Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2016 i VolksWorld

“I completed all the work myself, except the welding ” Liam bought his Beetle in August 2015. Back then it was finished in Mk1 / Mk2 Golf metallic green, but as you can see that has since been changed to a resplendent Kirsch Rot, or Cherry Red, with the car coming out of the paint shop during the last week in April 2016. All the pre-’68 panels were already fitted when he bought it, as was the air ride suspension and biscuit leather-trimmed interior, but Liam took the car’s late early look a couple of stages further by welding up the external fuel fillerflap and fitting a hinge pin mirror. The engine is a 1500cc with matching ’box. “The finishing touches have included fitting an early Beetle fuel tank as…

“A quick colour change and have it on the road for the summer” If there was one car at The VolksWorld Show this year that really got people talking, it was the Almond Green ’58 Cabriolet of Steve, sorry, Kelly Lawrie. The presence of the German Folks rear window script might lead you to assume one or two things, but let’s get this straight from the start, this car was never built as a show car, just a nice, useable driver for Kelly. Those blessed with a memory might remember Steve (‘Loz’ to his mates) from a brown and cream 21-window Samba on 17-inch BRM-alikes that was on the cover of our sister magazine, Camper&Bus in the summer of 2010. In that feature, mention was made of a replacement for…

In the UK, sightings of Pumas are something that has become folklore. The area I live is said to be home to a rarely seen local big cat, The Surrey Puma. And Surrey is not alone, as many counties around our country apparently have big cats roaming wild. I would put this down to vivid imaginations had it not been for the fact I actually saw one myself and have two unrelated witnesses to support what happened. At the start of the 1990s, I was in Glossop, Derbyshire attending a photoshoot on a pair of Split Buses owned by restoration specialist, Alan H Schofield. We were up on the moors and we saw a Puma walking beside a wall on the other side of the road from us. As it…

To many people, building a high-performance, air-cooled VW engine can seem like a daunting task. Internet forums are full to bursting with the dos and don’ts and a plethora of horror stories of what happens when things go wrong. However, provided you are happy to invest a good chunk of patience, refuse to cut corners and, where necessary, make sure you have the correct tools and equipment, building a reliable, powerful VW engine is well within the capabilities of most home mechanics. After all, the humble VW engine is a simple beast and, compared to many engines, has relatively few parts. In fact, I’d go so far as to say bolting one together is pretty straightforward. The devil, as they say, is in the detail. Specifically, making sure all the…

The 9th annual Just Kampers Open Day is taking place on June 11 at JK HQ in Odiham, Hampshire. This year’s event will see the ever-popular JK charity BBQ back, where burgers and cans of drink are available for a small donation. There will also be a hands-on camping display, where you can see and handle JK’s extensive range of camping products and discuss them with the knowledgeable staff. The team from Just Kampers Insurance will be on hand all weekend, showing you how much you could save on your car insurance, and showing off the beautiful red VW Variant JK are giving away in their latest competition. There’ll be plenty of other things to see and do as well, including displays from Dynamat, Cadac (with a cooking demonstration) and…

Phillip used to run a 1300 Beetle as a daily driver three years ago, which was replaced by a 2004 Beetle, purely for its modernity and all round user friendliness for his family. However, knowing Phillip’s love of old Beetles, his wife suggested adding an older classic model a few years later, which their son, Nathan, could also enjoy, as he was approaching the time to learn to drive. “We’d been hunting around for quite a while, but didn’t want anything that had been customised. I’ve done all that in my youth, but now wanted something as close to stock as possible, especially for Nathan to drive ” explains Phillip. “We bought this car, finished in the unusual colour of Alpine Green, in January 2016. Another unusual feature is that…

“It drives lovely, it really does, and it’s exactly how I wanted it – I can slam it at shows, but I can also get in and out of my garage, which is obviously pretty important. I haven’t measured it, but it’s probably only got about four inches of lift, maybe a little more at the back, but that’s enough for what I want it to do. “I could get it lower if I put lower profile tyres on it but I like it the way it is, and it’s been done safely so that if anything does go wrong, it won’t just drop to the floor so it isn’t a deathtrap. Kelly’s driven it up and down the road outside work, but the throttle linkage is a bit stiff,…

“We flew to the south of France with a handful of tools, unable to speak a word of French, to buy a Bus we’d never seen and drive it back to the UK. What could go wrong?” chuckles Gareth Smith, the owner of this beat up ’60 Mango Split Screen. That was just the beginning of what turned into a seven year rolling project to preserve, develop and slam an old VW that many folk would say was kippered. To rewind a few months prior to hopping onto that ’plane to France, Gareth had spotted the ’60 for sale on thesamba.com, and knew he just had to own it. Even in 2008, Bus prices were on the rise and a project like this would still set you back a tidy…

Production of the new VW-based Puma GT, as created by the company’s founder, Rino Malzoni, and designer, Anísio Campos, commenced in 1968. These photographs were therefore taken during the first year of manufacture at Puma’s facility on Avenida Presidente Wilson, Vila Independencia, São Paulo. Sadly, today you will find no trace of the building as it was demolished in 2006, but through these photographs we are able to take a trip back in time. Immediate success From the moment the Brazilian public saw the Puma GT 1500 it stole their hearts. The clearly Italianate styling was something they had probably only seen in photographs or, if they were lucky, perhaps on one of the few hugely expensive imported cars only Brazil’s wealthiest inhabitants could afford. The trouble is the list…

JOB INFO TOOLS NEEDED: Various spanners, screwdrivers etc. needle-nose pliers, air line or other compressed air source MATERIALS NEEDED: Carb cleaner (or petrol), Loctite TIME TAKEN: 30mins COST : £20 for gasket kit It is often the case that running issues with an engine can be traced to either problems with ignition or fuelling. In the case of Editor James’ 1959 1200cc Beetle, the car refused to tick over, but ran quite happily under normal conditions. The fuel system on a 1200 is not exactly complex, so attention quickly turned to the carb, once all of the various joints in the inlet had been checked for air leaks (using a spray of easy start). A lack of stable tick over can very often be traced to an air leak, as…

From aeroplanes to Snow-tracs and everything in between, Volkswagen’s venerable air-cooled flat four has been used to power all manner of weird and wonderful things over the years. And, when the factory was producing them, they were also sold as stationary engines to power generators and water pumps for the emergency services and the like. Such engines crop up for sale from time to time, and are usually snapped up quickly due to their lack of serious use. However, zero mile NOS examples in their original packing crates, like the one shown here, are infinitely rarer beasts. At the time of going to press, this time capsule of a 30-horse industrial engine was for sale on thesamba.com and, bar the missing distributor, it’s all there. It’s even still wrapped in…

Originally built in Germany with red paintwork and a black soft top, black interior and whitewall tyres, Steve Rolls’ Beetle was then shipped to Miami, USA, where it remained for much of its life. It was then shipped to the UK in the late 1990s, and in 2000 at Thorpe Bay in Essex underwent a complete metamorphosis, being converted to RHD, repainted in a Volkswagen metallic green, with the interior re-trimmed in beige and a new beige Mohair soft top. A year after all the work was completed, the car was sold and went to live down in Cornwall, from where Steve bought it. “I’d always wanted a Beetle convertible since watching the film, Boyz ’n the Hood in the ’90s” Steve explains. “The one in the film was pretty…

Considering the enormous success Beetles have enjoyed in rallying over the years it’s surprising how few people have chosen to build rally-style Beetles for the road. I suppose the recent surge of interest in Vintage Speed cars could be considered such, but the majority of such cars we’ve seen of late have been far from cheap to build, generally based around Oval and Split Beetles and with a plethora of desirable period parts, the cost of which is enough to make your eyes water. But step away from the ’50s for a moment and consider the ’60s, or even the ’70s, and cars like this can be built for a modest outlay, and provide more fun per mile than almost any other kind of modified VW. Beetles continued to be…

Almost everybody in the VW community has heard of Ron Fleming, co-founder of FAT (Fleming, Aronson, Thurber) Performance and long-time Der Kleiner Panzers (DKP) VW club member. He’s not only been in the scene for over 50 years now, he helped shape it in the first place! Although his automotive career started with a ’65 Ford Mustang. “I was drag racing it, but I broke 11 transmissions in the first year I owned it and got pretty tired of it,” Ron recalls with a grin. So what was the answer to his problem? “I was still going to school and thought I need something a little more economical, so I bought a Bug. Greg Bunch, another student of Anaheim High School who was a member of DKP at that time,…

There are loads of fabulous events held at Santa Pod, but I’m ashamed to say there are really only three I ever bother to attend. Each one revolves around Volkswagens being spanked up and down the quarter mile, and this one, the first VW-centric gathering of the year, The Big Bang, was held over the chilly weekend of April 22-24. With a rust ’n’ prime, show ’n’ shine and loads of trackside action, cars are most definitely to the forefront at this show, as they should be at any car show, to be perfectly honest. And, let’s face it, there are few better ways to while away an afternoon at a car show than sitting on a grass bank, beer in hand, watching some drag racing and getting Pod face.…