Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i VolksWorld

I’ve got a rubbish memory for some things. Names, for instance. In fact, we have a bit of a standing joke in our household when I muddle up the names of my kids. That said, I have got five of them and, to be honest, they’ve got used to answering to anything I call them. Yes, quite literally. I’ve got a scalpel sharp recollection of certain drives, though. Like the time when I was acting as navigator in the French Alps for a friend in his ‘79 Beetle Cabriolet. We spent six hours on a mountain pass, hairpin after hairpin trying to cross into Switzerland only to realise we’d circled the entire mountain range and had ended up back where we started. Thirty years on, we still laugh about it.…

With the season starting early this year courtesy of the VolksWorldSpares Day, we’ve been in the mood for the main event for even longer than normal. The clock is ticking, and those Sandown Park showgates will be opening before we know it. Our theme for this year is ‘expertise and enthusiasm’ and it’s about getting our team out from behind telephones and computer screens and meeting show goers; really demonstrating that we are what we say we are. Heritage CEO Barney Dines explains more; “If you have a question about a Beetle come along and chat to our Sales Manager Nick. Got a Bay Window? George is your man! Drive a T4 or T5 then Mark is the guy to see. We’re a team full of enthusiasts, but each with…

We’re celebrating another important birthday at this year’s VolksWorldShow, the 50th of the opinion splitting VW Porsche 914. Frankly, we love the mid-engined collaboration between the two German manufacturers, and to show our appreciation we’ve got together a wide range of examples, including everything from the factory fresh car featured elsewhere this issue (pages 26-32) to a wide arch track-ready 914/6. They’ll be in the Brasserie, alongside the Beetle Cabriolets.…

Remember Drew Pritchard’s 1952 Ragtop Beetle back in February’s issue? Well now is your chance to see it in the flesh because Drew is bringing it along to sit within our Patina Display in Esher Hall.. Drew may be best known as the star of TV’s Salvage Hunters but he is also a prominent and well known figure within the VW community and you’ll be stretched to find someone with as much enthusiasm and passion for the scene than him. As well as bringing his Beetle to display, we’re hoping that Drew will be on hand to catch up with visitors, discuss his passion for air-cooled VWs and be available for some pictures too.…

At The VolksWorldShow we take great pride in making sure there’s something for everyone, which is exactly why we always have a Kids Zone for the little ones to enjoy. • Play equipment – large soft play area and small climbing frame for kids up to five years old • Face painting – our professional face painter will paint your child’s face with any design you like for free! • Movies – take some time out from the hustle and bustle of the show by watching one of our VWthemed movies • Giant Jenga – the ultimate test of nerve, take on our giant Jenga challenge and see if your little ones can beat you • Arts and crafts – things for your children to paint, do or make, including…

Share your VW with the world! Email volksworld.ed@kelsey.co.uk John and Katherine Pygott, 1963 Karmann Ghia We’ve had our Karmann Ghia since 1991. It’s a totally original RHD car, first bought from Moortown Motors VW dealers in Leeds. All the three owners from new, including ourselves, have been West Yorkshire folk. It has the original engine, completely unmodified. The interior is completely standard and the carpets and floormats have never been touched. It has always been in the original colours (Pacific and Blue White). We fitted an original period Blaupunkt Frankfurt valve-transistor hybrid radio shortly after we bought it which still sounds great (especially using a bluetooth FM transmitter to play just the right ‘60s music!) We’ve just had it partly repainted (in the original colour of course), and done some…

“you don’t need to blow a fortune to build a cool ride” John first began working at the Autocavan workshop in Ipswich way back in 1978, which eventually led to him building one of the best known VWDRC race cars of the late ’80s and early ’90s – the Autocavan-sponsored ‘Street Lethal’ 1303 Super Beetle. There’s simply not enough space in this magazine to explain the work that went into its development but from it’s first outing (painted white and running a 1968cc motor) in 1988, where it ran a 14.2-second pass, through the ‘raspberry-painted’ era (circa 1989 – with 2110cc / 12.20-sec passes) and finally the grey/orange livery (1993 – with turbocharged 2332cc / regular 10.60s), the car was always a crowd pleaser and a top contender. Twist and…

“It was £1,900, but because I only had £1,200 in savings I had to borrow the rest” When Chris Storton restored his 1963 Beetle back in 1994, as a 17-year-old, the replacement parts supply was considerably different to what it is today, not least because it predated the advent of the internet. That didn’t stop him, though, carrying out largely a home restoration that he and his dad would be rightly proud of. “I spotted my Beetle (first registered in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire) which was also my very first car, for sale in AutoTrader in 1992. It was at Stowe Cum Quy, near Cambridge,” remembers Chris. “It was £1,900, but because I only had £1,200 in savings I had to borrow the rest. It was in reasonably good condition – a…

March UK Cruise to Ninove Date: 16 March 2019 Location: Meet at Eurotunnel Contact: @ukcruisetoninove Freddy Files Date: 17 March 2019 Location: Ninove, Belgium Contact: @thesexysemaphoresunday The VolksWorldShow Date:23-24 March 2019 Location:Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey Contact: www.volksworldshows.com April CamperFest Date:18-22 April 2019 Location:Chester Racecourse Contact: www.camperfest.co.uk Dubs Collective–Dubs in Wonderland Date:19-22 April 2019 Location:Himley Hall, Dudley DY3 4DF Contact: www.dubscollective.com Run a show? Why not tell us about it? email VolksWorld.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

We’re back for our 10th year at The VolksWorldShow, and can’t wait to greet visitors with our latest range of camper vans and accessories. We’ve got over a decade of practical touring experience and are a must see destination for everything VW California. Our highly skilled team of Adventure Consultants are waiting to help you achieve the very best campervan experience offering luxury campervan hire, sales and equipment. Drawing on our extensive knowledge of the best equipment for campervanning and touring, we’ll be on hand to offer advice wherever you are headed this year, whether it be a holiday in the UK, a Continental road trip or an expedition across Africa. You name it, we’ve done it; from City Breaks and half term dashes to Spain to sub zero ski…

0-60 in less than a second, top speeds of up to 280mph, £500 just to start the engine – Andy Raw’s ‘Nitro Bug’ really is something special. Andy Raw, owner of AMR Motors and TSR Engine Conversions in Newmarket, Suffolk, has spent thousands of hours – and pounds – converting a humble Beetle into a fire-spitting, gas-guzzling speed demon and he’s bringing it along to the show. The Bug has almost 4000bhp under the hood and runs off nitromethane, a fuel so unique and expensive that you have to acquire a special Explosives Precursors & Poisons (EPP) Licence from the Home Office to be able to buy it. The car is capable of reaching 280mph in roughly six seconds and when driving it, Andy experiences 7Gs through his body –…

This car belongs to one of the best-known VW and Porsche enthusiasts in the country, Richard King. Richard earned his stripes in the UK VW scene with a string of iconic customised cars in the formative years of the new wave movement (i.e. throughout the 1980s) and was head honcho at the German Car Company before starting Karmann Konnection. It’s no secret that Ritchie has also been a fan of Porsche cars for many years – in fact, over the past decade, Karmann Konnection has transitioned more and more towards the Porsche side of the business, and is now one of the best known suppliers of parts for classic models. And, if you drop by at the shop (a restored Pub in Southend Essex), you’ll find an impressive collection of…

“brimmed full of stands selling everything from vintage bikes to Beetle ski racks and interior trim” Amass of VW enthusiasts from around the country braved the cold and beat the January blues by heading to Ardingly, Sussex for our very first Spares Day on the 27th. The venue was the South of England Showground; the aim to browse new and used VW parts, along with other motoring merchandise, be tempted by cars for sale and check out an impressively eclectic display of cars on show. Oh, and guess what, a few brave souls even camped over night. In addition to the autojumble area which was brimmed full of stands selling everything from vintage bikes to Beetle ski racks and interior trim, visitors took advantage of the opportunity to visit the…

“While no Beetle cabin could ever be described as luxurious or well-equipped, there was a certain austere elegance and Teutonic efficiency to them” “Volkswagen Beetles all look the same.” That’s a common criticism from many whose last encounter with the model was probably half-watching The Love Bug on TV when there was nothing else on during a rainy Sunday afternoon. Of course, as us VW aficionados know, whatever the overall appearance of the cars, Wolfsburg constantly tweaked things and no one Beetle is really ever the same as another. For experts, it’s easy to date a Beetle by such small details as the shape of the bonnet handle, front or rear lights, engine lid licence plate lamp or even the rear-view mirror. However, it was inside where some of the…

Meguiar’s celebrate 15 years of The VolksWorld Show sponsorship in 2019. Meguiar’s surface care products are the brand of choice for serious car enthusiasts worldwide and being enthusiasts ourselves, we understand the needs of the world’s most demanding car owners and have a Meguiar’s product to restore and enhance every possible surface on your VW. See www.meguiars.co.uk for full details of our extensive product range and pay our stand a visit to discuss the best car care products to get your pride and joy shining.…

CamperVanTastic will be at the front of Surrey Hall ready to offer you a guided tour of their VW T6 California Ocean and Beach campervans that you can either hire or buy. You will also find some great deals on accessories including some clever storage options from California-Camping, Brandrup, Thule and others. CamperVanTastic will also be exhibiting on Summer Lawn with their VW California Show’n’Shine Club Community where you will get to speak to owners and see some of the best examples of this factory produced campervan.…

Okay, now this is a car we are extremely excited about. Some of VolksWorld’smore loyal (and more mature!) readers may remember the vehicle that was featured on the front cover of our first ever issue back in 1986. This jaw-droppingly good-looking 1953 bug was the overall winner at the 1987 Bug Jam (the very first Bug Jam event) at Santa Pod and was crowned Europe’s most beautiful VW, which all goes to make it a very special car indeed. It is, perhaps, the most iconic VW feature car of its era and, incredibly, it will be on display at this year’s show looking every bit as gorgeous as it did over 30 years ago. It was picked up as a rust-soaked mess by Russell Ritchie a few years ago and,…

Show sponsor CamperVanTastic will be giving away a fantastic prize for anyone willing to take on the challenge! The always popular awning erection competition is back again this year, giving you the chance to walk away with a stunning Khyam awning worth over £600. Every day there will be a quick-erect competition to win a Dub Hub Awning. The competition will take place every afternoon in the main arena at 3pm, just visit the CamperVanTastic stand before 1pm to enter the draw for a chance to compete. The Khyam team will also be demonstrating how amazingly simple their drive-away awnings are to put up in their tent village with everything from pole to air tech on offer.…

If you’re not displaying your car inside the main halls but still want to display your car at the show then you could be in with a chance of winning our Show and Shine competition, kindly sponsored by Meguiar’s. If you have a vehicle pass and plan on displaying then our Show and Shine judges will be taking a close look at your car throughout the day, with Meguiar’s awarding a trophy on both Saturday and Sunday to the best VW on show. You don’t have to submit anything or park in a special place – if your car is in the show it is in with a shot!…

One of the most popular entertainers of the VW scene is back at The VolksWorldShow in 2019 with the awesome Slippers the Split sound system in attendance again. Slippers is a 1961 Split Screen that was saved from extinction by two passionate DJs who had a dream to make the ultimate fantasy DJ stage – and they achieved it. After a no-expense-spared renovation, the vehicle now boasts an 8-kilowatt Function 1 sound system complete with smoke cannons and lighting to match; it packs quite a punch! “saved from extinction by two passionate DJs”…

Pete Morley is no stranger to the pages of VolksWorldhaving built a few Ghia feature cars over the years. He’s also been a long-term member of the Green Hearts VW club, and has owned a string of fairly hardcore street racing Bugs. But, as you’ll soon see, Karmann Ghias are what make Pete tick… Pete explained, “I restored my first show-quality Ghia back in ’97, which was featured in VolksWorlda year later, and I guess that’s where my passion for all things Ghia really began.” Pete went on to develop a penchant for the early, lowlight Ghias and soon realised that importing / flipping the occasional VW would help to cover the costs of his personal projects. “What had started out as little more than the occasional imported car to…

“One aspect of the German Folks cars remains a constant: their quality” It all started in 1982 when several young, enthusiastic friends based near Los Angeles got together and started a club to share their passion for air-cooled Volkswagens – and so was born the German Folks Klub. Yet, something soon set their rides apart from the rest… By the 1990s, members would experiment and embrace a look which still helps define the GFK today. They involved pre-1968 VWs featuring a factory appearance, chrome and mouldings included. Add to the list a severely slammed suspension, enhanced by a narrowed front beam and polished vintage aluminium rims – typically Empi 5 spokes or Porsche Fuchs – plus rare and original accessories, and you’ve got the GFK look to a tee. This…