Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2021 i VolksWorld

very month we strive to bring you a killer “there’s always a surprise in store at a real world VW meeting” E selection of cars and, thanks to a dedicated crew of photographers (not to mention our ace designer, Michelle Mitchell), we go to great pains to ensure the vehicles are shown in their best light. This often involves hours of planning and researching locations for photoshoots to secure the best images we can, not to mention countless hours of creative editing and design to ensure the features are fresh and on point. Therefore, when it came to designing this month’s cover, it came as a shock to some when I suggested replicating a previous cover – the February 2016 issue, to be precise. Why would we want to duplicate…

“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives searching for their other halves.” It’s likely this is the first VW feature anywhere in the world to open with a quote from Plato’s The Symposium, but bear with me. The modern day romantic fantasy we all have of ‘the one’ just waiting for us to find them turns out not to be so modern after all. A lot of folk have stories about how they came to find their ‘one’, and that’s cute, but not many have a story quite like how Spencer Pritchard met Katie. For those still reeling from the Plato intro,…

In the main feature, mention is made of ‘flipped’ spindles, but there are some common misconceptions about what these actually are. Many people assume they’re simply stub axles (in UK parlance) turned upside down, or perhaps swapped from left to right, but that isn’t the case. What the term refers to are original spindles that have had the kingpins put in upside down and the link pins fitted through the opposite side of the casting. It’s not a straight, ‘bolt-on’ job and involves modifying the spindle body and link pin heads for clearance. It doesn’t stop there either. The pitman arm then needs to be reamed so the tie rod end can be fitted from underneath as the relationship between the pitman arm and steering arms on the spindles is…

The Resto Cal trend has played in essential part in the VW scene for well over three decades now. Defining features of the look include being lowered all around, typically these days with a narrowed beam, polished or chromed wheels, accessories and a subdued colour palette. The German Folks Klub, originally founded in California in 1982, has undoubtedly contributed to the trend’s development over the years, and now has chapters in Arizona, Texas and Nevada, as well as overseas in England and Japan. While members often used repro parts and accessories in the past, notably polished reproduction EMPI 5-spokes, they now prefer the real deal, so you can expect to see polished or chromed original Fuchs on most cars now, emphasised by narrowed front beams and skinny front tyres (125…

The end of an era Bruce Meyers, creator of the iconic Meyers Manx Buggy, and a true pioneer in the field of Baja racing, has passed away at the age of 94. Bruce built his first Buggy, ‘Old Red’, for personal use, but soon realised there was a market for a self-build, glass fibre Buggy kit. The Meyers Manx proved an instant hit and, in no uncertain terms, was responsible for the ‘Buggy boom’ (which is still ‘booming’ some 55 years on). While over 7,000 genuine Manx Buggies have been built over the years, it’s estimated more than 250,000 similar Buggies have been put together worldwide, which really puts the impact of Bruce’s concept into perspective. RIP Bruce 'Wagen wheels Antonio Lazzarini of Speedwagen parts in Italy recently sent us…

It’s a bit of a divisive one this month, looking back to some suggestions made by American car designer Tom Daniel. To anyone that grew up with Hot Wheels, ‘car TV’ and 1/24 scale modelling, Tom was a hero, the man responsible for the outlandish creations driven by The Munsters, amongst many others. Yes, they were built by Barris Kustom, but they were designed by Tom Daniel. He also, for a short while in the early 1960s, worked a more conservative role at General Motors Advanced Car Design Studio and later at North American Aircraft on the Apollo mission programme, but it was the 1/24 and 1/32-scale plastic model designs he came up with that really put his name on the map. Working for Monogram models from 1967-1975, he came…

First cars are rarely cool, right? If you’re lucky, you get a hand me down Metro / Micra / Maestro, or something else beginning with M, from some well meaning member of your family. Yet for 16-year-old Jed Allen, learning some basic VW maintenance tips from his dad meant he was on the road just three months after his 17th birthday, behind the wheel of an air-cooled Volkswagen. “I loved those days jumping in my Bug, hearing the sound of the engine pop, whistle and fart in the morning, windscreen freezing up on the inside, smell of exhaust fumes in the cabin and heading off to work with the buzz of waves and flashing headlights from other VW owners,” he recalls. Formative motoring memories like that surely ring true for…

Having mostly had water-cooled VWs and Vans over the years, the only previous air-cooled experience I’ve had has been with Porsches. But having spotted a Karmann Ghia for sale near me I decided to check it out as I’ve always liked the idea of owning one. I’ll cut to the chase and just say I looked, liked, made an offer and collected it the next day. The owner had told me it was a non-runner and might need an engine rebuild, so I was prepared for that, but soon realised I didn’t have a 6V battery to even try and get the thing started. Never mind, while I wanted for a new battery to arrive, I had a peek down the spark plug bores with an endoscope to see if…

Where is it now? I am hoping you may be able to help me as I am trying to track down my husband’s old Wizard Roadster for my boys. My husband passed away five months ago and the boys would be over the moon if we could find the car, and maybe buy it, should it be for sale. The car was a show regular and the registration is DEV 188G. So far I’ve only found limited information via the DVLA website, but I am also trawling through Facebook and other social media platforms trying to find out more about its whereabouts these days. Of course, not everyone uses Facebook, so I wondered if you would be happy to print a couple of pictures of the car as we remember…

Most Old Speed builds start with more humble beginnings than a Holy Grail 23-window Deluxe, but the vehicle chosen for this project was destined for the look, having had its Porsche engine fitted almost half a century ago. “documentation from a VW dealer in Washington who’d fitted a Porsche 356 Super 90 engine in it on July 5 1963” In last month’s feature on Steve Woodbridge’s Old Speed Beetle, I said that the beauty of this kind of look is you can use whatever parts you want in order to make a car look as if it was modified back in the day. Well, the original paint Bus you’re looking at here was modified back in the day, but it took the vision of its current owner, Mr. Wawan Dalbo,…

We’ve had our fair share of high octane restorations and custom builds leaving a trail of rubber through the magazine in recent months so it only seems right, in the interests of balance, that we slow things down for a moment. Like, right down. In fact, as far down as you can physically go – Australia. If you’ve never seen or heard Adam Hills doing his bit on the Australian accent just being a slowed down version of cockney due to the heat, then it’s worth a Google. It’s not just a stereotype. Outside of the cities at least, Australian life really is more laid back than that of our hectic, fast-paced little island. With a land mass 32 times that of the UK, but a population of only around…

During WWII, the German metal manufacturing company of Markes & Co. (DUX), located in the town of Ludenscheid, was busy manufacturing ballbearings and other parts for the war effort, but after the war tooled up to launch its ‘Series of Modern Auto-DUX Model Cars’ with a stylised swallow insignia. The Auto-DUX metal toy car concept was of a kit that could be put together and taken apart again. The initial product line included a 1950’s-era Mercedes Benz or BMW and, to the delight of VW enthusiasts, a Volkswagen Beetle (series nos. Auto-DUX 60 and 60a). VW Buses came later, too. Kits were offered at different prices to suit the amount of money in your pocket. The common basic kits include one vehicle, while ‘Super Deluxe’ kits featured several vehicles. The…