Polar Opposites - 1950 Split

Just what is it that makes someone go to the extraordinary lengths required to put together a car like this? A car that has been rebuilt with as much skill, care and attention to detail as any Bugatti, Porsche or Bentley. And I don't use the word extraordinary lightly as, in its truest sense, that's exactly what this car is. It's not just another clean Resto Cal Split, it's an exercise in perfection. And that way madness lies.
"I don't think I'll ever do it again," said owner Richard Clark when I spoke with him to do the interview about this car. "It's been a long and very expensive road, but once I'd started it I just had to finish it." Further into the conversation it became clear that both Richard and I shared a similar introduction to the English VW scene and, undoubtedly like many of you reading this, had gone through the same process to get to where we're at today. "I was into cars from an early age, thanks to my dad, and used to buy Street Machine and Custom Car whenever I could. Then VolksWorld issue 1 came out, I bought it and have been hooked ever since," he laughed.
Richard went on to explain how he cut his teeth on a couple of '70's-era 1200cc Beetles in his late teens, but then moved over to the dark side for a while when he got heavily involved in the concours scene with a couple of early Golf GTis. "I'm sorry to say now that I bodged those early Beetles together, but that's what we all did then, and I didn't have the money to do anything better." Which took the pair of us off on a rose-tinted tangent about the good old days and how the standard of the cars built today eclipses any of those cars we all lusted after at the early Bug Jams and the like. "The list of things I wanted to do to a Beetle started back then when I was 18," Richard continued, "and having this car has fulfilled an ambition I've had since then, right down to getting it to the VolksWorld Show last year, and now having it featured in the magazine that got me into all this in the first place."

For the full story on this car make sure you pick up a copy of the March 2010 issue of VolksWorld

SUBSCRIBE - January sale!
Never miss another issue with a subscription to VolksWorld magazine!

VW WALLPAPER
You can download a wallpaper from this feature for your computers desktop in our VW Wallpaper section.