Lil' Thumper - '61 Beetle

There's an old fable about a tortoise and a hare. On the face of it, in a flat-out race the young, bolshy hare was gonna whoop that quiet old carapace-carrying tortoise, but we all know that's not what happened. The frisky young buck sets off at a fair lick, then stops for a nap on the side of the road and the old fella trundles on by and takes the win. A bit like drag racing really. You can buy the biggest, lairiest motor in the world and tell everyone you've got the fastest car, but if you blow it to smithereens at the eighth mile, that slower guy in the other lane will take the win. Now I'm a writer not a racer, but I've been around enough racers for long enough to know that it's the quiet ones who generally win - the ones who are committed to their car, who slowly, incrementally improve it and work on it themselves. They're the ones who will spot the subtle differences in atmospheric condition, in track preparation or in their car and who will learn from their mistakes and progress.
Pete Shattock is one of those. He's a sensible, family guy with an eye for detail, a great deal of patience and many years of accumulated VW knowledge. He'll never tell you any of that, of course, he'll just smile and tell you about the other people who have helped him along the way. You'd like him, everybody likes Pete. He's that kind of guy.

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

You can see a short video of this car here

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