Table of contents for Issue 71 in VWt

In Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, there’s a scene where Brian is addressing the assembled masses outside his mum’s house and says, “Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't need to follow me, you don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!” The crowd then respond with, “Yes! We're all individuals!” Brian: “You're all different!” Crowd: “Yes, we are all different.” Man in crowd: “I’m not.” It’s that one guy who pipes up at the end that makes me believe there’s still hope for freedom and creative expression within the world of modified Vans, where there also seems to be an awful lot of following the crowd going on. Take the last two cover Vans – a twin turbo V8-powered T5 and…

It’s not often we see a T5 sporting its original front end these days, particularly one as nicely executed with a Euro-style flavour as the Caravelle front end on Sam Newbold’s 2008 specimen. Sam’s story starts out like many others – builder turned VW enthusiast almost by accident. Over to you Sam. I bought my 2.5-litre TDi T5 Van to use as a works vehicle for my building business a few years ago now. The only problem was – and it’s a problem I reckon many of your readers will sympathise with – as I became more involved in the world of Vans, it soon became clear that this one would be retired from active duty a lot sooner than most other work hacks. The Van was initially lowered using…

There tends to be two types of vehicle modifiers in the world. There are the meticulous planners who work out every detail before starting, and then there are the rest of us, who kind of make it up as we go along when time and money allow. Mason Goldstein, however, has found another way. It’s kind of a hybrid of both, and the results mean perhaps we should all be considering the third way. Once Mason and girlfriend, Brooke Hamley, had decided on T4 ownership, there was only ever one outcome on the cards: super low. “Every car I’ve ever owned has been low. I didn’t think it was possible to get a T4 crazy low, until I first bought a copy of this mag and found a certain club…

If you were in a position to build your very own dream workspace, what would it look like? Big sofa? Huge desk? Private bathroom and uninterrupted views across the city? How about a bed that slides out at the touch of a button and 20in alloys? Well, that’s the reality for project manager, Hans Glover, thanks to this unashamedly high-spec conversion from Visiontech Automotive in Colchester, Essex. It took a while to make the dream a reality. Two years in fact. Hans: “I had to do quite a lot of convincing with my wife, Debbie. I think in the end she partly saw sense in the plan, but probably only because I spent so much time talking about it that she was already worn down!” Either way, Hans’ dream of…

“If only every Saturday could be this good” You know when a naïve young soul puts a post on Facebook about their mum and dad being away for the weekend, and then hundreds of their closest ‘friends’ turn up to wreck the gaff in an orgy of booze and hormone-fuelled adrenaline? That’s what the Transporter HQ BBQ seemed like to us. It was meant to be a fairly low-key affair – just a few mates dropping by for a chinwag and a Saturday afternoon wind down. A gentle start to the weekend if you will. But what actually happened was Vans were coming and going all day long, hundreds of people got stuck into the free BBQ and all those that were left congregated around a fire come night time.…

As many of you will know, I am no stranger to the VW world, or VWt magazine for that matter. My AWD Caddy was both a Readers’ ride and a full feature Van last year, and won VWt’s Van Of The Year 2017 as well. With one project finished, though, another has started. This one’s for the family and my amazing boys, Archie and Liam. So it’s T5.1 Campervan build time. I purchased a 140bhp 2012 Kombi six weeks ago now, and wasted no time taking a trip to see Revo for its Stage 1 ECU software upgrade. The mid-range grunt is amazing now! Highly recommended. Then it was on to the interior. Decisions needed to be made – ¾ rock ’n’ roll bed or full-width bed? As I’ve put…

‘Mushy, that’s my T4’s name. She’s an acquired taste with the outside being old and inside new, but I’ve always loved the Mango Green colour found on old air-cooled VWs, which is why I bought her in the first place. She was the Evesham College mechanics Van in white originally. I bought her from my college tutor and friend who did her up with 19in Chrysler wheels and painted her Mango Green in his workshop. I then had her repainted in the same colour a few years later so she always looks fresh and funky. Since then she’s had a complete overhaul. She had a rustic, shabby chic interior before and now she’s all swish with a flocked dash, re-trimmed leather seats, a full seven-seater conversion and a leisure pod…

“you know how it goes – sometimes you start a job and it creates 10 others. That’s just modifying, right?” There are but a handful of people in this world with the determination, time, skill, vision, finances and outright bravado to take a brand new Van, with just 99 miles on the clock, and start ripping it apart to improve it. Yet that’s exactly what 37-year old Matt Arnold did when he took delivery of a brand spankers Blackberry T6 at his Hinckley Camperwerx unit in the middle of 2016. “I knew from the day I got it that I wanted a California electro-hydraulic roof on it, and that really is the entire motivation for this project. It was honestly never, ever meant to get out of hand like it…

“one of the best little raves of any show on the calendar” There’s no point beating around the bush, I love this show. A, it’s on the doorstep of where my dad lives, so I get to have breakfast / lunch with him, and b, it hosts one of the best little raves of any show on the calendar. In fact, the small marquee rave is easily my favourite thing about this event. It’s like you’ve hosted a bigger-than-average party in your garden and all your mates have pitched up, all with a smile on their face. In terms of Vans, there’s always a mighty fine selection of air and water-cooled talent to choose from though, as with any show these days, kudos goes to the organisers for their ability…

Every now and then a Van pops up on our social media radar that we’re instantly drawn to. It’s inevitable. Some might call it fate, others serendipity, or maybe even just plain luck, but then the hunt begins. Like a tiger in its natural habitat we start the pursuit, slowly working our way across the savannahs of Instagram messaging, stalking our way through the long grass of Facebook, never quite sure if we’re about to pick up the scent or be rebuffed, or if the jugular is ready for the taking. Generally, tentative messages quickly turn into positive vibes and, before we know it, we’re on our way to snap the Van in question. Vans just like Steven Kirkby’s in fact. Every time we logged on around the end of…

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has taken the 2017 California XXL concept vehicle and developed it into a Campervan ready for production. The company will present the new Crafter-based Camper for the first time at the 2018 Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, Germany (24 August to 2 September). The production version of the all-new VW Camper follows the clear, fresh design ethic of the California XXL concept, but also creates a link to the current T6-based California Campervan, even down to being available with similar two-tone paintwork. Are you ready to go large? Who? www.volkswagen.co.uk Autoglym Active insect Remover It’s the time of year for pesky critters to commit suicide on the front end of your Van. So, after giving your Van a wash, spray this sweet citrus smelling foam on,…

Petrolhead Hello, I have just read your August issue and was very impressed to see the Michelin Van in there from Gary Stevens. I heard about him a year ago and had to go see him to check what the fuss was about. As soon as I arrived at Gary’s place I saw the Shell T4 he did previously and had to have her. I have been adding to and slowly working on it ever since. His work is unique and your magazine did a great piece on him and the Van. Here’s a pic of the Shell Van as it looks now. Keep up the good work. Many thanks, Zak Jusic VWt: Looking awesome Zak. We’ve long been fans of T4s with themes and thoughtful paintwork, and…

The sign of the devil is surely a Van that’s trying to bury itself in the floor. If that’s the case then Craig Goodsell’s T6 is one of those vehicles that probably has a three-headed hound guarding its entrance. Hound of Hades aside, this T6 is one that always draws our attention at shows. Hell, even before it went onto ABP air ride it was already trying to burrow its way into the earth on a set of Gaz Ultra Low coilovers, with all the supporting modifications you’d expect. Anyway, over to Craig for the current crazy spec list: It started out as a 2.0 140 T6 Panel Van, and I ran it on some Gaz coilovers like that for a while. That was until I discovered that with air…

“the pièce de résistance is the amazing Hobbit hole bedroom, hand built into the landscape” When you’ve had too much of the rat race, breathed enough of the big smoke and just need to be amongst the green of the great British countryside, a VW Campervan is the ideal companion. Perhaps without realising it, I’ve come to rely on #projectshed quite a lot recently, as being cooped up at my tiny desk at home, all on my lonesome has started to trouble me of late. While my home manor of SE London undoubtedly has it’s charms, every now and then after a deadline, or a week of utter carnage battling the traffic on the South Circular, Hammersmith flyover or M25 I relish nothing more than driving…

“I wanted a hybrid between a car and a motorhome” Let me pull back the curtain of VWt and give you reference of time here. I’ve just finished interviewing the owner of this smoother-thana-Tinder-bio’ T6, Paul Bennett, who just happens to be in Croatia with his Russian girlfriend, Maria. England has just lost to Croatia in extra time in the World Cup semi-final in Russia and I’m not even close to over it yet. Hopefully, by the time this gets to print, we’ll have moved on as a nation and focussed on more important things, like VW Campers on Bentley wheels. There are, of course, plenty of other things far more important in life than either football or Vans. How about life itself? Paul Bennett, 48, is a distinguished army…

“I’ll hold my hands up and admit I totally knackered any semblance of ride quality the Van once had” This final #projectshed instalment with me at the helm of VWt is not going to please everyone. But I had a score to settle, and was determined to see it through to a conclusion. For months now, I’ve been on the lookout for a set of Gaz Ultra Low coilovers for #projectshed, and finally scored some via a useful contact near Telford. A 10-hour round trip later, they were at home, but I’d put off fitting them as the sunshine was always out and I was enjoying just driving my Van. Before I get to fitting them, though, let’s just back up a bit. #projectshed is already fitted with a set…