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VW fans achieve record stuffing Beetle in Dade City

Photo from Carol Jeffares Hedman

Volkswagen lovers at the 21st annual Bug Jam broke a Guinness Book of World Record for sqeezing 17 people into a 1971 Beetle.

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By GEOFF FOX | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2009

DADE CITY - By GEOFF FOX
gfox@tampatrib.com
More people can cram into a Volkswagen Bug in Dade City than anywhere else in the world.

At the 21st annual Bug Jam, held Sunday at the Pasco County fairgrounds, 17 VW lovers from Orlando, Lutz, Wesley Chapel. Zephyrhills, Riverview, Jacksonville and other points around the state, squeezed into a 1971 Beetle – with no body parts sticking out.

It was an effort that should land the participants in the Guinness Book of World Records. The previous record of 15 was set last year in Brazil.

Carol Jeffares Hedman, a Bug Jam organizer and correspondent for The Tampa Tribune, said officials at first thought they had beaten the record by one.

"They just coming out" of the car, she said, "and there was one more than we thought."

The participants ranged in age form 19 to 56 and in height from 5-foot-1 to 6 feet.

"I didn't think they'd be able to do it because the car was so small," Hedman said. "And one of the people was 6 feet tall. We thought they'd try to have a plan, but one girl there said she could fit 15 horses in a 10-horse trailer. They just kept shoving more people in."

Afterward, she said, the participants and crowd were "so excited. People were jumping up and down and singing, 'We Are The Champions.' "

Brian Corley, Pasco County's elections supervisor, oversaw the record attempt, which also was timed and videotaped. The world record attempt was made in a 1971 Beetle donated by Classic Camber, a car-restoration company in Tampa.

When Corley's daughter looked at the small Beetle, she said, "Dad, there's no way."
I said, "Sweetie, you're right."

But Corley took his officiating duties seriously.

"There was a thick little [Guinness] manual, very regimented in what they had to do," he said. "It had to be a specific type [of Bug], and the doors had to be closed simultaneously with the windows up for at least 5 seconds."

He said it was interesting to watch 17 strangers come together and develop a plan.

"One lady knew yoga," he said. "I saw one guy, fairly small in stature, but I saw him get underneath the gas [pedal] and the brake. It was absolutely amazing. I'd say it looked like the antithesis of comfortable.

"But, really, it was pretty cool. There were thousands of people gathered around, and afterward, we were all celebrating like we'd just won the Super Bowl."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 731-1239.

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