Inhaltsverzeichnis für December 2019 in VolksWorld

Has Volkswagen acknowledged the fact that enthusiasts won’t want to give up driving their existing classics when the inevitable switch to electric cars takes place? Very possibly, given that they’ve officially partnered up with German conversion company eClassics which will allow the electrification of a variety of historic vehicles, including the Beetle and Bus. The conversion exclusively uses new parts from the Volkswagen Group, including the electric drive, single speed gearbox and battery system from the VW e-up! The near-production version of what they are calling the e-Beetle made its world debut at the International Motor Show (IAA), Frankfurt in September. “we simply link the soundtrack to the rheostat on the electric motor and play it back through a Bluetooth speaker with the volume knob set to 11” Said Thomas…

We took delivery of our brand new 1300 Beetle on August 7, 1974, exactly 11 days after our wedding. It was supplied by Renwicks Garages Bristol and cost £1,147. The movie Herbie Rides Again had been released earlier that year and our car had been used to publicise the film in the VW dealership showroom with No. 53 decals and red white and blue stripes. We naturally named the car Herbie. It was used for my daily drive to work as well as taking us on holiday from the Midlands to Cornwall several times. As children came along we fitted a towbar and used a small trailer to carry pushchairs and all the other necessary paraphernalia. Front seatbelts were not a legal requirement until 1983 although we had them in…

For years British Columbia has been a hotbed of TV/movie activity, something that’s resulted in Mark Angus bagging the perfect job. He’s made a career supplying cars for films, television shows and commercials. Okay, it can be challenging finding the right vehicles – but having been a petrolhead since childhood, you’re unlikely to ever hear him complain. While the Vancouver resident has owned his fair share of unusual cars over the years, ranging from a twin-turbo Porsche 911 to a 5-ton truck, his dream vehicle – an early VW Crew Cab – had always eluded him. That is until a potential candidate finally appeared, specifically a ’64 model featured in a TV commercial filmed locally. The truck had been imported from Southern California half-a-dozen years earlier, looking pretty good at…

The empire started out at Stoneleigh moving through Weston Park, Peterborough and Redbourne before settling at Santa Pod Raceway 12 years ago. The world’s longest reigning VW show has vast club and family camping areas all centred around a large marquee, with trade area, show area and action arena for the famous VW Action Olympics. The Action experience starts as soon as you arrive with a friendly welcome from the crew directing you to your camping area. This sets the scene for the rest of your weekend; the ethos of VW Action has always been to make friends and have a good time – and indeed, that’s what gives it its unique atmosphere. Weekend warriors Saturday’s Everyday Vehicle Concours was all about the daily drivers, or vehicles that see regular…

One of the many reasons that air-cooled Volkswagens became such a global success is because their tough, no nonsense construction and inherent reliability made them suitable for all manner of conditions and climates. Nevertheless, some international VW outposts still took great pleasure in fiddling with things, to make their machines even more appropriate for the local environments in which they had to operate. Mexico and Brazil were most renowned for being little tinkerers, but other countries got in on the act as well. This included Australia which, in 1967, came out of nowhere with the off-beat and fun Country Buggy, a sort of halfway house between the wartime Kubelwagen and the later Type 181 Trekker. “If you think the Beetle is ugly… take a look at this one. The uglier…

SHOW CARS REQUIRED We pride ourselves on having the best show cars from around the globe at Sandown Park each year and we have already had some amazing vehicles apply! For over 30 years the cars on display have included some of the very best and most prestigious on the planet – and you could steal the show in 2020. We need to hear from you now if you are planning to have a car or Bus ready to be unveiled at The VolksWorld Show 2020. It could even be a potential Top 20 Winner, but either way we want to hear from you. If you are interested in displaying your car or Bus, please email a couple of pictures and brief details to paul.knight@kelsey.co.uk KIDS ZONE  we sure something…

MAGNETIC ATTRACTION From: www.aircooledaccessories.com Price: £50 Now here's a handy accessory for all you Beetle owners. It's a magnetic dash cup and phone holder that attaches, courtesy of four powerful magnets on the back, onto your glovebox lid without the need for any drilling. It holds two drinks and a mobile phone with a slot in the base for a lead so your phone can be charged while driving. It's manufactured in steel and supplied in black but of course would look great if it was colour matched to your dash. Cleverly, it will fit on glove box lids with or without the chrome strip; in fact they will fit on any flat metal surface. This is an official Aircooled Accessories product (not an official VW licensed product). EARZ DOES…

As a teenager I simply couldn’t get enough VW input, especially the pastel painted, ‘new wave’ kind I’d seen on the pages of Custom Car (courtesy of a certain Mr Seume). VW Trends and Hot VWs mags had the USA scene covered and I was always stoked to find out what was happening Stateside. However, you have to remember that back in the mid-to-late ’80s there was no internet so the only way this VW-mad schoolboy could keep track of the fast-developing UK VW scene was via a few captions or show pics on the pages of CC or Street Machine. Of course, I was desperate to check out the new Run to the Sun event, and word of a new show organised by Brett Hawksbee had filtered through by…

On the rough red dirt tracks of the rural KwaZulu Natal state of South Africa it’s normally the ubiquitous pickup trucks and tired old Japanese cars you see. Which is why a bright blue and absolutely immaculate 1966 Karmann Ghia parked outside the local Steam Punk cafe obviously warranted a closer look. Every month the coffee shop hosts the local classic club’s ‘Midland Meander’ drive where the region’s pre-’80s cars get taken out of their garages to enjoy the twisting country roads in the foothills of the jagged 3000m high Lesotho massif. This particular Ghia is a common sight at the friendly gatherings… which is understandable seeing as it’s been owned by local VW aficionado Nigel Howard since 1972. Forecourt find Nigel’s love of VW began way back in 1961…

I’m not going to lie to you. Once the dust had settled on the deal that saw me take a frilly round the edges Swedish ’58 as part of a P/X deal against my more than rather spiffy Porsche 912 I had one of those, “What the hell have I done?” moments. Sure, I knew the Bug was going to need some work – that was actually part of its appeal – but the overall tattiness of the entire car bummed me out quite a bit. Captain unsensible If it was just the welding it needs I’d have been alright, but every aspect of the car needs something. Bits of carpet are missing, the headlining looks like a tramp’s underpants – the interior smells like them – and the dash…

All too often the very best cars get sold by word of mouth before you even hear that they are on the market. However, the exception is when they've been in a collection or sold as part of an estate and get entered into an auction. We are not sure of the exact circumstances in this instance, but either way this Diamond Blue '67 1500 which scooped top honours in the pre-1968 class at Stonor in 2018 is set to go under the hammer on November 23 at the Historics (www. historics.co.uk) sale at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands, Surrey. According to the catalogue description, it's been with the same dedicated owner for the last 33 years and despite some restoration work is mostly original. And because the odometer is showing a…

Boxing clever In the past I’ve mentioned the fact that my best buddy, Jolly Jim, and I both own Type 3 Notchbacks that are pretty much at opposite ends of the ‘style’ scale. Jim’s Notch is essentially a racetrack refugee – a ‘street car’ in the very loosest of terms... While Jim insists that his Notch qualifies as a street car because it still runs a Type 3 chassis, I can’t help but feel that the Type 1 frame head swap (with 6in narrowed beam) and the tubular rear end (with rose-jointed ladder bar suspension, 3in narrowed axles and a spool etc) kinda' negates that argument. And, when you add in the fibreglass panels, huge rear wing and a 2332cc motor with 48IDA carbs and an FK89 camshaft, that doesn’t…

“this thing looks like it’s doing 150mph even when it is sitting still” Vito Versluys is a 42-year old contractor who lives with his partner, Tineke, in a small Belgian town called Knesselare (which is located roughly halfway between Brugges and Ghent in case you were wondering…) and just happens to be one of the funniest and friendliest guys you could ever hope to meet. He is also a huge fan of drag racing hence we have grown used to seeing both Tineke and Vito at race events across Europe over the years. Having cut his teeth on a black ’68 Bug as a teenager, Vito realised that he had much to learn about mechanics and motors if he was ever going to race alongside the drag cars he loved…

Throughout the season, there’s numerous shows and meetings offering an opportunity for the air-cooled fraternity to gather. There are large shows with lots of activities and then there are the smaller events with predominantly local visitors that keep the scene alive. One such affair is the annual show of the VWBBL, which takes place in Haan, west Germany. The all air-cooled show attracts roughly 100 to 200 cars each year, depending on the weather, and what it lacks in terms of sheer numbers, it more than makes up for it terms of interesting vehicles. VWBBL, or Volkswagen Boxer Bergisch Land, is set in the hilly, rural landscape of the Bergisches Land, close to Cologne and Düsseldorf. It offers refreshingly quiet, winding roads which makes the region a paradise for motorists.…

“it’s time to whip out the screwdrivers and fit a 12v armature” Wipers running at a crazy warp speed on a 12v converted Split Bus (or Beetle, for that matter) is a sure sign you’re still running a 6v armature in your wiper motor. Sure, the wipers will technically still work, but it makes the wipers worse than useless in anything which resembles damp weather. If your wipers are so pointless that you use Rain-x and only see them as a means to make your car roadworthy, then it’s time to whip out the screwdrivers and fit a 12v armature instead. They re readily available and are a doddle to fit. 01 Remove kick panels/ashtray  Firstly, while sitting in the passenger side, remove the ashtray, as it makes visibility and…