Readers rides
'66 Chop top Beetle
Here are a couple of pictures of my wife’s ’66 chop-top Beetle. I bought it for her two years ago for her 30th and have spent the past couple of years getting it to the condition you see it in now. It didn’t always look this clean; it had sat on the previous owner’s drive for the last decade. So when I finally got my grubby little hands on it I stripped it all back and set about getting it back to its former glory.
It’s running a 1641cc engine which has been stripped and powder-coated, and the plan is at some stage to get a longblock in there.
The pictures where kindly taken at my work - we have a photographic area which uses studio quality lighting, but the backdrop is not too good.
Mark Roxburgh
’71 VW Beetle
I thought I’d give you a heads up about one of the club member’s rides that he’s not long finished.
225hp 1303 and 1963 Swedish Bugs
Here are some photos of our Bugs. My wife has a 1963 Beetle, renovated by myself and all the parts are reconditioned or new. The engine is a 1600cc and the car is converted to 12v. The gearbox was also renovated, with new gear ratios.
My Bug is a 1973 1303 with a 2332cc engine, Weber 48 IDA, Swedish cylinder heads from JPM (www.jpmotorsport.se) and dyno’d at 223bhp. The car is lowered and uses the front suspension and steering from a '75 Beetle. I hope you can find the space to publish a photo in the mag. I have bought VolksWorld for many years now and have every copy saved.
Kenneth Fleischer, Bjärred, Sweden
Prowler Beach Buggy
Take one rotting 46,000-mile one owner Beetle, combine it with the need to make something silly and, hey presto! This is what I got.
I'm now the proud owner of this Prowler Buggy, powered by a rebuilt 1600 engine, built in my garage using leftover parts and assembled in three weeks. Everything is painted, plated or powder-coated – not bad for a first Buggy! Plans are afoot for another using T4 power, billet rims and other ideas learnt from this build.
Craig
1970 Doormobile VW Camper Van
I love the magazine, having been an avid reader since I was a kid. I'd like to show you my Van. She's a 1970 Bay Window, originally a Danbury conversion. She is called Vanessa and has been in our family since 1971. I'd been borrowing her from my dad for festivals for a few years and had been bugging him for ages to let me have her and give her a bit of well-deserved TLC as she was looking a bit tatty as well as the usual rusty bits. He eventually conceded defeat and last year I inherited her, and by the middle of June all the rust was gone she had a major engine overhaul, new front disc brakes and a nice new coat of cherry red paint all done by the great guys at Jack's Garage who I can't thank enough for doing a fantastic job. The exterior was finished just in time for my friend Patrick's wedding, where I had the privilege of taking his bride Angela to the registry office, and before that was her first trip in her new guise to Bug Jam.
Unfortunately we've run out of money to do the inside at this time, but it should be totally finished by next year. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up with her, going on family holidays with my dad, Rick, and now with my own son Coby and fiancé Nicky in tow I take my family away in her as well. It would be great if you could print some pictures of her in your fab magazine.
Keep up the good work
Chrysander Aldred, London
Mike Harris's 1966 Beetle
This is my new (to me) '66 Bug! I have been interested in Beetles for some years now, and after paying a visit to Run To The Sun in Newquay four years ago I noticed a very nice early ’60s Bug. It was beige and had a Flat4 roof rack and a Venetian blind in the rear window. I don’t know what it was about it, but I have been in love with Bugs ever since.
I had been trying to get some money together for the past few years in order to get myself a nice pre ’67 beige Bug with a roof rack and Venetian blind. Finally the time had come; I had been looking for a Bug since January this year, and after five months of searching I found the perfect one! It had a new paintjob a few years back and was very solid. The interior was immaculate and there was a nice reconditioned 1600 as an added bonus. I had to have it! Unfortunately the owner had grown attached to her and when I made an offer she couldn’t let her go. On the drive home I was gutted. Luckily, 25 minutes later the owner phoned me up to say she had made a mistake and if I still wanted it she would accept my offer! I was over the moon! A month later I’m loving the fact I finally have my own pre ’67 Bug! I have just purchased a very nice roof rack but am still looking for a Venetian blind!
Matt Harris
1972 1200 Beetle
This is T-Co, and he’s my 1972 1200 Standard Model Bug, which I have owned since late
2004. With only two previous owners from new, he’d lived a sheltered life of short journeys to and from the shops and had only clocked up 50-odd thousand miles when I bought him as stock.
My passion for Beetles started in 1986 and since then I’ve owned Bugs in various styles from stock to custom, but I decided early on that T-Co would be taken down the Resto Cal road – although he’s a late model I had the vision of what you see here today in my mind, and felt it would work.
The transformation took place over a few years starting with a mild lowering job via dropped spindles and a single spline at the back plus a few minor accessories including the bumper over riders, clear indicator lenses and roof rack.
In preparation for Bug Jam '07, T-Co was given the ‘look’ when the front beam was narrowed by four inches and lowered further by the use of adjusters. I also uprated the front brakes from drums to discs. It was at this point that the replica Fuchs alloys were also added.
The 1192cc engine has remained stock and is a testament to how bulletproof a Vee-Dub engine can be.
Plans for the future are to give him a new lick of paint, sort out the tired interior and maybe tickle him with the lowering stick again out back. As for the little 1200 block, well it may not get you down the quarter-mile very quickly but after its heroics last year it’s the heart of my little ol' Bug and will not be changed any time soon.
Incidentally, I’d also like to thank all my mates from Exeter Air-Cooled Club for keeping my spirits up after that journey from hell. We’ve got a great club, which is expanding all the time and is full of members that sum up the whole ethos of the Air-Cooled scene that I’ve loved for more than 20 years! If you’re in the Exeter area we meet every second Wednesday of the month and our website address is www.exeteraircooled.com. So why not come along and join in the fun?
Mike Williams, Kingsbridge, Devon
Stefan Fletcher's 1962 Beetle
I thought I would send you a few photos of my 1962 Bug. It still wears its original Gulf Blue paint, but now runs a 1600 with the dual Kadrons. It has also been lowered and has a set of 16-inch original Fuchs wheels (deep at the back!). The interior is also original, apart from the steering wheel and the short shift I recently added. I imported her from Seattle and she is solid as a rock. I love her! We have named her ‘Lefty’ – see if you can guess why.
Stefan Fletcher, Nottingham
Carl's 1972 Bay Window Camper
Here's my 1972 Camper, and I’m writing to say a big thank you to Paul Holmes, my girlfriend’s dad, without whom I would’ve ended up with no VW and out of pocket.
When I first got invited to my girlfriend Tracey’s house, I pulled up in my Camper, which at the time was in primer. Tracey has a Beetle, so her parents were keen to have a look around my Bus. A couple of months and shows had passed before I asked Paul if he would look at my brakes. We found that neither rear brake drum was operating and that only one front disc was working! While we were doing the brakes, Paul checked the chassis rails and floor and said there was no way my Camper should’ve passed an MoT! I was also told off for driving his daughter around in it – ha ha!
This is when the work started! At the time I lived in Leicester and was travelling up to Sheffield every weekend to work on the Camper with Paul and Tracey. We stripped out the interior while Paul got to work replacing the chassis rails. As he worked, he kept finding more and more rot! Section by section, the chassis rails and outriggers were repaired or replaced.
With the chassis solid, we started work on the body. This is where I learnt that primer hides everything! Panels like the front wheel arches were held on by three tack-welds, then plastered with filler.
We spent weeks replacing, repairing and rubbing down panels!
Tracey and I made and covered the door cards and upholstered the interior. The only thing we had made for us was the cushions. I cannot take credit for the cool slide-out bed Paul made for us though, nor the pop-up DVD player that uses an electric window motor!
If Paul had not offered to do the welding and spraying for me, I would have taken it to a garage, and I know I would have been in a situation where I wouldn’t have been able to afford the work.
Tracey has been great, too. She worked on the Camper with me and now we are out enjoying it!
Carl, Sheffield
Bob's 2001 Mexican Beetle Import
Here are some photos of my father-in-law’s pride and joy. Bob ordered it from Beetles UK in 2001 as a brand new Mexican import. He wanted it to stand out, so ordered it in a deep Metallic Blue finish along with a Ragtop and a RHD conversion. He then added a fully remote Sony stereo and upgraded the speakers. Since then he has used the car as a daily driver until a few months ago when he decided he wanted to add some extras. A new two-inch narrowed front beam fitted with CB-dropped spindles and a ‘fats and small’ combo of Porsche Fuchs 4.5-inch alloys at the front with 145 tyres and Porsche Fuchs 5-inch alloys at the rear with 205 tyres, now give the car its stance.
He also picked up the roof rack at your show at Sandown Park, along with the rear light clusters this year. The number plate L333 TLE was originally owned by me and really gets heads turning. It was Bob’s 62nd birthday in June and as a belated present to him I thought it would be cool for him to see his ride in VolksWorld Magazine.
Peter Owens, Lee-on-the-Solent
Paul Kileen's 1963 Ragtop
I’d like to tell you about Herbie, my 1963 Ragtop Beetle. I imported him from California in 2005 and since then a lot of time, money and effort has been put into getting him to the stage you see here.
The idea was to import a solid car from the USA and make it as good as it could possibly be! We found a great first class mechanic called John Massey who has done the majority of the work, including the paintjob. My dad Michael (I call him Tennessee) has been with me every step of the way and I couldn’t have done it without him! It has been a total body-off restoration complete with a new 1600 twin port engine.
We recently attended OXO '08, a show run by the Northern Ireland Beetle Owners Club, where Herbie got voted ‘Favourite Car’ of the show, and that’s with him not even being finished! The headliner, carpet and door cards are yet to be put it but hopefully by the end of the year we should see Herbie finished and you guys could take a closer look!
Paul Killeen, Belfast
