cut off. We had redesigned the layout a bit after learning from our mistakes at last years show, but despite our best efforts, it didnt take long for the busses to completely flood their class. We had extra room and everyone still fit. We also had a hundred and twenty five swap meet vendors including some that had indoor accomadations.

The lions club once again did a great job bringing in the boy scouts to clean up after the previous evenings huge fair, and the multiple food vendors including everything from fried dough to beautiful chicken salads and more were snarfed down by the ton.

Hot VW's was back this time with Bruce Smirda representing them. He heard so much about this show, that he insisted on doing it himself this year. Also seen in attendance were Steve Mierz from "Common Gear" as well as John Intagliata, Bill Silvestri and Greg Mattesen from the CVA, as well as hundreds of friends old and new that all had an awesome day.

Special thanks to Chuck and Tom for pulling off another top notch event and if you see them around, be sure to pat them on the back for a job well done.

Check out the pix and the show results below.

This first photo cant begin to show the enormity of the show. There were @30 New Beetles including Larry Bussell's wild Windows 98 Computerized custom as well as Patty Semple's Peoples Choice winning "Ladybug". Also spotted was a new Turbo Beetle in green with sunroof!

The Beautiful red vert of George Bradley went away emptyhanded as did the fresh '62 of Don Cartsounis

Dont let this one fool you, a work in progress by master builder John Intagliata promises to be a winner in the coming months, and speaking of winners, The '68 Vandetta of Kevin Petrask took home 3rd in Radical Custom. This was the straightest Vandetta I had ever seen. Way to go Kev.

Check out this T kit that showed up. VW powered and one of only 5 or 6 built before the Wolcott Ct based Mfg burned down. What a shame. And as far as shames, this awesome "blown" bug showed up too late to register. Tough break.

Freshened up this year with new interior and matching Billet Wheels was Jeff Ziegers awesome '74 Super that won the happy owner a first in Radical Custom. And thanx again to Jeff and the other volunteer judges that helped make it all happen this year

This radical blue '71 super belongs to Jeff Murcko, and here is 2nd place in Dune Buggy winner Paul Notti's Cheshire CT based '68 Berry T. That beautiful finish is the original gelcoat with alot of elbow grease from Paul.