Hi,

Somehow people have forgotten to point out that Qvale was the sole importer of VW’s to the entire Pacific Northwest beginning in 1952, so his ties to VW’s were both longstanding and intensely personal. He would very likely have imported the very VW that Hartnell was driving and on which there were OR plates (KQ’s dealership, Riviera Motors, was in Portland) and on which Z wrote his message. But I realize that does not mean anything because it is just a "coincidence." He also imported British sports cars, like the one Z did a double-take on and then chased at LHR. Another amazing (but irrelevant) coincidence.

Hi,

Somehow people have forgotten to point out that Qvale was the sole importer of VW’s to the entire Pacific Northwest beginning in 1952, so his ties to VW’s were both longstanding and intensely personal. He would very likely have imported the very VW that Hartnell was driving and on which there were OR plates (KQ’s dealership, Riviera Motors, was in Portland) and on which Z wrote his message. But I realize that does not mean anything because it is just a "coincidence." He also imported British sports cars, like the one Z did a double-take on and then chased at LHR. Another amazing (but irrelevant) coincidence.

Do you know where Cheri Jo Bates’ VW Beetle came from/ it’s history ?

I noticed the license plate frame in the photo of her car that says "CARL PEEL" and I
looked it up in my 1966 Riverside phone book and there was a used car lot by that
name on Market street about a mile north of RCC, I guess that’s where she bought it ?

No offense but he had nothing to do with the killings. Good Samaritans help out with cars all the time. It doesn’t mean they’re going to kill the person later.

I am of the opinion that the police want to speak with him because they don’t believe that. Hence all the news coverage.

From the man at Lake Berryessa to this guy, they are wanted by the police.

From what we know they never came forward despite their faces and some details being published in connection with the crime.

To just dismiss this would require lots of good evidence to dismiss it.

I don’t know the origins of CJB’s VW but Qvale was the importer for Nor Cal, not So Cal. However, he was in Riverside that weekend for the LA Times Gran Prix and if you had been importing Beetles and, in KQ’s own words, "put them all over the damn place," a crime involving a Beetle might certainly catch your attention even if someone else may have been the killer.

I am of the opinion that the police want to speak with him because they don’t believe that. .

Police want to speak with who? The guy who tampered with CJB’s distributor? Well, hell yeah they want to talk to him because it is almost certain he is the person who killed her, especially since he mentioned it in the "confession letter".

I think the title of this thread should be "What is it with zodiac and cars in general?" Everything zodiac did had to do with cars. He shot at Faraday’s car. He shot into ferrin’s car. He wrote on Hartnell’s car the one qvale would have inported and had personal ties to. And he used Stine’s taxi as a mobile crime scene. Many of the references in his letters have to do with cars and other vehicles. Motorcycles holding road races. Prowl cars. Fire engines. And when he threatened school children he was going to blow up a school bus not a school building. So zodiac has an obsession with cars in general and vehicles and motorcycles. In fact his crimes would not be recognizable if not for cars and other vehicles. Oh he also chased a British car on the night of the lake Herman Road murders. So his obsession was with cars in general not just Volkswagens. An Inconvenient Truth.

I think the title of this thread should be "What is it with zodiac and cars in general?" Everything zodiac did had to do with cars. He shot at Faraday’s car. He shot into ferrin’s car. He wrote on Hartnell’s car the one qvale would have inported and had personal ties to. And he used Stine’s taxi as a mobile crime scene. Many of the references in his letters have to do with cars and other vehicles. Motorcycles holding road races. Prowl cars. Fire engines. And when he threatened school children he was going to blow up a school bus not a school building. So zodiac has an obsession with cars in general and vehicles and motorcycles. In fact his crimes would not be recognizable if not for cars and other vehicles. Oh he also chased a British car on the night of the lake Herman Road murders. So his obsession was with cars in general not just Volkswagens. An Inconvenient Truth.

I still think this has to do with easy access to the engine, a flaw with this manufacturer, where a screwdriver was sufficient to turn the latch and gain access. This was not the case with all cars, just some.

He is looking for older cars with issues. The statistics for VW being high on the list is still consistent with those being majorities in the older cars with issues.

If I recall correctly the Lake Herman Road chase incident involved William Crow who was checking out his girlfriends car and in some accounts is checking out the motor. In the documented account he is chased by two people in a car. In modern revised versions it’s just one.

Anyhow stopped and looking as if vehicle problems are present is a ripe situation for this "Good Samaritan" who seems also capable of precipitating the failure.

Lake Berryessa car had 1 mismatched worn tire and 3 worm tires. For a "Good Samaritan" who knows his mechanics he certainly is driving with some crappy treads.

IMO, those tires were taken from a used pile and he did his best to get 4 on there. By the next day those tires were certainly off and back on the heap again.

He is forensically aware.

Hi,

What you are doing is countering what I can PROVE with what you THINK and FEEL is the truth. There is a difference. You can’t prove things that are "IMO." I can provide documentation for everything I said about Z (just look at his letters) and Qvale. That’s the difference between true factual research and opinion.

Hi,

What you are doing is countering what I can PROVE with what you THINK and FEEL is the truth. There is a difference. You can’t prove things that are "IMO." I can provide documentation for everything I said about Z (just look at his letters) and Qvale. That’s the difference between true factual research and opinion.

I am not countering anything unless for some reason you think there is something mutually exclusive with what I said and what you said. I don’t have a problem with your facts.

As for speculation, well from time to time we all go there, hence this thread. I want to look at it more because the research on this is scant.

Ah YES I know your POI has connections to all this and guess what I am not shying away from it because of that. I don’t research everything I do through the lens of a POI. Hence the OP.

Who knows? Maybe you are right or onto something. That is why I don’t crap on the work of others (didn’t say you did!) because who knows, some of that stuff might end working in favor of something else, especially the angle that person X knew person Y for some reason.

So I am interested in the auto industry related stuff just as much as thou art.

I still think this has to do with easy access to the engine, a flaw with this manufacturer, where a screwdriver was sufficient to turn the latch and gain access. This was not the case with all cars, just some.

Yeah, 99% of the cars all you had to do was release the hood latch, which was just inside the front grill. It was just as easy to open one as a Volkswagen.

That’s the difference between true factual research.

You’ll find this guy does that very poorly, and gets upset when it’s pointed out. It’s like the latch on VW’s being easy to open. Virtually all cars had easy to open hoods in those days. You’ll notice he just ignores that and continues to prattle on.

If I recall correctly the Lake Herman Road chase incident involved William Crow who was checking out his girlfriends car and in some accounts is checking out the motor. In the documented account he is chased by two people in a car. In modern revised versions it’s just one.

This is another example of you making leaps of conjecture based on flawed factual information.

William Crow was test driving his girlfriend’s BRAND NEW British import car (likely an MG). He was checking the toggles on the dash, and not working on the the engine. If you can post the “accounts” where he is checking the motor, please post.

If I recall correctly the Lake Herman Road chase incident involved William Crow who was checking out his girlfriends car and in some accounts is checking out the motor. In the documented account he is chased by two people in a car. In modern revised versions it’s just one.

This is another example of you making leaps of conjecture based on flawed factual information.

William Crow was test driving his girlfriend’s BRAND NEW British import car (likely an MG). He was checking the toggles on the dash, and not working on the the engine. If you can post the “accounts” where he is checking the motor, please post.

So we are just to accept your version of it because you say so with no reference and then ask others to do so?

By the way whoever is claiming the inside information in CJB The Confession letter was car tampering is totally wrong. It wasn’t the inside information.

Here is the quote from Crow’s account.

he was driving his girlfriend’s sports car and he was testing it out and adjusting the motor.

From the police report.

Where is yours saying toggles on the dash only?

I can find posts with people saying not all cars were easy to open back then just as much as people claiming they all are. Some of the absolutist statements on here are well… a bit absolutist.

I still think this has to do with easy access to the engine, a flaw with this manufacturer, where a screwdriver was sufficient to turn the latch and gain access. This was not the case with all cars, just some.

Yeah, 99% of the cars all you had to do was release the hood latch, which was just inside the front grill. It was just as easy to open one as a Volkswagen.

Yeah except neither of those cars had their engines inside the front grill. They are both rear engine cars.

This is why these general claims when applied often get upended.

Yeah except neither of those cars had their engines inside the front grill. They are both rear engine cars.

So what, you said Zodiac chose VW cars because it was easy to access the engine. All models were just as easy to access in those days.