Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i VolksWorld

“The owner said it wasn’t for sale” There’s a familiar pattern to a lot of VW stories. A kid is influenced by a VW in their childhood, learns how things go together and then swears one day they’ll have a Beetle of their own. That was certainly the case for Michiel Vercruysse, a truck mechanic from Belgium. He grew up next door to his older cousins and, when he was eight, one of them bought a Beetle. From that day on, he promised himself he’d own one, too. As is also a familiar pattern, life carried on and threw its various spanners into the works. Literally, in Michiel’s case. Instead of a Beetle, he ended up with a Seat Ibiza as his first modified car, while work and family commitments…

It was ol’ Blue Eyes himself who said if he could make it in New York, he could make it anywhere. And while Frank Sinatra may have had a few friends in low places to help him along, he wasn’t wrong about the city being a tough place to survive. Scorching hot in summer, freezing in winter and home to some of the world’s most direct drivers, it’s not exactly a nurturing environment for an old VW. It’s no surprise, then, that you don’t see many here in the UK that have lived their lives in the Empire State, and it’s easy to see why. This one did though, and it’s got the scars to prove it. When Tom McGinley first laid eyes on the Bus, it was, in his…

Come join us, and be part of theVolksWorld community After the astounding success of the 2025 event, we're delighted to say The VolksWorld Show is returning to the South of England Showground in West Sussex in 2026, and promises to be bigger and even better than last year. Set to take place on Sunday 22 March 2026, prices start at just £10 for a display pass for any air-cooled VW, together with its driver and passenger. If you prefer to make a weekend of it and camp, a pitch costs £30, and that's for two adults and two children for two nights. As per last year, the format is still a single day event, rather than a full weekender, but we expect more people to stay over on the Saturday…

Inspired by European motorsports of yesteryear, Old Speed VWs are typically created to emulate racing vehicles that could have existed in the 1950s or ’60s. Some builders refuse to use anything but genuine vintage components available during the chosen time period, while others are happy to employ faithful reproductions of these same parts. Old Speed VW devotees typically select Beetles from the 1950s or ’60s as the basis for their projects, but not exclusively. Type 3s, Karmann Ghias, exotic, VW-powered coachbuilts and early Porsches (think 356, 911, 912 or 914) are all fair game. Some prefer patina, others start with restored cars, but the common thread is to create something that looks as if it raced in a certain year. A particular event even. For instance, you could be modifying…

The Ardennen Rennen is the brainchild of Fred Peeters and Mike Walravens, the two main men behind the European Bug-In events at Chimay. The idea came about a decade ago now, with a vision to revive the spirit of legendary road races like the Acropolis Rally, Monte Carlo Rally and Liège-Rome-Liège. The result is a two-day adventure, or gentlemen racers reunion as they like to call it, that blends navigation, time keeping and camaraderie, but with an entry list of exclusively pre-’67 air-cooled Volkswagens, VW-powered coachbuilts and early Porsches. The first edition was held in 2022, the second in 2023 and this, the third edition, on 27-28 September 2025. It brought together a carefully curated fleet of 35 air-cooled classics, all prepped in period-correct style, for a nostalgic blast through…

Like many of us, Guido Stollt’s passion for air-cooled Volkswagens began with a bit of neighbourly influence. When he was growing up in Germany, a chap next door owned a 1972 1302 Beetle. Nothing that unusual about that, given that it was the early 1980s. However, Guido’s neighbour was a little bit different to the many other VW owners in his neighbourhood, for the ’02 was equipped with a 2.4-litre Klaus engine. Not familiar with that tuner? Look up klaus-motoren.com and you’ll see that these are archetypal German Look power units, based on Type 4 crankcases, with upright Porsche cooling, air boxes and prodigious but reliable power outputs. To the young Guido, that 185bhp /230Nm Beetle offered an intoxicating blend of sound, smell and speed, enough to set him firmly…

There’s something special about owning a car from your birth year. It doesn’t make it any better, just a little more personal to the owner. For Briton Christensen’s grandfather, born in 1954, the dream was to own a Beetle from that year, the year he emerged onto planet Earth. Fortunately, for him, he knew just the man to make it happen, in his 23-year-old grandson. The result is this beautifully restored, factory sunroof Oval Window, finished in the delightful shade of L227 Stratos Silver. Now, a stocker in that combination would be quite something, but this one goes one better, being powered by a period-style performance motor that adds fun and driveability to this gem of a Volkswagen. The story began when Briton’s grandfather chose 1954 as his target year,…

There’s usually one main element that inspires a car build. For some, it’s a set of wheels, or a paint colour; for others, it can be something more obscure. Thomas Schuster’s 1957 Oval, for example, was built around a tool brand. Most VW heads will be familiar with the name Hazet because of the Hazet Tourist – you know, the little can of useful, blue-handled tools that was made to fit into the spare wheel of an early Beetle. Or perhaps it brings to mind a row of Hazet Assistent tool carts lined up neatly in photographs of VW dealer service bays in the 1950s and ’60s. Look closely at any old photos of Wolfsburg or Zuffenhausen workshops and you’ll spot them. Your eyes will invariably be drawn to the…