Table of contents for October 2017 in VWt

Double XL to go The California XXL is here! Or at least it will be within days of this magazine going to press. The innovative new vehicle body and interior layout includes a comfortable bed of around two metres in length, a screened-off, spacious living area, a bench seat and swivelling front seats as standard. Add in a kitchen with twin-hob cooker, fridge, sink and extendable work surface and you’ve got the basis of a great, useable Camper. However, thanks to the double XL dimensions of the new California, there’s also a cleverly devised wet room with shower and WC to really up the comfort and convenience factor. At 2.9m tall though, the Cali’ XXL is not going to fit in your average suburban garage so you’ll need to factor…

Rick doesn’t actually know he’s making an appearance in Readers’ rides this month, but we’ve taken so many pics of his amazing T5.1 4motion at shows recently that we had to put them to good use! Rumoured to be the lowest 4mo on the planet, (if you know any different, do let us know - Ed) Rick bought it a couple of years ago as his daily driver / family runabout, but was quickly infected with the modifying bug. “I started out with some Bilstein coilovers and had the ECU re-mapped. I even ran it up the drag strip a few times,” he told us at a show recently. He did alright too, clocking a 17.2-second quarter mile time. But then he met a bunch of online scallywags, who kept…

“[the T6] had the space we needed to carry parts and tools, plenty of power and brakes the size of dinner plates” For those of you that haven’t heard of the Mille Miglia, here’s a bit of background. It’s a 1,000-mile (hence ‘Mille’) race held on open public roads in Italy, starting in Brescia on the edge of Lake Garda in the north, dropping down to Rome and then finishing back in Brescia. It was known for being a flat-out race of attrition and ran 24 times from 1927 until 1957, when it was stopped after a tragic accident that claimed the life of a driver, navigator and nine spectators. The event made a comeback in 1977 as a regularity rally held over four days, open only to vintage and…

This month we have been all over the UK in search of the latest and greatest in T4-’6 goodness, from Camper&Bus’ Camping at the Castle Show at Eastnor Castle, through Stonor Park, VW Festival, Endless Summer VW Show and Deutsche Fest at Brands Hatch. Plus, of course, we have some of your own reader-submitted Vans as well from even further afield. Spiffing! Keep us up to date at #vwtmag and #vwtmagazine on Instagram so, if you have a pic you’d like us to see, get hashtagging brothers and sisters. Alternatively, email us at vwt.ed@kelsey.co.uk or buzz one over to Jimbo at james.wallace@kelseymedia.co.uk. Ta, and have a lovely month. Jimbo spots We’ve introduced a new element to the Cool wall this month that we’re calling Jimbo spots. It will be a…

September Edition38* 1-3 September Overstone Park, Northants www.edition38.com/events Busfest* 8-10 September Three Counties Showground, Malvern www.busfest.org V-Dubs in the Valley 15-17 September Bewdley, Shropshire www.vdubsinthevalley.co.uk Doncaster VW Festival 15-17 September Parklands, Doncaster www.doncastervwfestival.com Grill-n-Chill 15-17 September The Hop Farm, Kent www.grill-n-chill.co.uk FNL VW Show 22-24 September Treen Farm Campsite, Cornwall Facebook / FNL VW show October Oktoberfest 6-8 October River Dart Country Park, Dartmoor www.oktoberfestuk.com GTi Festival 8 October Santa Pod Raceway www.vwaction.com/gtifestival/ Herman’s Halloween Campout 28-30 October Plough Events Centre, Peterborough www.hermannshalloween.co.uk November Slough Swapmeet 5 November Montem Leisure Centre, Slough Facebook / Slough Swapmeet RUN A SHOW? Why not tell us about it? EMAIL: vwt.ed@kelsey. co.uk * VWt recommended. Don’t miss it!…

The dog’s… Hi VWt, just wanted to say a massive thank you for featuring my Van a few months ago. It was truly a lifelong ambition and obsession with VWs fulfilled. I thought the write up was fantastic, with the focus on Sidney our dog, which the missus absolutely loved, and the kids couldn’t wait to take into school to show their friends, given they are now ‘famous’! I also thought the title ‘Doggy bagged’ was a stroke of genius, and we are now even thinking of getting it done as a window sticker for the Van. Extend my thanks to Josh, the writer, for producing such a great run down on what’s been a mammoth project Thanks again, and hope to see you around at a show. Cheers, Paul…

‘Katie’ rolled off the factory line on 23 February 2005 as a blue Van with twin side loading doors and was shipped straight to Ireland. Some time later, she was bought by Davy Pickard who runs a paint and body shop in Waterford. He spent 600 hours removing the side loading doors and rear quarter panels, replacing them with complete new VW sides. The inner door skins were used to reinforce the openings. The jacking points, roof bar holes, third brake light and VW badge were all removed and filled with steel in preparation for the Honda Root Beer metallic paint job. The front bumper and headlights have been changed for later spec VW Touran items and the electric mirrors are a combination of Caddy and Touran, modified by Matt…

“It doesn’t need to provide much, as the site itself is its biggest attraction” “If you’re looking for a great day out, put Dubford on your list” The Ws WHAT? Dubford VW show WHERE? Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire WHEN? Sunday 7 May 2017 WHY? A fine selection of VWs from Essex and Cambs, as well as further afield Now in its fourth year, the Dubford Volkswagen Show is organised by Steve Wells and his team from the No Hurry Dub Club, based just outside Ely in Cambridgeshire. However, it was started by the Cambs T4 & T5 Group, ostensibly as a T4 / ’5 meet, but soon blossomed into an all Volkswagens welcome affair, though modern Transporters are still the predominant models. The one-day event features a…

Creating something unique and inspirational is all about how you use your ingredients. Take, for example, eggs, flour, sugar and butter. Give that to a three-year old and you have the basis for a long and drawn out Mumsnet thread titled, “How do I get food out of the sofa / carpet / bedding / cat…” Give the same ingredients to Mary Berry and the result is “a big, bold and beautiful summer gateau.” Similarly, a rattle can of spray paint is antisocial behaviour in the hands of a disaffected yoof, but is the raw material for something thought provoking and challenging when wielded by someone like Banksy. When it comes to building a VW Van, Steve Grimshaw is definitely in the ‘master’ category. The most basic ingredients in his…

“the ideal way to project sound into the cabin of your Van” We’ve featured a number of Vans recently with high-end ICE installs that feature a-pillar speaker builds. The reason being they’re the ideal way to project sound into the cabin of your Van, yet retain an element of OEM incorporation so prying eyes can’t really tell that your Van is packing a serious sound system. The contours and angles you choose depend very much upon how you listen to your system, and where your ears are located in the cabin. That’s not as daft as it sounds. If you have the added benefit of a digital signal processor (DSP) that can time align the sounds in such a way that vocals and instruments appear to project from the very…

“if it’s fresh and meaty, we’ll eat it” VWt: What’s it like being a pair of old dogs in the VW scene? D&M: Old dogs? Old dogs?! We’ll rag on the bottom of your jeans the next time we see you Jimbo… grrrr! BOL (bark out loud). We may be old, but we’re still fit and well. We really enjoy the VW scene and love being taken to the shows by our staff aka our human mum and dad, Tony and Donna. People often recognise us now and call us by our names and give us a stroke and sometimes treats. We love all the attention, and often meet up with fellow Dub dogs and their human staff. VWt: Which breed are you? D&M: We are Border Terriers. We originate…

“built purely to allow Ken and his wife to get away and enjoy their leisure time more” It was in 1995 that Alanis Morissette sang Ironic. But while her cheery little number was actually full of doom and gloom (see what I did there?), our conversation with Ken Abbey about his T6 Camper is stacked with happy irony. Firstly, when we finally made contact with him, he was on holiday in it and, as we chatted about the work done on the Van and the inspiration behind it, he was sitting in it, beer in hand, gazing out at the Devon countryside. The bottom line is the Van was built purely to allow Ken and his wife to get away and enjoy their leisure time more. While not Ken’s first…

My need to own a T5 started in 2008 when I worked for Aston Martin Racing / Prodrive. At the time, the company had three brand new re-mapped Highline Multivans (left-hand-drive Multivans not Caravelles because of all the travelling to European circuits). I had to have one! I remember at the time we used to take the mickey out of the guys who worked on the Subaru Rally Team because they had low-spec Transits that were speed limited to 60mph. For various reasons, I didn’t end up buying my Van until early 2013, but I knew I wanted a pre-facelift Sportline 174 and to maintain an OEM+ look with it. It also had to have the higher spec interior with electric windows, proper headlining, air con etc. In the end,…

“You’ve got to drink it while it’s fizzy” “It sounds a bit melodramatic, but this Van really has changed our lives” It’s easy to think of a new idea or concept, and maybe even to imagine how it might take shape, but having the balls to throw in the towel on your 9-5 and see it through to fruition involves risk, bravery and, inevitably, a great deal of hard work. For Peter Staniforth from Barnsley, his eureka moment was born out of necessity, and you know what they say about that being the mother of invention, right? In Pete’s case, that couldn’t be more apt: “I’d long been into doing a Van for myself and my other half, Paula, but I really wanted to do it myself, and put…

“Having come from Transits, I was blown away by the VW” You can’t teach enthusiasm. I’ve learnt that over the years. Without positivity, desire and a can-do attitude, what chance have any of us really got? If you lack motivation when you take on any project, you’re doomed from the outset, but that certainly can’t be said of Surrey-based Olly French. He oozes enthusiasm from every fibre of his being and together with his wife, Heidi, and their little lad, Thomas, they’re a walking advert for with the right kind of attitude you really can achieve anything. Olly has a fast past behind him on a variety of lunatic two-wheeled death machines, including a track-prepped Kawasaki Ninja ZX7R that he used to race and track day regularly. As such, he…

“treat others the way you want to be treated and don’t sell parts or services you would not use yourself” The Ws WHO? www.justkampers.com WHY? A huge selection of tried and tested parts in stock for next day delivery WHERE? 1, Stapeley Down Farm Cottage, Long Lane, Odiham, Hampshire RG29 1JE; Tel. 01256 862288 VWt: Hi there chaps, how’s it going? The JK brand is now synonymous with quality, value and also for being one of the most well respected Bus and Van specialists out there. How did it all start for you? JK: Originally JK was set up by Mark Reynolds so he could earn some money for a few months, as he was planning to drive from London to Capetown in his 1972 Bay Window. 28 years later,…