Hollister Hills Weekend  April 6-9, 2000

In what may become an annual event, a small band of syncro enthusiasts organized a weekend of testing, off-roading and camping at the Hollister Hills State Vehiclular Recreation Area.

All told, 10 syncros, 1 deisel westy and one ford station wagen attended. It was a blast. It would be fun to go back again.

Notable syncros included Warren Chapman's 1987 Westy with 34,000 miles on it and John Wessel's GL with 15" South African wheels and 30" tires and the larger, vented disc brakes. Mark Drillock drove down his Vanagon Westy conversion with the Audi five cylinder, Bilstein shocks, Betts springs (F&R), 15" South African wheels and Michelin LTX AT 215/25 R15 meaty tires... and a swamp-cooler!

Click on any image to zoom in for a closer look. Thanks to Adam for some of the excellent photos on this site.

On the way in, Steve and Coyote stopped in San Juan Bautista for an early dinner. Mexican, of course.

I pulled into Area 5 at about 4pm and immediately grabbed a great spot under an old oak tree.

On Saturday morning, we headed up the hill.

The entire line stopped to check out the view.

We finally reached the top, and circled the vans.

Adam, Mark, and Tom look down on creation.

The road continued past 4 high humps in a row. It looked dubious. Tom decided to give it a go.

Tom easily cleared the first hump, and started down.

While going over the second hump, Tom demonstrates the preferred mounting position for the license plate.

Tom goes over the last (and tightest) hump.

Tom clears the hump, but barely.

A few hundred feet further along, the road simply drops off. No one wanted to do this! Mark (left) and Tom Neal (right) watched bemused as Tom slipped, plunging to his death.
(Just kidding.)

Tom barely touched bottom coming down off these hillocks.

Mark Drillock gives it a go in his Westy. From this vantage point you can see the Audi five cylinder engine conversion & Bilstein shocks.

Coming downhill, Tom, Adam (in front) and Jeanne (in the rear) switchback below those of us further back.

Jeann's dog Pepper and a ferral pig served as camp mascots.
(This is Pepper.)

Folks were up late in the evening, swapping parts from van to van. Note the 3-ton floor jack.

Tom Neal writes:

We arrived at the Hollister spring-of-the-year spring-testing-and-general-get-together event Friday after dark and met up with the folks from 5 other syncros. After a lot of talking, we spent a restful night in an, gently sloping campground nestled in a green valley.

Next morning we toured the hills, mostly on the green circle easy and blue square intermediate roads. As we slowly wound along the bumpy, rocky, sometimes steep roads, a passenger noted that we seemed like a line of lumbering elephants, an apt observation. We passed by numerous SUV's and Jeep drivers who curiously watched our parade.

We peaked on a hilltop with a gorgeous panorama....the distant observatory on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, vineyards in the valley below, and the trail-criscrossed adjacent hills of the State Vehicle Recreation Area. A 4 bump roller coaster led over the hill and a couple of vans successfully navigated it, as the imminent pictures will show. On the way back down, I turned down Bonanza Gulch instead of Bonanza Gulch Road, leading to a fun (for me, not the passenger) opportunity to test the skid rails and turning radius.

Mark Drillock installed new custom rear springs on his Baja van and headed up the hill with several interested passengers. By the time we left at 3PM on Saturday, 3 more vans had arrived to test the roads, while Mark and most of the morning group were still up the hill.

The huge SVRA is a wonderful place for a syncro, with enough trails for several days worth of testing and touring. It even has a 4 wheel obstacle course. The day was delightful, and the company compatible. This was a very enjoyable, friendly and safe event. Assuredly more reports will follow.

Cheers, Tom Neal '87 syncro covered with Hollister dust