Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2017 från VolksWorld

“If you want more of this, or less of that, I am all ears” I am eight issues in and loving every moment on VolksWorld. So far, the feedback from you lot has been pretty positive, although I have to admit getting the mix right isn’t always easy. Some readers tell me they only want the very best cars, not the DIY jobs, while others bemoan the fact we only feature trailer queens, or cars so unobtainable they’re largely irrelevant to the majority. My approach, or one that I hope to execute throughout 2017, is to include both. I think it’s important to have cars to aspire to, the real top end stuff, while not neglecting stories about how someone has struggled to restore a project themselves, on a budget,…

One year line-up On arrival at the show you will be met by a display of ‘67s as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this benchmark model. If you would like to come and join the party, email amy.nicholls@kelsey.co.uk for more information. Everybody in the line-up receives a free entry ticket to the show and an anniversary t-shirt. Show Car News We’d like to extend a big thanks to everybody that applied to display a vehicle at the VolksWorldShow – we’ve had so many great cars it has been hard to decide on the finishing line up. If you are coming to the show for inspiration, you won’t be disappointed because our eclectic mix of cars covers all tastes. As always we have held back a couple of spaces for…

“I particularly wanted a stock, unmolested example” Dr Barry Shackcloth, 1971 Karmann Cabriolet 1302 LS Dr Barry Shackcloth’s Cabriolet is an original right-hand drive and was built on January 4, 1971. As fate would have it, its first owner and several subsequent owners were also doctors. In May 1986 it was rebuilt with a body off chassis restoration by Peter Pfeiffer, a VW specialist based in Hove. The garage is still in existence (www.pfeifferpartnership.com), though Peter Pfeiffer has now retired. “I purchased the car eight years ago and have since spoken to most of its previous owners, including Peter Pfeiffer, who was most informative as to its full history,” explains Barry. “He told me that during the course of the restoration everything had been rebuilt and a brand new genuine…

This ’61 might look nice and fresh on the outside, but on the inside it smells like only a 55-year-old Beetle can. That’s because, despite the fresh paint and the obvious custom touches, this car is a survivor. With only three owners from new – an incredible stat’ for any vehicle of this age – the responsibility now lies with Paul Charlesworth to keep it in the life it has been accustomed to. Of course, being a red-blooded car guy, he couldn’t resist a few reversible alterations here and there… Paul: “I’ve been into cars since I was about 16-years old. My dad owned a show-winning turquoise Beetle with Center Lines in the early ’90s, but for a long time I was more into classic Fords – RS2000s, Mexicos, that…

Here’s a show that’s a little off the radar but always features an interesting selection of cool VWs, some of which you just don’t see at other shows. It takes place at the former US Air Force base in Bitburg, Germany, on runways from the Cold War era that were once home to the US airborne strike force. If the word had been given to attack, this would have been where the action would have happened. Screaming aircraft have now been replaced by the sound of equally raucous VW engines and over the years the show has seen some amazing cars and vans race with entrants from all over Europe. The event is expertly run by the guys from 1on1motorsports.de and Der Autobahn Scrapers (www.autobahn.be). From Calais the journey time…

Over the space of four weeks of evenings and weekends, the guys at Spike’s Vintage Restorations have taken apart and put back together the body and all its bolt-on panels no less than five times. Every part of any restoration has its highs and lows, and the guys have battled on, working overtime to get this body painted for us. At times, I know this car has been what can only be described as a right pain in the arse! From cuts and the odd gash across the hand, to working when feeling lousy with a serious cold (that it seems everyone involved has had over Christmas), all the while knowing that more late nights and more weekends need to be put in to get the job done can bring…

Outlaw Flat Four’s Lucas Dalglish ran a best et (elapsed time) of 11.71 at Das Drag Day in Germany last year. Even if you know very little about drag racing, take it from us – that’s quick! The basis of Lucas’s engine is a 2332cc, featuring a 94 bore and 84 stroke, a lightweight valve train, GAC modified Comp Eliminator heads, 51mm IDAs and a Magneto ignition. Alan Woodward from GAC Motorsport (www.vwracing.net), the man responsible for the head, manifold, valve train and carb tweaks that took it from 185hp to 252hp, told us: “Generally the idea was to keep it looking Old School.” He admits, unsurprisingly, that it’s not great at idle but says the effort was put in to making a pure drag race engine. “It really starts…

In for a shock? I just want to complement you and Rob Hawkins on the electric Beetle article that appeared in VolksWorld February, 2017. I really enjoyed the read and was both surprised and delighted to see there are still some engineering companies who want to keep the legend alive in this world where it seems everything has to be new, or it’s out of date or not required. I’ve been taking the mag for 25 years and am on my fifth Beetle, a 1972 silver 1302 S. It still gets admired when I do the supermarket runs and there’s always someone waiting to tell me their own story of the Beetle they had owned and how they wished they had kept it. I don’t think I’m ready for the…

“It looks like a slightly bemused alien badly in need of some sleep” It’s almost impossible not to smile at a Tempo Matador. It looks like a slightly bemused alien badly in need of some sleep – although we mean that in a genuinely affectionate way. But for all the endearing cuteness, the Matador is both fascinating and pioneering. At a time when commercial vehicles were generally just very basic and traditional, it featured front-wheel drive, years before Volkswagen (and practically everybody else, for that matter) got around to it. And it introduced Volkswagen to Australia well before the marque itself made its own official inroads into the country that would grow to love it just as much as Europe and the USA. Yet it survived in its original form…

When it comes to Split Buses, there’s an inescapable hierarchy. We all know the blah about the more windows you have the cooler you are, but the one truth that holds up more than any other is that older is always better. That’s why everyone is doing their nuts over Barndoors at the moment, because once you’ve fallen into the trap that only the oldest / rarest will suffice, you have to go early or go home. But that wasn’t the case for the owner of this PGSG (that’s a reference to the Palm Green / Sand Green colours for the uninitiated). You see, Pete Golding and his wife, Angela, owned a Barndoor before buying their latest Bus, but sold it because: “Barndoors are just too common round this way.…

Even with the benefit of a satnav, it’s easy to drive straight past Beetlelink as you negotiate Badshot Lea, near Farnham, in leafy Surrey. But once you get to the end of the short section of drive that takes you off the main high street and see the various VWs dotted around, you know you’re in the right place. The layout is organic; there’s a spraybooth next door to a general workshop, a reception area opposite, behind that a couple of containers full of parts and another ’yard full of air-cooled gems around the corner, awaiting restoration. The cars on site are totally eclectic. There’s a Late Bay, a rare K70, a Subaru engined Beetle and a ’63 patina Bug out front, while elsewhere there’s 1303s, Splits, early T25s and…

JOB INFO TOOLS NEEDED Allen keys: 4-6mm Electric drill, 7-8mm bits Ratchet drive (1/4in), 10mm socket Screwdrivers MATERIALS USED Silicone sealant Silicone spray TIME TAKEN 1 hour COST DIY From £25 The door glass on any VW should wind up and down with ease, providing the mechanism is lubricated, free to move and not broken. Many problems can often be fixed by lubrication. Spraying WD40 or a similar silicone-based lubricant down the vertical channels that guide the door glass up and down can help to reduce resistance. Removing the door card and adding some multi-purpose grease to the lower half of these two channels can also help. The mechanism that winds the door glass up and down is known as the window regulator. It consists of a winder system where…

Return of the Beach (Buggy) Boys With Clarkson describing the Beetle as beloved only by Nazis and hippies, you knew from the start precisely what you were letting yourself in for when you sat down to watch the two-part Grand Tour Namibia special that went out over the Christmas period on Amazon Prime video. The format was a familiar one with the intrepid Clarkson, Hammond and May embarking on a mad dash across the desert from Namibia to the border with Angola in three specially built Buggies, the graceful panning shots and exotic backdrops adding to the sense of occasion and viewing pleasure. Yes, of course it was all scripted, but love ‘em or loathe ‘em you have to hand it to the three middle-aged cohorts. They still manage to…

At your service From: www.justkampers.com  Price: £82-£94 If you’re getting ready to uncover your ’dub after winter, then take a look at these service kits from JK. They include all the parts you’ll need to run an engine service on your Beetle, including the correct spark plugs, plug leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, points, oil strainer, oil change gaskets and engine oil. Different kits are available for different engines, so check out the JK site. Straight and narrow From: www.justkampers.com  Price: £480 Here’s another cool new product from JK! They’re now stocking sets of four-inch narrowed ball joint Beetle beams, available for both left- and right-hand drive Bugs (order as J39655 and J19227 respectively). They’ve been designed, manufactured and powder coated on site at JK HQ,…

“I started reading about the Ghia GTV in a catalogue I’d bought” Compared to its Beetle brother, the sleek Karmann Ghia is a rare sight on UK shores, but that hasn’t stopped them from gaining a huge following. Of the many air-cooled VW shows held each year, you’re often likely to spot a brace of Karmanns nestled together, and Leeds VW Festival last year was no exception. Basking in the warm sunshine there were Chris Longden and Sylvia (Syl) Elliott’s jaw dropping blue Cabriolet and Paul Smith’s equally eye catching, EMPIequipped Beryl Green coupé. Right away, we knew we had to take a closer look. Paul has been into VWs since he was a nipper, as his dad had a gold ’73 1300 Bug and his uncle a ’68 1500.…

“I bought the steering wheel… The idea just grew legs and went from there” Retro might be one of the most popular current buzz words, and certainly one of the most aspired to looks in every aspect of our society right now, from fashion to home decor to music, but not many people really pull it off successfully. Toby Hall doesn’t have that problem though because he’s the automotive king of funk, and here’s all the proof you need in the form of his on-point retro Buggy. If the name Toby Hall sounds familiar but you can’t place it, shake the dust from around that noggin of yours and see if you can recall the life size, driveable Radio Flyer we featured here in VolksWorldmagazine in 2010. That wasn’t Toby’s…

With the coming of the new year, the countdown to The VolksWorldShow has really started now. As I write this, the Bug’s debut is just 10 weeks away, so there is no window for error. We need to make sure every detail is in place, from the engine build to paintwork, from chassis restoration to the interior. The list goes on… At this point, nearly everything is covered, but nothing is quite finished, and there’s still so much to do. It’s going to be tight to finish on time, and it’s hard to shake the underlying feeling of concern that something could still go wrong, even if it’s just parts not arriving on time. Fortunately, we have a few different bases covered for the next four weeks, so there’s no…

Don’t miss it! A little pick me up? Craig ‘Panman’ Kemp built his 1965 Splittie pick up to annoy the purists, but frankly it’s so cool we reckon they’ll love it too… VW milestones Ivan McCutcheon marks some of the more memorable dates in Beetle production Solex carb mods Making power delivery smoother with subtle tweaks to the 34 PICT-3 40 years on… Having been in the same family for four decades, this ’73 GT Bug deserved to be saved…