Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i VolksWorld

if you’re willing to think a little outside the box, chances are you’ll be able to come up with something equally as interesting I was reading a news story about modified classics the other day. It recognised the fact that modifying a historic car had long polarised opinion, and that while there were those who were staunch believers in originality, an equal number were happy to delve deep into custom car territory. Rightly, the author acknowledged that the divide between these two opposites had become increasingly blurred to the extent that certain alterations have now become commonplace. The use of radial instead of crossply tyres, for example, or fitting electronic ignition to make a car’s electrics more reliable. Before I switched the telly on instead, I read on about the…

I think this is possibly one of only three UK-supplied examples to remain in the country. It’s had just three owners from new and I’ve run it for the last 18 years. I believe Rikki James was the second owner and back then it was painted in Sealing Wax Red and Beige Grey. I’ve restored it since then and have changed a few things, though retaining all the original windows. The grey paintwork is a 1950s colour and would have been used on Oval Beetles, with a Beige Grey on top. I had a Devon interior installed, complete with original jail bars for the windows. Power is from a 2110cc engine featuring twin 44mm Weber carburettors, coupled to a Freeway Flyer gearbox. The suspension set-up incorporates a Red 9 front…

Brian, a 41-year old mechanic from Skovby in Denmark has long been a VW tinkerer and his previous history reads like a dream garage for most of us. We’re talking about a ’53 Karmann Cabriolet, ’61, ’62, ’71 1302S, ’73 and a ’74 1303 Beetles plus a ’75 Bay Window Bus. Oh, and a ’72 Porsche 911T/E. Then, of course, there’s the car we’re talking about here – his fabulous ’54 Oval. His passion for air-cooled VWs was sparked back in 1990 when his father and his uncle joined forces to restore a super Beetle. Brian’s interest grew until, in 1993, he picked up a tidy ’54 Oval... the very same car you see here, in fact. Brian told us, “The car was very good and the perfect daily driver,…

Ben Nash comes from a family of car enthusiasts, and has grown up around much of British Leyland’s finest. We’re talking about cars such as the Morris Minor and Austin Mini, which are pretty cool, but perhaps not quite as cool as a nice VW! “I’d welded patches on my Mini, but I had no real experience of tackling repairs of this scale” Ben explained, “I drove a British Racing Green Mini when I first started my training at Ford Motor Company, and tackled a lot of running repairs and modifications over the period of a couple of years.” I guess you could say that Ben cut his teeth on the BL metal, which had taught him the basics of maintenance and even welding, but after a while he fancied…

The last time I wrote a project piece it was about my new garage and the fact that regardless of how cool it was, it didn’t have room for all of my toys. For the sake of the greater good one of them had to do the automotive equivalent of a Captain Oates, and as I’m not allowed to sell my Bus under pain of suffering even more pain, it had to be either my ’61 Bug or Porsche 912 that went. I advertised both and it was the one I really didn’t want to sell – the Beetle – that sold. I’m still more than a bit gutted about it because I loved everything about that car. So much so that if the Porsche sells – and that’s still…

Awell-known ploy used by car companies to liven the sales figures is the special edition. Often relatively simple to achieve, these can be based on a regular production model with some easy additions or alterations to the usual spec. In Volkswagen’s case the theme was bright body colours, sports wheels and a novel interior treatment. The Beetle received its fair share of such ‘specials’ and a particularly popular edition of Volkswagen’s staple model was the Jeans Beetle produced during the mid-Seventies. Once a fairly common sight at VW shows as well as on the road, this was readily recognisable by its bright yellow finish, sports wheels and matt black body decals and bumpers. Under the headline ‘A stroke of Jeanius’ our October 1989 issue feature provided a rundown, some 15…

April Dub Shed Date: 6-7 April 2019 Location: Eikon Exhibition Centre, Lisburn, Northern Ireland Contact: www.dubshed.com Elsecar at the Races Date: 14 April 2019 Location: Doncaster Racecourse Contact: www.elsecarattheraces.com 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 May SSVC Annual Rally, AGM, convoy Date: 3-6 May 2019 Location: Victoria Farm, Lutterworth LE17 5AU Contact: www.ssvc.org.uk Stanford Hall Date: 5 May 2019 Location: Stanford Hall, Stanford-on-Avon LE17 6DH Contact: www.lwvwoc.co.uk Big Bang Date: 17-19 May 2019 Location: Santa Pod Raceway Contact: www.big-bang.co.uk June Hangarz 6 Date: 2 June 2019 Location: Sporthal Nazareth, Belgium Contact: https://www.facebook.com/ events/618195138640623 Stonor VW Rally Date: 2 June 2019 Location: Henley on Thames RG9 6HF Contact: www.abvwc.com Bristol Volksfest Date: 14-16…

CLOCK THIS From: www.dbeilt.co.uk Price: £26.99 Making a slight deviation from their normal, trailer-related products, dbeilt is manufacturing these heart-shaped steel wall clocks, based on an original, hand drawn design. They are CNC cut from solid steel, and incorporate the legendary VW logo with the heart shape following the curved lines of the VW split screen campervan. The paint colours have been carefully chosen to replicate the lovely two tones of the 1950’s and 60’s to give a vintage feel. There's a quartz movement inside and there's a bracket on the back for mounting it on a wall. The clock face measures 20cm (9in) high, 20cm (8in) wide at its widest point and is made from 2mm thick steel. Order direct via clocks@dbeilt.co.uk STAINLESS WIPERS From: www.customandcommercial.com Price: see text…

My Beetle was painted in Southend-on-Sea, Essex by Gavin Jones back in 2006, who has since moved to Bude in Cornwall where he runs Trailer Queen Restorations. The paintwork is actually a Fiat colour and it says much for the quality of Gavin’s work that 12 years later it still looks stunning! I recently purchased the car from an enthusiast in Leek, Derbyshire, who ran Silver Systems custom stainless steel exhausts. It’s an absolute pleasure to own and drive, and although obviously much of the car was already built prior to my purchasing it, I’ve since added, what my dad refers to as junk on the roof rack, with trinkets of my own choice, to make it stand out even more. The car also sports US-spec towel rail bumpers and…

We all live the VW lifestyle in different ways. Some relish the excitement of searching for the rarest survivors; others prefer resurrecting crusty vehicles, while another group might simply enjoy being behind the wheel of an air-cooled VW, nicely finished or not. In a way, Ken King likes it all. His involvement with our scene goes even further, as he runs one of the largest Volkswagen shops in Alberta, a province located in the western part of Canada. His company, Concept-1, caters for both the air- and water-cooled crowd, though Ken concedes having a deeper appreciation for early production models. VolksWorldreaders might know the Calgary resident for his interest in Barndoor Buses, as he owns no less than three of them. They all started as incredibly rusty finds, which almost…

This was the first collaboration event from 464 Co. and the Flat Four Society, and what was nice is that every penny raised went to charity (mate). The idea was to create a chilled-out, one-day show to stump up money for the Nottingham Burns Unit which treated their good friend Billy Wheldale after an awful accident while helping his dad fit an engine in a VW Bus, and The Air Ambulance who fought tirelessly to try and save (the co-founder of the Hangout) Neilroy’s father’s life seven years ago. In addition to that the guys wanted to put on one final event of the year, giving everyone a good excuse to drag out their VWs for one last run before winter. Now, when you considering the venue was only secured…

I am building a concours show ‘n’ shine Trekker but because I was missing driving a Trekker so much, I decided to buy this up and running example to fill the gap! It was built by a guy in Scotland who did a great job – I saw it on a Trekker Facebook page. It has a brand new hood frame and roof covering, Empi bucket seats and there’s air ride at the front. The 1600cc engine with twin Kadron carburettors wasn’t running particularly well when I bought it, but that’s now been sorted. The bodywork has been finished in RAF Blue with a matt finish and the car sits on Radar alloys. I was contemplating adding some RAF symbols to the bodywork, but then had second thoughts as to…

“Patience is required when looking for your dream VW, as is an excellent network of trusted VW enthusiasts” Despite Peter’s boss being ‘the man above’, that wasn’t going to guarantee that he’d find a stock, original Northern Ireland registered ’67 Beetle. Having said all that, our Peter is nothing if not persistent – and when he sets his sights on something he goes for it, and usually gets it too! To show you what I mean, let me take you on a little detour for a minute. When I first met Reverend Peter Ferguson I was blown away by his enthusiasm for all things VW. He is the person people refer to in the old saying “oh you’re a tonic” because once you spend anything more than a millisecond in…

David Bartuch is the proud owner of this 1970 Predator buggy, and it’s quite a departure from his previous projects. Starting out in the ‘90s with a Fiat Unos (remember those?), David owned a string of BMW E28s and E30s as his wage packet increased. “This was a whole new world when it came to power gains, and bodykits to alter their appearance from Hartge, M-Tech and Zender were all easy to come by back then,” remembers David. As his tastes changed, he made the move towards water-cooled Beetles, an Audi A3 and more recently a VW T5 which he’s converted into a campervan. So far, there’s little evidence to predict a Predator Beach buggy was on the horizon but, as he explains, it was reminiscing over childhood trips to…

In August 1971, Volkswagen decided to replace the removable rear valance on buses with a fixed valance, presumably to meet crash and safety regulations, as well as adding more structural rigidity for the fitment of the heavier Type 4 engine. This did, however, make engine removal a lot more difficult. Sadly, it’s not unusual for these fixed rear valance panels to rust badly. That said, on our Texas import Westy, it was accident damage that caused the demise of our outer panel. It was a shame to have to replace a panel on an otherwise untouched, rust-free Bus. Sure, we could have wagged it up with filler, but that’s just plain wrong, so here we’ll show you how to repair it the right way. 01 Prepare Before you break out…

“He took difficult decisions – cutting jobs, reorganising plants and signing the death warrants on many air-cooled models” With its first post-war boss, Heinrich ‘Heinz’ Nordhoff, Volkswagen enjoyed unprecedented success and expansion, along with virtual world domination for its air-cooled range. Nordhoff’s captaincy lasted 20 years, from 1948 to 1968. He died in April of the latter year, just a few months before he was due to retire. With him went Volkswagen’s period of prosperity and stability. The new CEO, Dr Kurt Lotz, wasn’t nearly so warm and friendly to Volkswagen’s air-cooled models as his predecessor… perhaps justifiably, given that it was now regarded as old technology. It was Lotz who prioritised the quest to replace the Beetle and its brethren with front-engined, front-wheel drive, water-cooled models, purchasing rival NSU…