Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i VWT Lifestyle

“Not your average stag…” Oi oi! What happens on the stag, stays on the stag! Isn’t that something lads on the lash would shout? Probably. Unless you’re talking about a Bus that was bought to help celebrate the forthcoming wedding of a long term comrade, who just happens to be a VW nut; and the venue for said ‘bender’ is the mind blowing International Vintage VW Show in Hessisch Oldendorf, Germany. So, not your average stag then… There’s certainly no way you’d leave anything as lovely as this old E-Z Camper behind, no sir, and neither did it’s current custodian, Richard Wilson, who bought it as a place to sleep on his mate, Si Medlicott’s stag do. There’s a little bit more to it than that, as Richard reveals: “I’d…

Let’s be honest shall we? You’d already made your mind up before you’d even finished reading the title. If you’re reading this you very probably have one or t’other sitting in your garage right this very moment and you bought the one you did because you wanted it. Old Buses are now big boys (and girls) toys so they don’t have to work for a living. Which means there’s no practical reason for owning one any more. They’re simply something you buy for a bit of fun at the weekend and when it comes to buying such items, you can let your heart rule over your head. But what if you’re in the market for your first air-cooled VW? What then? Well, if you’re a total newb, we’d suggest you…

Ah, the Brighton Breeze. Wouldn’t miss it for all the tea in China, or all the rock from the end of the pier, which is just as well, because as you can see, we didn’t. If you’ve never been to this event, the clue is in the name, it’s a show held in Brighton at a time of year that’s often a bit breezy, or rainy. However, the 2018 gathering, which we’re finally getting round to featuring here took place on October 6 was like the chips - crisp and dry. Organised and staffed by the Split Screen Van Club, but confusingly all VWs are welcome (!), the Breeze is a one day spectacular held on Brighton seafront. We say one day, but technically there’s more to it as you…

Over the last few months we’ve been gathering goodies for the front end of our Westfalia; these include a Dogback Performance king and link pin beam, CSP discs, brand new VW trailing arms, JGE Gas Burners and a bunch of other lovely bits from JP Group in Denmark, all-in-all to make the front end of our ‘72 Bay not only look awesome but drive amazingly too. Matt Keene of Airkraft is a well known name within the VW world and being very local to us was a no brainer to have him bolt up this collection of gorgeous parts. Firstly Matt started to strip the front end down and removed the front beam, complete with brakes, servo and master cylinder. With these out the way, the underside was thoroughly cleaned,…

29 January VW Spares Day in association with Heritage Parts Centre South of England Event Centre www.volksworldshows.com 16 - 17 February Dub Freeze Bingley Hall, Staffordshire www. dubfreeze.co.uk 21 February April 2019 issue of C&B on sale! 10 March Ultimate Dubs Telford International Centre,Telford www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk 16 - 17 March Ninove / The Freddy Files Ninove, Belgium www.facebook.com/ukcruisetoninove/ 23 – 24 March VolksWorld Show Sandown Park, Surrey www.volksworldshows.com…

“You get a massive wave of torque, which is totally not what you were expecting. It’s not Golf GTI quick but it has that big car feel – a bit like a motorway cruiser.” That’s how Keith Lane describes the experience of driving his Type 25. You see, this stunning pop-top Atlantic is not just a smart Camper with a set of nice wheels – it was actually one of the first Buses in the UK to be fitted with the modern VW PD turbo-diesel motor.. PD is short for Pumpe Düse, or pump injector – it was Volkswagen’s new demon technology designed to create the most fuel-efficient turbo-diesels around. Rather than using the more popular common-rail injector set-up, these PD engines used electronically-controlled injectors located at each cylinder, which…

Having been attending VW shows the world over since 1990, including many in the USA and Europe, in my opinion, Le Bug Show (AKA Spa) in Belgium is the best VW show in the world, period. I went for the first time back in 2005 and thereafter would always combine it with a family summer holiday; Spa was quite a big detour from my usual holiday spot on the west coast of France, but the atmosphere and quality of cars were always worth the extra mileage. I hadn’t been to Spa since 2015, so decided 2018 was going to change all that. I’d been helping a buddy of mine work on his 1970 Bay on and off all winter, with the goal being to drive it to Spa (he last…

Looking back at these pictures serves to reminds us of how glorious last summer was and how fabulous it made every show feel. And, looking at all these VWs basking in the sunlight highlights the amount of really, really cool cars we currently have in our scene. I mean, where else but in dear old Blighty will you see a World War Two Schwimmwagen with a roof tent? You can bet your bottom dollar that neither Rommel, Adolf nor any of their pals could ever imagine seeing one being used as a weekend Camper. Well, to be fair neither could we, but it really warmed our cockles when we clapped eyes on it at the Pod! We always say this about VW Action, but it’s one of the more relaxed,…

It’s believed by many non-Volkwagen people that the Syncro Transporter was the first VW to feature four-wheel drive - a misconception not helped by magazines of the time lauding it as such. Of course, being rather familiar with VW engineering myself, I know this is very far from the truth. The Passat just pipped the T3 to the post of having a variant with all its wheels powered, in October 1984, a mere few months before the Transporter. But prior to that, there was the Iltis of 1978 - the military Jeep-like vehicle that inadvertently gave birth to the Audi quattro - plus, moving a lot further back in time, the Beetle-based Kommandeurwagens and amphibious Kubelwagens of World War Two. They were around over 40 years before the T3 Syncro,…

1965 Canterbury Pitt, Matthew McCleary As a child it was always Matthew McCleary’s dream to own a Split Screen Camper. He is indeed proof that good things are worth waiting for and he knows this better then most, as he saved hard for 10 years, over the course of an apprenticeship, eventually amassing the £20,000 he needed to be able to buy his dream VW. There had been a great many temptations over those years to spend the money on other things, but Matthew stuck to his original dream, which eventually came to fruition with this oh-so-lovely ‘65 Camper. As you can see, it has retained its original Canterbury Pitt interior, which has stood the test of time better than most and is incredibly well preserved. A variety of previous…

You know, it wasn’t so very long ago that decent Split Buses were going for a grand a window. That seemed reasonable enough, until you remembered they came with as many as 23-windows… No, you weren’t alone, we also thought that seemed crackers at the time, but those days are long gone and had you told us how much prices were going to sky rocket over the last decade or so, we’d all have bought one - or two - as an investment. One man with a shrewd eye for such things is Drew Pritchard - yeah him of the telebox - who spends his days poking around the attics and out buildings of stately homes and winkling out architectural gems. Fans of Salvage Hunters will know Drew has a…

Anyone who’s been to a VW show in Ireland will surely have seen the Ostkuste boys lining up for their club display. The Ostkuste club was formed by like-minded VW enthusiasts in the Garden of Ireland, Wicklow. They all share a passion for VWs but have a penchant for lowered, loud and awesome - there’s nothing humdrum in this club. Ostkuste is not limited to air-cooled VWs - they have many water-cooled VAG models in their line-ups, but it’s the Beetles that always steal the limelight. The annual Ostkuste Show welcomes all VAG models built up to and including 1996. It is held in Avoca, County Wicklow and given that the weather for the 2018 show was probably the hottest all summer, it simply made a brilliant show even better.…

Although people have been importing old VWs for over 25 years now, the boom years of the early 2000s are well and truly behind us. Back then, both the prices of VWs in other countries and favourable exchange rates made importing an old VW really worthwhile. Whilst imports from the USA have always been popular, vehicles from other European countries where a huge amount of VWs were sold new has also been an attractive proposition, especially if you can find something with little to no rust.. Although Sweden was Volkswagen’s largest export market in the ’50s and ’60s, outside the USA, the climate, at least in the south of the country, has always limited the number of good cars available. The north of the country fares better, due to the…