'73 Type 181

42-year-old Simon Geraghty from Barnsley got into VWs at the height of the boom in the late ’80s after seeing herds of Buses cramming the narrow lanes of Cornwall when he was on holiday down there. Those were the days when VWs had taken over the massive Run To The Sun event from the custom car guys and before the Chavs got in on the act and spoiled it for everyone. Such was the popularity of this yearly ritual that around the same time, VolksWorld used to run its own similar event, Bug Blast, which involved an organised cruise down to the most south-westerly tip of the country from London with plenty of water-fuelled high jinks on the way. Back then, people used to build cars especially for these weekends and, being held in the height of the British summer, having no roof on them was almost de rigeur. It meant you were a sitting duck when the inevitable water pistol fight broke out, but that was all part of the fun, and it also meant you could jump out easily for stealth water bombing missions on other cars and passers by.
Of all the VWs, the one that was best suited to the fun and frolics of Run To The Sun and Bug Blast was the family fun wagon we call a Trekker (see sidebar on the next page). Simon didn’t go straight out and buy one mind, he started with a ’72 Bay Window and had many years of VW-based fun in that, but in 2005 he located the similar vintage Type 181 you see here. “I saw it in a magazine on a Tuesday and drove it home from Birmingham on the following Friday. I just loved her!” he told us with a grin.

For the full story check out the January 2009 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 28 November and then available through back issues.

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