Table of contents for November 2017 in VWt

Scrap that! Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has launched an attractive scrappage scheme encouraging the purchase of latest generation, lower-emissions, new vehicles, in tandem with the removal of older, Euro 1-4 emissions standards vehicles from UK roads. Owners of diesel vehicles that comply with pre-Euro 5 emissions legislation [That’s all you diesel T4 owners – Ed] qualify for the scheme. That means you can trade in your old Van and benefit from cash incentives – ranging from £1,000 to £2,000 – against the majority of new VW Commercial Vans and passenger carriers (exceptions being Amarok, California and Transporter Sportline) ordered before December 31 2017. The only stipulation is that you must have had the trade-in vehicle registered in your name for at least six months. All new Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles petrol and…

Hi there VWt, I’d like you to feature my Van in your magazine, if you are interested? Please. I bought it a year ago as a regular 2007 Paprika Red Panel Van and have since converted it. It has been resprayed in BMW Yas Marina Blue with a T5.1 front-end conversion that features the ABT-style spoiler. DPE Flowtech FP5 concave alloys were also fitted, while the interior is a full Evo Motion Design furniture run that incorporates a Smev stove and Waeco fridge. I’ve also fitted an electric, remote control rock ’n’ roll bed, all covered in black leather with blue stitching by Ed and the good people at Celtic Motorhomes. The engine is a 1.9TDi (BRS) with a stage 2 re-map, 2¾in de-cat exhaust from turbo back and an…

“If there’s one thing you can’t accuse a stoic bunch of British campers of, it’s being beaten by the rain” The Ws WHAT? Camping at the Castle, www.volksworldshows.com WHERE? Eastnor Castle deer park, Ledbury, Herefordshire WHEN? 28-30 July WHY? Family and dog-related fun, usually in the sun When the chance to truly lose yourself for the weekend pops up, we’re always up for it. And Camping at the Castle offers the perfect opportunity to turn off your ’phone and just concentrate on being within your Van, with your family, and possibly even your dog. Whichever way you look at it, there’s something quite magical about losing yourself on a campsite for a few days, particularly when there’s a car show, dog show, soapbox racing and a variety of bands to…

“Chris’ wife, Jenni Rowbottom, was made redundant from her job four years ago and bought the Van with her payout” Like the advice given to Americans during the recent solar eclipse, you probably don’t want to stare too long at Chris Male’s latest creation. But therein lies a conundrum, a paradox if you will. You need to look, and look closely, to identify exactly what it is about this Van that sets it aside from all the other T4s. When I first saw the photos of it, I knew it was different, unique even. But I couldn’t put my finger on why. It was only when I started speaking to Chris about it that it all fell into place. In fact, there is so much different about it that it…

“a tuned, but useable daily driver with motorsport overtones that I can have fun driving and enjoy camping out in at weekends” What with the new wheels and TT RS brakes going on a couple months ago now, Project Shed is moving ever closer to my original vision for the Van – a tuned, but useable daily driver with motorsport overtones that I can have fun driving and enjoy camping out in at weekends. It’s not too much to ask of a Van, is it? And so onto this month’s big upgrade. Electrics. While we were over at Johnsons Auto Electrics (www.johnsonsautoelectrics.co.uk) and the seats were out for our posh new stereo install, the Durite split-charge system I’d had in stock for ages was finally plumbed into the 110Ah leisure…

We don’t feature Caddys. We do now. Why? Because this is arguably the most exciting vehicle I’ve photographed and written about in the last couple of years. Why? Allow me to explain. There I was, stood in the pit lane at Rockingham Speedway during my annual pilgrimage to GTi International when an innocent looking Caddy Van pulled into stage for the 1/8th mile sprint. It looked pretty clean from a distance, and it had some swanky, lightweight motorsport rims on it, but the Mk7 Golf R in the next lane looked like it had it covered. Then… the Caddy launched like a scalded cat, clocked 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and left the Golf R looking like the driver was asleep at the wheel. It was awesome, and I vowed there…

Danny MacAskill is one of the best known bike riders on earth, especially when it comes to jumping off stuff, spinning like a top or pulling off simply unbelievable stunts. That’s why, when he approached the good people at Leighton Vans for something to cart his collection of Santa Cruz and Inspired two-wheeled contraptions around our fine isle, as well as further afield into Europe, Danny had his eye on a high-spec VW to ease the burden of the serious mileage he covers every year. Of course, it couldn’t just be a run-of-the-mill Panel Van either, and that’s where Michael Leighton, the big cheese at Leighton Vans, came into play: “I went to school with a lad called Steve Peat [now an internationally renowned downhill mountain bike racer – Ed],…

“offices, showroom and workshop all under one roof” The owner of Leighton Vans, namesake Michael Leighton, didn’t set out to become one of the country’s most prominent suppliers of VW Vans. In fact, little more than five years ago, he was selling used cars and hadn’t even considered the possibility of people such as internet phenomenon trails bike rider, Danny MacAskill, coming to him to source his new ride. However, five years on, and with a history of exceptional product knowledge and supply, as well as customer service, behind it, Leighton Vans has become one of the biggest players in the UK VW Van scene. Knowing some of the key movers and shakers in the off-road cycling world has helped, of course, but being fully immersed in both the mountain…

 VWt: Watcha Jared, how’s it going? Going by what I’ve read on t’internet, you seem to annoy people quite easily… why do you think that is? I think forums have had their day, with social media now taking over JC: Hey mate, I’m good thank you. I’m not sure if people get upset with me because I’m so damn handsome and they feel threatened, or because I don’t mind giving my honest opinion. I feel there is too much ass kissing in the scene and I don’t go in for that. VWt: We’ve been after a feature on your Van for blooming ages. When are you going to finally finish it? JC: Tell me about it. Did you actually see it when you first wanted it? It smacked of forum…

“the plan was for every part of the conversion to take place in house” It’s easy to get carried away with trying to be unique. We all want to achieve something different and stand out from the crowd, right? But in the current Transporter age, where new converters seem to pop up almost weekly, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to truly differentiate yourself from the masses. For Mark Cherrington, head honcho at Starlight Campers in Dudley, pulling in the punters at shows hinges upon building a demo Van that is not only of the highest quality, but achieves something out of the ordinary. Regular readers will surely recall his powder blue, vinyl-wrapped T5 we featured at the start of 2016 (VWt issue 43). Not only was that Van memorable, it had…

My T5 journey started in 2013 when a friend and I started a bodyshop in Wellingborough called Colourkraft. We started doing a fair bit of Transporter work – facelifts, colour coding, window fitting etc. It was then the bug bit and I needed one of my own. After doing a 2k Caddy, I already knew in my head how the T was to look. So much so, I bought the AirRex suspension and 20in BBS RS2s before I’d even got a Van to bolt them to! It took around a month to find the right Van – a totally standard, 140bhp six-speed in Pure Grey. So now I had the Van in the colour I wanted, which would save me so much time painting it, I could get straight on…

After years of living with Volkswagens and building two other Campervans from the ground up, my wife and I decided we wanted a T4, and that this time we would look for one that had already been converted. After months of searching, we came across a 1999 Mazda Blue 1.9TD in Northampton. A train journey, an amount of cash and we were on our way back to Sussex in it. What we have now is a mint Camper, fully loaded with a Reimo pop-top, top-of-the-line fridge, hob and sink unit, a ¾-width rock ’n’ roll bed and even some Van-X blackout curtains to make it extra cosy at night. It’s got a fully carpeted interior with black leather rear seats trimmed with detailing to mimic the Alfa black leather seats…

“Pete was fully embracing this new style of flat-out, lawless driving” Our second day started with bleary eyes after a distinct lack of sleep. Everyone had trouble switching off from the excitement of the first day and sleep hadn’t come easy. Day 2: Padova to Rome Mark, Josh and Jack left the start to the sound of the klaxon horn we fitted to amuse the spectators. As per the first day, we immediately jumped in the Van and took up the chase, only to get immediately lost. Don’t ask me how. We had a road map book, just like the racers, but once you missed one of the directions it was near impossible to get back on the right route. Not made any easier by the fact the road book…

“requires cleanliness, a bit of time and steady workmanship” I have to hold my hands up here and confess to having had a bit of a moment. I’d already trimmed the a pillars in Project Shed using some cheap red faux suede material sourced from eBay. Unsurprisingly perhaps, it started fading in the sun almost before the spray glue had dried. In hindsight, maybe I should have coated it with some sort of UV protection, but more likely I shouldn’t have been such a cheapskate.You live and learn. As pink a-pillars were not the look I was after, they had to go. And when the opportunity arose to have some proper swanky a-pillar builds inserted as part of the stereo install, I thought it was about this job was how…