Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i VWT Lifestyle

I know opinions are just that but personally I can’t get my head around why someone would sand down and redo a factory paint Bus. That said, I’m sure there are other people out there who hated seeing the original paint Delta green ’70 chopped up and body dropped previously. The thing is, the VW scene is so diverse and with so many opinions contained within, you’re never going to please everyone. Indeed, I think the thing that most blows my mind is when people buy a vehicle that's ‘done’ and well known, then blow it apart and change everything. I can’t see why you’d want to pay top dollar for something nice and then throw another chunk of change at it to make it your own. Why not just…

So you like the idea of a T5/T6? Well, form an orderly queue because VW’s voluminous Transporter is currently one of the most sought after and versatile vehicles you can buy. Having made over 8.5 million commercials since the iconic Split Window Bus back in the 1950s, the T5, when unveiled in 2003, immediately dominated the marketplace, being larger overall and more modern looking than the T4 it replaced. T5 engines offered better performance, economy and refinement too, and with a Panel Van, Kombi (a crossover between a van and people carrier), minibus-like Shuttle, plusher Caravelle people carrier and a chassis cab – with either single or double cab options, it was supremely flexible. With a choice of two wheelbases, three roof heights and four weights – the maximum payload…

What Buses have you owned, do you have one at the moment? My folks had a ’71 Dormobile D4/6 Bay Window (NVW 784J) that I’ve discovered is still alive but is listed as being red instead of all-white on the DVLA website. That’s me in the middle with the blue jumper with it in the pic below. They purchased it from a VW main dealer which shows how long ago it was. My first Bus was a T25 Holdsworth, followed by a T4 Autosleeper (right), which I sold to buy a T25 Westfalia California (top right). I sold that to buy a house in Brittany. My next van was an early T5 Kombi, which was upgraded to a silver T5 Multivan (right). I currently own a ratty 1985 T25 Westy…

BUS STOP Whether you're already a Bus owner or are in the market to buy one, seeing what price vans are making at auction is always a fascinating pastime. It gives you a gauge of the 'real' market value of certain models, and although there's risks involved in buying at auction (there's usually very little comeback if you subsequently find something wrong), there's also the opportunity of picking up a bit of a bargain. The key is to do as much detective work beforehand, read through the item description, pour over the photos and be sure to have a good look around the vehicle 'in the flesh' before it goes under the hammer. If you attend the actual sale, then you'll also get to hear it start and trundle to…

As you may be aware, there is a huge VW scene In Indonesia, and the restorations are every bit as good as you’d find anywhere else in the world. And that is certainly the case with this ’72 Bay Window Deluxe Microbus, which has been lovingly overhauled by Sthefanus Giovanni (Stevie to his friends) from Surabaya. Stevie is certainly not a newcomer to the scene – far from it. His first VW project was a 1971 1302 Beetle, which his father bought brand new and Stevie later restored (the car still lives in his garage as it has such sentimental value). After the Bug, Stevie restored various cars including a Karmann Ghia, a 181, a Barndoor Bus and a Porsche 356... clearly this was becoming quite a serious hobby. However,…

We’re not entirely sure how this feature came to have a ‘time’ theme woven throughout, after all, we’re writing about a 1957 PGSG, not DeLoreans, but stick with us, because you’ll discover how time came to play an important role in this 11-window’s story. Oh, and for the benefit of the uneducated amongst us, PGSG is an abbreviation of Palm Green and Sand Green, which is the highly desirable colour combo you see here, and was only available on Standard Microbuses built from 1955 through 1957. Anyway, back to our time theme and when you think about it, time is a funny concept, because this 11-Window had been allowed to sit quietly in a ditch for the last 40 years, and then all of a sudden, boom, it was a…

BUS SHOW "IT HAS EVERYTHING THE VOLKSWAGEN ENTHUSIAST WILL APPRECIATE: A CRUISE NIGHT, A VINTAGE VW-ORIENTED CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE, OPEN HOUSES HOSTED BY SHOPS, A CAMPOUT, A DRAG RACE, PLUS A COUPLE OF SHOWS" AVW meet that begins at 6am and ends around noon… It might seem a bit silly for the car enthusiast coming from Europe, used to events starting on a Friday and lasting a week long. But it all makes sense in Southern California, where outside temperatures will bake even the most sun-loving individuals. For decades, participants have often left home before sunrise; they then spent the morning enjoying the show, allowing them to be home early in the afternoon to relax during the rest of their day. The same school of thought explains the success of other…

BUS STOP September VW Action Date: 2-4 Sept Location: Santa Pod Raceway, Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7XA Contact: www.vwaction.co.uk Busfest Date: 9-11 Sept Location: Three Counties Showground, Malvern WR13 6NW Contact: www.busfest.org South West Motorhome & Campervan Show Date: 11 Sept Location: The Showground, Shepton Mallet BA4 6QN Contact: www.outandaboutlive.co.uk International Campervan Show Date: 17 Sept Location: Luddington Road, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 9SE Contact: www.international-campervan-show.com Grill 'n' Chill Date: 16-18 Sept Location: The Hop Farm, Kent TN12 6QF Contact: www.grill-n-chill.co.uk V-Dubs in the Valley Date: 16-18 Sept Location: Bewdley, Shropshire DY12 1SU Contact: www.vdubsinthevalley.co.uk Motorhome & Carmpervan Show Finale Date: 23-25 Sept Location: Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln LN2 2NA Contact: www.outandaboutlive.co.uk Oh So Retro Date: 25 Sept Location: The Rec, Margate, Kent CT9 3PP Contact: www.ohsoretro.co.uk OCTOBER Oktoberfest Date: 7-9 Oct Location: River…

Most of us will probably have had some experience of camping in a tent and some will have been lucky enough to have experienced perfect weather for the duration of their trip away, too. Unfortunately, when the wind decides to flex its muscles and the heavens open, a tent is far from ideal, and memories of sleepless nights might suddenly come flooding back. Until recently, Ian and Jay Jevons had chosen to persist with the idea of using a tent for weekends away, something they’d done since the late ’90s, and they too had their fair share of good and maybe not so good experiences. “Spending a soggy week away camping in Wales is still fun when you’re in your 20s, but less so as you get older,” Ian laughs.…

Jim Cobbold has been a life-long fan of T25s and to date he’s owned no less than six of them. Always keen to stray slightly away from the mainstream, his perfectly stanced bright red Panel Van not only contains a practical camper interior, it also packs a potent Subaru punch. “I’ve always liked VWs, my first car was a yellow 1977 Polo which had just one owner from new and 17k on the clock when I bought it,” Jim recalls, “and I’ve made my way through countless other cars and vans from the same brand since.” Among the impressive list, a 1991 Mk2 Golf VR6 and 1995 Corrado 20v turbo both stand out due to their upgraded engines. “They arrived as standard cars, but I carried out engine swaps to…

BUS INFO Buying any VW takes a pretty large investment of cash these days, whichever way you look at it. Time was when you could save a massive chunk of money by buying a VW from Europe, Australia, or the USA. The problem now is that good Buses are becoming pretty scarce the world over, so in line with the laws of supply and demand, values have risen accordingly. Prices have also risen as a result of sellers the world over realising that us crazy Brits (and now most of our European compadres) will pay a lot of money for any old VW. There are still bargains to be had, however, especially if you're willing to take on a project with no engine/gearbox, or possibly even paperwork anomalies, which are…