Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i VWT Lifestyle

Having written one or two of these features over the years (!) there appears to be a common theme appearing. We’ve noticed that a great many former modified Golf owners eventually turn to the dark side and go air-cooled. The really weird thing is, they don’t just turn their backs on comfort, reliability and performance, they go the whole hog and get into arguably the least comfortable, most unreliable and woefully underpowered (from the factory) air-cooled VW possible - a Split Screen Bus. In fact, we honestly couldn’t tell you how many Split owners have switched allegiances from Golfs, but we can tell you that Darren Chown joined their ranks a little over 13 years ago. Air head An aerospace engineer by day, Darren sold his Mk 2 Golf and…

1990 16-inch Syncro, Andy Sands-Moore Andy Sands-Moore has spent the last 2 ½ years restoring his ex-NATO Syncro, which is in the final stages of completion. It was imported from Germany and bought by him from an owner in Exeter, Devon. “I’ve had to do just about everything during the restoration,” he laughs! “I’ve completely revamped the interior, which is fully insulated and sound deadened, to achieve a very modern and clean finish, using carbon fibre effect facias for the units and at the same time, have added loads of extra electronics inside, with diesel heaters, USB power and lighting, etc. I did all the conversion work myself and we now have a nice fridge, freezer and cooker, with lots of units fitted with Tambour doors, as we were living…

Here at JK HQ we love nothing better than getting out and about in our beloved VWs, be it a local club night, a classic car show or a long weekend away to hit the surf. So, when the proposal of a team building exercise for the staff at Just Kampers was put forward during one lunch meeting, of course the idea of a road trip was mentioned. After some considerable banter it was decided, we would take on the famous LeJog, a route that runs from Lands End in the far reaches of Cornwall 867 miles to the very top corner of Scotland, John O’ Groats. All in our trusty and beloved VWs and in Memory of Sarah Greene, who sadly died of Triple Negative Breast Cancer and who…

Although the Volkswagen Beetle - and thus the company that went on to give us all the fantastic air-cooled vehicles derived from it - can trace its origins back to the 1920s, we’ve chosen 1934 as the formal birth of the Beetle. That’s the year that Ferdinand Porsche published his formal ideas for a ‘German Volkswagen’, thus connecting the German word for ‘people’s car’ with the vehicle that he and his team would come to design. Ferdinand was a talented and innovative engineer with a reputation for thinking outside of the box - for example, he’d come up with a hybrid petrol/electric car in 1901 - and founded a design consultancy in 1931. Thanks to commissions, Porsche had already dabbled with the idea of a low budget, mass market car,…

24 January 2020 March issue on sale Shop.kelsey.co.uk/subscription/ vwc 15 – 16 February 2020 Dub Freeze Stafford County Showground, ST18 0BD www.dubfreeze.co.uk 14 March 2020 UK Cruise to Ninove Folkestone (UK) to Ninove (Belgium) facebook.com/ukcruisetoninove 15 March 2020 Freddy Files Ninove (Belgium) facebook.com/ukcruisetoninove 21 – 22 March 2020 VolksWorld Show Sandown Park, Esher www.volksworldshow.com 7-10 May 2020 Derbyshire Dubs Wardlow, Derbyshire www.derbyshiredubs.co.uk 8 -10 May 2020 VW Campout Budel Bay, Northumberland www.vwcampout.co.uk 21-25 May 2020 Dubs in the Middle 7 Evesham, Worcestershire www.dubsinthemiddle.co.uk…

As a child, Zoe Cox was inspired by her grandmother Gene’s travels through Spain and Gibraltar in an old Bay Window Bus and when the time came, bought one to follow in her footsteps. The thing is, her husband, Jamie wanted something reliable he could drive daily, all year round. What was the answer? Buy another VW of course. Dreams of following in her grandmother’s footsteps had to wait, because as Zoe says: “Jamie, and I were kept busy bringing up Ben and Charlotte (now 17 and 16 years of age) and I had resigned myself to the fact that Gene’s adventures were now a series of tales that I would pass on to the kids.” However, this is where Jamie stepped up to the plate and presented Zoe with…

The Cote D’Azur is delightful in mid-September. The weather is usually glorious, the food is fantastic and the roads, shorn of Brit families (because the kids are back at school), are quiet and brilliant to drive. So why the hell would I chop a day off my holiday for work? Well, if there’s one event that’d justify that it would be set in Hampshire, at this country’s prettiest racetrack, attending the best event on the motoring calendar. The Goodwood Revival kinda gets you like that… There’s no easy way to sum it up, because thanks to the incredible variety of things to see, do, smell, touch and feel, it’s an event that everyone will enjoy for their own reasons. Racing? Well, yeah, absolutely. The Revival delivers some of the most…

RIDGEMONKEY CONNECT Space is always at a premium, no matter what VW Camper you own. So, whilst you could try and squeeze your regular pots and pans from home inside your Bus, you’re much better off buying stuff that’s fit for purpose. Like these offerings from RidgeMonkey. Their multi-purpose pan and griddle set cost £32 and has removable handles for more compact storage. The griddle plate doubles up as a lid for the deep pan and the non-stick coating really is non-stick. And if you like that, how about the matching Compact Toaster and Utensil set? That little lot is just £28. Get you some of that from www.campervantastic.com SSP Mahogany Steering wheel Whilst there’s nothing wrong with a stock VW tiller, you can’t beat the feel of a nice…

FEELING THE HEAT Hi Camper&Bus, I noticed James was taking some flack in the last issue for daring to suggest fitting one of those cheap Chinese heaters you can buy off of eBay. Cheap they may be, in comparison to the likes of certain well-known brand names, but I prefer to think of them as 'affordable'. No matter where they’re made, they’re essentially the same, and I have two. One to warm my Late Bay and the other to heat my garage – where I have it mounted on a wall bracket. I have to say I’ve been super impressed with mine so far and would never have another Bus without one. They’ve made winter driving and garage nights so much better. I look forward to seeing how James gets…

Leafing through a year’s worth of mags reminds us of how much cool stuff we’ve featured. Churning out 13 issues a year is a bit like childbirth – you forget the pain, heartburn and frantic push at the end because the juice is worth the squeeze. Feature cars are also like children in as much as it’s not cool to say you have a particular favourite, although in secret everyone really does! So, without further a-do, here’s a few of our highlights from the year gone by. Obviously please feel free to disagree, as that’s your every right and you can always let us know your feelings -good or bad - via the medium of email. Cheers and thanks for reading. Favourite cover You don’t need to work in publishing…

I think I possibly love the idea of Brighton more than the reality. It’s a cool seaside town with tons to do and I often think about moving there. But then the reality of having nowhere to park my old VWs and the constant hustle and bustle gives me a reality check. It’s far better to get my annual fix by simply visiting this cool seaside town, and what better way to do so than in the company of hundreds of other VW folk? Truth be told, as much as I love this show, I found myself disappointed. It’s no reflection on the organisers, but this year, like the previous, felt seriously down on numbers. The entire seafront used to be chock full of air-cooled VWs, but there were nowhere…

■ FAKE NESS The photo that started the modern myth of the Loch Ness Monster was published in that most respectable and trustworthy of organs, the Daily Mail, on 21 April 1934. Known as the ‘surgeon’s photograph’ - because it was purportedly taken by a London gynaecologist, Robert Wilson - it seemed to show some sort of swimming creature with a long neck and small head. For decades, it was regarded as convincing evidence that there was some sort of huge, strange animal lurking in the Loch. However, in 1999, a book revealed that it had all been a hoax; a disgruntled film actor and director, Marmaduke Wetherell, who’d been ridiculed by the Daily Mail, had faked it using a Woolworth’s toy submarine and a head and neck mounted on…

“Our neighbours were lovely,” says Lizzie Reeve, recalling the days when husband Paul first set up Cambridge Campervans. “They used to say we could use their driveway when they were away. We were in a cul-de-sac, and at one point one summer holiday every driveway had one of our Vans on it.” Lizzie has vivid memories of those formative years, when Paul ran the VW Campervan conversion business from home: “I’d be cooking Sunday lunch and we would have customers sitting around the table. The kids would be haring around with toys. It was all a bit chaotic.” In less than a decade Cambridge Campervans has grown into a company employing six staff at its showroom in central Cambridgeshire and at its newly acquired workshop close by. Paul says it…