Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 76 i VWt

My Van, my way Dear VWt, as a relatively new kid on the VW T5 block, I read with interest Jonathan Ward’s somewhat negative comments regarding VW logos in Issue 75. I think he is missing an important point regarding being a true VW owner (in my case a T5.1). We put various logos on or in our vehicles because we wish to be different and make our vans stand out from the crowd. Or sometimes the logo reminds us of an event, or somewhere we have been. It is not simply that we wish to be reminded what type of vehicle we own and drive. We are trying to say, ‘This is how I see the VW scene, this is my van, and this is how I wish my…

Addiction. It takes many forms but at its core is the need to fulfil one’s desires to such extremes as to be detrimental to life and health. Justin Webb says addiction was at the heart of the transformation of this 2014 T5 from a stone stock T30 Highline Panel Van to a trophy-laden ultimate Camper cum show Van. We beg to differ. There’s nothing about this Van that is detrimental to life or health. Bank balance? Well, that’s a different matter. Justin: “I do have an addictive personality, so when I get into something I go in a big way.” His gateway to Volkswagen Van ownership was a Mercedes Vito and a broken back. Taking the path less travelled approach, Justin broke his back whilst racing Moto X. While he…

Clean facilities with hot showers, blow dryer and also hair straighteners! Restaurant with an amazing patio, a mouth-watering menu and an extensive list of whisky and gin ready to be poured. A well stocked and welcoming kiosk and general store on site with friendly, knowledgeable staff. Outdoor playground filled with happy campers of all ages, plus an indoor games room that looked perfect for rainy days. A tidy indoor cooking building with picnic tables, leather couches, wi-fi, fridge and sinks to wash up. Numerous accommodation options (the wigwams looked so cute). No set pitches, just wherever you fancy, with a certain distance between you and your neighbour (we prefer a view, so up to the top of the hill we went). to majestic Munros, but in the heatwave we couldn’t…

We’ve been waiting to bring you this Van for a while now, even deciding not to run a Readers’ ride piece on it so as to show it off in all its glory. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Craig Goodsell’s ridiculously awesome T6 conversion. If you have been in a position to have a peep at this Van at a show this year, you will know just what I mean by that statement. Honestly, if we could get away with running this feature over half the mag with 90% photos we would, but even then you’d struggle to comprehend the ridiculous awesomeness of this Van. So instead I’m going to do my best to describe it in as much detail as Craig put into building it. Craig’s Transporter addiction started…

It’s funny how the more of a certain type of car or Van you own, the more you hone your vision of how a finished project will look, sometimes before you have even laid a hand on a vehicle. As well as being familiar with T4s, Paul is also no stranger to lowering them, or using pallet wood for their interiors, but this previous form gave him a clear idea of how his next one was going to look, even before he’d secured the Van on which to build on that vision. With each successive build, Paul had made decisions about what he did and didn’t want to incorporate into future builds and how his next T4 needed to evolve. And it did have to be a T4, not any…

Ian Brown, Lancashire I’ve had my Van for two years now, originally just a side project done on my drive over six months whilst I put my own spin on it. It started out as a standard 2009 T5 1.9TDi, all original parts and ply lined from its days serving the nation with Gregg’s finest pastries! No sooner did it arrive, the T5.1 Sportline front end was ordered from the internet’s most popular seller, Elliot Boddy of Travelin-Lite. That was sent straight off to the bodyshop to be sprayed and fitted, along with a few other things like the colour-coded door handles, while the roof was done in gloss black. Despite the comfort afforded by running the standard 16in wheels, I couldn’t live with the ’arch gap for long, so…

RUN A SHOW? Why not tell us about it? EMAIL: paul.knight@kelseymedia.co.uk 2019 JANUARY 27 VolksWorld Spares Day South of England Event Centre Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TH www.volksworldshows.com FEBRUARY 03 Camper Mart The International Centre, Telford www.campermart.co.uk 16 / 17 DubFreeze Bingley Hall, Staffs Staffordshire County Showground www.dubfreeze.co.uk MARCH 10 Ultimate Dubs The International Centre, Telford www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk 23-24 The VolksWorld Show Sandown Park Esher, Surrey KT10 9AJ www.volksworldshows.com Sponsored by www.meguiars.co.uk Save the date!…

Vee Dub Family is a VW-centric group that has been running since 2015, and now has nearly 12,000 members. The club organises a number of events throughout the year, and last year raised in excess of £10,000 for various Somerset-based charities, including Southmead Hospital, 4Louis and a local carnival club. The club’s annual trip to the Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford, Somerset took place on 11 November last year and was once again a great success, with VWs of all types, from Beetles to Beach Buggies through to the latest T6 models turning out in force. With such an array of gorgeous VWs on hand, it was difficult to choose the winner of the Dub of the Day award, but in the end it went to the blue Beetle of…

Having loaded my kids and dogs into the trusty T4, I headed down from Essex on the afternoon of Friday 13 June to join my buddies in the DAF (Die Alte Freunde) VW club on the decent-sized plot they’d been assigned in club camping. As we set up, just a stone’s throw from the main arena and trade area, the sweltering, 34degC temperature looked like it might turn into a storm, but the thunder and lightning we could see in the distance blew right past. Clearly the VW show gods were in good spirits for once! As we VW folk love a bit of sunshine, and the weather report was ‘hot, hot, hot!, the event was very well attended, with people travelling from across the South East and beyond, to…

“Mystic Goo tells me there are big things on the horizon for the world of Transporters” Seeing as this is likely to be the last page you will read of VWt in 2018, I wanted to take this opportunity on behalf of everyone here at VWt magazine to thank each and every one of you for your continued support and feedback. When Knighty and myself took over from Jimbo (aka ex-Editor, James Wallace) we had some mighty big shoes to fill, and quite a responsibility on our shoulders. After all, this mag was his baby and he was the one who nurtured and formed it into the magazine it is. However, the response we have received has been overwhelming. We have truly been welcomed by you all. Since coming on…

IF YOU WANT to work on the go, or just want to ensure good internet coverage wherever you are, the Huawei 4G mobile internet wifi kit with Kuma antenna is the perfect solution. Fix the small internal unit out of sight and the antenna to the outside (or inside) of your Van and create your own, ‘always on’, private wifi hot spot. The unit connects to a mobile ’phone network via a SIM card (pay as you go included) or you can insert your own UK network mobile SIM. If there’s no 4G signal in the area, the kit is backwards compatible with 3G or even 2G so you should never be without a signal of some kind. Includes a powerful 28dBi antenna, which can work up to 150Mbps to…

A lthough VW’s decision to design and build its own Camper conversions via the VWCV Special Business Unit (a subsidiary of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles) was announced in 2003, the decision to move California construction away from Westfalia after over half a century of partnership was made several years before. This had given VW’s designers and engineers time to cover the development and manufacture of the necessary Camper-related parts and accessories prior to the release of the T5. However, whilst it was claimed to be ‘all-new, those with a keen eye will have spotted the interior layout was essentially the same as the California had always been, albeit with a fresh look and feel to the fixtures and fittings. It was at the Auto Mobil International (AMI) event in Leipzig, Germany…

Looking back to my childhood camping memories, I can’t recall the 10-day forecast, the state of the public showers or if our pitch was level. My reminiscences all have a golden glow – exploring the Canadian Rockies, running through the sites with a gang of campground kids, roasting s’mores on open flames and dunking into ice cold glacial waters. My husband, Dan, was also privileged to have camped throughout the UK as a youngster and, as years went on, his addiction to the wilderness grew and took him around the world with a backpack. Until one balmy spring day, as Dan was nearing the end of his snowboard road trip in the heavenly powdered mountains of British Columbia, he was struck by Cupid’s arrow on a rooftop bar. The universe…

“the moveable rear seat function will undoubtedly really appeal to some people” In Issue 73 (November) we ran a feature on one of the newest offerings from Westfalia, the Kepler One. We say one of as it’s not a standalone model, but one of a pair of Kepler models, both of which offer a viable alternative to VW’s own California, and incorporate the usual Westfalia build quality, along with a few new tricks for good measure. So, if you don’t need a separate wet room and toilet space, but are a lover of the simplicity offered by the California layout, then take a look at the pictures of the Westfalia Kepler Six pictured here. If you’re into the bloodlines of the T4 / ’5 / ’6 Campers, you’ll already be…

I am beginning to wonder exactly where my T5 spent the first dozen years of its life. I know it was Germany because I travelled from my home in Brittany to Stuttgart to buy it, but judging by the amount of corrosion underneath I am thinking it must have been left on a Baltic beach for much of that time! “I made the grim discovery that the spare wheel was missing” Hence, when the undertray was off for an oil service recently I took the opportunity of rubbing down the front subframe to remove its surface rust and apply some rust treatment. I repeated the process at the back as well where rust had broken through the factory-applied matt black paint. While underneath, I made the grim discovery that the…