All Torque – ’56 Oval Beetle

So you want to make your Beetle go fast, huh? But which way do you go - the tried and tested route that people have been following for the past half a century or more, or do you forge your own path? The answer will depend on your mentality and your influences, but also, to no lesser extent, on your technical ability. After all, pretty much anyone can bolt a set of heads and a pair of carbs onto a Beetle engine and make their car go faster. Just how much faster is something of a moveable feast, and that's where knowledge, experience and the aforementioned technical ability come into play. But what if you want to build a really fast Beetle? Not just one that will get you to the pub a bit quicker, but one that will outperform almost any supercar on the quarter-mile. Well, then you really need to know what you're doing. And as Technical Editor of the world's leading Volkswagen magazine, you'd expect Matt Keene to be pretty handy with a spanner, but this car proves he has a few more strings to his bow than just that. In some ways, Matt holds a privileged position in the Volkswagen scene - he gets to play with VWs all day long and gets paid to do it. Then, at home in the evenings, he gets paid to write about them, too. But that luxury comes at a price. He has to work hard to make a business centred around his hobby (Air Kraft in Truro, Cornwall, tel. 07814 716578) pay and this has only come after years of hard graft and untold hours spent in cold workshops honing his many and varied skills. The car you see here is the ultimate expression of his craft.

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

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