Bill Lunn's 1964 Sidewinder Beach Buggy
- Monday, 4 August 2008
- 0 Comments
The minute Bill Lunn entered his Sidewinder Buggy in for the 2008 VolksWorld Show we knew it was going to be something special. It wasn't complete, but you could see that the end result would be a break from the norm. Volkswagens are nothing new to 34-year-old Bill, he's been into them since 1989 when his sister got a Pastel Blue '72 that was lowered, de-chromed and ran Moon discs. Reminiscing, Bill told us he "went in it once and was hooked". Over the years he's had a '67 Split, a 1972 Tramp Buggy, a '64 Beetle and a 1970 Karmann Ghia. He's also just picked up a 'barn find' 1966 Beetle which he picked up while we were writing this feature!
Anyway, before we go off on a tangent, we should focus on the 1964 Volks Rod Beetle you see here. Hang on, Volks Rod? Yes, you read that right. Much though it might look like a Beach Buggy, the project started as a Volks Rod.
"A long time ago I discovered a 70s Buggy to restore," says Bill. "It was a Tramp that had sat in a garage for many years. I pulled it out and did a 10-month restoration on it. As soon as it was done, I wanted something else and someone I knew had a nice Resto Cal Bug. I tried several times to do a swap with the Buggy but he wasn't having any of it. A few months later I sold the Buggy for £2,000 and found out the same Resto Cal Bug I had tried to swap was up for sale and I managed to snap it up for £400 - bargain!"
The '64 went through a few changes in style over the next four years, from a Resto Cal to an Old School Cal Bug, to its final revamp as an Outlaw Beetle taking ideas from the world of Outlaw 356s. By the summer of 2006, it was clear the rot had set in to the inner wings and spare wheel well. Having already seen Volks Rod Beetles featured, Bill told us, "When I found the extent of the rot I decided to Hot Rod it. It was going to need all of the metal removed anyway, so it made sense." After stripping the car and cutting away the front and rear valances, Bill found a lot more rust. Having already ordered parts for the project, such as a beam extender, lights, wheels, tyres and so on, Bill wasn't about to throw in the towel. However, that all changed when he found the front end had been in a hefty accident and the creased and dented metal had simply been filled over. "I found filler that was more than an inch thick on the front quarters. I didn't have the skill, money or knowledge to repair it and so I started thinking about the Sidewinder Buggy body I had seen for sale."
So, in November 2006 Bill headed off to Norfolk to see Mel Hubbard and the Sidewinder body.
"As soon as I saw it, I knew it would look fantastic with the JGE Rader wheels and Coker whitewalls I already had."
For the full story check out the August 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 11 July 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 VW Wallpaper section.
