Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i VWT Lifestyle

It’s a story we hear a great deal of at Camper&Bus, you know, someone went to look at a particular Bus but they ended up buying a much better one instead. It’s a bit like the universe has steered them in the right direction or something. Only this time the direction was towards Biagio Chrzanowski at World Wild Wagens (www.worldwildwagens.com) and the person being steered was Richard Soffe, the owner of this super-lovely OG paint 15-window. Show stealer We first met up with Richard and his wife, Gale at last years Stanford Hall Show. They were parked a few rows back in the SSVC line up, but their OG paint Split jumped out at us. Closer inspection revealed it to be a German-built 15-window and that Richard and Gale were…

Bideford on Avon isn’t somewhere we think about very often (why would anyone?) but for one Sunday a year every September we find ourselves irresistibly drawn in. For the benefit of the uninitiated, RSVP stands for the Redditch, Slammed VW Posse, but they understandably prefer to go by their cooler, much abbreviated moniker. They’re a bunch of like-minded souls with a passion for lowered and patinated Volkswagens, and this is their unofficial / official get together. You’ll find the RSVP parked up together at most shows, but for this gathering they throw their arms open and welcome all and sundry. As long as it’s air-cooled it’s A-okay with them. And, whilst we say throw their arms open, we actually mean reserve a little piece of England that the local council…

Even an engineer of my single-minded focus and calibre occasionally needs to relax and let my hair down… and when I do, I like to kick back with the experimental electronic sounds of Kraftwerk, ideally emanating from a Blaupunkt Frankfurt inside a beige Type 2. Nice… I do like a proper radio in a proper Volkswagen. None of these flashy LEDs, dull black plastics and ability to pick up digital stations with ne’er a crackle. They’re just not right - although you can always hide something modern and gaudy away in a glovebox, for those moments when you absolutely have to hear Steve Wright interrupting every single song on Radio 2 with crystal clear clarity. Anything from the appropriate era will look great in an air-cooled Volkswagen. In those far-off…

24 January March 2019 issue of C&B on sale! 29 January VW Spares Day in association with Heritage Parts Centre South of England Event Centre www.volksworldshows.com 16 - 17 February Dub Freeze Bingley Hall, Staffordshire www. dubfreeze.co.uk 10 March Ultimate Dubs Telford International Centre, Telford www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk 16 - 17 March Ninove / The Freddy Files Ninove, Belgium www.facebook.com/ukcruisetoninove/ 23 – 24 March VolksWorld Show Sandown Park, Surrey www.volksworldshows.com…

The Bus you’re looking at here is the handiwork of the Type 2 Detectives. I’ve known the chaps and chapette who work there for donkeys years. In fact, head Detective Paul Medhurst reminds me pretty much every time I see him that he got me the job on this magazine. You see, back in the day, I paid a visit to their Burwell HQ to write a feature on them for Classic Car Weekly. When I applied for this gig, the former editor Ivan rang up and asked Paul what I was like. His answer was “Alright I suppose,” but it was enough to help get me an interview,” so thanks Paul! Today, they buy, restore and sell a vast amount of air-cooled VWs, but T2D is probably best known…

As we sit by the fire this yule, glass of Port in hand and cheese in beard, what better time is there to sit back and reflect about the year just gone? Producing 13 issues a year means we churn out roughly one magazine every three weeks, so it can feel like a bit of conveyor belt at times. It’s a bit like childbirth in that you forget about the pain as soon as the latest one is out the door and you can’t wait to start another. Picking highlights of 2018 has been difficult, and you’ll no-doubt have thoughts of your own, but here are a few of the shows, Buses and other related shenanigans that have tickled us most over the last 12-months. Favourite gear It’s often said…

It boggles our tiny minds to thing that we’re now at the stage where we’re talking about the 32nd Bug Jam and looking forward to the 33rd. That’s crazy town. And, almost as crazy as this weekend at the Pod. Bug Jam is the stuff of legends, and has grown to become a thing known about and looked forward to outside our VW community. It’s a party weekend that appeals to all and sundry, but it still has more than enough air-cooled VW content to keep those less inclined to party to come back year-after-year. It’s fair to say, Bug Jam is one of the crazier weekends on the show calendar. It’s a place where you can let your hair down more than most and party all night if you…

If it were possible to transmit a sort of gracious silence via the medium of written word, then now would be the time to send it. Kevin Porter’s ’69 Deluxe is a thing of beauty and deserves a moment of quiet contemplation to drink in the glory of a vintage VW. The one-year-only Brilliant Blue is the paint department’s finest hour. It plays with light in ways no other original VW colour does. Introduce some sun and you’re instantly clued up as to where the Brilliant comes from, but for Kevin, it almost put an end to the entire restoration project… As a carpenter and joiner for many years, Kevin has long been associated with the commercial aspect of VW, diligently working his way through a fleet of T3, T4…

We go to a lot of classic car events throughout the year, but sadly we also have to miss many due to a lack of time, or the fact that they are just too far away. However, there was something special about the invitation from Johannes to attend the inaugural Volkswagen Klassiker auf der Postalm, held high in the Austrian Alps that caught our imagination, and a plan was hatched. Google maps estimated the trip at 850 miles each way, sadly a little further than our Single Cab shop truck would care to be driven in all honesty. Fortunately, although currently up for sale, we still have our Type 25 Tischer XL65 motorhome and it fitted the bill perfectly. Originally imported from Germany, it’s one of only 27 ever made,…

Once known as the Beetles Reunion, this event has grown over a quarter of a century to become a show for all classic cars. However, it’s still the VWs that take pride of place as the air-cooled fraternity mix with the water-cooled young ‘uns in the show ’n’ shine. The Limerick Show is the largest classic car show outside of Dublin and continues to grow year-on-year and for 2018, Kevin Reade decided to organise a cruise for air-cooled VWs into the show. His clever idea meant that when you arrived at the meeting point you paid your entry fee and were given your show sticker and show pass. It also meant that as a convoy we could all skip the queue and drive through a specially selected gate. I loves…

IDENTITY CHECK Learn your engine codes, that way you’ll know what size engine you’re actually looking at. Turn the page for a comprehensive list of engine codes used over the years. Being an AD, this is a 1600cc for Type 1s and Type 2s from ’70-’73. CAN YOU SEE IT RUNNING? It’s always best if the engine is still in a vehicle. That way you should at least be able to start it and hear it running. Strange rumbling sounds and smoke are signs of an unhappy motor. EXHAUST AND HEAT EXCHANGERS Whilst replacing them isn’t the end of the world, having to do so will add to the cost of an engine. If it all looks OK, will it fit with your set up of rear valance, bumper and…