Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i VWT Lifestyle

1989 Type 25 Karmann Gipsy, Gerd Weiser Gerd Weiser, proprietor of air-cooled performance, tuning and restoration fame GWD of Dusseldorf, Germany, spent quite a while searching for his Type 25 Karmann Gipsy, in order to buy the best that he possibly could find, eventually locating it in Munich, Germany. The third owner kept the vehicle for the longest period of its life. He was a collector, didn’t clock up too many miles and kept the Gipsy in excellent condition, so when Gerd acquired it, very little restoration work was required. This basically centered around a little paintwork rectification underneath, plus fitment of some new water tubes, to recover and fit new foam to the seats and fitting a new set of curtains. Gerd’s Bus was originally powered by a 1600cc…

Yes, we’re referring to the Type 25 in these photos, this is the practical family vehicle. Allow us to explain why… With a growing family his MK2 Golf was no longer suitable for Ben, his wife Amy and two children. Ok, so they could all fit in the Golf but that doesn’t leave a lot of space for everything else that goes with a young family. The time had come for the Golf to go and grow up (a little bit). Luckily for Ben, his wife Amy suggested getting a VW Bus (they were not quite at the Fiat Multipla stage just yet! Then again, we’re not sure how anyone gets to that stage. Apologies if you love the Multipla). Anyway, we are getting side tracked here, the decision to…

Now in its fourth year, the London Classic Car Show was a fabulous day out for anyone with fuel in their veins. To be honest, it wasn’t even on the Camper&Bus radar until our good friends at Type 2 Detectives asked if we were going, and then we thought, why not? After all, there aren’t many car shows in the capital, and we love any excuse to head down to merry ol’ London. It’s also a refreshing change to escape the confines of the regular VW show scene. You know? The same venues at the same time of year, the same cars, traders and faces. This was something entirely new to us and it didn’t disappoint. It’s also interesting to see how people from outside our scene view the cars…

A hard pedal, when braking or pulling to one side, is a sure sign that something is amiss up front. If your Bus has front disc brakes fitted this can be a sign that one or more pistons in the brake calipers have seized, the pads are unevenly worn, or a brake hose is old and swelling internally. This can also be a problem at MoT time, causing brake binding or imbalance, both of which are MoT failure points and dangerous to boot. If you know there’s a problem why wait? This 1973 RHD Devon in the had been sitting for a number of years by the coast when it came to us to get it back on the road. Rather than just bleed the brakes and hope for the…

June 15 - 17 Battlesbridge VW Show Battlesbridge Showground www.evdvwclub.wixsite.com/essexveedubbers June 15 - 17 Bristol Volksfest Birches Farm, Bristol www.bristolvolksfest.co.uk June 15 - 17 The Bus Stop Over Newark Showground, Nottingham www.busstopover.co.uk June 22 -24 VDub at the Pub Wimborne, Dorset www.vdubatthepub.com June 29 Dorset Dubfest Herston Yards Farm, Swanage www.herstonevents.com July 6 – 8 Camper Marmalade Polegate, East Sussex www.campermarmalade.uk 13 July August 2018 issue of C&B on sale! July 13 -15 Volks Weald Penshurst Place, Kent www.volksweald.co.uk July 20 – 22 Dubs at the Castle Caldicot Castle, Monmouthshire, South Wales www.dubsatthecastle.co.uk 27-29 July Dubtober Fest Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham www.dubtoberfest.co.uk…

Last year, Just Kampers Insurance ran a competition to win a Karmann Ghia cabriolet, which went down a storm. So, when it came to picking a vehicle to overhaul and give away in 2018, the JK team had their work cut out for them. Mark Reynolds called together his staff to discuss some options and whilst chatting it seemed that one of the sales team, Alex Noel had just the kind of vehicle they were looking for in the shape on an unfinished Bay Window project. Like so many JK employees, Alex is a pretty serious VW fan and always has a project of some kind on the go. He explained: ‘This Westfalia was a project I’d started a while back, but just hadn’t had the time to complete, as…

“Insufficient funds. That’s what you should call this feature. I saw that every time I went to pay for something on my card, whilst restoring my Bus,” joked its owner, Steve Huggins. “Oh well, looks like it’s beans on toast again tonight.” All that money, hard work and, evenings spent dining on skinheads on a raft were worth it in the end for Steve, who now knows what it takes to build the Bus of your dreams. He also freely admits that it was a big learning curve… The majority of the hard work was carried out by the intrepid crew at Johnson Autoworks (www.johnsonautoworks.com), where a little birdy told us to speak to the owner. Ace bodywork man Simon Sparrow said: “Mate. You’ve really got to talk to Steve.…

From the beginning we wanted our Bay low, narrow and driving nice, we looked at lots of options and it always came back to converting the ball joint beam to a link pin one. Various companies can supply beams and parts to undertake this conversion and one in particular who offers high quality beams kept popping up, Dog Back Beams in Germany. We spoke with Michael at Dog Back and he happened to have a 3’ narrow beam in stock ready to be shipped, a deal was done and a couple of days later this gorgeous piece of, well, almost art arrived. The quality is really nice as you can see from the photos here, all we had to do now is try to source the remaining parts to complete…

EMERGENCY BREAKDOWN KITS, £60 Old VWs are pretty simple beasts, and when they do breakdown they’re usually easy enough to fix. Assuming that is, you have the right parts with you. Most breakdown companies no long carry spare parts for classics, so it makes sense to carry the essentials with you on your travels. Even if you lack the skills or confidence to fit them yourself, being able to offer them to the breakdown company that has come to your aid can make the difference between continuing under your own steam, or being trailered to a garage. These kits can be tailored for Type 2 and Type 4 engines and consist of points,condenser, rotor arm, distributor cap, spark plugs, fuel filter, dynamo / alternator belt, bulb kit, and a universal…

Hi James, having read the mag and attended countless VW shows over the years, I have to wonder when will it ever end? By that I mean all this patina rubbish. You’re as guilty as anyone for encouraging this fad, but I think it’s making our scene look lazy to those on the outside. Unrestored and rusty Buses aren’t cool, they’re just restoration projects in waiting. That’s just my opinion, but I for one would rather see an old VW restored to its former glory than left to rot. Yours, Glen Pepper Hi Glen, thanks for taking the time to email in. All opinions are welcome here, even when they’re wrong. And that’s just my opinion of course. An unrestored VW is only original once. Once it’s painted over all…

Back in 2013, I was just at the tail end of my business – The Bus Station – which I’d started in 2002 after leaving Just Kampers. Through The Bus Station, I’d done it all, from mailing out parts from my living room, to running ‘The Slammin’ Shop’ and importing a lot of great VW’s from around the world. I’d had the itch to do something different and getting divorced from my then business partner was the final nail in the coffin of TBS. As I was winding the business down one of my Texan contacts, Matt offered me this Bus. The story was, that the original owners had stored it in their barn in 1987 when the engine failed after just 14 years on the road. It had remained…

As we didn’t happen to have a Barndoor on the fleet (!), we decided to think outside the box by approaching Volkswagen regarding the possibility of borrowing a brand new VW Camper in which we would take a pilgrimage (read: road trip) back to the spiritual home of the Type 2, the site of the original Pon Dealership in Amersfoort. In case you don’t already know, Ben Pon was a Dutch businessman who launched the Pon Automobielhandel (dealership) in 1947 and thereby became the first Volkswagen agent outside of Germany. However, Ben Pon is also considered to be the man responsible for the Type 2 concept after sketching out a design for a box-shaped Commercial vehicle based on VW underpinnings following a visit to Wolfsburg where he’d spotted the VW…