Central Valley Motorsports

January 28th 2015
By Eric Hinkle

                 Everyone Has A Volkswagen Story

   Everyone has a story revolving around a VW and Tom Mohr of Clovis is no different. However, Tom’s story is being written everyday as he climbs into his 1960 single cab daily driver. Chances are you have seen him in his 40-horse L31 dove blue very original split window single cab Volkswagen bus. Not only is it his daily driver, but also he and his wife Audrey of thirty years have been known to hook up their single wheeled vintage camping trailer and set up camp for a few nights at the KOA. Tom’s love for cars started with a 1960 Lincoln Mark V his dad gave him, he loved maintaining and working on the car himself.
   The Lincoln got him through college and into his early twenties when he sold it and purchased a red 1970 MG with wire wheels. After owning the big Lincoln Tom really enjoyed the little sports car. Later Tom had the opportunity to purchase a 1973 ½ Porsche 911 turbo, he sold the MG and after some work the Porsche was ready the road. As much fun as the 911 was Tom realized that it wasn’t for him. After selling the 73 Tom purchased a 1957 Porsche 356 which he drove for many years before selling it as well.
   Tom’s passion for cars was put on the back burner while raising his family, but was never extinguished. After both of his girls were grown, a convertible Super Beetle again sucked him back into the hobby. He spotted the car while at the Turlock swap meet in 1995. Tom completely restored the car; building a body stand so he could separate the body from the pan while working on it. Tom was all in from that point on. His next project was to be his biggest and most time consuming. He purchased a 1962 VW ragtop. What was just going to be a simple repaint turned into a 10-year concourse restoration. Tom’s meticulous work and attention to detail did not go unnoticed. It was featured in Hemming Motor News and was on the cover of Hot VW magazine in 2007. Since that build Tom has acquired several ongoing projects; vintage camping trailers, a split window bus that he later found out was a rare and unique model and another beetle.
   Tom began showing his cars again after getting involved with a local VW club, the New and Old Stock VW’s of Fresno. It wasn’t uncommon last year to see two or three of Tom’s cars at a single show. As retirement grows closer Tom is looking forward to spending more time in a pair of coveralls working on the cars and buses he has grown to love. He also plans on revisiting his passion for photography and getting involved with some other local car events and organizations. We are lucky to have such knowledge people like Tom evolved in the local car culture.

If your club or organization is putting on a car show or motorsports event we are always looking for interesting cars, people and events to share. You can reach Eric Hinkle at [email protected], Paul Hinkle at  [email protected] or call (559) 970-2274. Be sure to follow us on Twitter@clovisparknpark and on Instagram@clovisparkinthepark. 

For more information on upcoming events, past events and articles, go to clovisparkinthepark.com.