Innehållsförteckning för June 2017 från VWt

Around 70 years ago, Dutch VW importer, Ben Pon, visited the Wolfsburg plant and came across a curious vehicle – the Plattenwagen. He subsequently made a sketch in his notebook of a vehicle type that did not exist at that time anywhere in the world. His sketch became the launch pad for a vehicle that would sell in its millions – the Volkswagen Transporter. In commemoration of Mr. Pon’s original Transporter sketch reaching production some 70 years ago, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles unveiled a 70 years of the Transporter special edition at the Geneva International Motor Show. It combines the charm of the classic retro style with the technology and quality of today’s VWs. The special edition model is based on the Multivan Comfortline and has been created using a mix…

Shaun has owned his T4 for 15 years now, during which time it has undergone a major makeover in just about every department, and has been transformed from an old blue builders’ Van into a glorious vision in brown and beige colour co-ordination. Shaun stripped the T4 back to a bare ’shell and began a huge refurbishment, which got underway with a repaint in Heritage Beige, incorporating a chocolate brown with a gold flip on the roof. He also rebuilt the 2.5-litre diesel engine, porting and polishing the cylinder head, adding a hybrid turbo, intercooler and a bespoke PPTuning exhaust system with an air-cooled style tailpipe. The gearbox is the stronger HD five-speed manual, and braking is now via VR6 discs and calipers. The unusual alloy wheels are from a…

“I couldn’t believe it when people were looking at the Van” We’re at Ultimate Dubs (UD) 2017. Amongst the hoard of obscenely lovely VWs, Audis, Porsches, BMWs and Nissans… yes, Nissans… there stands a T6 Van that’s overshadowing the lot. Parked next to an aired-out Audi R8 V10 that, if someone much younger than I were writing this would almost certainly be described as ‘sick, this high-spec Van is somehow making a £130k+ supercar blend into the background. “I couldn’t believe it when people were looking at the Van,” Andy Stephenson tells us, and he’s not being falsely modest either, he’s still having trouble processing why and how it’s become so popular, and the reaction it’s generated online over the last couple of months. “I bought it brand new from…

“I’m not a girlie-girl, and don’t really like pink” The best thing about doing this job is meeting and speaking to people who are just as passionate about cars and Vans as we are. Don’t get me wrong, I love the written English language, but as a tool, not for its own sake. It’s people like Susie, with her accompanying love of all things VW, that make this job such a thrill. They say that for people who are passionate about something, if you cut them, they will bleed the subject they are so enthused about. But in Susie’s case, it is more obvious than that – she has twin examples of a stylised version of the VW logo, housed in a heart rather than a circle, tattooed on one…

“surprisingly straightforward, and definitely do-able at home” Last month we showed you the strip down process for the front end of your pre-2010 T5, now it’s time to reverse the process, but using swanky new T5.1 components. Fortunately for us, the facelift kit we bought on eBay had already been sprayed in L902 Grauweiss to match the rest of project shed, which just sealed the deal on what was already a fantastic price. We took a bit of a gamble on the paint, having heard there are a number of variants in shade of the same colour (!), but figured we weren’t going to lose out as it cost the same as unpainted panels. With the bumper, bonnet and plastic bumper inserts already given a coat of paint by Tom…

Blake’s Caddy is one of those that always steals the limelight wherever it goes. When we first caught sight of it at his Transporter HQ workplace in Leicestershire, we knew you lot had to see more of it. Built originally by Northamptonshire paint shop, Colourworks, as a demo for the firm’s bodywork talents, it’s little wonder it looks as good as it does. What began life as 2006 C20 Caddy Van retains its stock 1.9 (BLS) TDi engine as it’s still going strong, but now sports a complete Touran V3 front end, complete with bad boy-style bonnet extension. This adds a hint of menace but, with the matching, later aero-style mirrors and all of the smoothing that has taken place around the bodywork this Van looks so subtle and svelte…

Following a trip to Busfest 2016 with friends, we took the plunge, searched for and finally purchased a 2004 1.9 SWB Van, complete with side windows, R ’n’ R bed and carpet lined. Inspired by the Deacon Blue song, here’s our van called ‘Dignity. An engineer by trade, I wanted to do as much of the work as possible myself. With a piece of powder blue laminate in hand, we had the seats and rock ’n’ roll bed re-trimmed to match (thanks to Captains Seat) and then it was over to me. The bed was re-positioned as far back in the Van as possible, extra insulation was added to the walls and ceiling, split charge and hook up installed, new vinyl flooring and then it was time to build and…

“The enormity of what went on here between 1939 and 1945 is lost as you are taken round on a conveyor belt” Having just about recovered from the horrors of Lidice, the next morning we left for Kraków. As we left the Czech Republic, we relished the new Polish motorway, which was very smooth so I was able to pick up speed, but not too much as most of the bridges crossing it had cameras mounted on them. As we were nearing Kraków I chose to leave the motorway and join the 52 with a speed limit of 45mph. We drove steadily through some extremely pretty towns, which slowed our rate of progress considerably, meaning it took a lot longer than anticipated to travel the distance to Kraków but, as…

Paul Walsh never imagined it would be his dog, Sidney, who’d be his ticket back to owning a Campervan, but that’s exactly what happened. Now Paul is the proud owner of this super low, air-ride, 140bhp, T6 – certainly the coolest canine holiday home we’ve ever seen! But let’s start at the beginning. It was in 1991 when Paul first got hooked on VWs. It began when his sister’s now-husband, Richard, turned up at their house in his 1303 Beetle with the latest copy of VolksWorld magazine. Paul read the mag cover to cover, and that’s all it took for the then 16-year-old Paul to be fascinated by VWs for life, and he’s never missed a copy of VolksWorld since! Paul’s first car was a 1974 Baja Bug that he…

The Cool Wall is back by popular demand. We’ve had a few months off due to the lack of shows but, now we’re back in the swing of things, it’s time to get the party started. This time we’ve decided to take a look at inner greatness, a sublime selection of our favourite interior design – the greatest hits, if you will – from the last few months. If you think your interior matches up to these, drop us a few pictures of your Van to vwt.ed@kelsey.co.uk and you’ll end up on the hallowed wall of cool.…

“It’s a lot more than just a Van with the roof chopped off” No T5 Pick-up of this magnitude is ever going to be an easy undertaking. That’s why, to the best of our knowledge, there are scarcely enough in Europe to be counted on one hand. There’s obviously the totally insane, Porsche-engined offering from TH Automobile in Germany, the well-known Doka Pick-up of Jon-Paul Lockyer and then the facelifted works truck that belongs to Transporter HQ. But then this custom fabricated demo ’Wagen appeared on our radar towards the end of last year. It was at VW Festival at Harewood House that we first caught sight of this labour of love, resplendent with a full Camper conversion in the back of it as well. Truth be told, it was…

Here’s a shocking and subjective observation for you. This Van has one of the best sounding ICE installs we’ve ever heard in a vehicle, and it’s surprisingly simple in its execution as well. Lee Johnson from Chelmsford runs Johnson’s Auto Electrics, and over the years has developed quite the reputation for SQ-orientated in-car entertainment systems. Some of you may even remember his Caddy Van that we featured in Readers’ rides a couple of years back, but his latest T5.1 demo ’Wagen takes things to a whole new level. It starts up front with a standard issue VW RND510 head unit, which feeds speaker level outputs to an Audison bit Ten signal processor. Now those who aren’t into ICE will think a signal processor a superfluous bit of kit, but it…

“It’s here the latest and greatest water-pumping Vans are to be found” You can’t escape the excitement that surrounds the duo of early season events that we here at VWt wouldn’t miss for the world. The first is Ultimate Dubs that we covered last month, the other is The VolksWorld Show, which seems to generate more excitement and pre-event hype than almost any other show on the calendar. Having overcome the scrutiny of the exhaustive selection process by the peeps at HQ, the two-day event in late March at Sandown Park racecourse in Esher, Surrey unfolds for many on the Friday. As the Esher and Surrey display halls begin to fill up with Europe’s finest air-cooled VW machinery, and the campsite and club areas outside take shape, there’s a tangible…

May Early Edition 14 May Sywell Aerodrome www.edition38.com/events Dubs at the Park 14 May Easthampstead Park, Wokingham www.dubsatthepark.co.uk Vanjamboree 19-21 May Kelham Hall, Newark www.vanjamboree.co.uk All Types VW Show 21 May Bodelwyddan Castle, Wales www.alltypesvwshow.co.uk Wörthersee VW Treffen* 24-27 May Lake Wörthersee and Faakersee, Austria http://woertherseetreffen.at Volksfling 26-28 May Biggar, Scotland www.volksfling.co.uk Vanfest 26-28 May Three Countries Showground, Malvern www.vanfest.org Wurzle Dubz 26-29 May Bridgewater, Somerset www.wurzledubz.co.uk Dubs in the Middle 26-29 May Evesham, Worcester www.dubsinthemiddle.co.uk June West’est VW Fest 2-4 June Dews Lake Farm, Pembrokeshire thewestestvwfest.simplesite.com GTi International 2-4 June Rockingham Motor Speedway www.gtiinternational.co.uk Stonor Park* 4 June Stonor Park, Henley www.abvwc.com Bristol Volksfest* 9-11 June Birches Farm, Bristol www.bristolvolksfest.co.uk Alive & V-Dubbin’ 9-11 June Haughley Park, Suffolk www.aliveandvdubbin.co.uk The Bus Stop Over 16-18 June Newark Showground www.thebusstopover.co.uk Players…

“but [we] soon realised the classic Campervans were not ideal for our Scottish roads” Based on Glasgow Road, just two minutes from Yoker train station and 15 minutes from Glasgow International Airport, at the gateway to the Trossachs and Loch Lomond National Park, is Caledonian Campers. We’re going to stick our neck out here and say that alongside the beaches of Cornwall and Devon, and the wilderness of the Lakes, Peaks and Dales, Scotland has the most amazing combination of both that all of the UK has to offer, so it’s little wonder the Hutton family saw fit to set up their Campervan business on the very cusp of such magical vistas. Established in 2009 by partners Isla Bisset and Stephen Hutton, Caledonian Campers has been buying, building, selling and…

 VWt: Hi Mark, thanks for taking the time to do this. JK is a global entity now, but how did it all begin? “enjoy your VW, whatever you use it for, whatever year or model it is” MR: By accident! I’d like to say it was all part of some master plan, but it’s less glamorous than that. I started JK from a tiny lock-up workshop in 1989. The short version is we couldn’t find the parts to fix customers’ vehicles, so started importing and then manufacturing them. That was in 1992 (now I’m feeling old!). Today we have about 50 staff and ship parts globally to both owners and VW parts shops. We manufacture over 300 body panels in our warehouse in Odiham [Hampshire] and have invested in tooling…