Tabla de contenidos para November 2020 en VolksWorld

“if you have a Split in your garage, and have always lusted after a Samba, why wouldn’t you do the window and roof mod?” I suddenly felt really old while writing this intro. Reason being, I was about to launch into one about how I remember a time when Sambas were rare. You know, you’d go to a VW show like Stanford Hall and might fix you peepers on one, two or three at most, in the SSVC line up, but that’s it. Especially enthusiastic types might even take a picture on their camera, hope it was in focus, no one had walked in front of them as they’d taken the photo and then waited a week for it come back from chemists who’d sent the film(!) away to be…

For the past 25 years, my summers have consisted of non-stop VW events pretty much every every weekend from April through ’til October, until 2020 when Covid changed everything… Missing a year of The VolksWorld Show was a bitter pill to swallow but, as the months rolled on and the summer panned (fizzled?) out, it was clear the postponement of Sandown was just the beginning of a nightmare season for events and gatherings of all kinds. As I type this, I can hear news on the radio of further lockdowns across the UK as we face a second wave of this pesky virus, and I feel grateful I made it to Santa Pod one time this year. The team there did a great job of keeping visitors safe. Not only…

There’s no doubt about it, there’s something a little bit weird about Volkswagen Type 3s. Everyone recognises a Bug or a Bus, but Joe Public are confused by them – not least when you appear to start filling your suitcase with fuel! They don’t have the following amongst classic VW enthusiasts of the other models, but those that know know. Julie explains: “It’s more about the driving experience than anything else. They just drive a whole lot better than anything Bug or Bus shaped. They’re spacious inside – our Squarebacks carry almost as much stuff as a Bus – and, unlike Bugs and Buses, they feel roomy and are quieter to drive. “Even though it’s similar in design, the suspension also feels much more modern than traditional Type 1 and…

When we first picked the Bug up I told my son, Oscar, “A fresh battery and a can of fuel is all we’ll need to get it up and running.” However, in hindsight, that was more than a little optimistic. Sure, it turned over and, with a new set of points and a battery fitted, there was a spark, but as I worked my way through things, it soon became clear we had other issues to fix (read: parts to buy) before firing it up. I was a little concerned by the lack of hose clips on the fuel lines and, as the rubber hoses had perished, the first job was to order some fresh hose, an inline fuel filter and a dozen stainless steel hose clamps. With the engine…

Kingfisher Overland Few people in the UK have more experience with VW buggies than Dave Fisher of Kingfisher Kustoms, so when news of his new venture broke we immediately wanted to know more. With 40 years’ experience in the market, and following two years of extensive research and development, the Kingfisher Overland is a road legal, go-anywhere, VW-based expedition vehicle. Available either as a built-to-order, turnkey vehicle (from £26,950) or in a series of kits (ranging from the basic at £5,075 up to a full kit at £8,522.99, as well as a chassis-only kit at £2,800), there are plenty of options to explore. To build one yourself from a basic kit, you will need a donor VW and some mechanical and fabrication experience but, as you move up through the…

Period drama Hi VolksWorld, just thought I’d drop you a few pics of my 1970 1300, which I finally got back on the road in December last year, 18 years after her last MoT. I’ve owned her for 24 years now, though most of them have been spent off the road due to life getting in the way, a Bay Westy project and a severe lack of cash and motivation slowing progress down. She was (poorly) restored in 1996 / ’97 by a VW specialist, but I ended up having to take her off the road again in early 2001 when the rust started to rear its ugly head. After a few years of being left unloved, and with my parents wanting their drive clear again, it was time to…

“no other Bus has to give up its parts to make the conversion happen” People have been fitting sunroofs and modifying VWs forever but, to do the job well (and by that, I mean to look like it was done at the VW factory), it traditionally involved using parts from another vehicle. That was all well and good when old VWs were cheap and plentiful, and before the repair panel market really upped its game. These days, however, sunroof Beetles and Samba Buses are expensive to buy, regardless of condition. Perhaps more importantly, high quality replacement panels are available and there are plenty of people around with the skill to resurrect even the most unholy of basket cases, so lopping the roof off and destroying one valuable vehicle to repair…

“I’m a huge fan of the B289 stuff… I’m also influenced by American hot rods, in particular the work of Boyd Coddington” “I’ve had the floorpans smoothed and both front and back seats appear to be floating” I know. It’s a feature that almost doesn’t need any words. I say almost because you really do need to know how and why Ian Banks has created this stunning addition to the custom Bug hall of fame. Well, if there were such a thing, this would be there parked right next to Billabug, Homer, Newbury’s Ghia et al. A picture might well be worth a thousand words, but it would be a crime to allow this amount of custom through the gates without discussing at least 25 of its myriad mods in…

“Eight, seven, nine, zero, one,” chanted a tall guy in front of the Karmann Konnection parts stand at the Phoenix Club Porsche meet in Anaheim. I instantly recognised this series of numbers as the chassis number of the 1960 Drauz Roadster I had recently bought, and the man behind the friendly face was Rick Kreiskott, who had owned the car for 10 years previously. “So, how do you like the car?” he enquired, to which I replied, “I love it!” We exchanged pleasantries and stories before heading off to look over his superb, original paint ’72 911, which was parked in the car display on the grass. I actually purchased the Roadster in 2003 via Bob Campbell, the year before that meeting took place. I was hoping to find a…

“Maybe Distler should be credited with the first ‘chop top’ Volkswagen?!” Perhaps one of the most desirable models of the vintage toy era, the stamped tin Distler Split Window Beetle is sought after by both VW toy and model collectors alike. It is one of the largest scale vintage VW toys produced in quantity and was manufactured by the German toy firm, Johann Distler K.G. of Nürnberg, the epicentre of Germany’s buoyant toy industry. Distler had already been producing tin toys for years when the KdF Wagen was officially introduced in 1938, and it did not take long for the company (along with many others) to tool up to produce its own miniature version of the new ‘People’s Car’. Over a 17-year period, Distler produced three distinct variations of its…

With The VolksWorld Show now scheduled to take place on 20-21 March 2021, you still have time to enter your pride and joy to be displayed alongside the best of the best from the UK and Europe at Sandown Park. Show car entries from 2020 will be rolled over to 2021 (so no need to re-apply if you did so last year) but, if you’d like to enter and display your car at Sandown, email a couple of pictures and a brief description of the vehicle to paul.knight@kelsey.co.uk and title your email ‘VolksWorld 2021’. Don’t delay, though, as the team will select the final display list in January 2021. Good luck, and we’ll see you all there. We can't wait!…

Regular readers will need no introduction to Der Blitzkrieg Kafers (DBK) VW posse over in sunny So Cal. As a group of very active air-cooled car builders, the DBK crew have put together a raft of highly detailed, high-profile rides over the years, and aren’t afraid to push a few boundaries in doing so. This ’55 ragtop is the latest to emerge from Dave ‘Pip’ Pipoly’s Long Beach, CA-based Compound Restoration Shop, known to most simply as The Compound. Dave himself is unofficially known as Editor Knighty’s beardybrother-from-another-mother, but that’s another story. While it would do Pip’s work a disservice to say he has a particular style, previous Compound-built cars have all had a certain something that defines the leftfield style he’s become known for, always jaw dropping and always…

We make no secret of the fact Le Bug Show in Belgium is our favourite annual VW gathering (well, after The VolksWorld Show of course), and there are several reasons for this. For starters, it’s huge, like super huge, too big to ever hope to see everything that’s there huge. And there’s a great atmosphere, not to mention the fact it’s located at one of the world’s most picturesque Formula 1 race tracks. And you get the chance to drive around the famous track, too! Throw in the traditional Euro show food, some racy evening entertainment and it’s the show with everything. But, what both Dokke, our photographer, and I look forward to more than anything else is seeing the new cars each year. And there are always dozens of…

If you’ve never familiarised yourself with Volkswagen of America’s Tourist Delivery programme that ran from the 1950s through to the ’70s, then allow us to enlighten you. It was designed as a means of personally collecting your new VW from the factory, and then touring Europe in it before shipping it home to the States. It was a genius idea. Not only did it offer the opportunity for a holiday of a lifetime to many Americans, it saved on the cost of renting a vehicle overseas and was a wonderful way to familiarise yourself with your new purchase, all while making some fantastic memories of Europe. The cost and logistics of shipping the car home to the USA was included in the purchase price of the vehicle, and the car…

“a screaming yellow zonker, and way ahead of the Outlaw 356 trend” ‘Rad’ Ritchie King has always been ahead of the game. He was importing Hot VWs and VW Trends magazines into the UK before the dawn of VolksWorld. He chopped a 1950 Mercury when most people in the UK had never even seen one for real, and he was building custom Karmann Ghias and modifying Porsche 356s when the VW / Porsche scenes in this country were all pipes, slippers and turgid concours events. Ritchie King is the original Outlaw, and in February 1995 VolksWorld brought you his ‘Hollywood hotrod’. Like his Roadster feature on pp72-77 this month, the coupe was sourced through Ritchie’s good buddy, Bob Campbell, and restored in the States before being shipped to the UK…

Version 1 number plate: IIIA 42801 • Body in KdF blue / grey, green / grey, dark green, flat black or camouflage • With or without pinstripes • Silver lithographed or grey painted chassis, with or without ‘Made in Germany stamping • Black or grey seat with driver and steering wheel • Metal or hard rubber wheels with ribbed hubcaps • Clockwork motor with brake Version 2 number plate: 307300 • Body in red or blue/grey with pinstripes • Grey painted chassis stamped Made in US Zone – Germany • Red or grey seat or no seat, no driver • Metal or hard rubber wheels with ribbed hubcaps • Clockwork motor with brake Version 3 number plate: D-3070 • Body in red or light…