What’s more American than baseball? Outside of baseballs filled with apple pie (patent pending), we’re gonna go with cars, specifically cars built in America. So it makes perfect sense that WaterWerks, the West Coast’s premier water-cooled VW and Audi car show, took place August 6th and 7th in Cheney Stadium, home to reigning Pacific Coast League champs the Tacoma Rainiers. And it’s even more fitting that the American-made 2012 Volkswagen Passat was one of the biggest attractions.
WaterWerks is open to all Volkswagens and Audis and holds judged events for the VW Rabbit, Corrado, Caddy, Scirocco, Jetta, Golf, GTI, R32 and more. But as the show’s name implies, the water-cooled models are the focus. Volkswagen has been producing cars with liquid-cooled engines since the 1970s. In fact, the very first liquid-cooled VW sold in the States was called the Dasher, better known to the rest of the world as the Passat. So it makes perfect sense that at this year’s WaterWerks, the presence of two 2012 Passats caused quite a stir.
The new Passats, manufactured in a new energy-efficient facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee were provided courtesy of nearby Auburn Volkswagen, along with a 2011 Tiguan, the only CUV with a turbo-powered heart of a sports car. Auburn also hosted a BBQ to kick off the show the night before gates opened to the delight of hundreds of VW owners already in the area. All in all, more than 4,000 attendees made their way to Auburn VW’s booth to get a closer look at the new cars. The show was one of the Northwest’s largest presentations of clean VW’s from the last 3 decades.
WaterWerks 2011 was a huge success and, like baseball, is a fun summer tradition. (Hey, didn’t hot dogs come from Germany, too?) Hope to see you next year!
Tell us: what’s your favorite water-cooled Volkswagen?
Photo credit: Joel Parker
RELATED POSTS
Waterfest 17 video recap: Fun in the sun with tricked-out Volkswagens
Forecast for Englishtown, New Jersey: Volkswagens—and lots of ‘em VW enthusiasts show up in force for Waterfest 17
Viva Das Auto. Letting it Ride in Vegas UPDATED