Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i VolksWorld

Email: VolksWorld.ed@kelsey.co.uk If you’re looking for VW-themed stocking fillers, head for the Campervantastic website where you’ll find plenty of gift ideas, such as this neat Camper playing card set. The vintage-style tin includes two packs of decks, each card featuring different retro VW Bus images, all for £11.99. Or, for £9.50, this multi-use pencil and / or cosmetic case could be yours. An ideal accessory for VW-loving school kids, or just to keep stuff in around the house. If you’re looking for something a little larger than a pencil case, an eco-friendly cotton fabric shopper bag might suit. Practical, washable and finished with a Split Bus appliqué on a red background with a printed inner lining, pocket, zipper closure, additional storage space and natty VW Bus zippers. It’s the bag…

Treat your Beetle to a heated rear window and say goodbye to scraping frost off it on chilly, winter mornings. Fits all Beetle saloons built from 1972 to 1979 (not Karmann Cabriolets), and the heating elements are unobtrusive while driving. If your Beetle wasn’t built with heated rear glass, you’ll need an accessory wiring kit and a new switch to control the heating element. JK stock a neat, light-up Hella switch suitable just for this application (J11630), which lets you know when your window is warming up. How much? Heated window - £148.50 (p/no. J60657); wiring kit £7 (p/no. J11703); Hella switch £17.25 (p/no. J11630)From:www.justkampers.co.uk…

Looking back to the late 1980s and early ’90s now, it seems like an entirely different time. In those pre-internet days, the pace of life was slower, knowledge was more difficult to come by and finding an early VW, or parts to restore one, presented a challenge. Being connected is as important today as it always has been, especially when it comes to finding what you want within the VW scene, it just means a different thing these days. Back then, it meant devouring magazines at home and getting out and about to the shows, meeting people face to face, making friends and keeping up those relationships via the ’phone, or even by letter. Connected today means being on social media and having a wide circle of acquaintances, many of…

’55 OVAL WINDOW “a tribute to the car’s days being thrashed up Mulholland Drive? Maybe” If you look back into the history of the humble VW in America, you’ll find it was adopted pretty early on by alternative thinking Californians. It took the rest of the States a while to catch up and see potential in the car but, by the late ’50s, its rise in popularity was meteoric. Anyone reading this will know why VWs became so popular, but one of the parts of the story I’ve always loved is that VWs were owned by people from all walks of life, right from the beginning. The link between Volkswagens, California and the performance industry has been widely reported for decades, but it wasn’t just performance VWs that became popular…

Thanks to Lord Pembroke and the trustees of Wilton House for the photoshoot location Stories. Such an intrinsic part of this hobby of ours. I rambled on in my column a while ago about how past histories and interesting back stories add to the provenance of an old VW and it’s something that most enthusiasts actively seek out when buying one. After all, an interesting history makes a car so much more, well, interesting. Carl Taylor’s ’65, original paint Notchback is pretty interesting in its own right. First of all, it’s a true survivor; a matching numbers car with a believed 45,000 miles on the clock that had never been welded when it came into his possession. Why ‘believed’ mileage, I hear you ask? Well, according to folklore, this car…

STARTER MOTOR Email your news, thoughts, opinions and products to VolksWorld.ed@kelsey.co.uk Harrogate, UK-based electric car conversion specialist, eDub Services, has released details of its latest Tesla-powered VW Camper, which the company calls ‘Maggie’. This isn’t eDub’s first Campervan conversion, but this one boasts a 35kWh battery pack and a small Tesla drive unit between the rear wheels, maintaining its rear-wheel drive configuration. The power unit is capable of producing 220kW (equivalent to 270bhp), but in this application has been de-rated to 60kW, around 80bhp. With that, you should be able to travel around 90 miles. eDub Services’ conversions feature brand new batteries, not parts reclaimed from salvage yards. “Using new batteries gives our customer’s peace of mind,” said a spokesperson for the company. “They have 100% capacity and, as we…

If you want sounds in your VW, but don’t want a modern head unit, the RetroSound Hermosa could be for you. Offering a vintage look but with all the latest gadgets, it has Bluetooth connectivity, hands-free ’phone capability, DAB+, AM / FM tuner and a rear-mounted USB port enabling you to play MP3 / WMA music files. There are also two rear-mounted auxiliary inputs for portable devices such as iPods /iPhones for maximum connectivity and a 32,000 colour display so you customise the display to your liking. A built-in 25W x four channel RMS amplifier provides the power to your speakers, and dual RCA pre-outs let you add external amps. If you really want to up the old tech’ vibe, you can add a vintage overlay to the screen. These…

STARTER MOTOR Email your news, thoughts, opinions and products to VolksWorld.ed@kelsey.co.uk The EMPI HEI ignition kit is easy to install and set up and, says EMPI, will give improved performance and fuel economy. The comprehensive kit includes an all-new, solid state, billet distributor, degreed billet distributor clamp, 40,000V coil and 8.5mm plug wires, as well as advance springs, bushings, spark plug terminal nuts, plug wire separators and o-rings. Everything you need to modernise your VW’s ignition is included and, with no other modules or control boxes required, makes for a clean, simple installation. From:www.empius.com and EMPI distributors worldwide (p/no. 00-9442-0)…

As far as desirable Volkswagens go, a 1954 three-fold ragtop has to be right up there. As far as a desirable place to drive it goes, you’d be hard pressed to beat southern California. Our man here, Nelson Umana, has ticked both of those boxes. Not only that, this March ’54 Oval has been finished to a brain-meltingly high standard, thanks to a little help from friends along the way. The truth, though, is that it could have been a very different story for this car. Named Delilah by the family of previous owner, Ray Valentine snr, the car was well on its way to a full restoration, and was even beautifully painted in L227 Strato Silver. Ray conducted the purchase of the project car and most of the restoration…

OLD GOLD When we first conceived the idea of Old gold, it was, broadly speaking, to be a retrospective look back at VolksWorld’s history, but as different ideas have been flung about the editorial office it’s morphed into something quite different. This month, however, we thought it might be fun to go back 25 years and see what was happening through the magazine’s eyes this month in 1997. And quite an exciting month it was. The first thing that catches your eye is the eye-catching paintwork by Luke Theochari and Dennis Woodward at Terry’s Beetle Services on then editor, Keith Seume’s, chopped drag Bug, Flashback, on the cover. Having retiring his turbocharged Split Window drag car, and taking a bit of a break from racing, Keith decided to put together…

A one-year-only colour in terms of Bay Window Buses, Titian Red was originally introduced for the 1967 Split Screen model year. As with many high pigment colours, Volkswagen reds in particular, it isn’t as UV resistant as other colours in the classic VW colour palette. However, if you’re a patina junkie like me, that makes a Titian Red Bay Window Bus just about the perfect starting point for a killer patina ride after it’s been left out in the elements for a few decades. Another cool thing about Titian Red Buses that are imported from hot climates is that often the original white paint on the roof will still be intact, even when the red has faded almost entirely on parts of the rest of the Bus. This makes things…

Remember, you can buy single issues, or back issues, of VolksWorld at the regular cover price, with free UK delivery (+£1 charge for international postage) here: shop.kelsey.co.uk/issue/VWW UK customers can also save money by ordering six issues for just £21.99 via the continuous credit offer available here: shop.kelsey.co.uk/suboffer/VWW2022 Alternatively, if you’re having trouble finding your local stockist of VolksWorld, simply type your postcode in here: tinyurl.com/y26a38ul, and then select VolksWorld from the pull-down menu, enter your location and choose your desired search radius (between one and 20 miles).…

Email your news, thoughts, opinions and products to volksworld.ed@kelsey.co.uk I am writing to tell you about my 79-year-old father who has managed to buy back a GT Beetle he owned in the late ’70s. The car was restored by the previous owner and, according to www.thegtbeetle.co.uk, is one of just 51 L15M Zitrongelb (Lemon Yellow) GTs known to the register today. He actually agreed to buy the car on January 1st 2022 at the SX Dub Club New Year’s Day charity cruise, and the Beetle appeared in the report on the event in the March 2022 issue of VolksWorld. I’ve included a few photos, and I know it would make my dad extremely proud to see his pride and joy on the pages of your magazine. Jane Cooper via email…

THE COLLECTORS - RON THOMAS Early in the 20th century, thousands of German immigrants decided to settle in Ohio for a better life. This part of the U.S. has traits in common with Germany, from its climate to the landscape – and its love for German automobiles. Ron Thomas’ family have just such lineage, which might explain why his grandparents bought a brand new Savanah Beige Beetle in 1967. “They were supposed to hand it over to me,” remembers Ron, “but it didn’t happen. The car was stolen from our driveway two weeks before it was to be mine.” The year was 1979. In need of wheels, Ron bought himself a ’76 Toyota Celica, a classic in its own right today, and would you believe he still has that car…

’59 LOWLIGHT GHIA This Lowlight Karmann Ghia is definitely a good thing, and its owner, Gail Kelly, absolutely had to wait. But eventually, it came to her. Sometimes those old sayings do make sense. There is a price to pay, though, and it comes in the form of patience. Picture it. After months of searching, you find your dream car. It’s a 1959 Lowlight Ghia, but it needs complete restoration. It’s also left-hand drive, and you’d really prefer to be sitting on the right. The good news, however, is the guy who’s selling it knows just the man to make all that right. In fact, the man is him. The bad news is, you’ll need to wait six years. Don’t worry, we’ll explain. When Gail’s mum passed away in 2016,…

ENDOH VW BUSES The first production VW commercial vehicle was produced in November 1949, alongside the regular Volkswagen saloons in the main factory at Wolfsburg, Germany. The Transporter combined the advantages of economical performance and reliability already established in the saloon with the multifunctional ability of a commercial vehicle. The VW Transporter would prove itself in years to come as suitable for an almost unlimited range of uses. As with the saloon, there would be many changes made over the years to refine the Transporter, but it was largely an iterative process. At least, up until the company saw fit to move the engine to the front! Not only was the VW Transporter designed for commercial use, but early on its suitability as a people carrier was realised too and,…