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FIRST CLASS
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this issue for
full details
of the 2005
Travelling in real style! VolksWorld
Show
The top of the range
Microbus Deluxe

04
INSIDE THIS ISSUE;
CARSON TOPPED CUSTOM BUG
9 77095 4 01 61 81 VOLKSROD: 240BHP SUPERCHARGED MAYHEM
DON’T MISS THE VOLKSWORLD SHOW 2-3 APRIL
Inside
PRESERVATION
WORDS: MIKE KEY • PICS: PAUL KNIGHT

44 RANDAR RAGTOP
This great looking ragtop sunroof Beetle
from Belgium is proof that there’s no
rush to finish your VW

Words: Mike Pye Pics: Zoe Harrison Words & Pics: Mike Pye Words: Ivan McCutcheon Pics: Zoe Harrison

1964 SPLIT
TYPE 2 SHOW WINNING ‘64 VOLKSROD
TYPE 2 1964TYPE
Samba
2

An unfortunate oversight regarding oil

F‘erilupl
brought a glorious first camping trip to a
premature end, but started a chain of events
that led to two prizes at Bug Jam and yet
another unceremonious breakdown

It has been said that most trends and fashions

are cyclical, and to show the VW Hot Rod
ABOVE We have lift off. With 240 brake and a front end you
crossover is not a new phenomenon, here’s can lift by hand, Walt’s Volksrod will do this every time.
Is this the definition of a fun car or what?
where it all began, with the legendary Volksrod

T
here’s a lot of talk at the minute about the crossover between
the VW and Hot Rod scenes, but how did it all start? Well, to answer
that question we have to look to the late 1960s, and to America. Fans
of nostalgia drag racing will recognise the name Kent Fuller
immediately. Fuller was a pioneer and the man credited by many as being the
creator of the Top Fuel dragster, but that was just one of his many achievements.
In the early sixties Fuller moved to Northern California and it was
there that he created the T-bucket based, VW-powered Volksrod, or

1
V-Rod, as they are sometimes referred to. The idea of a low budget
kit car with a VW drive-train, in the style of the popular
T-bucket rods of the sixties, had been around for a while, but it was
Fuller who put the idea into practice, building one and using it as his
st
own shop truck for some time before Tom Medley, then head honcho at
Rod & Custom magazine, decided it would make a great project car for the
mag. That project car, built on a Racemaster chassis, ran from June 1967
to June ‘71 and provided exposure for the Volksrod idea.
Unsurprisingly, as with Bruce Meyer's Manx Buggies, others seized on
class
the idea and began producing their own Volksrod kits. Andy Brizio of
‘Andy’s Instant T’, a DIY Model T kit, fame was one of
them. He modified the concept to offer a VW-
powered version of the kit as well.
transport
The Microbus Deluxe was the top of the range vehicle in the Volkswagen line-up
during the sixties. Today we might refer to it more by its nicknames, 21-window
or Samba, than by its actual VW model name, but it remains the top of the heap

T
he Volkswagen Bus was by far the most popular ‘people
carrier’ of its day. In fact, we’d go as far as saying that this
was the very first ‘people carrier’, pre-empting the
manufacturers’ idea for a class of vehicle by decades.
The Samba was far better specified than the Standard Microbus
or Kombi. Trim quality was high and the Deluxe was immediately
recognisable by its eight glare-absorbing green tinted skylight
windows, polished aluminium beltline, sill and bumper trims. The other
major difference was that the Samba had a sliding sunroof over the
rear passenger area and, at 38x54-inches, it was no small sunroof
either. The actual sunroof was made by the Golde company and came
as standard fitment. You could order a Deluxe without the sunroof and
skylights (option M130), if you so desired. A 21-window without the
sunroof and skylights is known as a 13-window Deluxe and, although
it is still a Deluxe, it’s not a Samba. One benefit of the sunroof was that
it enabled the already versatile Samba to be used to carry awkward,
tall objects. With the central row of seats taken out, you could probably
carry items you’d only get in a very large van. One piece of VW
promotional material of the time even showed a Samba carrying an
elephant. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of many vehicles that
you could do that with. Another good thing about the sunroof was that
you didn’t have to open it all the way. You could open it as far as you
needed to let some fresh air in.
The Microbus Deluxe was given the model number, or description,
Type 241 by Volkswagen. This applied to the Left Hand Drive
nine-seater, the model seen in these photographs. Type 244 was
designated to the Right Hand Drive nine-seater and, finally, there was
the Type 251, the Left Hand Drive seven-seater, also known as the
‘walkthrough’. A walkthrough is a Bus which has two separate front
cab seats, rather than a bench seat, which allows you to walk from the
cab to the rear passenger area. Although a Type number is not listed
for a Right Hand Drive seven-seater, they were available as a special
order and we have seen a few in this country in the past. You could
also order your Deluxe with loading doors on both sides and, if you
really wanted to, you could order sliding doors.
Top dollar
The price for the standard Microbus Deluxe was almost twice as much
as the most expensive Beetle. In fact, you could have bought two and
a half Minis for your money, but in my book that shows what good
value for money a Samba was, as I’d rather have a Samba than 10
Minis. The prohibitive price could help explain why only 14,031 Deluxes
were built in 1964, while a massive 40,115 Standard Microbuses rolled
off the production line in the same year. However, the Samba did find
favour as a sightseeing Bus, Hotel shuttle and Safari Bus.
This particular 21-window was built in Hannover on 8 January 1964
and was shipped to the port of San Francisco, California. From here
the details of its life are sketchy, but at some stage the elderly owner
moved to the state of North Carolina on the East Coast of America.
The 21-window was taken with him. After his death, the Samba was
sold in what is known as an Estate Sale and the person who bought
it later sold it to Boyd Smith, a teacher and VW Bus enthusiast from
Johnson City, Tennessee. Boyd has owned many Buses over the
years, so knew he was lucky to get such a complete and original
example, as it is often the case that Deluxe Microbuses have lost
parts along the way. While the parts are quite easily available
to restorers, it’s a lot easier if everything is there.
Boyd carried out a comprehensive restoration on the Samba while
it was in his ownership, all at his workshop, which he refers to as
‘The VW Orphanage’. As he puts it, “I put a ton of work into it.” All

8 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 9 72 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 73

48 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 49 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

8 FILL ‘ER UP 48 T-BLOWN 72 1ST CLASS

Justin Coyne and his friends took a scruffy An extremely rare V-Rod from the A stunning 1964 21-window Deluxe
Split and renovated it. The work was done so sixties has been given a severe kick up Microbus, freshly restored and ready for
well that we just had to feature it the behind another 41 years of action

4 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Call our quotation
hotline now on:
08451 240 240
Regulars Classic VW This Month
12 MAILBOX 62 RETRO his year started with a brand

T
Stuff from your world VW Action memories new Golf GTI for me, a test
car from VW, which was mine
14 ON THE SCENE 64 LOST & FOUND for a week ‘to see what
VW news and reviews 1938 KdF Pug – mad, but true I thought’. Now, January was hardly
the best in terms of weather, but
18 VOLKSWORLD SHOW 66 KdF OBSERVER I loved having the new GTI. It was
1960 VW specifications a joy to drive – it is quick, very quick,
The 2005 event preview
and in a different league to my old
23 WALKERBOUT
The best VWs to own
Type 2 Zone Mk3. In fact, the new Golf GTI was so
much better in every way that you
would hardly think the two came from
70 BUS DEPOT the same company.
25 PYE’S EYE New Type 2 gear I can see why VW has been flooded
Are you local? with awards for the new Golf GTI (no
71 BUS SCENE less than four ‘Car of the Year’ and
27 LIFE OF BRIAN The oldest in the country two ‘Hot Hatch of the Year’ awards, in
The first nine-second UK VW fact). It deserves them!
Of course, a 2005 VW is far
28 PROJECT BUGGY Technical removed from the air-cooled cars we
love so much, but a lot of time has
The final build-up 78 HOW TO: BAY FRONT PANEL passed and the expectations and needs
A major face lift – part one of a motorist today are very different.
32 SHOP TOUR The air-cooled scene will probably
We visit Gene Berg Enterprises be around when new GTIs are being

37 STOP CHECK
Free Poster recycled and people are recalling the
days when they used to listen to music
Your rides in print 54 REDLINE RAZOR from an iPod, in the same way that
Look at this and be amazed people track down period radios today.
If you want to combine the old and
40 BLAST FROM THE PAST
Flat top custom Bug
Tsunami Appeal the new, you can go online to
www.volksworld.com and use new
technology to book your tickets to the
59 WEB REVIEW 17 WIN HERBIE VolksWorld Show, where you’ll see
German Look resources A real one-off opportunity some of the best old technology to
come out of the Volkswagenwerks.
We’ve also got something very
special next month – the first issue of
our new magazine VW Camper and Bus.
The new mag will cover Campers, from
Split-screens through to Bay-windows
and on to the later Type 25, Wedge or
T3, if you prefer. We’ll also take a look
at the later T4. So, if you’re into Buses
or first edition VW magazines, you’d
better jump on a copy. It’s out on Friday,
1 April and will only be available at WH
NEVER MISS ANOTHER ISSUE! CALL OUR Smiths, Just Kampers or at The
VolksWorld Show
SUBSCRIPTIONS HOTLINE NOW. at Sandown Park,
2-3 April 2005.
+44 (0) 845 676 7778 Ivan
McCutcheon,
See page 86-87 for more details or subscribe online Editor
@ www.volksworld.com

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 5

 Words: Mike Pye Pics: Zoe Harrison

1964 SPLIT
TYPE 2

An unfortunate oversight regarding oil

il l
F‘er up
brought a glorious first camping trip to a
premature end, but started a chain of events
that led to two prizes at Bug Jam and yet
another unceremonious breakdown

8 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

SHOW WINNING ‘64

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 9

 1964 SPLIT
TYPE 2

L
ook through the back of any classic car magazine when he contacted a gentleman by the name of Carlos at European
and you’ll see the classified adverts littered with Collectables in Holland. Carlos had just the Bus Justin was looking
part-finished projects. You know the kind of thing, for in the form on a solid, ex-Austrian, 1964 Camper. Mixing
stripped cars, rendered devoid of any running business with pleasure, Justin and Rebekah, his missus, jumped
potential by the enthusiastic amateur who thinks a quick project on an Easy Jet flight to Amsterdam and from there to European
is just what they need in their lives. The reality is that any goon Collectables HQ. The Bus looked to be spot-on but, not wanting
can take a car apart but far fewer have the ability and the to waste an opportunity to try her out, the couple set off on an
application to put one back together again. impromptu camping holiday around the land of tulips and clogs,
They say that when planning any restoration project, be it a car disguised as German tourists to keep the Federales off their back.
or a house or whatever, you should work out your costings, then A few days later and back on home turf, they headed north
double them, and that’s not far from the truth. More importantly, to Wigan, overjoyed with their first camping experience and more
you should work out how than happy with their new
much time you have and
where you’re going to do the
“The couple set off on a purchase. It was all going
well as they entered the
work. All too many projects camping holiday around the outskirts of Wigan,
have been steamed into at land of tulips and clogs” prompting Justin to comment
the height of summer, only to to Rebekah about what
be left by the wayside come winter, when the nights draw in, the a great buy they had made. As if in retort, the Bus threw a rod,
temperature goes down and the last thing you feel like doing is perhaps more due to the lack of oil than any inherent design failure
lying on your back under a car in the rain. on VW’s behalf, and so the inaugural journey came unceremoniously
We’d like to say that if you don’t have a garage, don’t even think to an end on the end of a towrope. As luck would have it, blowing up
about restoring a car, let alone a Bus, but we’ve all done it in the his engine and getting his brother to tow him home worked out
past and, besides, it’s a good test of character. It just makes it so a treat for Justin, as it rendered the Bus immobile right outside the
much more enjoyable if you can get out of the rain or, when things aforementioned garage, which meant that that was the last time
go bad, you can shut the door and walk away, though hopefully not brother Jason was to use his garage for a while.
for too long. If you’ve done all your sums and you’re still convinced Sometimes a restoration project just needs a catalyst and blowing
they add up, then at least make sure you know someone with your motor is one of them (ask Steve, our Art Ed). After assuring himself
a garage and buy the best car you can afford. that the Bus was not in need of any major structural repair it was sent
Justin Coyne had ticked all the above boxes, in his head at least, over to good friend Martin Vernon for a respray in the original colours
RIGHT AND BELOW Roy at
Preston Car Trim recovered
the original front seats with
beading to match the Turkis
blue paint. Justin’s missus,
Rebekah, and her sister got
busy with the sewing
machine to make the
curtains
LEFT A nicely concealed head
unit resides between the front
and rear seats, while a CD
changer sits at the other end
of the dividing panel

10 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005


of L380 Turkis green and L289 Blue white, replacing the rather more
gaudy red and white combo the Bus had been painted in before. Justin
admits painting the Bus first was perhaps not the best way of doing
things but it certainly gave him a nice canvas to start on.
Having done some buffing on Buses he liked at the shows and in
magazines, there was no way the ‘custom’ camping interior the Bus
had come with was going back in the freshly painted ‘shell. Another
mate, Austin Booth, is rather handy with a bit of wood and a saw
(another rule of home restorations – choose your friends carefully)
and proceeded to knock up a show-winning interior to Justin’s exact
specification in a very attractive shade of light oak. While it is
loosely based on the fabled Westfalia SO24 interior, it is more
a custom design chosen to be practical, stylish and in keeping with
the character of the Bus. Wanting to use the Bus for its intended
purpose it also had to seat four people comfortably in the back and
have a table, camping facilities, a rock and roll bed and plenty of
storage. To make it a little more cosy, the wooden interior panels
were made to cover the whole inner Bus sides, rather than just up
to the waistline, and the roof was done to match. It is, without
a doubt, the tour de force of Justin and Rebekah’s Bus.
Lateral thinking
Amid the sea of oak are a groovy cooker and a fully working sink
niftily fashioned using a stainless steel dog bowl. Seat trimming
chores went out to Roy at Preston Car Trim, who recovered an
original pair of front seats to match the Turkis paintwork, while
Rebekah and sister-in-law Nikki got busy on the sewing machine
making curtains and miscellaneous interior parts. Oli Booth and Matt
Stevens got stuck into the mechanical side of things, helping Justin
SHOW WINNING ‘64
replace the blown motor with a 1493cc Vege recon unit and
swapping the charging system over to a more practical, split
charging 12v system, while a few creature comforts found their way in
in the form of a hidden CD stereo and four 6x9s, along with two pairs
of polished pop outs and a polished side step. With the dirty work out
of the way, the finishing touch was cream woollen carpets throughout.
This was the summer of 2003, a summer of long nights spent with
good friends in and around Jason’s garage getting the Bus finished in
time for its debut at Bug Jam that year. Pulling round into the show and
shine, with heads still throbbing from the night before, was an exciting
moment for Justin and Rebekah, and the culmination of all those late
nights and hard work. Chatting with the guy parked up next to him in
a ‘61 Devon, Justin was a little dismayed to hear him say that there was
no point entering, as it was all a fix and the same people win every
year. Well, either that guy’s Bus wasn’t up to the mark or there was
a taste of sour grapes in his mouth because a little later on, Justin’s
name was read out twice, once for best pre-’67 Bus and then again for
best interior, a feature that saw more than a few people going back for
a second look. Needless to say, that shut old misery guts up.
Once again, though, the Bus had the last laugh, as 200 yards down
the road from the show, with its occupants flushed with success,
it coughed, spluttered and stopped dead, as if to say, “That’s it, you’ve
had your fun.” It wasn’t oil this time; the poor engine had been starved
of petrol. Well, you know what they say, like restoring cars, the basis of
driving them is a little bit of planning before you set out.
Justin would like to thank Rebekah for support, funding, and
putting up with the lack of time spent doing anything else, Jason for
the use of his garage, as well as Nikki, Jake, Dylan, Abe, Austin and
Oli Booth, Matt Stevens, Phil Lewis and Martin Vernon.
LEFT This is a fully working sink, cleverly crafted out of
a stainless steel dog bowl
BELOW The 1493cc Vege recon engine, now running
12v, which replaced the oil starved blown motor
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 11
onMailBox
the scene
Proudly VW Next generation
I’d just like to make a note on the VW
scene. Firstly, congratulations to
everyone who owns a show winning VW.
These are a pleasure to look at, read
about and be inspired by. Secondly,
I have loved VWs since I was 14 and
bought my first one when I was fifteen
(unfortunately, it was a rotten dog).
Since then (13 years) my boyfriend and
I have owned numerous Bugs and
Buses, read all your ‘How To’ sections
and have had a fantastic, enjoyable
hobby, which has never produced
a show winner, but has created a lot
of fun, arguments and a laugh (usually
at us when we are frozen every winter).
I hope that all owners love and
appreciate these vehicles as much as
we do because I think that over the last
couple of years this hobby has turned
into a money-spinning racket for some
people. That will eventually out-price
the enjoyment, which is a real shame.
Let’s just hope that all the gatherings
and shows remain a ‘Free House’ and
do not become a ‘Private Bar’.
Madge, proud owner of a ‘67 Bug
Notts
Van fan
Please can you help me? I am looking
for a remote control Split-screen
Camper Van and can’t find one
anywhere. I was wondering if you could
tell me where I could get one from.
Thank you very much
Michelle Hull
Try Kiwis Can Fly. Jeff has had radio
controlled Buses on his stand at shows
before. He mainly seems to stock the shell but
they will no doubt be able to fit RC cars of the
same scale and fitment. Call 077 3343 8989,
e-mail kiwiscanfly53@hotmail.com or visit
www.kiwiscanfly.co.uk for more info.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
12 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
volksworld@ipcmedia.com
Have you got something to say? E-mail us
or send your letters and photos to: Carol
Linfield, Mail Box, VolksWorld, Leon House,
email: vol
233 High Street, Croydon, CR9 1HZ
I am writing because
I came across something
very interesting today.
I don’t know if this car is
real, but from what I have
seen it is pretty cool. I was
wondering if you guys
could shed some light on
the ‘new Westfalia’. I found
a short movie of a concept
at www.verdier.ca. Any
ideas? Keep up the great
mag.
Lee-James Skinner
Southampton
That is an amazing animation in the bottom right corner of the site. We love it. It does
state that this is the proposed new Westfalia but we are not sure of its authenticity. We
have not received any press releases on it and, to date, have had no word back from that
website. VW do have a Concept Microbus that was debuted at the 71st International
Geneva Motor Show but the last we heard was this was not planned for production. It
does look rather good though and shape-wise it does resemble the proposed new Westy.
How exciting. We will keep probing and see what we discover.
Synchro-nised
I thought I’d send you some photos of my Van after reading the latest edition.
I’ve lived in Fuerteventura for almost eight years after moving from Newcastle
and I’ve only seen a few mags when my parents have brought them over for me.
Anyway, I’ve had VWs since I was eighteen, getting through three Beetles, a ‘62
Split Camper, a couple of Golfs, and an ex-American military T3 Van or T25,
as you call them in Britain. Now I’ve got a 1992 T3 Syncro, 1.6 Turbo diesel 70hp.
I’ve wanted a Syncro for years and managed to find one in Germany over the
Internet last year. It’s an ex-Telecom van in pretty good condition, with front and
rear diff locks, which was quite lucky. The 70hp doesn’t sound much but goes
really well here, as it’s pretty flat and it’s got plenty of traction. I managed to find
someone from the States who has 16-inch wheels made in batches of fifty with
a company in Germany, especially for Syncro
enthusiasts, and arranged for five to be sent
over for when I picked up the Van. They have
a load rating of 900kg each and are made
with the correct ET spacing of 30. I thought
you would like to see my photos, as they give
another angle to the style of these Vans, other
than lowering everything in sight, like most,
and as I used to do.
Cheers
Stu
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High five
Hello VolksWorld and, more to the point, Steve Walker
Starting out
I have just bought my first Type 2
Just a note to say that I have a Bay-window Camper with a roof like a boat (see Camper 1979 Viking and would like
attached) and, while I agree with the “doesn’t look so cool” comment Steve to know when all the events are
makes, I must point out that it is very handy. I have a wife and two kids and having scheduled for 2005. I’m a VW fest
the hightop has been a blessing. We’ve got virgin. Please help? I would also like
two bunks in the roof and the double bed to know if there are any worthwhile
downstairs. Yes, it is a bit of a bugger to clubs that I can join?
drive in the wind and driving back from Thank you
Vanfest 2004 was a bit of challenge. Mark Longcake
I have a website with loads of pictures of We have an extensive list of events on
hightops. A lot of them are ones that people www.volksworld.com. You will be able to
have sent to me and there are a good find out what shows are on when, but there
are a few ‘must go to shows’, which we will
number of different types of conversions
be plugging in the near future. You can also
and paint effects, just to prove that they are
find out what clubs are local to you on our
not all that uncool. The address is website by clicking on the ‘Clubs’ link.
www.curiouscampers.co.uk Good luck! We hope you have many happy
Cheers for now miles going to the shows in your Camper.
Chris Lambert

Stateside
Do you have any idea what make of
wheels are on this USA Bug, as I would
like to find out more details on them.
Many thanks
Lewis
These wheels are known as the Randar. They
are available from Randee in San Diego,
California (Tel: 001 760 788 6464). The
wheels come in 4.5, 5 and 6x15 and prices
start at $775.
JGE Wheels in the UK sells a similar
one-piece alloy wheel known as the Radar.
As this company is UK based, you don’t have
to worry about shipping charges, import duty
and so on. JGE Wheels is on 01889 504080, if
you are interested.
Charge it
I have just purchased this VW kit car. I know it’s called an Embeesea Charger
and it is on a 1968 Beetle floorpan with a 1500cc engine. I’m just rebuilding the
dash and getting it through an MoT. Do you think it would be well received at
VW shows and do you have any information on these cars? I’ve been looking
everywhere. I’ve had various VWs in the past and have a good knowledge
of the VW scene. I regularly buy your
magazine but have never seen one before.
Kind regards
Mike C
Funny enough, Mike, we had a small feature on
one of these kit cars in the January 2005 issue.
It must have just come out as you sent this mail.
Be sure to check it out on pages 62-63, where
Peter Noad will tell you all about it.

Missing an issue of VolksWorld?

For back issues, contact:
John Denton Services,
Unit 1, A1 Parkway, South Gate
Way, Orton South Gate,
Peterborough, PE2 6YN
or call:
01733 385170

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 13

on the scene
Send all your news and
reviews to:
On the Scene,
VolksWorld, IPC Media,
Leon House, 233 High St,
Croydon, CR9 1HZ

The Ragster
There is a new Bug on the block and it is not to
be messed with. Volkswagen revealed its next
generation New Beetle at the Detroit Motorshow
on 9 January 2005. The new Ragtop Speedster
or Ragster, as they like to call it, takes on a new
aggressive style which appparently was inspired
by the air cooled VW hot rod scene. The
designers borrowed Marty Smiths Hot Rod and
put it in their design studios to work on new ideas.
They also used the Rod when presenting the new
concept to the Volkswagen directors. Whats more,
when the Ragster was debuted in Detroit, the
promotional video playing in the background
showed images of Fred Hildagos well known Hot
Rod. It is goood to know that VW are looking to our scene for
ideas. The designers used the New Beetle Cabrio as the
Ragsters base and made it 103mm lower than the standard New
Bug. They changed the lines of the car and added a few new
features to make it look really hard. The roof is opened and
closed electronically using a switch on the steering wheel.
Apparently, as far as the engine goes, any of the current range
of New Bug engines will fit in, but the decision on whether the
Ragster will go into production has yet to be made.

BELOW Marty Smiths very cool Hot Rod that inspired VW

It’s a celebration Buy VolksWorld tickets online

As part of the celebration of 50 years
of Volkswagen sales in Italy and 30 years
of the Golf, the republic of San Marino has
issued these anniversary stamps. We think
they are super cool and wanted to share
them with you.
Owing to the number of e-mails
you, our readers, have sent us
asking how you can pre-order
tickets for the VolksWorld Show
2005, we thought it best to inform
you that our website is the place to do it all. If you visit
www.volksworld.com and click on ‘VolksWorld Show’ or on the large
banner at the bottom of the webpage, you will be taken to the show
site, where you can order tickets. Not only will this ensure that you get
a space, but you will save money too. For all other details on the
show and camping please see pages 18 to 21 of this issue.
This is the last issue before the show, so be sure to get your car
details to us soon if you would like to show your car this year. We still
have a few spaces for Buses and Buggies, so get them in quick.
For those of you coming over from Europe, please be sure
to book with Hoverspeed, as we have negotiated a 15 per cent
discount for you. You will need to call them on 00800 12 11 12 11
and quote account number 71127.

14 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

Sponsored by Sureterm Direct. Insurance through Sureterm Call Sureterm
Direct is now EVEN CHEAPER Direct on:
‘Higher Quality Lower Prices’ 0870 20 20 230

THE CAST
Dr Gonzo
Adam and Andrew from Retrocanvas have sent
EDITOR
Ivan McCutcheon
in this fabulous painting of Mike Pye and
ART EDITOR
Stephen Gosling’s Dr Gonzo Hot Rod. Steve Gosling
Retrocanvas is a new company that produces
fashionable and affordable artwork to suit STAFF WRITER
Jon Gilbert
everyone’s taste. Each of the designs is hand
painted and one off. The artists paint onto TECH EDITOR
a triple primed surface using the highest Matt Keene
quality acrylic paints and will create
bespoke designs to your requirements. FEATURES EDITOR
Mike Pye
There are many designs that they have
already completed if you need inspiration. ED ASSISTANT
Check out their website at Carol Linfield
www.retrocanva.co.uk or e-mail
SUB EDITOR
info@retrocanvas.co.uk to get more Hayley Mathie
information or to obtain a quote.
DEPUTY AD MANAGER
Kara Goodwin 020 8726 8334

Diddy Dubs TELESALES

Dave Simmons 020 8726 8335

GROUP AD MANAGER
Check out these cute little t-shirts for the smaller VW fan.
Kev Attridge 020 8726 8333
They were created by a company named Diddy Dubs, which is run
by VW enthusiasts who manufacture all sorts of garments with a VW theme, MARKETING MANAGER
Richard Marcroft
such as caps, t-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces. The motifs
are embroidered and are well stitched. You will see Diddy AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
Dubs trading at many of the VW events this year but, Eric Black www.eblackdesign.com
if you can’t wait that long, take a look
CONTRIBUTORS
at www.diddydubs.com Brian Burrows • Stephan Bau • Kiki de
to view their range. The Bois • Zoë Harrison • Rikki James •
site is still under construction Peter Noad • Bob Shaill • Steve Walker
but has many of the available
PUBLISHER
garments online for you
Gavin de Carle
to view. Diddy Dubs also offer
a mail order service and can MANAGING DIRECTOR
produce personalised items Paul Williams
VolksWorld Magazine is a Focus Network publication,
to suit your needs. Give Diddy Dubs a call on published by Country & Leisure Media Ltd, part of IPC Media.
VolksWorld, IPC Focus Network, Leon House, 233 High Street
07812 805 643 or 07774 228 784. Croydon, CR9 1HZ
Tel: (020) 8726 8354, Fax: (020) 8726 8399
E-mail: volksworld@ipcmedia.com
Website: www.volksworld.com

New Fuchs
© 2004 IPC Media Ltd, all rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part is forbidden, save with the permission, in
writing, of the publishers.
Subscription rates for one year: See page 86-87

Flat 4 of Japan have released a new wheel! The highly for details. Back Issues Dept, Unit 1, A1 Parkway, South Gate
Way, Orton South Gate, Peterborough, PE2 6YN.
sought-after four and a half inch 911 alloy. Quality of www.mags-uk.com/ipc. Subscription hotline: (020) 8532 3628
Colour origination by Planart Limited, 9 Morocco Street,
these Fuchs replicas is as you’d expect from Flat4 London SE1 3HB. Printed by Polestar (Colchester) Newcomen
Way, Severall Industrial Estate, Colchester. Distribution by
and by that we mean they’re perfect! The one year MarketForce, 5th Floor Lowrise Building, Kings Reach Tower,
Stanford Street, London, SE1 9LS. Tel: (020) 7633 3300.
only 15x4.5-inch alloy was used on the 1967 911S. Back issues and binders: VolksWorld Back Issues, PO Box 666,
The original wheels are London E15 1DW. Tel: (020) 8532 3628
VolksWorld is distributed in the United States by EWA, 369
incredibly hard to come by Springfield Avenue, Berkley Heights, NJ 07922. VolksWorld
(USPS 009-041) is published monthly by IPC Focus Network in
and prices start can reach England. Periodicals Postage Paid at Green Brook NJ 08812.
US subscriptions cost $69 from EWA, 205 US Highway 22,
£600 each so, to many, Green Brook, NJ 08812. Postmaster: send address changes to
these new Flat 4 items will VolksWorld, 205 US Highway 22, Green Brook, NJ 08812.
VolksWorld welcomes letters and technical queries. However, we
be a godsend with a price do not undertake to publish or reply to every letter we receive. We
reserve the right to edit letters that we do publish, although the
tag of just £159.95 inc. VAT views expressed therein are not necessarily those of the magazine
nor of IPC Media Ltd. VolksWorld cannot accept responsibility for
each. any unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations.

Unfortunately, these wheels ISSN 0954-0164

will not be around in the UK until

March, but when they do hit these shores you can expect to find
them at Flat 4 agents, such as SSP and VW Heritage. Visit
www.streetstyleandpower.com and www.vwheritage.com to
keep updated.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 15

on the scene
Low Mile Bug
We were contacted by a guy called Paul
Degree T’s
Degreelifestyle clothing is a new and exciting clothing company for the
Leighton about this really cool 1965 Beetle, Vee Dub scene. They have a wide range of garment colours and styles
which he discovered in a garage in for ladies, gents and kids of all shapes and sizes. All of the designs are
Somerset. One of the most unusual things available on any garment. They offer a huge range of designs inspired
about it is the condition and the fact that he by and themed around the VW scene. T’s cost just £10 for adults and are
tells us it has only 8477 miles on the clock. of a good quality. They also do other things like hoodies, sweaters and
There is a significant history behind the underwear. For more info or to order a t-shirt,
car, which we do not have the space to get write to Toby Walker and Nick Bray at
into here, but we can tell you that the car Degreelifestyle Clothing, 12A Old
is coming up for sale. Paul has told us he Library House, Burgh-Le-Marsh,
intends to get the car through an MoT Skegness, Lincolnshire, PE24 5JW.
before he parts with it. He feels that it Alternatively, you can wait for the
deserves an enthusiast owner who can take website to go live at
the time to maintain it. If you are interested www.degreelifestyle.com
in purchasing this lovely little Volkswagen or
want to know the full details of it and its
history, contact Paul by e-mail on
Paulcj71979@hotmail.com

The VolksWorld Guide to Beetle Maintenance

If you own a Beetle and need priceless advice and tips to follow when working on your pride
and joy then you need a copy of The VolksWorld Guide to Beetle Maintenance, available on
DVD or VHS. It costs £12.99 and can be purchased by filling out and sending the coupon
below, together with a cheque or credit card details, to: VOLKSWORLD READER OFFER, 10th
Floor, East Wing, Leon House, 233 High Street, Croydon, CR9 1HZ.

Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs............... Name......................................................................................................
Address...............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................... Postcode............................................
Telephone No...................................... E-mail...................................................................................
Please indicate your preferred format of The VolksWorld Guide to Beetle Maintenance:
DVD VHS
Please indicate how you would like to pay:
Cheque
Please enclose a cheque for £12.99 made payable to IPC Media Ltd
Credit card
Please charge my credit card £...............
Please fill out your credit card details
Credit card no.
Expiry date .......................................... Issue no (Switch) .....................
Full name on card...................................

Signature...................................
VolksWorld, published by IPC Media Ltd (IPC), will collect your personal information to process your order.
Would you like to receive emails from VolksWorld and IPC containing news, special offers and product and service information and take part in
our magazine research via email? If yes, please tick here. ( ) VolksWorld and IPC would like to contact you by post or telephone to promote
and ask your opinion on our magazines and services. Please tick here if you prefer not to hear from us. IPC may occasionally pass your
details to carefully selected organisations so they can contact you by telephone or post with regards to promoting and researching their
products and services. Please tick here if you prefer not to be contacted.
Tsunami appeal
Here is your chance to win
a Walt Disney commissioned
Herbie replica, while doing
your bit to help rebuild the
destroyed homes and lives
of those people affected by
the recent tsunami disaster
erv Widyalankara has been into Volkswagens for could use it in the UK as a promotional car. Of course, Merv

M years. He worked for many VW dealerships back

in the days when air-cooled Dubs were lavishing
the forecourts, including the St Johns and Byfleet
branches, as well as running the Ashford VW group. To
say that he knows his stuff would be an understatement.
jumped at the chance.
Since completion, the car has been used at loads of functions
to promote the Herbie films and has been adored by many
people, including those who have seen it at the VolksWorld Show.
Unfortunately, the time has come for Merv to part with the
Merv moved to the UK from Sri Lanka over 40 years ’66. He is not going to sell it in the usual fashion though.
ago and now owns his own workshop in Walton on Instead, he plans to raffle off the Bug at this years VolksWorld
Thames, where he continues to work on classic VWs. Show to help raise funds for the tsunami
He also owns a collection of VWs, including a rather appeal in Sri Lanka. As this is Merv’s
special first generation Ultimate Edition 1303 home country, he has been doing
with only 8000 miles on the clock. everything he can to support the relief
Over 20 years ago, he bought this efforts. He has already made several very
1966 1300 saloon from a customer of generous donations to the appeal, but feels he
his when he still worked for VW. It has can do more – top man. The money he raises by
never been restored, still has the original giving away his much-loved Herbie will be
engine, with 80,000 miles on it, and has a full donated to help rebuild houses and support the
service history. It still has the six-volt wiring and orphanages in Sri Lanka.
even has the original spare wheel, complete with If you fancy owning a piece of Herbie
cross ply tyre. In fact, the only thing that has history and helping out the people of Sri Lanka
been changed (apart from the add-on accessories) at the same time, make sure you fill in the
is the exhaust. There is no rust or any other coupon below and send it to ‘Herbie Tsunami Raffle’, VolksWorld
damage that you would expect to find on an original magazine, IPC Media, Leon House, 233 High Street, Croydon,
Beetle of this age. It is a real gem. CR9 1HZ. Of course, you could always find Merv at this year’s
Walt Disney had heard that Merv owned this car and asked show. Tickets are limited to 2000 entrants and cost £15, which
if he would mind dressing it up in the Herbie colours so they is nothing for an extremely clean original RHD ’66.

Car will be given away at the 2005

WIN HERBIE FOR £15 VolksWorld Show on 3 April.
Postal entry deadline 25 March 2005
Fill in your details below and post it to: VolksWorld, Tsunami Appeal, IPC Media, Leon House, 233 High Street,
Croydon, CR9 1HZ. The winning entry will be drawn at this year’s VolksWorld Show on April 2-3.
NAME:
ADDRESS:

E-MAIL: TEL NO:

Credit Card no:
Expiry date: Valid until:
Please make cheques payable to IPC Media Ltd. Number of tickets
This compertion is promoted by Merv Widyalankara. The vehicle insurance will be the responsibility of the
winner. Data will only be used for this raffel and will not be recorded. Your details will be destroyed after the raffle
had taken place.
Total value of tickets £

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 17

VolksWorld Show preview

SHOW INFORMATION
Welcome to the The VolksWorld Show takes place on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 April 2005 at Sandown
Park Racecourse Exhibition Centre, Esher, Surrey. The show is open from 10am to

VolksWorld Show 2005 5pm on the Saturday and from 10am to 4:30pm on the Sunday. (SORRY, NO DOGS
ALLOWED except registered guide dogs.)

T
he VolksWorld Show at Sandown Park is the
most eagerly anticipated event of the year. BOOK YOUR TICKET ONLINE
The unique style of the show gives the VW
scene an annual indoor exhibition, a
www.volksworld.com or call 01733 385172
showcase meeting, which sees the best of the best Ticket Prices:
on display. As the only event of its type, it attracts Adult Day tickets £8 (If booked in advance) or £10 on the day
some truly amazing display cars. For 2005 we have Weekend tickets £14 (Available in advance only)
even more top quality European VWs on show, some Senior/children (Under 16) Day tickets £2.50 (If booked in advance)
of which have literally just been finished in time to Senior/children (Under 16) £3 on the day
be debuted at the event. Senior/children Weekend tickets £5 (Available in advance only)
Fancy leaving the event with a VW? Make sure you Camping (per tent) £20 (Available in advance only and must be purchased with
enter the ‘Win a Buggy’ competition on the VolksWorld weekend ticket)
stand. We’ll be drawing a winner for The VolksWorld Advance tickets must be purchased by the 27 March 2005
Doon Buggy on Sunday. If you don’t win the Buggy,
you could enter the charity raffle to win a Herbie
replica, thanks to the amazing Merv Widyalankara.
I would like to thank our sponsors, VolksWorld
Insurance Services and Meguiar’s, and all those who
have put in a huge personal effort to build and display
such fantastic show cars. They really make the show
what it is. Please bear in mind while visiting the show
that these cars are privately owned, so do not touch
the display cars.
I hope you enjoy the event.

EDITOR

How to find us
BY CAR
From London: Take the A3 heading south from Wandsworth. Exit on to A309
(Kingston by-pass) signposted to Sandown Park, immediately after exit for
Chessington. Fork left at Scilly Isles roundabout onto A307 Portsmouth
Road. Sandown Park can be found 3/4-mile along on the right-hand side.

From M25 North and West: Exit at Junction 10 onto A3 towards London.
Exit onto A244 at Esher Common roundabout, signposted to Sandown
Park. Turn right onto A307, Esher High Street at T-junction/traffic lights.
Sandown Park can be found 1/4-mile along on the left-hand side.
From M25 South and East: Exit Junction 9 onto A244 towards Esher, over
roundabout at Esher common, then as above.

BY TRAIN
From London and the North: From Victoria, Waterloo or Clapham Junction
to Esher station (20 to 30 minute journey). Taxi rank at station or 2/3-mile
walk as follows: left onto Station Road, right at T-junction onto A307.
Sandown Park can be found 1/2-mile along on the right-hand side.

18 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Show only offer!

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER
Make sure you visit the VolksWorld stand and check out these
fantastic limited edition T-shirts. These are only available if
you take out a subscription to VolksWorld at the Show. You
can choose two of the cool designs for each subscription.

Sponsors
VOLKSWORLD
INSURANCE SERVICES
If you own a VW, whether it's a custom, classic, Cal Look,
concours or even if it's your daily driver, VolksWorld Insurance
Services can give you the type of cover you want. They even
offer cover for high performance and modified vehicles. The
guys from VolksWorld Insurance Service will be on hand all
weekend to discuss all your insurance needs plus they will be
able to give you on the spot quotes. Make sure you pay them
a visit, it could save you money!

MEGUIAR’S
After a great 2004 show, Meguiar’s, the American car
care company, have agreed to sponsor the Show ‘n’
Shine at The VolksWorld Show. Since 1901, Meguiar’s
technical experts have worked hand-in-hand with car
and automotive paint manufacturers around the world
to create highly specialised car care products.
Representatives from Meguiars will be at the show all
weekend to advise you how to give your VW that ‘show
car’ shine.
WIN THIS BUGGY
After a long year of hard graft and quality work by Doon Buggies
and Volksmagic, the super-cool Beach Buggy is finally complete,
looking fantastic and, best of all, it could be yours to drive home.
All the necessary parts were supplied by SSP and VW Heritage
to make it a top class ride. The only way to win is to enter, so
either fill in the coupon on page 29 and send it in or enter at the
show by visiting the VolksWorld stand. The draw will take place at
the VolksWorld stand at around 3:30pm on Sunday, 3 April 2005.
VolksWorld Insurance Services will be on hand to sort out your
insurance needs, so you’ll be able to drive it away. Good luck!

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 19

VolksWorld Show preview

YEARS OF GHIA SHOW CARS

2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the much
loved Karmann Ghia, so who better to provide the
eye candy for this celebration than the Karmann
Ghia Owners Club. A stunning array of Ghias are
being gathered for a massive indoor display and
KGOC secretary, Clive Richardson, will be giving
a presentation covering the history of this legendary car.
VW shows come and go but The VolksWorld Show just keeps getting
bigger and better, with the most awesome VWs from Europe and the
UK displayed for your viewing pleasure. Many have taken years to
build or restore, with grease, sweat and hundreds of hours making
each one unique, beautiful and a powerful work of art. From Bugs to
Buses and Buggies to Ghias, and from totally stock to full custom,
all tastes are catered for, with some rapid racecars and downright
mental vehicles thrown into the mix to keep it all so fascinating.
This year, the lower hall will be dedicated to Buses and Buggies.

GET PRACTICAL We have put together a massive selection of pristine Type 2s,
including Splits, Bays, Vans and Buses, as well as a collection of
Make sure you visit the engine build demonstrations taking place quality Buggies for a touch of that summer feeling.
throughout the weekend on the top floor. The guys from The If you have a special VW and would like it on display call Evan on
Engine Shop will strip down and rebuild an air-cooled engine and 020 8726 8341 or email volksworldshow@ipcmedia.com
answer your questions at the same time – clever guys, hey?
Outside, Spa Dubs club will take you through the process of
lowering a Bug. They will be lowering a different car each day, so
if you want to know the best way to slam your ride, check it out.

LET’S HAVE SOME FUN

Don’t forget to bring the family along for a fun and educational
experience. As always, we will cater for the little ones with
a bouncy castle (providing the exercise), Scalextrix (to learn to
judge speed) and radio-controlled cars (to improve hand-eye
co-ordination). With all this and much more going on, who needs
school to teach them? For the budding racing drivers among
you, the on-site Daytona racetrack is open for business, offering
arrive and drive track fun. The superb, purpose-built track will be
open over the weekend from 12pm until 5pm (age 16 years and
over), allowing you to use the full 900m track in twin-engine Pro-
karts. A special show deal of £15.00 for 15 minutes is only
available to VolksWorld ticket holders.
Are you interested in VWs? Well, of course you are, so don’t
forget to check out the VolksWorld Tech Talks. You may learn
something. We’ll have a number of experts within the VW scene
on hand presenting a variety of talks throughout the weekend and
covering many aspects of the legend that is VW. You also get the
THE SPLIT SCREEN
chance to have your technical questions answered by those in
the know. The tech talks will be located at the end of the main VAN CLUB
show hall, Keep your ears open for the announcement of times. Once again, Rikki James will be
Have you wondered just how many people you can get into arranging the fantastic Split
a Beetle? Well, why not find out at the annual Screen Van Club display on
VolksWorld Bug the red brick area outside
Stuff. See how Surrey Hall. We have come
many people we to expect a great show and
can cram in and this year won’t disappoint.
on a Bug. If you The diversity of these
are feeling Splitties is undeniable, so
game, why not if Type 2s are your thing,
join in? (This is make sure you don’t miss out.
open to adult For more information on the Split
participants Screen Van Club call Rikki on
only). 0780 288 4583.
 HERBIE TSUNAMI APPEAL
Merv Widyalankara will be at the show once more with his famous Herbie, but this time he’s
giving it away to one lucky winner. Following the terrible destruction the tsunami caused to his
native Sri Lanka, Merv has very kindly decided to raffle Herbie to raise funds and build an
orphanage for the many children who lost their parents in the area. Tickets cost £15 and
only 2000 will be sold, so dig deep and support a great cause. Herbie will be given
away at the show on the VolksWorld stand at around 3:30pm on Sunday 3 April.
For more information call Merv on 01932 569 245.

CLUBS TRADE
When real VW fans get together sparks start flying, tyres start Apart from the fantastic show cars,
burning and clubs start growing. New clubs (to the VolksWorld The VolksWorld Show 2005 also
Show at least), as well as all the old favourites, will be on display offers all the top VW traders.
with their magnificent Beetles, Buses and Ghias (and other great Covering three floors, Sandown
VWs too). You’ll get a chance to mingle, chat VW and maybe find Park becomes one massive VW
the right club to join. If you have a club and would like to put on shopping mall, with the traders
a display then please email volksworldshow@ipcmedia.com offering some superb show specials
or call Evan on 020 8726 8341. Please note, all clubs must that you won’t find anywhere else.
pre-register to be allocated a display area. If you need a bargain for your VW,
The VolksWorld Show is the place to
find it. If you are a trader and would
WEB USER like to book a trade stand, call Kara
on 020 8726 8334 or email

LOUNGE kara_goodwin@ipcmedia.com

Web User is the UK's favourite Internet

magazine. On sale every fortnight, it keeps
you up-to-date with all the latest news, views
CAMPING
Make the most of your time at The VolksWorld Show by staying all
and developments on the web. Being weekend. Book your camping plot now to avoid disappointment, as
Britain's best-selling Internet read, Web User space is limited. Book online at www.volksworld.com or call 01733
is, quite simply, for most people, the only Internet magazine 385172. All advance bookings must be made by 27 March 2005.
they'll ever need. Check out the Web User Lounge on the top
floor to find out all you need to know about the web.

VW
SWAPMEET CAMPER
Are you looking for that rare part? All you need to do is visit the
Karmann Konnection Swapmeet, located on the top floor, where
private sellers will give you great deals for parts and other goodies.
Call Karmann Konnection on 01702 60 11 55 or email
& BUS
One of the big stories at
info@karmannkonnection.com if you want to trade at the Sandown is the launch of a
swapmeet. This is open to private sellers only. new magazine! The first issue
of VW Camper & Bus will be
published in time for the
SHOPPING SPREE show, so we’ve dedicated
virtually the whole lower Esher
Make sure you visit the VolksWorld stand to enter our free Hall to Buses. Head
competition and win some cash, courtesy of your favourite downstairs to find the best
mag, VolksWorld. Each day we will pick three winners for our from the world of Type 2s.
shopping spree competition, with a first prize of £250, second The magazine is published
£150 and third of £50 to spend at the show. Each winner will in association with the UK’s
be taken round the show by a member of the VolksWorld leading Camper and Bus
team, who will help them haggle for whatever they want from specialists, Just Kampers,
any of the traders. The draw will take place at approximately so head for their stand to
3:30pm on the VolksWorld stand. You must be at the stand to pick up your very first issue
claim your prize and all the cash must be spent at the show. of VW Camper & Bus.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 21

Walkerbout
Words: The North
Is older better?
Steve contemplates the sentimental value of early VWs versus the power and
detailing of the sixties greats
t is generally acknowledged within our VW fraternity that
I the older the better in the desirability stakes (unless you
want to drive the thing, that is.). Hardcore enthusiasts
are constantly scouring the globe for the earliest
examples of Wolfsburg tin. I say Wolfsburg intentionally,
as sadly, if your Bus happens to be a Hannover baby, well,
in some extreme circles it just won’t make the grade.
My own personal wish list isn’t restricted to the earliest
cars, though. Love them as I might, the funny thing is that I
actually enjoy driving
things that don’t need
“Every aspect had a charm and
a helping shove up the form soon to be lost in a sea of
slightest of inclines.
Volkswagen changed,
safety and cost-driven alterations”
modified and improved for a reason and I, for one, prefer to
drive what I consider to be the evolution cars. ‘65, ‘66 and ‘67
Beetles, Buses, Type 3s and,
of course, Ghias have the lot, as far as I am concerned.
Consider the styling of all the above. Ghias were adorned
with nipple indicators and svelte rear lights, as was the Type
3 range, and all models had chrome a-plenty (OK, except the
Buses, but lets not be picky.). The range of colours and
interiors were a dream in comparison to latter years offerings
and, try as they might, the later hubcaps and embellishers
couldn’t hold a torch to a big five hubcap and beauty ring
combo. Window trim, winder handles, etc, the list is virtually
endless. In fact, almost every aspect had a charm and form
soon to be lost in a sea of safety and cost-driven alterations.
As VW prepared for the across-the-board changes
levied in 1968, those mid-sixties vehicles benefited from
some early innovations. The ‘65 Bug got ball joint front ends
and a new 1300 motor, Type 3s and Buses received the 1500
engine, better gearboxes and brakes, but it didn’t end there.
12-volt electrics were Type 3 bound long before the rest
succumbed to decent headlights and talk of electric
sunroofs wasn’t simply an eccentrics dream.
The sixties must
have been a hectic time
at Volkswagen and, with
so many major changes due
to the entire range, it would
have been easy to overlook
the ‘run out’ models. To their credit, I believe those ‘65, ‘66
and ‘67 Volkswagens to be the best all-round vehicles the
factory knocked out. They drive beautifully, are aesthetically
perfect, were screwed together to the highest standard and,
even today, define and represent what a VW is, or rather
should be, about.
A collection of early cars or even one special vehicle
would be great, but, for me personally, an example of each
Type made in one of those three years would be the stuff
that dreams are made of. Of course, you may not agree.
After all, we are all different, but while you ponder my
thoughts on the ideal year VW, I will be trying to invent
a time machine. Now, there’s a thought. I suppose a couple
of early prototypes wouldn’t hurt.
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 23
Pye Eyed
Stay local
The specialist parts aftermarket is stronger now than it has ever been, but don’t
forget that there is another valuable resource right on your doorstep

T
his column was inspired by a conversation I had
with John, my new-found, local, helpful engineer,
discussing another batch of small, intricate
machining jobs I do not have the facilities to do
myself. Yes, that’s right, I’m back on with Dr Gonzo after too
long. I haven’t been idle this last year. I’ve put a great deal of
mental development into the car but there’s very little tangible
evidence of it. You see, there simply was nothing I could just
go out and buy to fix the problem areas and that’s when
I realised what the real problem was. Life has become too
easy for all of us – everything is now instant, ordering parts
from anywhere in the world is as easy as the click of a
mouse and the aftermarket has never been more healthy, at
least as far as car parts are concerned. But how often have
you ordered stuff by mail, only to have the wrong bit turn up
or for it not to fit or the quality to be dubious? And what
do you do when you’re trying to do something different,
something not covered by the mainstream parts catalogues?

UNDER EQUIPPED ABOVE It may not look like much

but, believe me, this has taken
While I appreciate I am now
a huge amount of R&D to get right.
very fortunate to have the use A few small jobs left to do and
of a large workshop, it is far El Doctor will soon be on the road
from a fully equipped one.
We’ve got space, we’ve got
a chill-out lounge and a fridge
full of beer but we haven’t got
a lathe, a drill press, a plasma
cutter or a tig-welder.
I considered buying some or
other of these items but I’m not
very good at buying cheap
tools and decent ones are
major money. I know lots of
people with some or all of this
equipment but finding the time as well as attention to detail
to get to their workshops when “Life has become too easy for all and exactly what you want.
they want to work is difficult. of us – everything is now instant” I don’t have to risk consigning
Instead, I started looking anything to the post, I don’t
around for a local engineering shop that a) had the facilities have to drive miles only to realise I’ve forgotten something vital,
I was looking for b) was willing to do the work and c) didn’t and he turns the work around in a couple of days at most.
want to charge the earth for it. And you know what? I found it, To misquote Howard Marks, support your local, er, engineer.
and I found it so locally that I can look across the railway Most of you will be able to find someone similar near to you.
tracks at the end of my road and see it. Look in your local Thompson or Yellow Pages under engineers,
I asked my man John what kind of work they get these days, precision engineers, toolmakers or just drive around with your
with cars designed to be dealer service only or no service at eyes open and see what you can find, then make use of them.
all, and he replied: “People like you”. They’re a valuable but dying asset that the UK has a proud
People like all of us who are restoring, modifying and heritage of. We’re a nation of engineers and it’s no
otherwise fiddling with their own little projects at home, be they coincidence that most of the top racing formula around the
racecars, scooters, motorcycles, Hot Rods or VWs. John charges world use British-built racecars. The trouble is, in our cosy
£20 per hour, which (ask any skilled worker) is a very reasonable Internet world it’s easy to forget this and to buy something off
price and for that you get one-to-one engineering and advice the shelf to fix the problem, when you and your John could do
from someone who listens and understands what you’re saying, it yourself for a lot less money and a load more satisfaction.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 25

Life of Brian
The UK’s first ‘9’
Brian recalls the groundbreaking developments of 1990, when the show scene
quickly picked up speed, along with some VW drag racers
N
o less than seven ‘New Wave/Drag Race’ events
were held during 1990. These included Bug Jam,
The Spring Championships and Volksfest, and the
Bug Fun tour, as the series of shows was named,
returned to North Weald Airfield in late July for Bug Out,
sponsored by BBT. The event very nearly didn’t happen, as
the local council banned camping at the event and the
show was reduced to a one-dayer.
My only real recollections of the day are of watching the
V8s, which had been invited from Santa Pod, racing alongside
the VWDRC. Gary Angell and I shared a ‘Best of Show’ trophy
in the show ‘n’ shine and Luke Theochari ran the first ever
‘nine’ in a UK VW. For most of 1990 the Speedster I sponsored
and the Terry’s Beetle Services ‘Moody’ had been running
‘tens’ (ten-second quarter-mile passes) consistently and
speculation had grown among many avid
race fans as to who would run the first ‘nine’.
Their questions were answered at North
Weald, where Luke managed a 9.96-second
pass at 136mph in Moody. Sadly, he couldn’t
back it up within one per cent to make it an
official record. Brett Hawksbee, Cliff Watkins
and Roy Phelps didn’t seem to care, though,
as they awarded him a cheque for £500 for
the UK’s first ever ‘nine’. Respect.
Next came the German Car Company sponsored VW
Nationals at Santa Pod. Sanity seemed to have returned,
with none of the bad behaviour that had blighted Bug Jam.
The European contingent were there in force and I can
vividly remember the magenta-coloured ‘Tickled Pink’ Bug
of Frenchman Guy Loire, along with the twin-turbocharged
Bug of Sweden’s Mika Janssen. Keith Seume raced Tickled
Pink in the final of the heads-up ‘Quick 8’ against Moody,
driven by Luke Theochari and nailed the tree, leaving Luke
for dead on the line. However, Moody’s extra horsepower
told in the end, with Luke
storming past at the top end. “The bar was raised for all
The TBS boys had a great future VW events”
weekend and went on to win
the VWDRC Modified round the following day too. That
‘unfashionable’ Gold 1303 of the Fairhursts once again took
the win in Super Street after Gary Angell managed to red-light
the final away and Travis Lawton had yet another victory in the
VWDRC Street class by beating Adrian Horton in the final.
I think the event will be remembered with relief by those
who were there; relief that all Volkswagen drag racing
events were not going the way of Bug Jam ‘90.
For the penultimate round of the VWDRC Championship
and Brett and Cliff’s sixth event of the year, the whole circus
moved north. York Raceway was the site and the event was
named Bug Jam North. Sadly, the show didn’t benefit from its
southern cousins’ propensity for great weather and it rained
all weekend. As a result, not a single racecar turned a wheel
Words: Brian Burrows
ABOVE Gary Angell and his ‘68 based
racer ‘Bugbear’ combined show and
go perfectly. LEFT Moody, driven by
Luke Theochari, was the first VW to run
a ‘9’ in the UK
in anger, although Gary
Angell’s ‘Bugbear’ Racecar
won yet another trophy in the
show ‘n’ shine. It was a great
shame, as this virtually killed
the event before it even had a chance to get off the ground.
The season ended with the VW Finals at a wet and windy
Santa Pod. The high winds on the Saturday night put paid to the
planned firework display, but the VWDRC racing survived. The
Speedster made it to the VWDRC Modified final, only to be
beaten by Microgiant’s Paul ‘Harry Harpic’ Miller, who had done
enough throughout the year to win the Modified Championship.
In Super Street, that Gold 1303 managed to do it to John
Brewster in ‘Street Lethal’ in the final, although John would be
crowned Super Street Champion of 1990. Meanwhile the Street
class – and the overall VWDRC
Street Championship for 1990 –
was won by VolksWorld’s Peter
Dickinson in his Golf, beating
Stuart Hall’s Bug in the final. Notable show ‘n’ shine entrants
included the mentally roof-chopped purple Squareback of
Simon Emery and Tony Dunham’s gorgeous Peppermint Looker.
Overall, 1990 was a very busy and successful year for new
wave VW events. Despite the problems encountered at Bug
Jam, No-Worries’ Beetle Bash had arrived, the VWDRC had
a seven-event championship and show cars just seemed to get
better and better. In my opinion, Bug Jam ‘90 and, to a lesser
degree, Beetle Bash heralded a new direction in VW events.
The bar was raised. People would come to expect
entertainment where previously being among other VW
enthusiasts and their cars had been enough. The flavour of the
VW event calendar had changed dramatically within three
short years and there would be no going back.
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 27
 Words and Pics: John Clewer

DoonTYPE
Buggy
2

Project Buggy
Welcome to the final section of the build feature on our very own Doon Buggy, the
car which one lucky reader will be driving away from this year’s VolksWorld Show.
All you need to do is enter our lucky draw

T
his month we detail the last few
parts of the build-up, the
construction of the hood support
bars and give a brief rundown
of the main parts of the build.
The braking system was completed by
fitting two brake fluid reservoirs (sourced from
a Bay-window Type 2) in the under-bonnet
area, opposite to the neatly laid out fuse box
and relays, which will hopefully keep the
Buggy’s electrics under control. The ease of
access, via the opening bonnet, will allow for
the easy monitoring of fluid levels, something
not easily achieved with Buggies of old.
We chose to use a dual master cylinder
system, so if you wipe a brake line off one
end of the car, you’ve always got a secondary
braking system to help you slow down.
Staying under the bonnet, the fuel system
was completed by connecting up our
much-modified tank, using a standard
Beetle fuel pipe, and then bolting the whole “Doon’s debut was typically greeted
assembly into place. The battery is mounted with freezing temperatures and snow”
in the centre of the under-bonnet area, held
and picks up the seatbelt anchorages. The whole ‘cage is
in place with the normal system of clamps. The connections,
a freestanding unit, which can be unbolted as one and lifted
covered by plastic shields, exit to the rear, straight through
clear of the chassis.
holes neatly drilled in the shell. Everything is covered and is
The ‘cage was coated in Satin black before fitting, which
hopefully as watertight as possible to avoid any future problems.
was carried out by bolting the hoop feet to the floor pan/Buggy
The bonnet hinges are sourced from an old friend in the kit car
shell and adding reinforcement plates to the underside
industry (Thanks, John.) and, believe it or not, they were
to spread the load. Metal tags are welded to the rear hoop and
manufactured for the bootlid of the Quantum Xtreme sportscar.
used to bolt the assembly through the shell for extra rigidity.
With the panels correctly aligned, they are an easy bolt on job.
Once again, extra reinforcement is used to avoid any star
A neat touch is provided by a standard Beetle bonnet catch, which
cracks appearing in the fibreglass.
is slightly modified and enables the remote release of the bonnet.
With the ‘cage in place, we were now able to fit the race
Custom made
Rather than aim for the ‘Street Racer’ look, using a full rollcage
to support the hood, Lee roughly sketched out some ideas on
a sheet of paper, before custom building the bars. This was not
an easy task, as the main hoop required no less than six bends.
He chose to build the ‘cage in ERW (Electro Resistance
Welded) tube, a base level specification material, which
is normally used for the construction of non-competition
rollcages. Effectively, it is a four-point ‘cage with a middle hoop
where the Beetle’s original ‘B’ pillar would be and a rear hoop
at 90 degrees, which is braced and connected to the middle
hoop with two stays.
While the assembly was being constructed, the rear of the doon.co.uk 01384 859872
shell was covered in thick masking tape to avoid it being volksmagic.com 0121 541 2278
scratched and damaged, as the ‘cage was being lifted in and porscheshop.co.uk 0870 00 55 911
out of the Buggy. The rear hoop fits neatly inside the bodyshell streetstyleandpower.com 08702 245105
bfgoodrichtires.co.uk 0800 0960 381

28 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 SUPPORT BARS & DETAILS

Under the bonnet, you’ll find some very professional workmanship Rather than crappy looking afterthought hinges, we searched these out

The one-off VolksWorld Doon Buggy needed a tough looking rollcage Check out the ‘Street Racer’ cage Lee fabricated for us. Nice, isn’t it?

A pair of four-point Willans harnesses have been fitted We wanted to give the Buggy a New School Look rather than that sixties style

harnesses, which were four-point Willans belts, bought from the
National Kit Car Show. These were also bolted in place using
reinforcement plates to spread the load. It can’t be stressed
enough that, when fitting the seats, belts, body and ‘cage, great
care should be taken to ensure that extra reinforcement is used
to prevent the mounting bolts from pulling free.
The completion of the interior brought the build of the project
to a close and it was time to roll ‘Project Doon’ out into the yard
for some photographs before it went to see the friendly man
at the local MoT station.
Alas, as this was during the depths of the British Winter, our
Doon’s debut was typically greeted with freezing temperatures
and snow. No wonder it was Bruce Meyers in California who
designed and built the first Beach Buggy and not a couple
of blokes from Oldbury, with dodgy accents.
We hope you have followed, and enjoyed, our description of the
Project Doon build-up. Perhaps it may even encourage you to think
about getting in the garage and assembling your own Beach
Buggy. There can be few finer summer VW experiences than
driving into a show on a sunny day, behind the wheel of a Buggy.

WIN! PROJECT BUGGY

Car will be given away at the 2005
VolksWorld Show on 3 April. Postal
entry deadline 25 March 2005

FREE TO ENTER COMPETITION VolksWorld, published by IPC

Media Ltd (IPC), will collect your personal
information to process your order. Would you like
to receive emails from VolksWorld and IPC
Fill in your details below and post it to: VolksWorld, Doon Buggy competition, containing news, special offers and product and
IPC Media, Leon House, 233 High Street, Croydon, CR9 1HZ. Winning entries will service information and take part in our magazine
research via email? If yes, please tick here ■
be drawn at this year’s VolksWorld Show on April 2-3. VolksWorld and IPC would like
to contact you by post or telephone to promote
NAME: and ask your opinion on our magazines and
services. Please tick here
ADDRESS: if you prefer not to hear from us ■
IPC may occasionally pass your details to carefully
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promoting and researching their products and
services. Please tick here if you prefer not to be
E-MAIL: TEL NO: contacted ■
This competition is not open to employees of IPC Media. The editor’s decision is final. Vehicle insurance will be the responsibility of the winner.
Further regulations apply to this competition. Please see www.volksworld.com for more details.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 29

Shop Tour
Gene Berg
Gene Berg Enterprises is a
well-established, global name,
but few people in the UK know
the full story. We spoke to Dee
Berg to get the lowdown
How did Gene Berg Enterprises
(GBE) start?
Gene had a VW Bug that he felt just
didn’t have the power it should have,
so he started tuning it. He ordered
parts from California, but they
weren’t what he thought they should
be, so he started making his own. He
started with manifolds, sumps, close
ratio gears and fly-cutters (a VW
first). He also tried Porsche Solex
carbs and looked at how Porsche
made their cars go faster, while
keeping them drivable, and still have
a long life. Using this formula, he
added it into his own products. He
made the first VW close ratio gears
32 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
and sold the first sets to Joe Vittone
(original EMPI founder), who took
them and had them reproduced.
We started business in 1962 in
Washington State as Gene’s Service,
and moved to California in June
1969 to become a third partner in
Deano Dyno Soars with Dean and
Ken Lowry. We left there in
December 1969 to open GBE and to
concentrate on building quality parts
for air-cooled VWs.
How and when did you first get into
VWs?
Gene bought his first Bug in 1956
and another in 1960 when he went
to work for Autobahn VW dealership
in Renton, Washington. He left them
in 1961 to start his own repair
service doing upholstery and painting
VWs. From 1962 he was just doing
service and repair. All the boys
started working on cars at a young
age. Doug recalls being given his
first motor to dismantle aged four or
five. You could say it’s in their blood.
What was the first GBE VW?
We had a VW-powered dragster
called ‘Little but quick’, which we
have bought back and will restore
soon. The black ‘67 has been with us
and raced since new in 1967.
ABOVE Case clearancing made easy with this cutting tool
BELOW This is what the inside of a Berg 5 Speed gearbox looks like.
They have cut away the case so you can see what is going on. Cool!
BELOW RIGHT The petrol head’s dream shopping trolley

What services and products do you offer?

We offer a full machine shop to handle
most of you motor and transmission needs.
We have a complete line of stock and high
performance air-cooled motor and trans
components, as well as other items, such
as our world famous shifters. We also stock
a lot of genuine VW and quality
aftermarket parts for VWs.

What are your plans for GBE’s future?

To continue making the quality parts that
we’ve always produced and to come out
with new and innovative products.

Are there any new toys, products or racecars

up your sleeve for 2005?
We are currently working on a five-speed
Bus conversion, a billet traction bar that
will clear wheelie bars, a tach mount and
a pulley puller. We hope to have the blue

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 33

Shop Tour
‘67 at the track this year, as well as
the black car. Doug will continue to
defend his No 1 spot in Super Gas.
If you could pick one moment from the
Gene Berg Enterprises’ experience,
which would be your favourite?
There have been so many great
moments. The number of great
people we’ve met in the VW industry
over the years is overwhelming. Being
able to visit the factory and museum
at Wolfsburg before Gene passed
away was one of the things he had
always wanted to do. Trips to the VW
Spectacular in Australia, an event
everyone should experience, our trips
to England (Avon Park), Holland and
Germany (Bad Camberg) and all the
US VW events we’ve attended over
the years are memories that will
always stay with us.
34 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
ABOVE LEFT ‘Little but
quick’, the VW-powered drag
car, awaits restoration at
GBE. Once done, it will be
back on the strip again
Is there anything else you would like to
add?
We hear many rumours circulating
around the scene about us that are
not fact. Please call us and ask.
We’d love to answer any questions
you might have and set the record
straight.
Where are you based?
1725 North Lime St, Orange,
California 92865, USA
The Gene Berg shifter
Phone: intl +1 714 998 7500
is possibly one of the
Fax: intl +1 714 998 7528 most famous in the
E-mail: genebergent@msn.com world for its superior
Website: geneberg.com workmanship. You can
even get a handle to
We would like to thank Dee suit your fancy
Berg and the rest of the team
at Gene Berg Enterprises for
the tour of their workshops
and for taking time out to
answer our questions.
Stop! Check! ???????????

This month, we meet three more fans from the VW scene. To get your
face in VolksWorld, send us a photo of yourself with your car to
volksworld@ipcmedia.com or VolksWorld, IPC Media, Leon House, 233
High Street, Croydon, CR9 1HZ and we will send you a questionnaire

BOOST IT, BABY

Owner: Peachie
Age: 36
What VW have you got? Early Bay 2.1 Turbo
What is your favourite VW? Steve Gilbert’s Frid
Favourite event? Spa
Best thing about the scene? Miss Bug Jam
Worst thing about the scene? Splitty owners
who do not appreciate Bays
Favourite drink? Tequila slammers
Favourite food? Anything
Single or hitched? Happily hitched
Tip of the day? Crank up the boost

BUNNY HUGGER
Owner: Richard Merriman
Age: 27
What VW have you got? 1970 turbo charged Beetle and a Golf GTi
What is your favourite VW? Newbury’s Ghia
What would be your worst car to own? A rotten one
Favourite event? Bug Jam
Best thing about the scene? Friendly people
Favourite drink? Anything alcoholic and nasty
Favourite food? Salad baguette (I am a veggie)
Favourite restaurant? Thai Emerald
Single or hitched? Single [Who is that lovely young lady with you
then? JG]
Tip of the day? Go for it
Club? VWDRC

PRINCESS JO
Owner: Joanne Harrison
Age: 24
What VW have you got? Just Princess (this Bug)
Any mods? Trying to keep it as original as possible. Concessions
to modernising have been heated back window, two reverse lights,
two wing mirrors and anything chrome.
What is the best thing you like about your VW? Driving it
What VW would you like to own? A Schwimmer – no
more traffic jams in central London
What is your favourite thing about the VW scene? The
people and their cars
What is the worst thing about the VW scene? The
hangovers and putting your tent away
What is your favourite event? Bug Jam and Action
Favourite music? Will listen to all sorts of music

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 37

 Words
WORDS: PAUL KNIGHT & Pics:
• PICS: Jon Gilbert
MIKE KEY
1972 Flat
TYPE
PERFORMANCE Top
2
Blast from the
past
This slammed 7‘ 2 Flat Top has toured the VW show scene with its owner, Simon
Tomlin, for many years. Three awards and a serious rebuild later, it’s ready to move on
A
s one of the Santa Pod VW show team, Simon Tomlin
has seen his fair share of strangeness, including
some guy dancing to the sweet sounds of a generator
at 4am. He has watched styles come and go, met new
people and helped with the smooth running of shows such as Big
Bang and Bug Jam. He even set up the club camping area, which
is a vital component of VW shows today. As a Vee Dub nut himself,
he was in the perfect position to check out various show cars and
draw inspiration for his own project.
This 1972 Turkis Pastel Flat Top has been on the scene for
years and is a familiar sight in the show fields. However, being
part of the shows, Simon didn’t think it was right to enter it.
He just parked it up with the rest of the line-up for people to
check out. That was, until he took a back seat from organising
and tried his luck in the competitions. He bagged a trophy at Run
to the Sun 2000, the car’s first official outing, and again at Big
Bang and Bug Jam, making him a very happy chappy.
He had been chewing over ideas for a project Rod or Beetle
for some time when he came across this Bug outside a motorbike
shop in Acton, London. As soon as he saw the very sorry looking
seventies model, his mind was made up. It was perfect custom
fodder. “The car was a mess. The guy who owned it had bought
it to make a Cal Looker but gave up before he even started. Well,
that’s not before he had taken a hammer to it and had smashed
up the dash and the panels,” explains Simon. “I asked the owner
how much he wanted for the Bug and he simply replied, ‘Take it.’
So, fast as I could, I got it out of there.”
Everything needed replacing – wings, bonnet, doors, boot,
heater channels, dash and all the
40 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
lower panels. Simon got a load of mates over, cracked open the
beer and set to work. First task on the list was to strip the pan
of all the sticky Bitumen. “We rolled the car over and pushed
it into the garage so we could detail the pan. This took a couple
of weeks but we soon had it back on its feet again,” he said.
Next came the scary bit – the roof chop. There are no textbooks
for this bit and, for the inexperienced modder, things can go
horribly wrong. “I cut through the grille at the back. I didn’t like
the kick-up that the rear would have if I kept the whole grille.
I had to weld each grille one by one and then lead-fill them. Lead
filling is great, as it doesn’t crack or shrink, even after seven
years,” said Simon. He then spent quite some time de-seaming
and smoothing to get the sides as straight as they are. “I had
a block of wood 2.5-foot long as a sanding block,” he said.
There were no rear lights on the Bug when he bought it, so he
fitted them into the bumpers to keep the rear wings looking clean.
He crafted the roof himself, using aluminium for the frame and the
panels. He used glue to keep it all together and to keep it light,
which might seem a bit risky, but considering that the glue is
designed to hold trains together, it is all right in our books. He had
originally used fibreglass for the roof section but it got far too heavy.
The car sits really low most of the time, but it depends on Simon’s
mood. He’s fitted hydraulic suspension to combat “sleeping
policemen” around town and to dump the car on its tyres when he
is parked at the shows. He has the best of both worlds.
Sadly, the car is up for sale at £5000. Although he will be
sad to see it go, Simon is raring to go with his 23-window
Samba project. Interested parties can contact us and we will
pass your details on to him.
 SHOW REGULAR

RIGHT A smooth behind is always something to marvel

at. Check out the repositioned rear lights now living in
the bumper
BELOW Simon extended his customising skills to the interior.
The Recaro seats were trimmed to match the rears, as were
the doorcards. He has also put in a cool sound system

ABOVE AND LEFT Here you can

see the hydros in action. In the
low setting the Rover GTi alloys
were tucked in nicely
BELOW This highly detailed
engine is a 1835cc, originally
built by Pete at Cog Box

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 41

 Words: Jon Gilbert Pics: Stefan Bau

‘61 TYPE
Ragtop
2

44 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Belgian Beauty

RANDAR
RAGTOP
Pascal Lorphevre has owned this ‘61 Ragtop for
almost two decades. As you will find, this is an
impressive car in terms of build quality and detail

B
elgians, you’ve got to love them. They really know how to build a decent
car. You don’t often see rust riddled examples at their shows. Rather, they
all seem to be clean and well looked after. That’s not to say that we don’t
know how to build our VWs, we do, but a lot of us use the widely used term
of ‘Rat Look’ as an excuse to drive around in a rotten heap slowly being devoured
by tinworm. Of course, this look has earned its place in the scene but only a select
few can ever be classed as true Ratters. It is not just the look of the car that the
Belgians concentrate on either, as the majority seem to favour the mild to wild end
of the tuning spectrum rather than stock.
I was introduced to the Belgian VW scene on British soil at Santa Pod in 1999, when
a group of Belgians brought their cars over to race at Bug Jam. After a few sub 13-second
passes, I knew these guys were hardcore VW nutters. The way they staged, launched and
raced, you could tell they lived for it. If you have ever seen them play on their own turf, you
will know just how much they love what they do and how big the scene is over there.
Pascal Lorphevre is one of the Belgians who slot into my stereotypical category of VW
nut. His 1961 Ragtop Beetle is gorgeous and has a lovely motor to match. His story began
16 years ago when, at 16 years of age, he purchased his first Beetle, this Beetle. He
managed to scrimp and save, slowly building the car up, with very little means. A few
years passed and the restoration progress was very slow.
In 1993 Pascal decided to open up a VW parts store so he could cater for like-minded
people in his area. Unfortunately, this ground the ‘61’s build to a halt. For ten years the
LEFT Randars are the American repro of the original Sears Radar wheel. You can also get original EMPI
Radars, but these differ slightly to the Randar and, of course, JGE Raders. BELOW Burberry may have
found its way to European shores, but in Belgium it’s still thought of as classy, not Chav

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 45

Bug sat unattended while he was busy with his business and
earning
a living. Then one day, the time had come to get the Bug sorted.
It was all systems go and Pascal even drafted his wife, Valerie,
in to help. Luckily, she is also a VW enthusiast and was more
than willing to help. After all, she would get to drive the car
once it was finished. Valerie was given the important role of
sanding down the shell
and preparing it for paint.
She picked up the sanding
“I didn’t want to fit a stereo.
block and waved goodbye I just wanted to ‘ere ze noise
to her weekends and of ze engine”
evenings for the next few
months. Of course, this was after Pascal had finished off the
remainder of the welding he had started ten years earlier.
He had fitted a new rear valance and replaced the bottom half
of the rear quarters, and a new valance and spare wheel well
were bonded into place on the front.
By this time, Pascal had expanded his company, called ‘Auto
Passion’, and had accumulated the means to do all the work him-
46 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
self, including laying on the paint. He chose a paint colour very
similar, according to Pascal, to Turquoise green but it is, in fact, a
one-off blend of different shades to add that personal touch to the
car. It is all about being individual.
Pretty much everything on the car has had its touch of detailing.
The chassis was stripped back and painted and every nut and bolt
was thrown away, with new stainless steel replacements put in.
The front suspension was
dropped 7cm, thanks to a
Puma adjustable beam that
has also been narrowed by
5cm. Wide five disc breaks
have been fitted
up front for extra stopping power and sit snugly behind those gor-
geous Randar wheels. Valerie was responsible for these, sourcing,
purchasing and subsequently giving them to Pascal as
a Christmas present. The Randars are clad in Firestone rubber
measuring 135 up front and 195/65 on the rear. We can’t see the
rear tyres lasting too long though, as Pascal has fitted a line lock
and will, no doubt, be smoking them at the next Das Drag Day.

ABOVE Pascal wanted to keep the interior looking as stock as possible, so
decided to keep the stock seats and recover them using a TMI seat cover set
with matching door cards and headliner
Inside, the Beetle has a stock looking interior, as Pascal wanted to
keep things looking original. He opted to go with the white TMI seat
covers, Oatmeal carpets and a beige TMI headliner. Valerie fitted
it all and lovingly prepared it while Pascal was painting the shell.
As soon as she was given the go ahead, she went to work putting
everything together. You will also notice the compliment of VDO
gauges mounted under the dash to monitor oil temperature and
pressure and, of course, the RPM. We did note the lack of stereo
equipment in the car and, although it didn’t bother us, we had to ask
why. When we questioned Pascal on this he looked bemused, turned
his nose up and huffed at the thought of a stereo. “I didn’t want to fit
a stereo,” he replied. “I just wanted to ‘ere ze noise of ze engine.”
Who wants a stereo playing when you can listen to your engine bur-
bling with the ragtop back, gripping onto the EMPI GTV Flat 4 steer-
ing wheel for dear life as the next corner approaches? Not us.
The engine is a lovely 1915cc motor, built by Pascal and capa-
ble of producing approximately 130 horsepower running a 10:1
????????????
compression ratio. For the less educated among us, a 1915cc
engine uses the combination of 94mm barrels and pistons and a
standard stroke 69mm crank. In this case, a Bugpack crankshaft
has been used, which is counterweighted and balanced for
longevity and higher revs, along with barrels and pistons made by
Mahle. To see that this engine has a long life, a full flow oil filtra-
tion system has been tapped in to strain any nasty elements that
may have fallen in the oil. Head-wise, Pascal went for CB
Performance 044s with 40x35.5 stainless steel valves. These heads
were ported and polished by LRJ tuning. An Engle 120 cam was
opted for, as it is a nice medium between full-on race and mild
cams. It isn’t too lumpy at idle, picks up nicely and you don’t need
to rev the nuts off of it to reach peak power. Although power is an
important aspect for Pascal, he wanted a car that he could drive,
hence the fact that he didn’t go too stupid in the carb department
either, using twin 40mm Webers.
So there you have it, a very fine Volkswagen built in Belgium. We
may build our cars just as well here in the UK, but when you look at
these photos you can’t deny that Pascal has done a stunning job and
turned out a gorgeous looking Bug.
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 47
 Words & Pics: Mike Pye

VOLKSROD
TYPE 2

It has been said that most trends and fashions

are cyclical, and to show the VW Hot Rod
crossover is not a new phenomenon, here’s
where it all began, with the legendary Volksrod

T
here’s a lot of talk at the minute about the crossover between
the VW and Hot Rod scenes, but how did it all start? Well, to answer
that question we have to look to the late 1960s, and to America. Fans
of nostalgia drag racing will recognise the name Kent Fuller
immediately. Fuller was a pioneer and the man credited by many as being the
creator of the Top Fuel dragster, but that was just one of his many achievements.
In the early sixties Fuller moved to Northern California and it was
there that he created the T-bucket based, VW-powered Volksrod, or
V-Rod, as they are sometimes referred to. The idea of a low budget
kit car with a VW drive-train, in the style of the popular
T-bucket rods of the sixties, had been around for a while, but it was
Fuller who put the idea into practice, building one and using it as his
own shop truck for some time before Tom Medley, then head honcho at
Rod & Custom magazine, decided it would make a great project car for the
mag. That project car, built on a Racemaster chassis, ran from June 1967
to June ‘71 and provided exposure for the Volksrod idea.
Unsurprisingly, as with Bruce Meyer's Manx Buggies, others seized on
the idea and began producing their own Volksrod kits. Andy Brizio of
‘Andy’s Instant T’, a DIY Model T kit, fame was one of
them. He modified the concept to offer a VW-
powered version of the kit as well.

48 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

ABOVE We have lift off. With 240 brake and a front end you
can lift by hand, Walt’s Volksrod will do this every time.
Is this the definition of a fun car or what?

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 49

 VOLKSROD
TYPE 2
Walt Letherman (he of the Rat Patrol car featured in our January ‘04
issue) is something of a Volksrod nut and, being an old hot rodder
himself, remembers the Volksrods when they first came out. “I loved
those cars,” he told us, “and I knew one day I’d have one. What I didn’t
know was that it would take me over 10 years to find one.” You see,
as well received as they were by the media, the Volksrod idea was
never a commercial success and only around 50 kits were ever sold.
“12 years ago I ran across one for sale, but I wasn’t able to talk the
guy down enough in price, so I let it go. I regretted that for years,” says
Walt. But then in early 2001 he ran across another one. This time, it was
a bit more special, as it was the original one, with none other than Kent
Fuller behind the wheel. “We got chatting and reminiscing about the
shows in the sixties and I told Kent I was on the lookout for one. He told
me a guy had approached him recently about one in his back yard.
“Well, I wasn’t going to miss out for a second time, so I got in touch
with the guy and went and bought it straight away.” Wow, you must
have been so excited, how far did you have to go to get it? I asked.
“Oh, about six miles up the road,” he said. It was clearly meant to be.
That was 2 April 2001 and, although the car was pretty rough, it was
complete and, most importantly, it was a real Volksrod, albeit a Brizio,
rather than a Fuller one. Walt had fulfilled his dream. Well, almost.
“The worst thing was I couldn’t drive the thing. I’m 6ft 2 and you’d have
to be about 5ft to drive them as they were made. The firewall is inches
from the seat front and I couldn’t even get my foot on the clutch pedal.”
Engineering masterpiece
After stripping it down to a rolling chassis, Walt embarked on what
would turn into a complete rebuild and update of the old design.
The front suspension of a Volksrod is a masterpiece of engineering,
50 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
utilising a centrally located, stock VW transverse torsion bar with
front axle mounts and friction shock casings that locate on either
end. Having resited these mounts to below the axle to lower the front
end, Walt made a 14-inch deep enclosed aluminium box to put his
feet in and moved the pedals into it, all of which is now hidden under
the three-piece bonnet. He mounted a new Bilstein clutch and
master cylinders to this and replaced the Corvair steering box with
one from a Datsun 210. With no engine up front, this also makes
a handy place to site the radiator-shaped fuel tank and battery.
The other fundamental change he made was to the chassis. Original
Volksrod chassis were incredibly basic – a single 1 3/4-inch tube frame
with two-inch round crossmembers. This was great for simplicity and
keeping the weight down, but not so great for longevity or safety. To this
end, Walt added a second complete tubular frame rail and further
bracing around the engine and gearbox. Having finished this, he trial
fitted the whole car before sending it off to his buddies Perry Sparkman
and Jeff Moehlenbrock to paint in Nissan Solar Yellow.
Being a bit of a perfectionist and wanting a full-on show car, Walt
went to town. All of the original chromework had to be replated and
most of the suspension parts remade, but eventually it was time to put
it all back together. The majority of original Volksrod kits were built
with no front brakes, due to their light weight and the fact that in the
sixties it was fashionable (and legal) to run your Model T with spindle
mount front wheels. Walt’s engine plans called for something a little
more effective, though, so Total Performance disc brakes now reside
up front on the original Chevy spindles, backed up by redrilled CB
Performance discs at the rear. A pair of hand polished 4x15-inch US
slot mags with Nankang 135s and some very desirable 15x15 Ansens
shod with N50 15 Mickey Thompson Indys are bolted to the brakes.
“As well received as they
were by the media, the
Volksrod idea was never
a commercial success”
ABOVE Looking like it could have been built in the UK in the seventies, quad ‘39 Ford teardrop tail lights, to the handmade
this was what Walt started with – not a pretty sight. The simplicity of accelerator pedal and handbrake mechanism, new headlights,
design is clearly evident in his rebuilt chassis, right
I’d rather be blown
But why have four-wheel disc brakes on a car that weighs about
as much as Vanessa Feltz? 240 brake worth of 2017cc with a Dick
Landy supercharger kit, that’s why. The engine came in a great
deal on a ‘57 Oval, which Walt bought cheap and sold on sans
engine. Having been quoted $13,000 to have a similar spec engine
built, this turned out to be a very cheap way of doing it and,
although he was slightly sceptical about the engine to start with,
it has run like a dream ever since. With a 75ci displacement Holley
blower turning at 10-12 below on the boost gauge under normal
conditions, it rips up to 7lbs of boost at 6000rpm when Walt sticks
his big boot in it. Whining away right behind you, gulping in the
airflow, it sounds as sweet as a VW engine ever could. And with
over 75 per cent of the weight at the back, it’s also enough to lift the
front wheels clear off the tarmac, and it pulls like a rampant bull
through the close ratio first to third gears in the ‘64 Bus gearbox.
As you might imagine from a man with Walt’s talents and
facilities, loads of other small detail changes were included in the
finished rebuild, from the headlamp bar to the cut down ‘screen and
scratch built steering column with internal wiring and ‘67 Beetle turn
switch, new fibreglass dash to replace the oh-so-sixties mahogany
one, new VDO gauges, new wiring and the new, chromed Model T
grille shell. This wasn’t so much a restoration as a total rebuild, but
to a far higher standard than the initial build.
On 2 July 2004, Walt hopped over the side of the original glass
fibre replica ‘23 tub and settled into the original black naugahyde
deep button interior (this is still in amazing shape since first being
done by Action Upholstery in Sacramento in the sixties) and drove
the roadster out of his workshop. Now, go back and check the
date at the start of the feature to see when he bought the car.
Apart from the odd narrow-minded person who dismisses it as just
another kit car, the reborn Volksrod goes down a storm wherever Walt
goes in it. The finishing details, like the fold down hood, the
handmade polished aluminium bed cover, the aluminium lower seat
base and the bigger capacity stainless fuel tank came later, as did
the flames by Big John ‘The Flame’ Rossi and a trip to see Kent Fuller
himself. On seeing the car, Fuller, notoriously a man of few words, was
moved to say: “I should have painted mine that colour.” Those who
know him assure me a comment like that says much more about
what he thinks of the car than just the fact that he liked the colour.

ABOVE Front suspension

design is so simple, yet so
effective. Even with friction
shocks this car drives and
handles impeccably and,
believe us, Walt drives the
hell out of it

ABOVE RIGHT Just what

you need to see in your
rear-view mirror

LEFT Rear suspension is

similarly simple, using a
stock VW gearbox located
by hairpin radius rods and
with coil-overs in place of
the original torsion bars

RIGHT Dash is not original,

but is so much better for it

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 51

 RETRO
Red Hot Action
The late seventies and early eighties saw the introduction of complex graphics
and firey antics at VW Action
hile most of the folk at VW Action in 1978 stayed
W at Stafford Showground polishing their VW,
removing and replacing the engine in their VW,
carrying their VW, or chasing a football around
the arena in their VW (or more likely watching other people
do these things), Dennis Greenslade and Alroyd Lees took
their VW on a drive around the country. I thought that was
cool, doing what a VW was designed for, i.e. driving. Dennis’s
Vee Dub wasn’t a Beetle, it was a Brasilia, which he used in
classic trials. I don’t know if the Brazilian Type 1 Squareback
had any advantage for competing in trials or if he just wanted
something different to stand out from the crowd of Beetles.
They drove from Stafford to John O’Groats and then
to Land’s End and back to Stafford, just a normal day trip for
a hard driving Vee Dubber. Actually, the 1821 mile round trip
did take a few more hours than a day, 32 hours and
44 minutes, to be precise. VW Action was a two-day event
so they were able to set off on Saturday morning, after the
overnight campers had woken up and the early arrivals had
come through the gate, and they got back on Sunday
afternoon in time for the grand parade and prize giving.
Their average speed for the trip was 55.5mph, which was not
bad going, even in the days before speed cameras, and they
62 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
VolksWorld’s Peter Noad
did it at an overall average fuel consumption of 29.7mpg.
There was a competition in which the punters had to buy
a ticket and guess the average speed and fuel consumption,
with a prize given by the sponsors, Wolfe Garage (VW
dealers in Westerham, Kent). The objective was to raise
money for the Leukaemia Research Fund, so it was all for
a good cause. It was also a form of celebration to mark the
25th anniversary of the Volkswagen Owners Club GB. Since
1978 was also the beginning of the end of air-cooled VW
production (Last Edition, no more Beetles made in Europe or
sold in the UK), to do 1821 miles around Britain at an overall
55mph and 29mpg could be seen as a statement that
air-cooled VW was still a means of transport that was as
efficient and rapid as ‘modern’ cars (and more fun).
So 1978 saw the Dovercourt mechs doing it in
3.5 minutes (the engine change, that is, as mentioned in
last month’s Retro) and Greenslade/Lees doing it End to
End (as LE2JOG is know) in 32 hours 44 minutes.
On the custom paint scene, the late seventies was
an era of graphics, not just squiggly lines and shapes, but
pictures. There was a parallel between the complexity of
auto artwork and music. This was the decade of prog-rock.
We had moved on from two minutes of Heartbreak Hotel
 Classic
Volkswagens
looks at VW Action of the early eighties

ABOVE In 1980 someone must have thought this was a good idea

LEFT A T2 getting in on the action and doing a bit of grass track

racing in 1980 (check out the rear tyre coming off the rim)
ABOVE This was in the script. A demo of a fire extinguisher in action
at VW Action. The Beetle pretended to be a fire engine but nobody
expected it to have a water pump and hoses on board, did they?
RIGHT It’s the seventies so it’s metalflake paint, mural type
pictures and slotted alloy wheels. We’re not sure about the dodgy
steering wheel though

and Green Onions to 84 minutes of Tales from

Topographic Oceans. Instead of a few quick stripes
or the odd image of flames, the custom paint guys got
their inspiration from the artwork created by Roger
Dean for covers of albums by the prog-rock band Yes,
so we saw Beetles and Buggies adorned with
panoramic fantasy landscapes and mythical creatures, the edge fell a long was short of looking cool.
spiky mountains and weird birds. As we moved into the eighties, VWA was spiced up with
Compared to these, the custom paint winning Bug of ‘78 a bit more action, starting with a fire-fighting demo. They
looked quite restrained with pictures of a city skyline at didn’t set fire to a Beetle, thankfully, just the grass in the
night. While the painted mural type pictures were extremely arena. The only Vee Dub connection was that the fireman
well done (and must have taken even longer than listening arrived in a Beetle. Presumably they couldn’t get a pukka red
to the double LP of Tales from Topographic Oceans) some Type 2 fire truck so instead it was a white Beetle with a
of the custom guys still had a lot to learn about metalwork. sticker on the door that said ‘Fire’. It didn’t have any water or
Widened steel wheels without hubcaps and bent-out arches hoses (no surprise there) just a few hand-held extinguishers.
the shape of 50p pieces with a bit of chrome tape suck on It was not too convincing, but it made a good photo.
There were also some timed
laps of a grass track circuit, like
autocross. There were classes for
all types of VW, which produced
some heart-stopping moments,
as a brave soul raced around the
track in a Split-screen Bus.
He deserved a medal for keeping
the swing-axle T2 on its wheels.
After that, the action got
quite serious, with full-on
off-road racers and Bajas flying
over jumps and stuff. I’ve got
some good photos that I will dig
out from the archives and show
you next month.

LEFT Better than the custom paint jobs,

this was snapper Noad’s way of adding
a bit of sparkle to a black Beetle. It’s
Derek Smith’s 1951 Deluxe, which at the
time (1978) had done 235,000 miles and
was still on the original engine

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 63

 Lost & Found
Words: Bob Shaill Pics: ‘Coachbuilt VW Club’ files

Past its prime

This 1938 KdF-Peugeot 202 is no longer worth restoring,
but its 1941 chassis and drive-train is considered to be
gold dust by some

M
any one-off bodied VWs originate in along with a row of louvers below the rear window
Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia, to allow the engine to breathe.
where abandoned Kübelwagens were ‘Coachbuilt VW Club’ member Steve Reynolds sent
plentiful just after the war. Creating me an amateur video of this car as it looks today and it’s
unusual vehicles from wartime scrap instead of building not a pretty sight. The body is still on the Kübelwagen
a new body from scratch was widespread. Some owners chassis, but the original drive-train has now been
would seek to change the shape of a vehicle by the removed. The car was stored under an open front
apparently simple expedient building where the elements had taken their toll.
of transplanting the shell The bodywork paint has
of an entirely different car “The owner can name his price now totally crazed. This
onto a VW chassis. for a genuine 1941 rolling chassis” is normally caused by too
This is the method used much paint, but I fear,
by persons unknown to create this Kübelwagen based probably not in this case. Having owned several special
Peugeot. Its Kübelwagen chassis has number 2-003 344 bodied VWs from the former Eastern block, if their body
and original engine number 033 527, both panels are damaged by dents or poor welding, they spray
manufactured sometime in 1941. The original on some sort of heavy-duty pink high-build body filler (This
Kübelwagen body was stripped away to leave the basic spray filler is not to be confused with the high build spray
platform, complete with engine. In its place was fitted filler available here in Europe.). I’ve seen it up to half an inch
this suitably modified bodyshell of a 1938 Peugeot 202 thick on some cars, hiding bad welds, rust and all sorts of
saloon. An engine cover from a 1947/48 Beetle was very unpleasant metal damage. The main problem with this
fitted at the rear of the car, albeit somewhat crudely, particular filler is that after a period of time it will start to

64 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005


Bob Shaill looks at the 1938 KdF-Peugeot 202
crack and blister everywhere. So, if you ever purchase one
of these vehicles, albeit a Tatra, Skoda, or Kübelwagen
based vehicle, it’s more than likely you will come across this
heavy-duty body filler. Any bodywork restoration will soon
turn into a nightmare, as this filler has to be removed – all
of it – if you don’t it will come back to haunt you.
The original Kübelwagen engine is an ultra rare 998cc
unit, but has now been totally stripped. Sadly, the
crankcase has been badly damaged by a loose
connecting rod that detached itself from the crankshaft
and forced its way through the top of the crankcase. Many
Classic
Volkswagens
OTHER PAGE This is how the 1938 KdF-Peugeot looked
in 1990/91. It’s more than likely it was modified and
built in former Czechoslovakia or Poland
ABOVE LEFT This stills shot from a video shows how bad
the bodywork looks today after years in an open sided
building
ABOVE This poor quality picture was taken from
the same video and shows the badly damaged
connecting rod. Note the KdF cog-wheel embossed
in the side of the rod
ABOVE LEFT The overall condition looks fair. However, the 998cc Kübelwagen
engine was seized. Note the crudely fitted 1947/48 Beetle engine cover and
the air-intake grills fitted above
ABOVE RIGHT The very rare cog-wheel rear torsion bar cover. These early
covers were made of aluminium and were not handed. The cog-wheel stamp
on the right side cover of the vehicle was always upside down
LEFT This is the very rare 998cc engine. Note the seamed fan housing,
cog-wheel aluminium slotted fan cover plate and ‘D’ shaped regulator
valuable items were salvageable from this engine,
including the highly prized manifold, a KdF cog-wheel,
embossed fuel pump and carburettor. All the engine
tinware and fan housing are original, including the six-volt
generator, ‘D’ shaped regulator and pulleys.
There were several other valuable Kübelwagen items
last seen on the car in 1991. Those included an original
cog-wheel gearknob, a grooved steering wheel and the
cog-wheel rear torsion bar aluminium plate covers.
Where the Kübelwagen front axle and gearbox are now,
is not known. Hopefully they are still available. There is
a complete engine and gearbox seen abandoned around
the car body, but these are all civilian units.
This Spanish owned KdF-Peugeot is now up for sale,
but to my mind the car is not worth restoring. The value
of the chassis and drive-train on their own certainly
outweighs the extra cost involved in restoring the car
body. The vehicle owner can name his price for
a genuine 1941 rolling chassis.
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 65
 KdF OBSERVER
Words: Bob Shaill, Pics: VW works, Pasi Hakala, Dario Faria, Michael Berg, Neal Anderson and source unknown

1960
April to June
Major improvements were
carried out to the Type 2 range
within this period, including the
introduction of the new 1192
(34bhp) engine
Beetle and Type 2
bodywork
There were only two bodywork
improvements within this period. The
first was on 2 May, with Type 2 chassis
number 602 642. The driver’s cab roof
frame reinforcement was modified to
cut down the draft.
The second improvement was made
to the Beetle from chassis number 3 060
711. From 9 May the interior warm air
system came with synthetic tubes and
noise dampers between the engine and
body. This replaced the metal tubes and
dampers underneath the rear seat.

The Engine
The VW range was still powered by the
1192cc 30bhp engine. The first
improvement within this period was on
7 April from engine number 3 519 209.
The cylinder head spark plug threads
were now cut directly into the head.
This new method replaced the Heli-coil
inserts. This engine was fitted to a Type 2 vehicle with chassis On 26 April a further improvement was on offer as an optional
number 584 092. For the record, this same improvement was extra to the same crankshaft bearings. New steel backed shells
past over to the Beetle range on 1 August 1960 from chassis at number 1, 2 and 3 bearings were made for countries with
number 3 192 507 with engine number 5 000 001 (the new arctic climates (Part code was M 173). The number 4 bearing
34bhp unit). The industrial engines were also involved from remained a standard item. The first engine fitted with these
5 August, engine number 122-073 001. new bearings was a Type 2 engine, number 3 524 892, and
On 11 April the engine crankshaft bearings were improved with was fitted to chassis number 599 862.
thicker walled aluminium bearings. The outside diameter was then These same bearings were on offer to the Beetle range on
65mm. The thrust and end play adjustment at bearing number 1 1 August from chassis number 3 192 507 with engine number
was now 0.065-0.125mm. This started with Type 2 vehicles from 5 000 001 (the Beetle with new a 34bhp 1192cc unit).
chassis number 595 973 with engine number 3 520 333. On 1 June the new 1192cc 34bhp engine was fitted to the
Type 2 range. The first vehicle was chassis number 614 456
BEETLE & K/GHIA with engine number 5 000 001. The compression ratio was
now 7.0 :1. This engine replaced the 1192cc 30bhp engine
CHASSIS NUMBERS with 6.6 :1 compression ratio.
Recorded new engine details now follow. The heater junction
April 2 998 366 to 3 048 367
box was made with a connection for the pre-heating pipe. The
May 3 048 368 to 3 115 196 intake manifold had a new modified shape. The piston dimension
from the centre of the pin to the piston crown was made to be
June 3 115 197 to 3 178 360
39mm, rather than 38mm. The piston cylinders were improved,
with the upper shoulder reinforced and lengthened by 1mm.
BEETLE & K/GHIA New improvements were carried out to the cylinder heads.
The holes for the cylinder and rocker shaft mounting were
ENGINE NUMBERS altered and the front engine cover plate then came with a hole
April 3 726 117 to 3 786 158 and grommet for the pre-heating pipe.
Another engine optional extra was on offer on 31 May.
May 3 786 159 to 3 852 394 The crankshaft bearing number 4 then came with a hard lead
June 3852 395 to 3 909 830
coating with an annular oil groove and oil drain groove (Part
code number M-173). The first vehicle fitted with this new

66 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Classic
Volkswagens
Bob Shaill reports on VWs in 1960
LEFT Some of the most sought-after
early Beetles are the models with
a factory fitted ‘Golde’ sunroof.
At this stage of production, the
Beetle was still powered by a 30bhp
engine with a three part
synchromesh gearbox

RIGHT This early sixties Karmann

Cabriolet was spotted a few years
ago by Beetle enthusiast Neal
Anderson. Though the body looks
beyond repair, there are still many
valuable parts that could be
salvaged. I wonder what became
of it?

BELOW Looking for a Beetle

gearbox or front axle assembly?
This Beetle collector in Austria can
help you

BELOW RIGHT This mint early 1960

Beetle was a Museum Registered
vehicle in Finland. The car was
pictured at a 1993 VW exhibition
in a town called Tampere. The owner
had sprayed the underside white.
This apparently was to reflect its
perfect condition

bearing was a Type 2 model with chassis

number 614 462, with engine number 5 000
491 produced on 1 June.
Further improvements to the engine took place
on 8 June from engine number 5 005 249, when
the flywheel ventilation holes edges were clean up. The first Type 2
vehicle with this flywheel was chassis number 620 101.
On 23 June the engine camshaft, cam followers and valve
timing was altered. There were no details given except that the
minimum camshaft end play was changed to 0.03mm. The
generator pulley was improved with a thicker rear pulley disc.
The thickness was changed from 2mm to 2.5mm. These
improvements began from Type 2 chassis number 624 263
with engine number 5 009 585.
The 28 PCI carburettors continued to be fitted to the Beetle,
Karmann and Karmann Ghia range (All these vehicles were
still fitted with the 30bhp engine.). From 1 June the 28 PCI
carb was fitted with new jets. The Venturi size was 22mm
diameter, main jet was 120, air correction jet was 160 and
the pilot jet was g 55. Approximately 5000 30bhp engines
were involved. The former 28 PCI carb had jet sizes
of 21.5mm diameter for Venturi, 117.5 Main jet, 195 air
correction jet and g 50 for the Pilot jet.

Petrol system Front axle

All type 2 vehicles were now fitted (intermittently) with a
synthetic material petrol hose within the system. This replaced
the rubber tubing. Records show that this began on 2 May
from chassis number 496 506 with engine number 3 427 951.
On 1 June a new air filter was fitted to the Type 2 range
with the introduction of their 34bhp engine. The filter was
an oil bath unit with a pre-heating outlet, as opposed to the
previous one, which lacked this feature. This began from
chassis number 614 456.
Only two minor front axle improvements were carried out
in this period, both to the Type 1 range. On 27 April from
chassis number 3 404 361 with front axle number 3 058 087
the sector type steering the pin diameter was 7.3-0.25mm,
rather than the previous 6.057mm.
On 17 May the steering damper was secured at the longer
track rod by two flat (slim face) nuts and at the axle tube
bracket with a locking plate. This improvement began from
chassis number 3 083 907. No front axle number was recorded.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 67


The Bus Depot
Just Kampers bring you the latest news from the world of the VW Transporter. For your free Just
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Ace Xmas
The SSVC’s Christmas Party drew
a lively crowd, with some bizarre
costumes and plenty of Buses
Words and pics: Rikki James
A
s the third Tuesday of the month landed on the 21st,
the SSVC decided to turn its December Ace Cafe
Meet into a Christmas party. It turned out to be quite
a night. We organised three live bands and a DJ and
thought it a good idea to make it a fancy dress. It was initially
in a Christmas theme, but it turned into a bit of an ‘anything
goes’ affair. Considering it was mid-winter, the attendance was
amazing. The car park was littered with VWs, Split-screen
Camper Vans in particular, and I don’t think we’ve ever had so
many people at a winter meet – weird.
Very kindly, Walter Jelinek and that completely mad bunch
at ‘Bug Box’ VW resto/modifying company, Germany sponsored
With Volkswagens, DJs, fancy dress,
food, booze and bands, the SSVC meet
at the world famous Ace Cafe was
a top night out. Everyone suffered from
ringing ears on the way home
70 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005
Sponsored by:
During the day,
the trio below
can be found at
Wolfsburg
Performance
Services, but
whatever you do,
don’t give them
anything to eat
after midnight.
They rock hard
the event with male and female T-shirts and stickers. These
were given out as prizes for the best fancy dress outfits. The
boys judged the girls and vice versa and, after major debate,
the winners were Sarah Kings (AKA Twiglet) in a hot pink, PVC
nurses outfit and Neil Smart in what looked like a not so little
Miss Muffet outfit. Various other prizes were given out for the
best Santa and Elves, etc courtesy of Ace Café management.
Thanks guys. It would appear that the word got around about
the party because I noticed a lot of non-VW people. I wonder
if we could brainwash them into buying Buses in the future?
Finally, I would like to thank ‘Super Dave’, ‘Street Sleeper’
and ‘Cipher Drive’ for gigging at the bash, and DJ Hoes
for the non-stop stomp’n sounds. Cheers boys – good job.
Also, thanks to everyone who got dressed up – you made the
party a success.
The SSVC’s Ace Cafe meet is going from strength
to strength, with all sorts of members attending. Come and join
us on any third Tuesday of the month. You will be made more
than welcome, whatever you drive.
Bus scene WORDS AND PICS: RIKKI JAMES

Bussed up
Rikki talks about two of his latest and rarest discoveries, both of which were
produced in the early fifties
1950 BUS IN THE UK
was recently informed that this first year of production, Type 2 Bus

I had been imported to the UK. This is the first time a vehicle from
this year has resided in this country and the Kombi, which has
been located in France for some time now, has changed hands
several times over the years. As far as I am aware, it belonged to Laurent
Dutruel, who sold it to Sabastien Crone, who apparently sold it to
someone in the UK. I don’t actually know who has the Bus or where it is,
but have been assured that it is here.
If you take a close look at the scruffy paintwork, you can just make out
the original Dove blue underneath. However, this ultra early Barn Door
does appear to be in a very restorable state. The chassis number is
20-006232, which means the Bus was built in October 1950, and is a
no rear window model. It is also believed to be the fourth oldest Kombi
in existence. I can’t wait to see it in the metal.

FACTORY (SPECIAL ORDER

RIGHT-HAND DRIVE) 1952 KOMBI
While visiting Bad Camberg in 1995, I got word of
a very rare Split-screen Bus. Apparently, it was a 1952
right-hand drive Barn Door Kombi. Unfortunately, I was
trying to purchase a ‘54 Samba at that point in time, so
I didn’t follow it up.
Ten years later, I got a message that the Bus was up
for sale again. It didn’t take much time for me to make
up my mind and the Bus was mine. It is now in the UK
and is in need of a full restoration or at least the usual
six inches from the ground up, as all the sills, out riggers,
rear corners and front wheel arches need replacing.
These kind of repairs aren’t unusual for a sixties Bus, let
alone a ‘52. As you can see from the pictures, the rest
of the body is in mostly original paint, although a little
rusty. In my eyes, the paint and patina are amazing.
The chassis number is 20-26662, which indicates that
the Bus was built in April 1952. These pre-’53 only models
have particular features, like the short handbrake lever,
the speedometer that reads clockwise from
top right to top left, quarter light windows
that have a full length piano hinge with
unusual window catches, and the brake light
that is the same as the numberplate light,
just to mention a few.
The ‘52 is one of only three pre-1954
special order factory right-hand drive Buses
that I know of and, interestingly, the other
two were ordered from the Wolfsburg
Factory for the Swedish royal family and
were both Sambas. Unfortunately, these were destroyed in 1984.
This is all pretty phenomenal stuff considering Volkswagen didn’t start producing
RHD Type 2s until November 1953 and even then there were barely any seen until
mid-’54. This makes this Bus the oldest known RHD Type 2 Volkswagen in the world and
it is definitely worth saving.

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 71

 Words: Ivan McCutcheon Pics: Zoe Harrison

1964TYPE
Samba
2

1
st
class
transport
The Microbus Deluxe was the top of the range vehicle in the Volkswagen line-up
during the sixties. Today we might refer to it more by its nicknames, 21-window
or Samba, than by its actual VW model name, but it remains the top of the heap

T
he Volkswagen Bus was by far the most popular ‘people
carrier’ of its day. In fact, we’d go as far as saying that this
was the very first ‘people carrier’, pre-empting the
manufacturers’ idea for a class of vehicle by decades.
The Samba was far better specified than the Standard Microbus
or Kombi. Trim quality was high and the Deluxe was immediately
recognisable by its eight glare-absorbing green tinted skylight
windows, polished aluminium beltline, sill and bumper trims. The other
major difference was that the Samba had a sliding sunroof over the
rear passenger area and, at 38x54-inches, it was no small sunroof
either. The actual sunroof was made by the Golde company and came
as standard fitment. You could order a Deluxe without the sunroof and
skylights (option M130), if you so desired. A 21-window without the
sunroof and skylights is known as a 13-window Deluxe and, although
it is still a Deluxe, it’s not a Samba. One benefit of the sunroof was that
it enabled the already versatile Samba to be used to carry awkward,
tall objects. With the central row of seats taken out, you could probably
carry items you’d only get in a very large van. One piece of VW
promotional material of the time even showed a Samba carrying an
elephant. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of many vehicles that
you could do that with. Another good thing about the sunroof was that
you didn’t have to open it all the way. You could open it as far as you
needed to let some fresh air in.
The Microbus Deluxe was given the model number, or description,
Type 241 by Volkswagen. This applied to the Left Hand Drive
nine-seater, the model seen in these photographs. Type 244 was
designated to the Right Hand Drive nine-seater and, finally, there was
the Type 251, the Left Hand Drive seven-seater, also known as the
‘walkthrough’. A walkthrough is a Bus which has two separate front
cab seats, rather than a bench seat, which allows you to walk from the

72 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

cab to the rear passenger area. Although a Type number is not listed
for a Right Hand Drive seven-seater, they were available as a special
order and we have seen a few in this country in the past. You could
also order your Deluxe with loading doors on both sides and, if you
really wanted to, you could order sliding doors.
Top dollar
The price for the standard Microbus Deluxe was almost twice as much
as the most expensive Beetle. In fact, you could have bought two and
a half Minis for your money, but in my book that shows what good
value for money a Samba was, as I’d rather have a Samba than 10
Minis. The prohibitive price could help explain why only 14,031 Deluxes
were built in 1964, while a massive 40,115 Standard Microbuses rolled
off the production line in the same year. However, the Samba did find
favour as a sightseeing Bus, Hotel shuttle and Safari Bus.
This particular 21-window was built in Hannover on 8 January 1964
and was shipped to the port of San Francisco, California. From here
the details of its life are sketchy, but at some stage the elderly owner
moved to the state of North Carolina on the East Coast of America.
The 21-window was taken with him. After his death, the Samba was
sold in what is known as an Estate Sale and the person who bought
it later sold it to Boyd Smith, a teacher and VW Bus enthusiast from
Johnson City, Tennessee. Boyd has owned many Buses over the
years, so knew he was lucky to get such a complete and original
example, as it is often the case that Deluxe Microbuses have lost
parts along the way. While the parts are quite easily available
to restorers, it’s a lot easier if everything is there.
Boyd carried out a comprehensive restoration on the Samba while
it was in his ownership, all at his workshop, which he refers to as
‘The VW Orphanage’. As he puts it, “I put a ton of work into it.” All
VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 73
 1964TYPE
Samba
2
BELOW The restored cab benefits from new seat covers, door panels, rubber things considered, the body had stood the test of time, but it needed
matting and floor mats from Wolfsburg West. This restored ‘64 21-window a little repair work. The passenger and driver’s side sill needed
Samba is now on the market. Call 07739 636740 for more information replacing, along with a section of the cab floor. Boyd told us that these
repairs were needed because of “too many winters here in the South
East”. Potentially the worst thing about the Bus was not the result of
nature and old age but human interference. “The bulkhead had been
hacked out to make it a walkthrough.” The necessary replacement
panels were ordered from the other side of the country from restoration
specialists, Wolfsburg West. Boyd stripped the whole vehicle to a bare
metal shell then spent many hours cutting out the bad and letting in the
good. The bulkhead was carefully removed from a donor Bus and then
welded in place in the Deluxe. These repairs were done to a very high
standard and, had we not told you, we doubt you’d ever have known.

Finishing touches
The next step was the paintwork and this was to be a very thorough
job indeed. Boyd not only painted the bodyshell inside and out, but he
also repainted the underside and chassis. The underside is equally
as good as the exterior and it’s as close to perfect as you’re likely
to find. The colour scheme is the original Sealing Wax red under
Beige grey. The materials are from the PPG Single Stage range.
He had each piece of the aluminium exterior trim, the rear window
jailbars and rear seat bars professionally polished. All of the chrome
parts were sent to be rechromed, so the headlight rings, door handles
and so on are as good as new. The rear lights and ‘fish eye’ front
indicators lenses were replaced with New Old Stock Genuine VW
parts. Every piece of rubber was replaced with either Genuine VW
rubbers or new pieces from Wolfsburg West in California. We’re not
only talking about window rubber either, as there are cab door seals,
a rear hatch seal, loading door seals, light seals and door handle
seals. The bill for the whole lot must have added up to quite a sum.

74 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005


Wolfsburg West got the gig for the interior as well. Boyd stripped the
seats to the bare frames, sandblasted them and then repainted them
in the correct colour. He fitted new seat pads, followed by the correct
year/style/colour reproduction seat covers made and sold exclusively
by Wolfsburg West. If you haven’t seen these up close, take it from us,
they are a top quality restoration product. Wolfsburg West supplied the
matching full interior side panels from the cab doors through to the
rear tailgate. The headliner was replaced with the correct style
perforated vinyl Microbus item. The interior also benefits from a new
set of rubber mats, a new luggage deck and newly fitted grey
square-weave carpet with grey edging.
The Golde sunroof was fitted
with a new mohair exterior
cover and new inner headliner,
“The worst thing about the Bus was
again supplied by Wolfsburg the result of human interference”
West. The interior is now like
a brand new Samba would have been 41 years ago. It’s great to know
that companies such as Wolfsburg West have put so much effort into
replicating the original interior components to such a high standard.
Now, on to the mechanical side of the project. Boyd told us,
“I removed the transaxle and front end and sandblasted them.” They
were then stripped, painted and rebuilt. “The tranny was completely
refurbished with new parts as needed,” he said.
All of the brake components and all of the rubber parts, which
had seen four decades of use, were replaced. The engine is the
correct ‘H’ series 1493cc unit. “The engine is one I built myself from
an original H-case single port. It’s got new pistons and cylinders,
new connecting rods, a new crankshaft, a new oil pump, fuel pump,
new bearings, heat exchangers, exhaust and tail pipe,” said Boyd.
The original distributor was stripped, checked and rebuilt. He then
polished the distributor body while it was apart. The original speed
TRAVEL IN STYLE
governor was also stripped, repolished, rebuilt and refitted.
Before fitting the engine into the Samba, Boyd totally restored
a set of tinware and fitted it on the longblock. The fuel tank was also
restored and bolted back into the Bus. Now back in place,
the engine is ‘concours’ quality.
Having been built for the American market, this ‘64 benefits from
towel rail bumpers, sealed beam headlights and all red rear light
lenses. When ordered from the factory, this example was also specified
with six opening pop-out side windows and seatbelts. The main
addition Boyd made over the original spec was a pair of Safari
opening front windows. These were shipped over from Dave Palmer
at Creative Engineering in the
UK. To make the Safaris work,
Boyd had to fit new windscreen
wiper pivots to allow the wiper
arms to be swung out of the
way. A ‘one eyed duck’ wiper arm holder also had to be fitted.
The thing we really like about the story of this restoration is
that almost all of the work was done by Boyd himself – bodywork,
paint, trim, mechanicals – and all to a very high standard. Our
hats are off to him for that.
Although he originally planned to use the Samba himself, Boyd
decided that he needed the space and funds for other VW Bus
restorations, which he was waiting to start. So we guess we’ll hear
more from The VW Orphanage in the future. And what happened
to the Samba? Boyd advertised it for sale at the start of 2004
on www.thesamba.com, where Tony Best from Somerby,
Leicestershire saw it. Tony liked what he saw and the freshly
restored Samba was soon picked up by AAAdvantage Auto
Transport to be delivered to New York and shipped across the
Atlantic to Southampton to start a new life in England.
LEFT The 1493cc engine
has had a total rebuild
with numerous new parts.
As you can see, it has been
highly detailed

BELOW RIGHT Top of the

Volkswagen range and isn’t it
gorgeous? BELOW The original
brochure pulls out into a
massive cut-away picture

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 75

 How To
Words and Pics: Matt ‘Turbo’ Keene

Frontal Lobotomy
Unless your Bay Window Bus has been imported from a dry country or has been
garaged all of its life, the chances are the dreaded tinworm may well have struck

L
et’s face it; how many thirty
plus year old vehicles are on
our roads these days? Not a
lot, I can assure you. The
reason for this is that our lovely climate
is harsh on ferrous metals, especially
when you take in to consideration your
local council’s habit of chucking tons of
salt on the roads at the mere mention of
cold weather. However, Volkswagen did
a good job of building our beloved rides
and they made sure the steel used was
as good as it could be. Volkswagen also
made sure that our rides were properly dividends as they
painted as every vehicle was paint are worth good
dipped several times before the top money. Our
coats were sprayed on. Now, feature Bus here
unfortunately, Bay Window Buses are had suffered
susceptible to rust if they are not well neglectful previous
looked after. There was a time when owners, but has
they could be bought cheaply and were finally found a
used just for the summer camping loving home.
season and then sold on. consequently
they suffered years of neglect as they
were passed on from owner to owner. Difficulty
Nowadays, looking after your Bay pays rating:

1 2 3

Our feature Bus had had a whole host of new Rust beneath the window rubber is common on First on the task list is to remove the wipers and
panels welded in. The final job was the front end Bays. This causes rain water to leak right through washer jets. Have a cardboard box to hand

4 5 6

To reduce the risk of damaging the windscreen, This will enable the windscreen to pop out with Unfortunately, this is a common sight once the
Nathan chose to cut the windscreen rubber the minimum of fuss. Have a friend to hand... screen has been removed. No going back now...

7 8 9

You will need to remove the front bumper and With the indicator lense removed, it will be Naturally, the electrics need to be disconnected.
ancilliaries. A simple task on post 1973 Buses necessary to drill out the rivets securing the base It would be very wise to disconnect battery first

78 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Sponsored by Big Boys Toys
Sponsored by Big Boys Toys
www.bigboystoys-uk.com
www.bigboystoys-uk.com
Tel: 01708 861827
Tel: 01708 861827 BAY
IRSFRONT PANEL
CONVERSION

10 11 12

The headlamp bulb connectors need Here’s a shot of the tab that needs With all of the ancilliaries removed including the headlamps, indicators and
to have their wires removed. Insert to be pushed down in order for the bases, bumper and fresh air vent grille, it might be a good time to put
a small flat screwdriver to push tab wire to free from the bulb connector everything into one box to clear the working area as it’s about to get rough!

13 14 15

Remove both front doors. Don’t Now the task of cutting metal can commence. Be sure to wear all of your Cut or grind along the top of the
forget to undo the check straps safety equipment, such as our model here. Got to keep those hands nice and front panel just short of the lip that
first! Again, grab a mate to help soft for those special nights in Brighton... On a serious note take no chances holds the windscreen rubber

16 17 18

There are several spotwelds that ...such as this one here. Available The special cutting edge and central locating dimple alow the user to cut
need to be drilled out with a from all motor factors, they feature through the top layer of a double metal thickness, such as two panels spot
special drill... a special flat cutting surface welded together. A cordless or air drill is all you need to do a proper job

19 20

There are spotwelds at about one inch intervals around the the air vent. They Cut throught the front panel either side of the fresh air vent just short of the
need to be be drilled as in the picture above. Notice that where the spot welded area. A cutting disc makes easy work of this task. Alternatively,
upturned edges meet there are welds indicating previous welding work you could use an air saw or jig saw with the correct cutting blade

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 79

 How To
21 8
22 23

Be careful not to cut into the return lip as you will to weld your new front Measure approximately where the Notice that on our Bus the cut is
panel the inner skin later. Drilling spotwelds is a fairly delicated task so new panel will sit and mark a line. below a large area of rust. This
take your time and don’t let the drill bit overheat. Oiling tip helps drill life Cut the outer skin beneath A-pillar area needs to be addressed, too

24 25 26 27

By far the easiest way of releasing Releasing the lower edge of the Work your way around the front With both sides free and the top
the front panel from its return lip is front panel can be done with a until you reach the other side and and bottom cut, the front panel
to grind along the outer edge hammer and chisel quite easily repeat the same process should simply lift off. Wear gloves!

28 29
Doh
!

With the front panel removed you can inspect your front end for any signs of All of the joint areas need to be cleaned up thoroughly, right back to clean
rust which should be addressed. As you can see in this shot, the inner skin bare metal. Use a combination of metal chisel, cutting discs and flexi pads.
that supports the dash and outer front panel is beyond repair. Oh dear... If the joint areas are not cleaned properly, welding will be very difficult

30 31 32

A grinding disc makes light work of Often, if the front panel is rotten, The inside edges where the front panel wraps around to meet the door need
cleaning up metal but can this area will be rotten, too. Now is special attention and are tricky to access. A rotary wire brush that is either
sometimes be too harsh. Take care a good time to address this issue drill mounted or attached to a grinder is ideal for this task. Watch your eyes!

80 VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005

 Sponsored by Big Boys Toys
www.bigboystoys-uk.com
Tel: 01708 861827 BAY FRONT PANEL

33 34 35

Likewise, the outer edge needs to With all of the joint areas bare Here’s the new front panel and the dash area inner skin panel. Available
go right back to bare metal in order metalled, it would be wise to coat from most outlets such as VW Heritage, Alan Schoffield, Creative Engineering
for good weld penetration them in a special weld-thru primer etc. They are not as expensive as you might think. They fit very well, too

36 37

If it is necessary to replace your inner skin panel, then be sure to take There are several tabs on this inner skin that locate it to the dashboard.
several measurements for reference. Mark datum or reference points on the These need to be unscrewed to release panel. More often than not the srews
roof to help with the new panel location and write down your measurements are seized and will either snap or tear off the tab. Do not dispair if they do

38 39

The inner skin needs to be cut from the A-pillar at either end. A jig saw or air With both ends cut and all of the dashboard tabs unscrewed the inner skin
saw is ideal for this task. Cutting through rust with a blade is very tricky as should simply pull away from the body. Make absolutely sure that you wear
rusted metal is much harder than plain steel due to oxidisation. Take note thick leather gloves as rusted metal is incredibly sharp. Tetanus jab anyone?

40 WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED?

A full set of personal safety gear
A selection of hand tools
Hand drill
Air saw or jig saw
Spot weld drill bits (6mm)

Our Bay is ready for the next stage ie the welding. Notice how all of the joint
areas have been coated in weld-thru primer. 3M make an exceptionally good
weld-thru coating in a handy aerosol can. See you next month for part 2!

VOLKSWORLD APRIL 2005 81