Readers rides
1967 ('62 look-a-like) VW Beetle
Here's our super original Australian '67 Bug. It is based on a '62, so it has the appearance of an early Beetle. We got it at the beginning of summer '07 from Gavin at South West Splitz in nearby Exeter. Gavin is a good friend of ours and although he didn't want to sell the Bug, as it was imported to be one of his projects, he decided to part ways after a Bay Window Bus dropped on its roof, giving it a big crease across the front of the screen. When we got it, it had only done 54,187 miles.
We were given all the original paperwork for it, including the original purchase receipt from the 'Gregg Cusac Garage LDT' which was the official dealership in Canberra ACT. In its original Savannah Beige, time has developed a lovely patina on the body.
It's never been welded, painted or cut about, and it still needs no welding. It did have the original 1285cc motor too, but this was changed for a 1641cc twin carb. Since then we've added a front sun visor, a polished roof rack, lowered it and put on 145/65 tyres on the front and larger 205/65 on the rear for a nicer stance.
We treated it to new paint on the tops of the floor pans and sprayed Waxoil over the underside to protect it from the UK weather. One day we will do a body off paintjob and pull out the roof dent, but for now the dent is a great talking point.
I bought the Bug as a wedding gift to the wife, as I sold her last three Beetles but she has come out tops with this one. I'm sure you'll see it around several shows this year in the show and shines.
Martin, Ria and Bailey Taylor, Exeter, Devon
1973 VW Beetle 1303S
This is my first and only aircooled VW and I'm only its second owner. It is a 1973 Kansas Beige 1303s, which I have had since October 2002. It was solid underneath and the heater channels were immaculate, having been Waxoiled from new. It also came with a complete service history verifying it's 60,500 miles.
As soon as I got it home, it was straight into a body shop to have a few minor dents/rust problems sorted and a complete re-spray in its original Kansas Beige hue. I then fitted a set of Proline alloys that had been given to me, and fitted a pair of smoked rear lights. I also got rid of the horrible plastic number plates replacing them with some proper pressed aluminium ones.
I drove around like this for a couple of years and then decided to change the interior. Looking on eBay I found a used 1303 interior, in cream leather with red piping, including cream leather door cards and a dash re-covered in cream leather. So after winning this (for a price!) I fitted it all and sold the original black dash, door cards and basket-weave seats on eBay, recouping most of the outlay.
Spirit of the 50's supplied and fitted the red carpet with beige trim as well as a new headlining! They also supplied the bonnet bra in Black and Beige to match the paintwork. I also fitted a Bugpack Hurst shifter and Sun Pro Monster Tach to complete the interior.
Last year I decided to change the look of the Bug again, without going to the expense of a colour change! I decided the best way to do this was to change the wheels. I wanted to fit original Empi Sprintstars and eBay came up trumps again. I got a complete set of five for £156! I had these refurbished and fitted them with 155s front and 165 rears. I think that these, together with the addition of beige running board mats, make the 1303s look great. Sure, 1303s are not to everyone's taste, but I love it and it hasn't let me down once in over five years and 7,000 miles and in all weathers! Furthermore, I will never sell it as I have promised my daughter that it will be hers when she is old enough to drive! She is only four, so I have some time yet!
Kevin Jackson
Predator Beach Buggy
This is my 1970 short wheelbase Predator Buggy. She is sitting on 17-inch Centre line wheels at the rear and 16-inches on the front, with low-profile tyres. I bought her three years ago, just before Bug Jam 18. I was looking to buy a project Buggy as I had previously done lots of work on different Beetles and Campers I've owned, but by mistake I came across this one and had to have her. She didn't need too much work but what I did do was give her a bit more power, so I replaced the old oily engine, a 1600, with a new 1641 with 34ICT Webers and all the chrome trimmings. I later decided to make her sound a bit more beefy by fitting a ceramic Bobcat exhaust. I also changed the worn old seats with some new Cobras and installed a pair of three-point harnesses. The gel coat body is now starting to crack so I hope to get her resprayed for Bug Jam next year, but she'll be staying black. To make her look a bit flashier I want to change the dials to some digital ones. I am thinking about getting a hood for those wet weekends at Bug Jam but I'm not sure I want to ruin her look. Enjoy!
Peter Preston, sunny Harwich in Essex
1970 Bay Window and 1961 Karmann Ghia
We thought you might be interested in having a look at 'Bogart', our 1970 original Devon Eurovette Early Bay, and 'Thurman', our 1961 LHD Karmann Ghia.
We bought our Camper in early 2004, completely out of the blue after a drunken decision in a pub in Chiswick, when we thought it would be the best way to get out of London and see the world (well, at least venture beyond the Home Counties). Within a week we had a rusty beige Camper in our possession, and in the three years or so that have passed we have had it restored and travelled to Land's End via the Jamboree, Powys via Vanfest, as well as Norfolk, Shropshire, Dorset, and a two-week trip to the west coast of France. We are currently planning a three-week trip taking in Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France next year!
We bought the Karmann Ghia earlier this year. It had been one of my good friend's wedding car nearly 10 years ago, and came up for sale by his father-in-law. We saw this as an opportunity not to be missed, and a sense of destiny played its part as
I share the same name as the
previous owner!
As they both put such a smile on our faces, we thought they might be of interest to the team at VolksWorld and its readers.
Mike and Ainsley Taylor
1957 11-Window Split Screen Kombi
I am the proud owner of a 1957 11-window Kombi imported from Arizona. I have owned
it since March 2006 and have transformed it
into my dream van. When I first bought it, it was black, solid as a rock and when it was recently valued by Steve Saunders (SSVC), he said the chassis was as good as it gets! The outrigger sills, front valance, battery tray body panels, doors and cargo doors are all original and, as Steve himself says, they are all excellent.
The work that has been carried out ranges from
a complete re-wire and 12-volt conversion, new brake system with dual master cylinder, new brake lines, CSP discs on the front, dropped spindles, Albatross adjuster, IRS with '68 Bay back end and a Pro Street bullet gearbox fitted by Paul Miller at Harry Harpics. The engine is a 1641cc, which I am proud to say I built myself.
The paintwork has been painstakingly taken back to its original Dove Blue (with
a razor blade!) and is now
85 per cent original.
It has had a bespoke interior by Custom Classic Retro Auto Interiors. It also has front and rear Safaris, six original triple-chrome-plated pop-outs (none of that Brazilian crap!) and new rubbers throughout.
The photograph of me and my wife was taken
just an hour after we were married on Friday 13 July 2007 as we were on our way to the Latitude Music Festival to have our blessing with all of our VW mates!
The little monkey bike in the photos is a 1961 Trio Bike which I painted in the same colours as my Camper - cool!
Lloyd and Claire Poole
Ben Gancz 1972 Beetle
Here is my 1972 Beetle. I have had it for 10 years, but have recently finished a full restoration. It's a mix of Eighties Cal Look and Euro/German Look. With some pointers from The Van Shack in Oxford, I squeezed in the 1.8 Type 4 motor by Klaus. This was mated to a 1500 Beetle gearbox and plumbed into a full oil-control system from Mocal. It drives like a little go-cart and makes an awesome noise. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxBsdTQ0qJY to see some footage of the car.
I modified a pair of angel eye sealed beam units with Mercedes Bi-Xenon Projector headlights and put them in some sloping headlights which were chromed inside and out. They produce a lovely white light for night-time runs down country lanes. I would have sent you pictures of the interior, but some horrible thief decided they would try to get the stereo out with a screwdriver, but when it wouldn't come out, they decided to trash the interior. It's an ugly sight and I can assure you a screwdriver and painted metal dash do not mix. So the next project is re-doing the interior!
I have sent you one particular photo that my girlfriend took for me as a present. She is a fashion photographer but had a go at photographing my car. It was such a success that she has gone on to photograph a Split Screen Bus and Karmann Ghia which you can see on her website at www.pernillepahle.com.
I have never missed an issue of VolksWorld, and as I have used it as inspiration for my car, it would be great if I could see my Bug featured in your magazine. It has been a long struggle and has shown me how friendly the international Volkswagen scene is, from the boys down the road at the Van Shack to the gents over in Germany who supplied me with many of the parts I've used.
Ben Gancz
Panel Power
The reason I am so excited about my Van is not that I have just bought him, but that
I have just spent almost the last six months without him on the road, watching him collect all manner of spiders' webs and other debris, and now I have him back! Having missed the show season, I'm looking forward to next year already.
I have been into Volkswagens since I spent a summer driving round in a friend's black Cal Look Bug, with our surfboards on the roof and the cheesy Beach Boys playing over the stereo.
I was hooked (closely followed by my parents)!
Since then, I have owned a couple of Beetles, but before long, the roof rack on the last one was straining under the load of all my boards (not just the customary one for show). So I began the search for a Van - air-cooled, of course.
The pictures here show Bruce, my '79 Bay, which I had owned for 12 months with just the odd repair here and there, such as the usual leaky fuel lines, shot starter motor, random electrical quirks, etc, etc. But then the old 1600 lump out back started to sound as rough as it looked! And so I had an idea: a nice, big, shiny new engine - I like polishing! I blame your magazine for these delusions of grandeur!
I duly placed my order and sat back waiting - and I waited and waited... I didn't have the best experience, in all honesty - it is cheaper to buy from the States, but you can't just pop along to see how things are - unless you're Mr Branson, I presume.
Finally, though, Bruce is back on the road and menacing the speed bumps in town! He is now running a 1914cc Type 1 motor with twin 44 IDF carbs, full-flow oil system and some choice Scat components. My once-huge smile that I wore whenever I drove my Van is now even bigger!
Cheers, guys, for such a great magazine,
and here's to all Volkswagens - especially
the low ones!
Craig and Bruce, Macclesfield
Daddy's lil girl
My name is Kelly, I am 17 and I am a Volkswagen Beetle enthusiast. Let me introduce Lily, my beautiful 1969 Bug.
Ever since I can remember, I have dreamt of having a classic Beetle to call my own and thanks to my extremely determined dad, Gary, I am fortunate enough to have Lily as my first car!
Two years ago, when I was a mere 15 years old, I was surfing eBay and came across a very lonely-looking car, which of course
I fell in love with. I showed my dad immediately. He had possibly had a few too many beers that night and stayed up until early hours of the morning bidding frantically, in his rather 'emotional' frame of mind!
It wasn't until the next morning that he realised that the car was kept over 300 miles away in Cornwall. So there were a number of concerns:
Problem 1: How do we get it home?
Solution: Let's fly to Newquay and drive her back!
Problem 2: Ten miles into the journey home, the Beetle dies.
Solution: Ring the RAC.
Problem 3: RAC takes seven hours to find him and then won't bring him home.
Solution: Courtesy car used and Beetle transported home several days later.
Problem 4: The Beetle arrives, but
on close inspection, we discover that
she is a complete wreck. Needless
to say, my dad is not very happy.
Solution: Hard work!
It is no exaggeration to say that Dad spent every single spare moment in the garage, whether it was boiling hot or freezing cold weather. First the floor and heater channels were repaired, then all panels, except for the roof, were replaced and a complete rewiring was done throughout! Next the 1200cc engine was rebuilt. Weeks of rubbing down commenced to prepare her for the respray. I chose her new colour Mermaid Blue and, after a few weeks of anticipation, Lily was reborn.
From then on, it seemed as if the postman was bringing us a parcel every day that contained a shiny new piece of chrome to add to her bare body!
The original seats were recovered to match the paintwork and a new interior carpet was fitted, after much swearing from my parents (at each other)! A new steering wheel, surfboard-style interior mirror and CD player completed the transformation. The icing on the cake was a birthday present from my brother Tom: a bud vase with a lily flower.
I wrote in because I wanted to show my dad how much I appreciate the work, time and effort he has put into building my perfect car. I just need to pass my driving test now!
Kelly Semper, Lincolnshire
Mark Whitfield's 1960 Panel Van - Readers' Rides
Allow me to show you my 1960 Double Dorr Panel Van. I've had it about six months now and just got it through an MOT after sorting out the headlamp alignment, one rubber shock bush and the number plate light.
At the shows this year I've been meeting people who remember the Bus from Cornwall where it had sat out of the scene for a while. I've been getting some good stories about it. I even met a chap through STEERING BOX SCRAPERS
(great bunch of people) who had photos of the Bus when it was in Vancouver. It won the biggest burnout award at the Fathers day dub parade in 2000. Ace pics lots of smoke and 2 flat tyres at the end. I have some video footage of it that! [You can see this by looking at our Video pages - JG]
Engine is a Bernie Bergman type 1 2276cc which was featured in Hot VWs Feb '97 when it was in a red cal-look Bug. It has 45mm DRLA carbs, DMS 82mm crank, stock rods clearance'd and balanced, forged Cima 94mm pistons and cylinders, 040 ported and polished heads, 3-angle valve job, berg dual springs and retainers, 40x35.5mm valves, autocraft 1.25:1 rockers and a compression ratio of 9.0:1.
Other additions include: electric fuel pump, Porsche cooling kit, remote Mesa oil cooler with fan, Fram HP1 filter, Melling oil pump, 009 dizzy with Petronix pointless iginition, 2100lbs Kenedy Clutch and a fully merged header with Flowmaster muffler.
The gearbox is a Pro-Street straight axle. I have CSP ally hub front disc brakes on a dual circuit brake system, narrowed and dropped front beam and a hurst line loc!
I have also got a host of Autometer gauges for oil pressure and temprature readings and a dash mounted rev counter with shift light. There is a Gene Berg T-Shifter installed for gear selection.
Other things I love about the Van are the front and rear Saffari windows, centre brake light and the early crank start rear valance
All i can say is I'm well happy with this motor and hope to get it down the 'Pod next year.
Mark Whitfield
VW addict - Readers' Ride
Here are some pictures of my recently acquired 1965 Bug, it's my pride and joy! I only bought it three months ago after selling my '79 Guinness Panel Bus. It is my third car and third VW! My dad and me restored a '72 Bug for my first car, which was a slammed candy red cal-look! Anyway... the '65 is almost stock, the only modification being that it's lowered one turn/spline on the rear, and a few notches lower on the front adjusters, to keep the ride smooth!
The only things I had to do when I bought it were to put new TMI door cards in, and pop an EMPI roof rack on top! I've collected a few stickers too, as you can
see, most of which I got on a recent trip to the States, where I also
confirmed my love for VWs with a tribute tattoo on my leg!!! We'll be
at the shows, showing and shining through next summer, as well as
driving around Somerset every day in between!
Thanks to my girlfriend Chloe for putting up with it all, and to my
Dad who does most of the work! He's put up with a lot over the last
few years! Hope you get your bus finished soon!
Lee Evans (21)
Long time coming - Readers' Ride
Hey VolksWorld, Here are a few pic's of my restored 1972 Beetle.
I bought the car with my dad when I was 15. It had a very tidy interior and a disc brake conversion - plus it drove well! After a good run home, closer inspection showed it needed a lot of bodywork including two new sills and one floor pan.
We decided to completely strip it down and having seen my Dad restore two Classic Jaguars I was not fazed and hoped to have it ready for when I passed my test.
Although sold as a 1300 we found out the engine was a 1600 so rebuilt it using twin port unleaded heads and had the crank and cam checke and re-machined at a local engineering shop.
At this point there was a pause in proceedings, of around seven years, as my parents moved house and I moved out and discovered girls, pubs and all-night parties. During this time the Beetle lived in three different garages, I had five different jobs and traveled to 20 different countries, needless to say not much work got done during this period!
I thought about selling it a few times but all the ads in VolksWorld for "Unfinished Projects" were pretty sad so I kept it and promised to make time in the future.
Some years later, in its new home and me with a job allowing me more free time and money, we set about the task in hand.
I knew I wanted it lowered but nothing too crazy so went for a new puma beam at the front and dropped it one spline at the back with up-rated anti-roll bars front and rear. We bolted on the engine, which we had re-built seven years earlier, to the original gearbox, which was in very good condition.
Once we had lifted on the re-sprayed, de-chromed body it was time to get to work on the new auto sparks wiring loom and lots of smaller more fiddly jobs.
A whole lot of blood, sweat and tears from dad and me and we have done it.
Taking it for its first MOT was awesome, it passed with flying colours and even got a complement from the MOT inspector.
I really want to thank my mum and dad for putting up with the Bug in the garage for so long, my fiancé for not getting to annoyed when I kept disappearing to Norfolk to work on the car and to VolksWorld for all the tips and contacts in the mag.
Dan Greenway (now 31)
A Bug's life! - Readers' Ride
Jake Markham has had this Beetle since he was 19. Now, 21 years on, he is turning 40 and still the proud owner of the same car. In that time Jake has married Marta who he met just before buying the Beetle), and has two great kids, Daniel and Lora.
The car has also changed a lot in that time. 'Back in the day', Jake started with subtle mod's, a slight lowering job, Spintstars, black blade bumpers and Lucas indicators. This was the 80's, Jake was at college and money was tight, but the car looked cool. Moving on a few years, and Jake decided it needed some updating, so it went into the lockup to start it's next incarnation. It was still the 80's, Wizard roadsters and graphic door panels were in, so the Beetle was treated to a fibreglass oval deck-lid, 2 inch wider rear glass fibre wings, early '60s taillights, sloped front wings, polished Cookie Cutters, a 1776 and one of those 'in' graphic interiors with Capri grey velour seats. The car was sprayed dove blue.
But Jake wasn't happy, the car never saw tarmac in this form, and he started over. He had 'matured' and his tastes had changed. Jake decided to go with a subtle VW colour, Polar White. To continue the subtle look, Jake chose early Fuchs, the desirable 4 1/2's on the front and 5 1/2's out back, with US spec front and rear bumpers, and a 60s convertible deck-lid. He wanted to go way faster than the 1776 could push him, so Jake contacted Ian at Wolfsburg who built him a 2332cc type 1 with 48 IDA's and a hot FK87 cam all pushing a 10.5.1 compression. It's hooked to a CogBox gearbox with all the right pieces. A hot setup for sure, this baby pulls - hard! The Interior was the basket weave off-white VW/TMI variety with a stock '60s steering wheel, colour coded Safety Devices rear cage, and a small accompaniment of Autometer gauges, oh, and the obligatory line lock! Like this Jake managed to get the car legal and ticketed to run around in. He entered the 2004 VolksWorld Show, went to a few Hot Rod and VW shows, tried his hand at drag racing a couple of times, running a respectable mid 13, but Jake being Jake, he had to tinker. Bigger heads were the start of it, that was three years ago, the car is the same colour, but a lot of other stuff has changed, the obvious things are the wheels, original American Racing Porsche pattern D's, and a bunch of other stuff, but you'll have to wait and see... There are also plans to restore a Squareback.
For his Birthday, Jakes son, Daniel (aged 12) came up with the idea of getting his Dads car into VolksWorld, so between him, Marta and Jakes good friend Neil Brown, the trio got in contact with us to make it happen. They, and Jakes daughter Laura (aged 2) would like to wish Jake a very Happy Birthday!
