The first Baja Bug may have been built by Gary Emory of Parts Obsolete in or around 1968. The first racing Baja Bug is credited to automotive cartoonist Dave Deal, whose car was raced in the Mexican 1000 of 1968. The first fiberglass body kit was introduced in 1969 by the Miller-Havens company.
In the days before fiberglass body parts, builders simply changed a stock VW. The car's metal body parts were partially cut away to allow more ground clearance and suspension travel. This came to be known as a "cut baja". More engine power was had by using cylinder heads and sometimes even fuel injection systems from VW Type 3 cars.
The Beetle was popular in places with few roads because of its rear-mounted air-cooled engine, flat floorpan, and torsion bar suspension. In fact, magazine advertising of the time said that the Beetle was so watertight it floated. These good things made the Beetle the perfect choice to make into an off-road car. It was successful both then and now in the Baja 1000 off-road race.
Basic changes are simple. Lightweight fiberglass body panels are fitted after the metal body parts front and rear are removed. The rear change leaves the engine totally open to aid in cooling. Tubular steel bumpers are fitted to the body and floorpan to protect the engine and those riding in the car. Shortened fiberglass fenders and sometimes more tubular steel parts are added to the car's sides. The torsion bar front and rear suspensions made it easy to raise the body and to allow the use of large off-road tires and wheels as well as longer shock absorbers. Some people even get rid of the torsion bar suspension and install coilover-type springs that mount to a roll cage. This kind of car would have lots of suspension travel and a smooth ride.
Though few Baja Bugs are built anymore since the creation of tube-framed, purpose-built buggies known as sand rails and the shrinking supply of early Volkswagens, they remain a popular choice in the desert since few beaches in the US are open to for use by cars or motorcycles. Many are fitted with highly modified Volkswagen engines and a few have engines from such cars as the Ford Pinto, Chevrolet Corvair, Porsche, Mazda, Subaru or other four- to eight-cylinder water-cooled engines. Fancy Baja Bugs for use only on roads remain popular as well.
Volkswagen itself created a concept car in 2000 called "Dune" and was meant to remind people of the Baja Bug.
Nuno Valente
Nuno Valente (born 12 September 1974) is a former Portuguese football player. He has played for Portugal national team.
235||4
45||0
280||4
!Total||32||1
Stefano Okaka Chuka
Stefano Okaka Chuka (born 9 August 1989) is an Italian football player. He plays for Fulham.
79||11||10||1||colspan="2"|-||13||3||102||15
0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
79||11||10||1||0||0||13||3||102||15
Chris James
Chris James (born 4 July 1987) is a New Zealand football player. He plays for New Zealand national team.
0||0
19||4
19||4
!Total||12||0
Junnosuke Schneider
Junnosuke Schneider (born 22 May 1977) is a Japanese football player. He plays for Yokohama.
183||0||9||0||0||0||192||0
183||0||9||0||0||0||192||0
Liam Rosenior
Liam Rosenior (born 9 July 1984) is an English football player. He plays for Ipswich Town.
178||3||11||0||6||1||195||4
178||3||11||0||6||1||195||4
Hiroshi Ochiai
Ochiai was born in Saitama on 28 February 1946. After graduating from Saitama Urawa High School, he joined Toshiba in 1964. He played at offensive position. In 1966, he moved to his local club Mitsubishi Motors played in Japan Soccer League (JSL). He played in all 260 league matches in the league until 1981. In 1969, he became a top scorer and the club won the champions at JSL first time. In the 1970s he was converted to defensive position. In 1973, the club won JSL and Emperor's Cup. In 1978, the club won all three major title in Japan; JSL, JSL Cup, Emperor's Cup and he was selected "Japanese Footballer of the Year" awards. He retired in 1984. He played 267 games and scored 56 goals in the league. This 267 games is the second record in JSL after Yoshikazu Nagai (272 games). He was selected Best Eleven 10 times included for 9 years in a row (1973-1981). The club won the league champions 2 times, JSL Cup 2 times and Emperor's Cup 4 times.
In September 1974, Ochiai was selected the Japan national team for 1974 Asian Games. At this competition, on 7 September, he debuted against Israel. After his debut, he played in most games included 1976 Summer Olympics qualification, 1978 World Cup qualification and 1978 Asian Games. In 1980, 1980 Summer Olympics qualification was his last game for Japan. He played 63 games and scored 9 goals for Japan until 1980.
After retirement, in 1988, Ochiai became an assistant coach for Japan national team under manager Kenzo Yokoyama who was teammate at Mitsubishi Motors. In 1992, Ochiai became an assistant coach for Urawa Reds (former "Mitsubishi Motors") under manager Takaji Mori.
In 2010, Ochiai was selected Japan Football Hall of Fame.
267||56
267||56
!Total||63||9
Yoshiyuki Matsuyama
Matsuyama was born in Kyoto on July 31, 1966. After graduating from Waseda University, he joined Japan Soccer League club Furukawa Electric in 1989. The club won the 2nd place at the 1990 JSL Cup. He moved to Matsushita Electric (later "Gamba Osaka") in 1991. He played 120 matches and scored 15 goals for the club. In 1997, he moved to his local club Kyoto Purple Sanga. He retired end of 1997 season.
In April 1987, when Matsuyama was a Waseda University student, he was selected the Japan national team for 1988 Summer Olympics qualification. At this qualification, on April 8, he debuted against Indonesia. He played 10 games and scored 4 goals for Japan until 1989.
181||21||15||4||28||9||224||34
181||21||15||4||28||9||224||34
!Total||10||4
Quim
Quim (born 13 November 1975) is a Portuguese football player. He plays for Benfica.
309||0||32||0||3||0||34||0||378||0
309||0||32||0||3||0||34||0||378||0
!Total||32||0
Fernando Meira
Fernando Meira (born 5 June 1978) is a Portuguese football player. He plays for Zenit Saint Petersburg.
132||4||9||0||2||0||143||4
173||11||15||0||29||2||217||13
21||0||6||0||10||0||37||0
22||1||2||0||2||0||26||1
348||16||32||0||43||2||423||18
!Total||52||2
Mantorras
Mantorras (born 18 March 1982) is an Angolan football player. He plays for Benfica and Angola national team.
131||38
131||38
!Total||27||4
Nuno Gomes
Nuno Gomes (born 5 July 1976) is a Portuguese football player. He plays for Benfica and Portugal national team.
He started his career from Boavista in 1994. In 1997, he changed team and he went to Benfica. In 2000/01 season, he went to Fiorentina and in 2002/03 season he returned to Benfica.
351||141||25||15||1||1||65||27||442||184
53||14||4||3||colspan="2"|-||6||2||63||19
404||155||29||18||1||1||71||29||505||203
!Total||76||29
Nino Bule
Nino Bule (born 19 March 1976) is a Croatian football player. He has played for Croatia national team.
238||61
40||23
51||10
11||1
340||95
!Total||3||0
Vjekoslav Škrinjar
Vjekoslav Škrinjar (born 2 June 1969) is a former Croatian football player.
30||3||4||0||11||2||45||5
30||3||4||0||11||2||45||5
José Carlos Garcia Leal
José Carlos Garcia Leal (born 15 July 1980) is a Brazilian football player.
121||16||||||||||121||16
88||16||5||0||11||4||104||20
209||32||5||0||11||4||225||36
Tiago Mendes
Tiago Mendes (born 2 May 1981) is a Portuguese football player. He plays for Atlético Madrid and Portugal national team.
137||23||||||||||||||137||23
34||4||2||0||4||0||11||0||51||4
56||9||5||0||3||0||16||4||80||13
42||0||5||0||colspan="2"|-||6||0||53||0
0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
269||36||12||0||7||0||33||4||321||40
!Total||47||1
Comparative anatomy