Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i VWT Lifestyle

As a child of the ’80s there was a particular album in my house that both captivated and terrorised me in equal measures. The album was Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds, and it was Richard Burton’s monologue and the violin intro that really sent a shiver down my spine. What the heck am I talking about? We’ll bear with me, because it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard how Heather Smith came to own her lovely Westy Bay. You see Heather watched from a safe distance as it was transformed from a rolling project into the vehicle you see before you now. The man responsible for all the work was her son-in-law, Dean Jones, of Classic Car Revivals fame…

It’s essential to get as much use as possible out of a hobby vehicle because, let’s face it, the sword of Damocles is always hovering above the head of an expensive asset that sits idle on a drive for half the year. And indeed, this was the intention when Dan and Natasha Noble decided to buy a Bus in 2015. Dan’s into mountain and gravel biking, so the Bus would get used all year round accessing the best off-road trails, while Natasha, who has a super stressful job as a nurse and was also a care home manager at the time, wanted the opportunity to go off-grid, decompress and get away from it all whenever she got the opportunity. Nope, a summer-only trailer queen just wouldn’t cut the mustard with…

The standard rock ‘n’ roll bed installed in Split Screens and Bays was revolutionary back in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies, helping to transform many a daily vehicle into a holiday home on wheels. There are now modern alternatives that offer a more rigid metal framework, but if you would like to retain the original design, then it’s straightforward to remove, refurbish and refit, which is what the following 15 steps outline. The original rock ‘n’ roll bed consists of a wooden framework made up of three panels that are secured to the floor and wheelarches of the Bus. The upholstered base and back, which form the seat and bed, are held together with a couple of metal hinge mechanisms, which can be removed and overhauled or replaced for around…

We’re thrilled to announce that The VolksWorld Show will be happening in 2022 – and tickets are on sale now! The world’s leading car care specialist, Meguiar’s, has announced its continued sponsorship and as in previous years will be giving all of the Top 20 trophy winners a gift pack of cleaning products to keep their cars in tip top condition throughout this year’s show season. Our very good friends at Heritage Parts Centre are also continuing their support and will be there in strength at Sandown over the entire weekend. The exciting news is that we have a brand new sponsor, Ocean Trail. Part of the Avensys Ltd family, the firm specialises in luxury VW campervan and motorhome hire as well as selling a complete range of camping products…

California entices motorheads the world over, due in great part to its amazingly rich car culture. The local Volkswagen scene remains strong, too, not a big surprise considering the German manufacturer’s success on the West coast of the United States starting in 1955. This explains why VW Camper&Bus regularly features some of the many excellent examples being put to good use in the region. But how about other parts of the country? Several states offer healthy Volkswagen communities as well, including in the Midwest where we travelled last Autumn. “it was accompanied by all the paperwork and manuals from the dealership, along with the factory tent and roof rack” We were indeed invited by Ohio’s Cincinnati VW Club, for the 30th Anniversary of their VW & Porsche Reunion, a terrific…

Following lockdowns and a big thumbs down to large gatherings due to Covid in 2020, many VW shows were forced to postpone. That said, the Retro Dub Suffolk VW show bounced back big time in 2021, with a huge emphasis on campers and an even bigger and better Show ‘n’ Shine. Trinity Park has acres of space and even with a very large camping contingent, there’s still an abundance of room to spread out, whether your choice be club camping, general or quiet. There was a great deal of music entertainment over the weekend, with The Kicks and The Compressors playing on Friday night. And get this, the vibes started on Saturday at 11 in the morning and went right through until 11pm, with Ministry of Mojo, Brooke Telling, Julie…

Anyone who was kind/bored enough to have read my previous project report will know it’s not exactly been plain sailing since I bought my ’03 Caravelle. The honeymoon period lasted all of a week, when, on its first longish journey and whilst powering up a country lane the engine glow plug light came on and the swine lost all power. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity and a shadow of dread, like a Nazgûl on the wing, passed over me. Had I bought a lemon? Would it be able to take myself and the family on holiday that was now a little under a week away? I’d also noticed it felt down on power when starting from cold so there was no way…

Harness all that lovely energy from the sun with a Jackery solar generator. It’s a portable power station that’s quiet, easy to use and perfect for use outdoors on your next camping trip by providing on-the-go, reliable and completely clean electricity. There are several generators in the Jackery range, but to give you an idea the 500 Explorer provides 518Wh of portable power and when sold as a kit with the highly efficient, foldable SolarSaga 100W solar panel retails at £749.99 on Amazon. It features an AC output, a car port, three USB ports, twin DC outputs and a DC input, so is supremely flexible. In short, if you’re planning to go wild in 2022, a Jackery is an essential bit of kit as far as we’re concerned. Visit the…

It’s funny how you pick up on certain ownership patterns when writing for different magazines. For this mag, I’ve noticed people tending to buy an earlier Transporter each time they swap until they get to a point where the penny drops that later Vans are more practical. There’s also a trend for going lower and lower with each subsequent build until a point is reached when people are well and truly over the lowered life, after which a swamper build tends to happen. A more recent thing I’ve noticed, though, is the gravitation towards Crafters; a sizeable chunk of T5/T6 owners I’ve spoken to in the past six months have hinted at a future Crafter build and, looking at Paul Carr’s orange one here, it’s easy to see why. Our…

Meet ‘Busty,’ a 1963 Volkswagen campervan belonging to Peter Dunn and his partner Henry Kay. Although Busty is not all she initially seems. She hasn’t always been a Camper, but we’ll get to that in a moment. “I first had a 1963 Microbus back in 1984,” explains Peter, “I bought it for £300 and loved driving it, but I was trying to buy a flat in London and, needing the money, sold it six months later at a slight profit for £350.” Obviously both Splitties and London flats have shot up in value since then! “I always wanted another VW Bus after that but never managed it,” said Peter, “although I did own a 1971 1300 Beetle that was bright red and got nicknamed ‘Slartibartfast’ after the character in The…

If you were to transport a Volkswagen Camper owner of 1950s or 1960s through time to the present day, he or she would be amazed at how far VW’s basic commercial vehicles had progressed. And how advanced and sophisticated they’d become inside, especially those kitted out for life on the road. What started out as quite Spartan machines providing just the bare necessities for camping have become virtual palaces on wheels, offering levels of luxury and technology that, not so long ago, many people would have just been delighted to have in their actual homes. But while VW Campers today may be broadly similar in what they do and how they do it, the classic models showed some fascinating quirks and idiosyncratic options along the way. Who was the first…

What Buses have you owned, do you have one at the moment? I’ve previously owned a ‘78 Bay Window Westy Berlin deluxe, an ‘04 T5 2.5 130 (current Van) and a ’18 Crafter Trendline 140. So what was your favourite? That’s a hard one to split against the T5 and the Crafter; the Crafter is slowly edging in front though. Where’s the weirdest place you’ve camped in your Van? The driveway! We camped out for the GBCO (Great British Camp Out) during the Covid lockdown and thought it exciting but a little strange. Mind you, we’ve done it a few times since! Have you got any oddball camping rituals, like always having to have a pair of slippers on inside, or pitching up facing the toilet block? I absolutely have…