Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2020 i VWT Lifestyle

You’re no-doubt familiar with all those little mobile coffee venders zipping about the city centres these days. Coffee apes we believe they’re called. And, whilst you might get a refreshing beverage from a small independent vendor, they’re not exactly the last word in cool are they? You never make a bee-line to check one out and tell your mates about it afterwards, do you? Well, possibly you might, we don’t know what floats your boat, but you certainly would if your cup of Joe was poured out in the back of one of these. To all intents and purposes, this looks like just another cool old Single Cab with some interesting Porsche livery, but it becomes a whole heap more interesting once you’ve had a neb at the equipment in…

’89 Type 25, Peter Lynch Peter Lynch’s Type 25 was once owned by TV motoring personality Edd China, who sold it to his brother-in-law Tim, hence the Cork, Ireland license plate. Peter, who hails from Dublin, bought the Bus in a good rot free condition, but completed a small amount of paintwork and was responsible for the major makeover to the interior and the running gear. “When I bought it the Bus was fitted with a 2.2-litre Subaru engine,” he explains. “So I decided to upgrade this, by fitting a 3.3 litre Subaru SVX engine, which is rated at around 240bhp. Naturally I also upgraded the braking system, to ensure the Bus stops okay and the brakes are now far better than the original set-up. I used Porsche calipers on…

Volkswagen’s and Wolfsburg’s return to health and prosperity gathered momentum during 1946. The British Army was in charge and production of Beetles had restarted, meeting orders from the Allied forces occupying Germany. Although the factory still had extensive bomb damage, it was slowly being repaired, and thoughts were turning towards VW expanding beyond just vehicles for the military. The plant was also safe from being dismantled for war reparations, at least until 1949. If it wasn’t a success by then, its future would be reviewed. As 1946 dawned, Wolfsburg was engaged in producing 20,000 Beetles to meet a British Army order placed the previous year. In addition to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) troops overseeing operations, it had 6217 workers to help achieve that; 5606 of whom were…

21 – 22 March 2020 VolksWorld Show Sandown Park, Esher www.volksworldshow.com 5 April Rad Sunday Swapmeet Runnymede Hall, Benfleet, Essex www.radsunday.com/ rad-sundayswapmeet 9 -13 April Camperfest Roodee Racecourse, Chester www.camperfest.co.uk 10 – 13 April Wonderland 2 – The Dubbers of Oz Chillington Hall, Wolverhampton www.dubscollective.com/ dubs-in-wonderland 7 – 19 May Vee Dub Family 5th Birthday Campout Unity Farm, Brean, Somerset www.veedubfamily.org 19 April Elsecar at the Races Doncaster Racecourse, Doncaster www.elsecarattheraces.com 24 – 26 April Techenders Victoria Farm, Lutterworth www.techenders.co.uk 3 May Stanford Hall VW Show Stanford Hall, Lutterworth, Leicester www.stanfordhallvw.com 7-10 May Derbyshire Dubs Wardlow, Derbyshire www.derbyshiredubs.co.uk 7-10 May The Only Meet is Essex Orsett Show Ground, Essex www.vw-tomie.co.uk 7 -10 May VW Campout Budel Bay, Northumberland www.vwcampout.co.uk 8 -10 May Vanwest Taunton Racecourse, Somerset www.vanwest.co.uk 15 -17 May…

Where do you stand on graffiti? Do you see it as cool street art and the freedom of expression or is it simply mindless vandalism? When it’s not someone’s tag repeatedly sprayed all over your Nan’s fence and an actual piece of art then surely that’s okay. There’s certainly always been a place for it in the VW scene as we’ve seen countless Buses painted with rattle can designs over the years. The great thing about graffiti on a Bus is it’s a simple and cheap way to paint your ’wagen. Not only will the extra layers of paint protect the bodywork, the art itself will make your Bus stand out and it can be as long lasting as you want, or simply a quick fix whilst you save up…

It’s funny how we come to look at things differently over the years. The passage of time and the scarcity of something in the present day puts a different slant on everything. Take Spitfires for example. No, not the awful BL sports cars of old, but the best machine ever made, the Vicker’s Supermarine Spitfire. We look at them through the misty eyes of nostalgia and as the aeroplane (along with the Hurricane) that helped save Britain and win the war; but when it was current, it was the RAF’s cutting edge fighter and designed for the sole purpose of shooting down enemy aircraft and pilots. To put that into perspective, its modern day equivalent is the Typhoon. Crazy when you think about it! Where are we going with this?…

There are a number of obvious reasons why a modern-day Transporter has the edge over one that’s potentially 50 or 60 years of age. First things first - they drive like a modern-day car, particularly if you opt for one of the higher power 200PS versions. Secondly – they shouldn’t be rusty in any way, not least because Volkwagen’s anti corrosion warranty guarantees them for 12 years from the date of first registration. Provided any defect is reported to a member of the›Volkswagen Authorised Repairer network as soon as it is discovered and within the›warranty period, any corrosion will be dealt with by the VW approved repair network. Great news for anyone thinking about going for the new-age option. Are they as cool as a Bay Window? Arguably not. Let’s…

Win a Westy If you keep tabs on what the lovely people at Just Kampers get up to, you’ll know they enjoy giving away awesome prizes, like complete Campervans. Last year they gave away a fabulous T5.1 Transporter and for 2020 the prize is (arguably) better still - 1970 Bay Window Westfalia. The competition is free to enter and one lucky duck will be handed the keys to over £20K’s worth of cool Campervan. This makes it the seventh Camper JK has given away and all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is to talk to one of the team and enter the draw at one of the shows they’ll be attending this year. Or, you can fill out an entry form yourself by…

While I’ve been running the T5 as a daily and smashing the occasional overnight event on my lonesome, I’ve not really had much of a chance to cover a full weekend of camping and touring with this Van – until now, that is. I’ve grown used to the creature comforts of my maxi-sized T4 Karmann Gipsy, which is always packed and ready to roll, so it was going to be a bit of a challenge to slim down and pack just enough ‘camping junk’ to make life comfortable for me and my 13-year-old son Oscar over the weekend of 30 August – 1 September in Norfolk. Sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, toothbrushes, cutlery, plates, BBQ, chairs, table and the ‘spare’ fridge packed, we were keen to hit the road. So I…

Over the last few years I’ve been lucky to spend time attending shows and photographing VWs for Camper&Bus across the pond. These trips have been in the Autumn to coincide with attending SEMA in Las Vegas. During these trips I would do a big loop around Los Angeles, heading south to San Diego, then across to Phoenix in Arizona, on to Las Vegas and then back to Los Angeles, stopping at every opportunity to hang out with some great Volkswagen people. One thing that has come up in conversation every time is that I must come back for Buses By The Bridge (BBB) in January. With the expense of a long road trip in the Autumn the idea of heading back in January sounds incredible, but the reality is the…

I don’t know about you, but I don’t just roll out of bed, grab whatever clothes come to hand and head out into the world. No. I always shower, select an outfit, make a cup of tea and check myself out in the mirror to ensure I look the part/ am not wearing odd shoes (which has happened). So, you wouldn’t expect your air-cooled VW to be fit for the road straight after a long winter layup would you? It’s a bizarre fact, but old cars prefer being driven to being left sitting idle in a garage. Sure, you might keep salt off the underside, but parking your VW up for the winter can lead to all manner of niggles come the Spring. Want a few examples? Brake fluid can…