Andrew Mearns 1954 Oval window Beetle
- Tuesday, 1 July 2008
- Comment on this article
Some people muddle through life not knowing what they're doing from one day to the next, while others know their destiny from an early age. Unlike the staff at VolksWorld, Andrew Mearns most certainly falls into the latter category, having decided at the tender age of 14 that he was going to sell Porsches for a living. However, his paper round money didn't quite stretch to the 911 of his dreams, so he contented himself with the next best thing, a '63 Beetle and a year's membership of the Porsche Club. By the time he was 17 he was enrolled on an apprentice mechanic's scheme in Chorley, Lancashire and had eight Beetles for sale outside his parent's house, while his evenings were taken up with night classes in business studies at the local 'tech. That year saw the first Bug Jam take place at Santa Pod and Andrew was there with that same '63 he'd bought as his first car. By now the car was Miami Blue and was lowered, de-chromed, fitted with a 1600 twin port and rolled on Fuchs 2.0-litre alloys.
"It had the look but I didn't have the money back then," laughs Andrew today. "I paid £125 for the car originally and, after that first Bug Jam, sold it for £3,750 at Bug In in Malvern. I remember thinking to myself then, 'I want some more of this'!" And that's where it all began.
Andrew's now 39 and has long realised his ambition to trade and own Porsches, being the Director of Gmund Cars in Harrogate (www.gmundcars.co.uk). But he never forgot what got him started. In fact, all the time he's been building up his business and his own private car collection, he's had an Oval stashed away, waiting for its turn in the spotlight. "I just always wanted a black Oval, it was my dream car. I kept this car because it was an original right-hand drive UK '54, but mine was Iceland Green, so I was going to buy another one so I could have a black Oval. My favourite colour for a car is black," he explains.
As well as Gmund Cars, Andrew has another string to his bow, and that's Tygan Motor Company (www.tygan.co.uk). Now, looking at that website, some of you may recognise the line-up of Porsche Speedster, 550 and RSK (RS60) replicas offered by this company as that once offered by the Chesil Motor Company and indeed you'd be right, as Andrew and his team have taken over the Dorset-based company, re-launching it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year under the new name of Tygan. We'll be bringing you more on their top of the line Speedster models in a future issue of VolksWorld, but this return to at least some of his VW roots gave Andrew the impetus he needed to finally fulfil his dream and have that black Oval he'd always promised himself. He even knew exactly what shade black it was going to be and that was the Basalt Black Metallic of his Porsche Cayenne S.
The first thing then was to send the car out to his business acquaintance Mark Walker at M W Bodyworks in York. "He doesn't usually do old cars," explains Andrew, "but he knew this car meant a lot to me and so did a special job for me on this car and the finish is absolutely beautiful."
From there the painted 'shell was transported to Jez Dyke's Dubtricks near Harrogate to have all the trick parts that Andrew had been amassing for it fitted up. "I'm so dedicated to the Tygan project that I wanted this car to reflect the thinking behind that. I want the cars to look original, complete with all the factory trim and detail, but to be modern under the skin so you can just get in them and drive them like a new car," says Andrew. To that end there are four-wheel disc brakes on the Oval from Custom & Speed Parts, Sway-A-Way uprated anti-rollbars front and rear, KYB gas shocks all round and a Rhino-cased 'bullet' gearbox with 3.88 ring and pinion and a tall fourth gear for motorway cruising.
For the full story check out the August 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 13 June and then available through back issues.
SUBSCRIBE
Never miss an issue again by setting up a subscription to VolksWorld magazine!
VW Wallpaper
You can download a wallpaper from this feature for your computers desktop in our http://www.volksworld.com/downloads/1/wallpapers.html">VW Wallpaper section.
"It had the look but I didn't have the money back then," laughs Andrew today. "I paid £125 for the car originally and, after that first Bug Jam, sold it for £3,750 at Bug In in Malvern. I remember thinking to myself then, 'I want some more of this'!" And that's where it all began.
Andrew's now 39 and has long realised his ambition to trade and own Porsches, being the Director of Gmund Cars in Harrogate (www.gmundcars.co.uk). But he never forgot what got him started. In fact, all the time he's been building up his business and his own private car collection, he's had an Oval stashed away, waiting for its turn in the spotlight. "I just always wanted a black Oval, it was my dream car. I kept this car because it was an original right-hand drive UK '54, but mine was Iceland Green, so I was going to buy another one so I could have a black Oval. My favourite colour for a car is black," he explains.
As well as Gmund Cars, Andrew has another string to his bow, and that's Tygan Motor Company (www.tygan.co.uk). Now, looking at that website, some of you may recognise the line-up of Porsche Speedster, 550 and RSK (RS60) replicas offered by this company as that once offered by the Chesil Motor Company and indeed you'd be right, as Andrew and his team have taken over the Dorset-based company, re-launching it at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year under the new name of Tygan. We'll be bringing you more on their top of the line Speedster models in a future issue of VolksWorld, but this return to at least some of his VW roots gave Andrew the impetus he needed to finally fulfil his dream and have that black Oval he'd always promised himself. He even knew exactly what shade black it was going to be and that was the Basalt Black Metallic of his Porsche Cayenne S.
The first thing then was to send the car out to his business acquaintance Mark Walker at M W Bodyworks in York. "He doesn't usually do old cars," explains Andrew, "but he knew this car meant a lot to me and so did a special job for me on this car and the finish is absolutely beautiful."
From there the painted 'shell was transported to Jez Dyke's Dubtricks near Harrogate to have all the trick parts that Andrew had been amassing for it fitted up. "I'm so dedicated to the Tygan project that I wanted this car to reflect the thinking behind that. I want the cars to look original, complete with all the factory trim and detail, but to be modern under the skin so you can just get in them and drive them like a new car," says Andrew. To that end there are four-wheel disc brakes on the Oval from Custom & Speed Parts, Sway-A-Way uprated anti-rollbars front and rear, KYB gas shocks all round and a Rhino-cased 'bullet' gearbox with 3.88 ring and pinion and a tall fourth gear for motorway cruising.
For the full story check out the August 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 13 June and then available through back issues.
SUBSCRIBE
Never miss an issue again by setting up a subscription to VolksWorld magazine!
VW Wallpaper
You can download a wallpaper from this feature for your computers desktop in our http://www.volksworld.com/downloads/1/wallpapers.html">VW Wallpaper section.
Have your say!
Latest comments
No comments posted. Be the first by posting yours below...