Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2022 från VolksWorld

Alien inspiration Dear VolksWorld, I just purchased the March ‘22 issue from my local bookstore. In the ‘Cheap thrills’ article, I was admiring the very creative, bespoke turbocharged engine shown on p43. Its maze of tubes and hoses is really unique, but it seemed familiar in a way. I then realised what it reminded me of. It looks like one of the industrial fantasy drawings of H. R. Giger, the illustrator who created the terrifying monster in the 1981 Ridley Scott film, Alien. Check out some of his drawings on Google images, I think you will agree. I point this similarity out with the most flattering of intentions, as the engine’s builder must have had considerable skill and patience to create this complex mechanical work of art. I enjoy VolksWorld…

The nostalgia vibe was heavy in the air at this year’s VolksWorld Show. A good friend of mine openly admitted to breaking down in tears at the sight of Dennis Hyde’s Ghia, now in the ownership of Andy Finch of Spikes Vintage Restorations. Just seeing that car for real was clearly an emotional moment for him, and he won’t have been alone. It was 1986 when Colin Burnham’s Air-Cooled Volkswagens book was published, and it was reprinted at least twice after that, maybe more times. I’d wager every copy sold in the UK was thumbed through hundreds of times by impressionable teenagers wowed by the blue skies, palm trees and seemingly endless summers of southern California VW life. You’ll all have your favourite cars from that book, of course, but…

Spirit of the Show Andy Finch and the team at Spikes Vintage Restorations Andy and co. went above and beyond to truly ‘bring the show’ to this year's Show. This award honours the hard work and countless hours that went into making it all happen. Hall of Fame Russell Ritchie the Aronson / Holmes ’63 An amazing restoration of the world’s first Cal Looker, and the inaugural inductee into the VolksWorld Hall of Fame. Pro Builders' choice Dedication to Restoration Mark Reynolds Dannenhauer & Stauss A world class, 100-point restoration of a very special coachbuilt VW. Alex Boughen ’75 Bug on air Spikes Vintage Restorations, IRV’s Resto Shop and Trailer Queen Restorations gathered an awesome collection of merch, along with a custom-painted skateboard, for 20-year-old Alex, for his late ’80s…

Time to dig deep into your Ultra VW collection. In August 2011, we devoted an extensive article to Mark Merrill’s remarkable Volkswagen collection located near the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose in northern California. Like many such automotive shrines, cars come and go, with Mark recently finishing a Schwimmwagen, while other rarities await their turn for restoration. The list includes a 1949 Tatraplan (yes, it’s rear engined and air cooled) and a 1950 Barndoor Bus, found in a field years ago by Ray Schubert, his long-time friend who handles the fleet’s restoration and maintenance requirements. Today, the collection consists of about 30 restored or original VWs, including a handful from independent coachbuilders. Mark has a strong interest in these rare, low-production vehicles, currently owning the two cars you see…

As time passes, the VW scene continues to evolve. Some trends lose favour, others pick up steam, but stock, vintage Volkswagens have endured through it all. Ever-changing laws and regulations in countries has made it increasingly difficult for some people to drive highly tuned VWs, but cruising the back roads in a stock Bus or Beetle doesn’t seem to bother anyone. Consequently, the vintage Volkswagen hobby is doing rather well these days. The value of the cars has increased dramatically, and there are numerous events devoted solely to them across the globe. Bad Camberg in Germany has been running since 1979, for example, and the Hessisch Oldendorf meets now attract visitors from all over the world. Japan has its Klassisches VW Treffen, while English vintage VW enthusiasts have been descending…

Email your news, thoughts, opinions and products to VolksWorld.ed@kelsey.co.uk The Heretics are back for 2022! After a two-year hiatus, the car park and yard at Heritage Parts Centre in West Sussex will once more be jammed packed with customers’ Volkswagen and Porsche vehicles as their ever-popular monthly Heretics meets make a very welcome return. A regular meeting place since they started in 2009, big crowds are anticipated for this year’s comeback season. So much so, the 2022 events require pre-booking to try and manage the number of vehicles flooding into the narrow industrial estate entrance road. Meets kick off around 5.30pm on the third Thursday of every month through until September. Food and drink will be on sale, and a local guest DJ will play until the gates close at…

“The perfect fusion of two schools of thought” “The exterior of the car is wild enough, but it’s when you look inside that this car really blows minds” Many of the standout car builds the world over, regardless of the car they are based on, have one thing in common: they use out-of-the-box thinking and aren’t built using a typical ‘recipe’. There’s nothing wrong with building a car in a popular style at all, but the world sits up and takes notice when something truly radical appears on the scene. This is the story of Robert Freeman’s mid-engined V8-powered Berlin Buick, a true out-of-the-box car. About 15 years ago, Robert took the Oval Window body that ended up being used for this build to a media blaster, who apparently exclaimed,…

The history of the VW custom scene is as colourful and fascinating as that of the manufacturer itself. But of all the trends that have swept through the global air-cooled VW community, nothing has left its mark like Cal Look. And when something with such power moves, the ripples and aftershocks are felt long after the initial impact. It may have all started in Orange County but, by the mid’80s, it was the turn of east LA – a predominantly Mexican area – to pick up the baton, although for the most part their contribution to the development of the ’Look went unnoticed outside a few local neighbourhoods. For a short period of time, ‘logo’d cars’, as they came to be known, were the hot ticket in the ’80s VW…

Asuitable location for the factory that would go on to build the Volkswagen Beetle by the million was decided upon in northern Germany, on a 20 square mile piece of land near the 14th century Wolfsburg Castle. The grundsteinlegung des Volkswagenwerkes, or cornerstone ceremony for the location of the new factory, was held on 26 May 1938 in the newly-formed town of Stadt des KdF Wagens. As well as various notable, and notorious, figures, three of the Type 38 KdF Wagens were present: a blue / grey car, reg' no. IIIA 42801; a black sunroof car, reg' no. IIIA 42802 and a dark burgundy Cabriolet, reg' no. IIIA 42803, ostensibly for the public to view. It is estimated that some 70,000 people attended the ceremony in what was an isolated…

MAY Stanford Hall Date: 1 May Location: Stanford Hall, Lutterworth, Leicestershire LE17 6DH Contact: stanfordhallvw.com MaiKäferTreff en Date: 1 May Location: Messeparkplatz West, Hannover, Germany Contact: maikaefertreffen.de Vanwest Date: 6-8 May Location: Taunton Racecourse Orchard Portman, Taunton, Somerset TA3 7BL Contact: www.vanwest.co.uk VW Breakout Date: 20-22 May Location: Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7XA Contact: www.santapod.co.uk/ vw-breakout Dubs in the middle 7 Date: 26-30 May Location: Ashdown Farm, Badsey Road, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 7EN Contact: dubsinthemiddle.co.uk Volksfl ing Date: 27-29 May Location: Biggar Agricultural Showground, Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland ML12 6AJ Contact: www.volksfling.co.uk Cruise to the Prom Date: 29 May Location: Weston Beach Lawns, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset Contact: www.veedubfamily. org/event/cttp2022 Cal Look Sunday (2nd Edition) Date: 29 May Location: Rivo’s Hub, Unit 9, Allens Lane, Hamworthy, Poole…

Many of us enthusiasts reminisce fondly about the 1980’s VW scene, a fact confirmed by the success of the exhibits at this year’s VolksWorld Show, and California’s Grand National Roadster Show. The custom VW scene was huge in the ’80s, and had a massive influence on the car modifying hobby around the world. Indeed, many of the world’s hot rod and custom car builders cut their teeth on Volkswagens. In Europe, the 1980s also saw the creation of VolksWorld magazine, as well as events such as Bug Jam in the UK and the Super VW Nationals in France, but it would be fair to say most European VW owners found inspiration in the cars being built by young Californians at the time. Copies of Hot VWs and VW Trends were…

Covid may have forced us to postpone the event a few times, but in March the planets finally aligned and The VolksWorld Show was back, bigger and better than ever before! If one positive came out of lockdown, and the three years of preparation and planning that went into this show, it’s that there were almost too many great new cars to choose from. Come the show weekend itself, that started early on Thursday morning when Jolly Jim and I set off for Sandown to start building the display stands for a couple of key show cars. In truth, we were just super keen to get back to Esher and start lapping up the show vibe we’d missed so dearly. I just about had time to wipe down my ’67…

The California Look is nothing new to VolksWorld, but at this year’s show we, the UK Cal Look Register, were given the opportunity to take over the Brasserie and display some of the best cars in the country in an informal, laid-back setting. The biggest problem was, two years ago, when we first discussed the plan, we were allocated space for 20 cars, which meant we had to reduce the list by almost half to fit in the room. The display started with Tom Fleet’s blue ’66, which neatly covers the pre-Cal era, then Rich Beck’s ’53 Split on Fuchs, Joel Johnson’s green, 2854cc, 265bhp Oval and Dominic Hill’s car, the completion of his personal journey being its appearance at the show. Max Jamieson’s ’63 Ghia is a genuine Cal…

Imagine the scene. June 1945, a German town torn apart by Allied bombing, a factory in tatters with mangled bits of machinery and car bodies strewn everywhere, and a hungry and confused workforce gathering to see if they still had a job. When the dust finally settled, it was the British Army’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) who were tasked with returning the factory to some form of normality. The immediate thought was to tear what was left of it down and start again but, under the command of Major Ivan Hirst, a small workshop area was cleared so it could be put to good use repairing damaged British Army vehicles. Top brass Keeping troops mobile was crucial in this immediate post-war period and so it was decided to…