ecial a Sp n i t a P ge & Vinta h! renc an, F m r e ish, G Engl
Issue 04 | Winter 2011 | AirMighty.com
Shows Big Wednesday “Surf’s up dude” > Drag racing part #2: Hills Race in Italy & Das Drag Day in Germany! €14,50 | £12.95 | $21.95 | ¥2400
OG Paint 1952 Split
Flying Barndoor Bus
A French Ghia Couple
A totally original and unrestored split window beetle
The story on an amazing rescue operation in Switzerland
Totof and Babeth’s 1957 and 1960 Karmann Ghia’s
ISSN 1879-6508
9 771879 650009
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Up-To-Date Restolooker’s Resto-Looker
There’s a lot going on in the scene, be sure to catch the latest news, stories, events, forum and photos on our website: www.AirMighty.com.
Featured cars Splitwindow
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Samba’s
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20 | 1957 Porsche 550 Spyder A concourse restored real 550 Spyder taken out of a private collection.
38 | Totally original ‘52 Split Sold in Belgium this beetle has traveled half way around the globe.
66 | Mr. & Miss Karmann Ghia Two stunning Coupés owned by a French couple, one Oldspeed and the other one very Vintage.
108 | Airlifted to Safety - ‘54 BD
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A report on a massive Barndoor Bus rescue operation, how to get a bus out of a Swiss forest using a helicopter and a tractor.
136| Richard’s Mint Ragtop Oval
The Flying Barndoor
Couple of Ghia’s
Our cover car. We filled the photo studio with water and this is the result - enjoy!
144| Two Original Paint Sambas Nothing can beat original paint, these two Samba buses have survived.
151| Italian Low Milage Kombi Riccardo’s one lucky man, owner of a ‘63 Kombi with just 75.000km.
550 Spyder
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Das Drag Day #8 Germany Words: Yves Maertens Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Georg Otto Pictures: Kevin Maquoi | Niels Timmerman
Das Drag Day has become the best way to wind up your VW drag racing show season - over the years it’s attracted visitors from all over to its central European location on the Bitburg Airbase. So on the 18th and 19th September fans headed to Germany for another epic weekend packed with hardcore drag racing! > as Drag Day (or DDD) is one of those events that you find yourself waiting for all year long. Not just for the quality of the entertainment that gets served up, that’s exclusively hardcore quarter mile racing, but also because it’s an occasion to meet up with people who share the same passion. Racing teams travel a hell of a long way to get to DDD, from Norway and Italy, from Holland and the U.K. Top European drag racers all head for Bitburg and two famous days of fun.
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The airfield gates open on Friday afternoon so that everyone can get settled down for the weekend, pitching camp in the pits before devoting the rest of the evening to inspecting the competition! At this year’s event, we noticed a significant contingent of racers hot from the South of France, members of the FSRA. The Norwegians brought “Berserk” along to the party, and Danish team Angora Racing showed off the latest evolution of the Ultra Rat. (See AirMighty #01) The Outlaw Flat Four guys were on site, and the Belgium phalanx included Steve’s VW Shop with the
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Fast Scrap while the Otto Bros launched their new rail baptized “Mosquito”, which sadly blew its engine on Saturday morning’s initial run. Michael Van Zelst came straight from his Dutch garage to the track, having finished the car literally just hours before he presented it for tech inspection. Naturally DDD had its annual pilgrims as well, like Germans Udo Becker, Thomas Kemp and Ole Endler. The DAS set up their club tent on the usual spot, not far from the burnout box and the Christmas tree. Next to it was a superb display of the club’s clean Cal lookers. Several other clubs also flocked to the show en masse, such as the DLF from Germany, the DVK from Holland and the Flatline Lowriders from Belgium - to name just a few. Tech inspection started at 9am on Saturday morning, and thanks to immaculate 1-on-1 Motorsports organization, the track was quickly opened for business and we saw run after run down the quarter mile. A record number of participants had signed up so it was necessary to create a third staging lane to keep queuing to a minimum. There was a
wonderfully eclectic roster of vehicles on the move, ranging from modern dragsters to old gassers, 80s survivors, SUVs and hot streetcars. The quality and the performances of the cars present just gets hotter and hotter year on year. These days it’s nearly normal to see two Old School Cal Look split window beetles line up for a run and go through the timing lights clocking respectably quick 12 second times. By around 7pm the first day of racing came to an end and it was time to start spannering, getting broken cars fixed up for more strip action on Sunday - or people could just kick back with their friends and fire up the bbq. Quite a gang joined the DAS guys for a beer and a bite to eat while DJ Team Kweenony and their “surprise guest star” DJ Ivan McCutcheon span old school techno beats. The sun shone on Sunday morning and while the track’s tarmac heated up, scoreboard times just crumbled. Präsi blew us away with a 12.26 time in the Wheelerdealer Barndoor bus and Rudi Olivenca has got his new beetle painted now and he was running 9 second times. The quantity of of 10 second cars at Das
Show | Drag Racing 2010 part #2
The Beetle Factory came with 2 hardcore splits
Wheelerdealer Barndoor vs Windsplit highroof
Hard launch by Dutch built Kaag Kever’s “Paranoid”
Otto Bros’ stretched pickup loaded with “Mosquito”
“Lil Snort” and Ole Endler’s “Pink Panther”, OG Gassers from back in the days
Drag Day was truly impressive. Anyone can come and race anything at the show; it’s a real open test and tune event that always attracts fabulous crazy cars. For instance, we checked out the front-wheel driven Boba VW Polo with 650hp on tap which did the quarter in just 9 seconds, and then there was that V8 powered VW Corrado that scored an amazing 8.80! The day came to a close with the traditional trophy ceremony, and lucky winners for 2010 were: Volksworld’s Ivan McCutcheon and his super clean 67 bug, Nicolas Arico’s red Pro-Mod Ghia and Felix Ehrardt for his beautiful black notchback. If you were at DDD in 2010 chances are that you’ll be back in 2011, it’s an addictive weekend – and if you need convincing, just take a butchers at these photos! er DAS Drag Day, kurz DDD, ist heute nicht mehr aus dem Treffen-Kalender wegzudenken. Motorsport-Teams aus ganz Europa (Norwegen, England und Italien beispielsweise) legen riesige Strecken zurück, um zwei Tage lang Spaß in Bitburg zu haben.
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FRSA’s Jenny waiting for another fast fastback run
Part of the very impressive DAS-Club Display, clean Cal Lookers from Belgium
Los geht’s natürlich schon am Freitag, um den Teilnehmern genügend Zeit zu lassen, ihr Equipment aufzubauen und sich die Mitbewerber anzuschauen. Unter den ersten Gästen befanden sich einige Franzosen aus dem Süden der Grande Nation, Mitglieder der FSRA (France Street Rod Association) und auch die Skandinavier erschienen früh. Unter ihnen der norwegische Renn-Käfer „Berserk“ und das dänische Angora Racing Team mit der letzten Evolutionsstufe der „Ultra Rat“ (siehe AirMighty Nr. 01). Natürlich tauchten auch die Outlaw Flat Four-Jungs auf, sowie die Crew von Steve’s VW Shop mit „Fast Scrap“ und die Otto-Brüder mit ihrem „Mosquito“ getauften Dragster. Der warf aber leider schon bei seinem ersten Lauf am Samstag ein Pleuel weg. Der Holländer Michael Van Zelst stellte seinen Rennwagen erst Freitagnacht fertig und machte sich dann direkt auf den Weg nach Bitburg zur technischen Abnahme. Aber natürlich waren auch Stammgäste wie Udo Becker, Thomas Kemp und Ole Endler dabei. Der veranstaltende DAS VW Club schlug sein Camp am üblichen Platz auf, nicht weit vom Burnout-Bereich und der Startampel
entfernt. Aber auch andere Cal Look Clubs waren vor Ort, wie der DFL aus Deutschland, der DVK aus Holland und die Flatline Lowriders aus Belgien. Samstag ging es dann pünktlich um 9 Uhr mit der technischen Abnahme los. Dank der guten Organisation von 1on1 Motorsports lief alles klaglos. Die Strecke war schnell auf und die Läufe wurden zügig durchgeführt. Mehr Teilnehmer als je zuvor hatten sich eingeschrieben, weswegen eine dritte Staging Lane eingerichtet wurde, um den Ablauf so geschmeidig wie möglich zu halten. Auf der Strecke sah man dann auch einen tollen Mix aus modernen Dragracern, alten Gassern, 80er Jahre-Veteranen, SUVs und schnellen Straßenautos. Vor allem die Qualität der luftgekühlten Volkswagen steigt von Jahr zu Jahr. Heute ist es schon fast normal zwei erstklassige Cal Look-Brezel an der Startampel zu sehen, die die 400 Meter in weniger als 13 Sekunden zurücklegen. Gegen 19 Uhr gingen die Lichter auf dem Strip aus und in der Boxengasse an. Jetzt war Zeit zum Schrauben oder Grillen, je nach dem, wo die Prioritäten lagen. Oder man ging zum DAS, wo das DJ Team
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Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Steve Burton
The mythical 550 Spyder is Porsche’s 1950s masterpiece. A sculpture on wheels. Beautiful, light and fast, 550s quickly became known as “Giant Killers” since a perfect power to weight ratio made them unbeatable in their racing class. It truly is an amazing piece of automotive art. 20
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What is Big Wednesday? > get asked that a lot! Big Wednesday the movie is a very cool surf flick from 1978 and the Vee-dub version of Big Wednesday is a day to skip work and drive your VW to the beach. In this case San Onofre State Beach, just south of San Clemente, California. Located between the old Western White House and the nuclear plant, San Onofre is one of the last surfing beaches on the Southern California coast where you can drive down a dirt road and park against an old telephone pole between you and the beach.
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Small palm trees and bamboo groves planted and maintained by local surfers are at each end of the beach area known as Old Man’s. At the south end of the beach is a “shack” structure with a palm leaf roof, which along with the surfboard weathervane has appeared in almost every photo or painting of the famous surfing beach. This year over 100 VWs made the trek to “Sano”, some lining up hours before the
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gates opened up at 6am and others braved the line to get in after the beach filled up. The park only allows so many cars down the hill, so after it hits that number its one car leaves and one car gets in. One of the first guys in line in the morning is Hot Dog Fred Waugaman who sets up his mobile kitchen and bratwurst stand right on the beach. Thanks to the event sponsor Airhead Parts, the food is free to all at the beach until it’s gone. Fred and his brauts are very popular at Big Wednesday. There are two “contests” at Big Wednesday, although neither is taken quite as seriously as a car show or real surfing contest. Two special hand made trophies are given out, one for the Best Surfer and one for Best Surf Vehicle. The Best Surfer this year was Steve Cascia. Past winners include older brother Pete Cascia, “Corona Ryan” Ousley of OEBC fame and Barn Door Deluxe pilot Doug Gaylord. This year the Best Surf Vehicle
award went to Robert Bowdreau’s patina’d Beetle with surfboards stacked on top and pulling a teardrop camping trailer. Robert had all the vintage camping paraphernalia that made a great display. Nobody walked down the beach without checking it out. 2010 was the 8th year of Big Wednesdays at San Onofre and folks are already looking forward to the next one. At sunset there was still a group of several VWs parked along the beach soaking up the final rays of the day and vowing to be back next year on the second Wednesday in August. as ist der “Big Wednesday”? Das werde ich oft gefragt! “Big Wednesday” ist der Name eines ziemlich coolen Surf-Films von 1978 und die VW-Version des “Big Wednesdays” ist ein arbeitsfreier Tag, an dem man mit seinem VW zum Strand fährt. In diesem Fall der Strand von San Onofre, südlich von San Clemente, Kalifornien. Zwischen dem Western White House und einem Atomkraftwerk gelegen, ist San Onofre State Beach
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Show | Big Wednesday 2010
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Robert Bowdreau and his patina’d beetle went home with the “Big Wednesday - Best Surf Vehicle” trophy; his beetle is driven on a weekly basis to “Sano” with his boards on the roof. Winter 2011 | AirMighty Megascene |
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entdeckte die Brezel im Anzeigenteil einer Zeitung und kaufte sie ungesehen. Ein kluger Schachzug, denn wie sich herausstellen sollte, befand sich der Volkswagen im absoluten Originalzustand. Lediglich die Beifahrertür bekam irgendwann einmal einen neuen Anstrich. Herr Champagne verkaufte den 52er an Xavier Mente, der dem Käfer einen prominenten Platz in seiner Sammlung gab. Regelmäßig nahm er mit dem Volkswagen an Veranstaltungen rund um Brüssel teil und Xavier machte genau das, was schon die Vorbesitzer taten: Die Brezel sorgfältig pflegen! Leider musste er sich 2001 von dem VW trennen und stellte ihn auf Ebay ein. Nach einer verbissenen Bieter-Schlacht konnte schließlich Paul Horvath aus New Jersey die Auktion gewinnen. So verließ die Brezel Belgien auf dem Seeweg. Als sein neuer Besitzer den 52er in Empfang nahm, war er positiv von dem originalen Zustand des Autos überrascht. Eine Weile genoss er die Brezel, bis er sie zusammen mit einem wenig gelaufenen 66er Käfer über Randy Carlsons oldbug.com-Seite gegen einen Samba-Bus tauschte. Randy fand für den Volkswagen bald ein neues Zuhause im sonnigen Süd-Kalifornien. Ein perfekter Ort für den Ruhestand – warmes, trockenes Wetter und keine Winter, über die man sich Gedanken machen müsste. Nach ein paar Jahren entdeckte Paul seine alte Brezel wieder auf dem VW Classic Treffen. Er sprach mit dem damaligen Besitzer Rob Dechaine und machte ihm unmissverständlich klar, dass er den Wagen auf jeden Fall kaufen würde, sollte er sich einmal von ihm trennen wollen. Das war 2004 und tatsächlich verkaufte Rob den
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52er kürzlich zurück an Paul. Er war immer noch im selben Zustand, lediglich der Auspuff und die Reifen mussten getauscht werden. Jetzt wohnt der VW wieder an der Ostküste der USA. Doch wer weiß, vielleicht schließt sich ja irgendwann der Kreis und er kommt zurück nach Belgien. Das Wichtigste dabei ist aber, dass er nicht restauriert wird, denn genau das macht ihn so besonders und einmalig. n 1948, la société d’Ieteren, basée au sud-ouest de Bruxelles, a commencé à importer et vendre des Volkswagen en Belgique. Quelques années plus tard, elle lançait ses propres lignes de production, où l’Audi A1 est encore assemblée aujourd’hui. Historiquement, le plat pays a donc toujours regorgé de Volkswagen, qu’on pouvait croiser à tous les coins de rue. Il y reste donc encore pas mal de « survivantes », certaines ayant été stockées et oubliées pendant des dizaines d’années avant de refaire surface. D’autres ont tout simplement été méticuleusement entretenues par leurs propriétaires, qui en ont pris tellement soin qu’elles sont encore dans un état impeccable aujourd’hui. Trouver une telle voiture, c’est un peu le Saint-Graal pour tout amateur de VW. La splendide Split bleu azure présentée ici a mené une vie relativement paisible, gardant toujours le même propriétaire, qui ne l’utilisait que très rarement, et jamais en hiver. Dans le courant des années ‘90, notre homme réalisa qu’il était devenu trop vieux pour conduire et décida de vendre sa voiture. Un collectionneur VW nommé Eric Champagne tomba sur la petite annonce dans un journal local et acheta la voiture sans même la voir. Une excellente décision, la Split étant totalement originale, hormis la porte passager, repeinte quelques années auparavant.
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What a gorgeous sight, seeing this split window beetle driving on the Southern Californian mountain roads - a very different environment from Belgium where it was sold when new.
Everything is original, the carpets, fuel tap and even the pedal rubbers
This is ultra rare, the original wool headliner has never been changed
Below the speedo there’s a nice Esso key chain keeps the Huf keys company
This customs tag was put there when the split was imported to Belgium in ‘52
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VW38 nr.6 “Weddingday” Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Erwin Stok | Niels Timmerman
It’s a matter of personal opinion of what qualifies to be an historic moment or not. But without a doubt the 22nd of January 2011 is right up there - at least within the VW scene. That was the day when the body and the chassis of the oldest Beetle in the world that’s privately owned were reunited.
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Vanfest Words: Johan Bosma Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Johan Bosma
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There’s no better place to go to a VW bus meeting than England. It’s the country with the greatest concentration of VW buses in Europe. Vanfest is held annually at Malvern and it’s one of the UKs top aircooled events. > his annual bus gathering is held on the Three Counties Showground in Malvern in the heart of the UK’s Worcestershire countryside. Things started out small back in 1994, and the event has been growing ever since. The showground is surrounded by beautiful hills but there’s so much to see on site that you hardly notice the landscape – it’s all eyes on the buses.
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The event is put on by the Volkswagen Type 2 Owners Club, and their man Simon Holloway is in charge of coordinating the show and managing the phalanxes of club member volunteers who oversee it. This year for the first time, the show was extended to three full days - it’s now so popular that there are just too many participants for them all to get in on the Saturday.
On Friday morning, even before the gates were officially open, a huge line of campers was lined up in front of the entrance, all patiently waiting to get into the show and set up their spot for the weekend ahead. In the end over 8,000 people made camp! Vanfest is open to all VW buses, from Barndoor split window vans right through to the latest T5 models, fresh off the VW assembly
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Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Kobus Cantraine
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A COUPLE OF
GHIA’s While we were in the French Alps covering the Karmann en Montagne rally (see AirMighty #03) we fell in love with this magnificent pair of superb early Type 14 Karmann Ghias. So we excused ourselves and played hookey from the rally up onto the gravel mountain roads with Christophe Roulon and his partner Elisabeth Prigent, better known as Babeth, and their marvellous Ghias. Winter 2011 | AirMighty Megascene |
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Words: Mike Walravens Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Mike Walravens
In an ever-evolving scene with what seems like endless resources, styles seem to pop up like mushrooms year after year. We thought it would be interesting to look at a current style that harks back to the early days of VW customising. Halfway between Vintage and early Cal-Look, Old-Speed is a growing trend for many good reasons - the main one being that it’s based on respect for the vehicle’s identity, as well as for the historic references associated with the marque. > 78
he core principle behind Old-Speed style is simple: take an early car and add some period tuning parts that were available at the time the car was sold. If possible, build in some extra gauges and a sports steering wheel, and top it off with vintage wheels. Nothing too complicated at first sight. But - because there’s always a ‘but’ in good stories – sourcing the parts is not as easy today as it once was, although that only adds to the thrill for cult followers. This is probably a reaction to the ever growing number of reproduction parts that are killing the market for original parts. Some period parts have become so rare and expensive that an Old-Speed fan has to be a veritable collector. And speaking of rare, engine tuning kits were probably
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the last safe haven of original componentry, the last parts not to be reproduced. In order to gain a better grasp of just what this trend entails, we’ll have to indulge in a bit of time travel and go back 30, 40 or even 50 years. Back to a time when privies and sheds reigned supreme at the bottom of the garden, when not every home had a telephone, and when vegetable growing took precedence over lawn mowing. Way back when things were built to last, and good craftsmanship was still the norm. So - back to the future we go... As an avid motor sports fan with racing in the blood, Lake Underwood and his 356 Carrera is your idol, and you never dream of missing a single rally or race in your region, especially
if it’s the Le Mans 24-hours. You see adverts for brands such as Okrasa, Diets, Judson or Porsche, and they certainly don’t leave you indifferent. Your mind is made up, you’re going to modify your Volkswagen to bring it up to speed!
The small Porsche The scene is set. Now, let’s expand your knowledge of period VW tuning parts. If you look at the evolution of the VW engine, you can see a clear pattern: « a cruel lack of power ». Well aware of the exceptional potential of his creation, Ferdinand Porsche continued its development on his own through the illustrious 356. As of 1950, these sporty evolutions of the beetle were powered by 40bhp 1100cc air-cooled
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Klassisches VW Treffen in Japan Words: Kobus Cantraine | Nao Fujita Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Mike Ishiko
For the first time in the history of the Japanese VW scene, Flat4 the famous Aircooled supply company based in Tokyo - organized a Vintage Event, which was exclusively open to cars built before 1960, all of which had to be as original as possible. No lowered slammers were allowed to participate and stock wheels were a must - Cal-Look ovals rolling on 5-spokes were definitely off the agenda. >
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Show | Klassisches VW Treffen JPN o, the first ever Klassisches VW Treffen was meticulously planned by Mr. Takashi Komori and his dedicated staff at Flat4. Run over 2 packed days, it began with a meet and greet in the Gotenba area, about 2 hours from Tokyo, where Mr. Komori welcomed participants. Everyone received a commemorative plaque of the event during the opening ceremony, and after that they had a raffle featuring vintage VW related parts and memorabilia. Meanwhile an open bar featured the “Best German beer in Japan!” a brew made right there, on the spot, and the booze was supplemented by a full buffet. It was the perfect way for
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everyone to get to know each other - many of the people present had never met before because Japan is no small country and the vintage enthusiasts are spread out all over the islands. On the second day a 1-hour cruise to Lake Kawaguchi took the pack through the beautiful hilly Japanese countryside; needless to say, all the vintage VWs made the final destination without a hint of trouble. On their arrival the participants found that Flat4 had set up the sponsors’ booths next to the lake, featuring brilliant parts displays by ATE, BBT, CSP and Wolfsburg West. The complementary lunch was followed by a visit to the
Kitahara Toy Museum where staff had put out a special display featuring all the VW toys they could lay their hands on. The oldest Volkswagen in the event was the mint condition WWII 1943 Kübelwagen owned by Mr Kobayashi. Event sponsor BBT’s Bob Van Heyst gave it his pick of the weekend, and CSP chose Mr Shimomurna’s beautiful 1950 standard split window beetle. Flat4’s own award went to Mr. Sasa’s ultra rare Type 25A 1952 Barndoor Micro Bus with its optional sliding sunroof. This kind of event, where the pleasures of cruising to beautiful locations are combined
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Barndoor Campout 2010 Words: Mike Johnson Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Mike Johnson
A UK “Barndoor Campout�? The very idea makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. To get as many Barndoors together in one place, for an event dedicated just to them... surely the stuff that dreams are made of? > 98
Show | Barndoor Campout #1
Barndoor Central, 24 Barndoor buses showed up at this exclusive gathering by the River Thames in Oxforshire
Sav’s primer delivered ‘54 from Sweden
It was a wonderful opportunity to talk Barndoor
But everyones welcome at the campout...
Paul Wisk’s office, note that it’s Right Hand Drive!
Trick or Treat Rikki? The event was held in Oktober
Enjoying the autumnal sunshine
first got to hear about this on the SSVC forum, with a post by the Barndoor Guru himself, Rikki James. This was in September 2010, and the event was barely a month away. There were scant details available and it was short notice, but the idea took off and flew, and the thread generated a lot of interest.
were made to feel at home straight away. We are so lucky in the UK to have such a strong barndoor scene, so even though not everyone had met before, most people knew each other through various forums. This made for a refreshingly informal, relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
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We didn’t have long to wait for the campout to arrive, and before I knew it I was travelling up early on Saturday morning with one of the cleanest original UK imported buses around, Dean Bartons lovely fully restored ‘54 doubledoor panelvan. En-route we picked up another BD, the incredible remains of a deep skylight ‘52 deluxe belonging to Rob (lowdown dirty rat). Rolling in with these two total extremes of the barndoor world was such a treat! Rikki had found an amazing location to hold the campout... A small island on the River Thames in the picturesque Oxfordshire countryside. After driving over an ancient stone bridge it wasn’t hard to spot the field with a dozen barndoors that had already arrived the night before. We pulled in and
The day was spent nattering about all things barndoor, sharing knowledge and experience, swapping and selling parts, all around a simply amazing collection of early vans. And as the day wore on more even barndoors arrived, until we had an amazing total of 24! Rikki had rather optimistically hoped for the high teens, and was genuinly blown away that so many people had made an effort to turn up. Especially the guys that had organised trailers to bring project buses. The range of buses was diverse. There was something to suit everyones taste, from Rikki’s infamous ratty BWA Deluxe, to Matt Baker’s pristene ex-BBT Westfalia Camping Box. Paul Wisk’s ‘Barndoor of the Woods’, Rich Burrow’s amazingly well travelled ‘51 family camper, the Kempes, the Beltek, the Hulka, The CoolFlo buses, Simon Hitchman’s
recently finished ‘55 Deluxe, Sam Hutchins ex-Norwegian Bread Van converted into a 15 window... and then there were the trailered projects, from the very tidy Bella / Bjorns Radio panel, to the remains of two deluxes belonging to Dai and Rob. And they assured us with total conviction and confidence that they will be back on the road! That evening the cosy Swan Hotel next door was invaded for some good pub grub and a few beers, before retiring back to the field for the night. A good evening with great company. We had to leave early in the morning so missed all the shuffling of buses for various group photos (oldest and youngest, lowest and highest, rustiest and shiniest, dove blue line up...) but I shall definitely be back for “Barndoor Campout #2” next year! Big thank you to Rikki for organising the get together, and to everyone who helped get these amazing buses all together in one spot, especially the non running projects, for us all to enjoy... So how many can we get together next year?
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15th of June 2010 right outside the Swiss town of Raron, Barndoor #20-087943 was rescued in the most spectacular way we have ever seen!
As found in the Swiss Alps, hiding in the forest
Once the bus was dug out and strapped up…
…it was time to Air-Lift the Barndoor to safety
Amazing ‘54 Barndoor Rescue Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Marco Gsponer
So, you’ve just found a VW Barndoor Bus in a totally inaccessible forest and you decide you want to save it, you want to take it home and make it better again, you want to give it loads of tender love and care... But how do you get it out of there? > he lucky man behind this tricky endeavour is Marco Gsponer from St.Germain, only about 7km from the rescue location. He and his brother have been seriously into VWs for over 15 years and now own 20 air-cooled cars between them. It was a great surprise to Marco when a friend asked him if he knew about that bus sitting way out there in the woods… “When I went to look I was totally amazed that it was actually a 1954 Barndoor Kombi! I had probably driven past it a thousand times, but I had never noticed it before, the trees were completely hiding it,” says Marco.
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Originally the bus was owned by a laundry company, and when Marco tracked the business down the owner’s daughter told him that they had sold the van to a scrap metal dealer. The dealer then sold it on to a goat farmer, yodel-e-de--ho! This man hauled it up the mountainside using a system of pulleys and hoists and it became his shelter, but once he stopped tending his goats Mother Nature took hold and the bus slowly disappeared from view. The only way to extract it was to air-lift it out. Fortunately this is Switzerland; - there are plenty of helicopters around to pluck stranded
snowboarders off the slopes and they don’t have much to do in the summertime. Once the area around the bus was cleared, air support was called in. Marco’s brother showed up with his tractor, and that was it! When Marco’s top chop beetle with gullwing doors is finished he’ll get started on the resurrection of this rare Barndoor Kombi. inter diesem einmaligen Rettungsunternehmen steckt Marco Gsponer aus St. Germain in der Schweiz, der nur sieben Kilometer vom Fundort entfernt wohnt. Seit 15 Jahren sind er und sein Bruder
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21&23 Window Deluxe
Words: Kobus Cantraine | Rich Kimball Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Kobus Cantraine
The Samba Deluxe buses are the most desirable of them all. Finding them in a very original condition is tough these days, most have been restored over and over again. So, when we heard about not one but two very original examples we had to get them together. Two very different stories on why these buses never got repainted. Winter 2011 | AirMighty Megascene |
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Brighton Breeze‘10 If you’re tired of the same old shows then why not plan a visit to The Brighton Breeze ? It’s a camp-out, a convoy, a static sea-front show AND another camp-out with a full-on party to follow! Three different events run over three different days at three different venues – there’s nothing else like it in the whole wide Volkswagen world. >
Words: Neil Smart Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Niels Timmerman he Brighton Breeze long-weekend kicked off on a Friday afternoon in Epsom, south London, where 350 intrepid (crazy) people decided to brave the strong winds and driving rain to camp overnight. Everyone was encouraged to get to sleep early as Saturday morning meant a very early start. More sensible types joined the convoy on Saturday morning, lines forming from 7am – and the race was on! Meanwhile, down on Brighton seafront the event was being set up. As the sun rose, each promenade arch filled with traders selling VW goodies, everything from spark plugs to curtains.
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T4 Forum and The Early Bay put on displays and (as usual) New Waves had a fantastic line up with 10 lovely Dubs and some vintage BMX bikes - look out for their BMX
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show‘n‘shine at this years VolksWorld show! The Carter brothers featured 4 “Coolflo” panel vans; a 1952 Barndoor, a 1954 Barndoor, a 1958 “racebus” (roll-caged and fitted with a huge IDA motor) and a 1964 complete with full Westie interior. Special top spots were reserved for guests of honour. Luke Theochari and Herbie took one, and Bob from BBT brought 3 buses from Belgium. In the midst of the melée AirMighty’s Niels and Marco took pride of place in their Kemperink, plus hand-made trailer with a present for Paul Wisk. Back on the convoy a steady stream of Dubs was snaking down the 50 mile (80km) route to join the fun. Split after Bay after Beetle jostled for a parking space, and eventually the seafront was completely
full. Volkswagens stretched for more than a mile (2km) and traders did brisk business despite the rain. Tim Sykes (Beltek) gathered a fabulous line up of Barndoor Buses right opposite the AirMighty guys, including Pascal the Rascal and Remi who had come all the way from southern France in a 1951 Barndoor Panelvan. Pascal was the furthest travelled reveller - and in one of the oldest vehicles there!
> Brighton Breeze, the greatest VW show on the British coast < There was no space for a designated Show and Shine area so our team of judges patrolled the whole seafront in the search for worthy rosette winners.
Show | Brighton Breeze 2010
The New Waves Club include a BMX display. And Brighton’s arches make a perfect backdrop. Check out their big BMX display at Volksworldshow
Patina Pushbike for sale, it’s the ideal way to get around at a big event
Bo Jangles Brown Bus. Beautiful and one of the price winners of that day.
Tight parking is the only way to get them all in, people have to show up very early in order to secure a spot
The 10 winners were lined up in the centre for the awards ceremony and once again Rikki James excelled as compère, talking to owners about their Dubs and their stories. The show closed at 6pm and the road was handed back to Brighton Council and the Lucky Few who had booked early enough to get a race-course camping ticket headed off to set up camp. Partytime! Around 300 vehicles crammed onto the racecourse, and while some people used it as a base for excursions into the wild world of Brighton’s nightlife, most campers danced the hours away to the rocksteady beat of fantastic live band The Skatonics. After the early start and the non-stop nature of the event most people were pretty whacked out so by 2am on Sunday morning the site was finally quiet. Sunday morning was a time for chill-out as folks slowly packed up. Brighton Breeze is
England’s last big show of the season and a lot of the dubs were off to hibernate for the winter. So it was a last chance to say goodbye to friends old and new before hunkering down for home – by midday the site was clear. See you all again next year, be there or be square!
> People from all over the U.K. head out to the Brighton seafront < righton Breeze ist ganz offiziell nur eine Tagesveranstaltung, doch eigentlich geht sie über drei Tage. 2010 begann das Treffen bereits am Freitag, den 1. Oktober in Epsom, südlich von London, wo sich 350 Busse mit mutigen (oder verrückten?) Besitzern trafen, die sich alle dem fürchterlichen Wetter widersetzten und dort campten. Jeder bemühte sich, nicht zu spät ins Bett zu gehen, da es nichts mit Ausschlafen werden
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Dutch visitors from the OSC
sollte. Bereits um sieben Uhr morgens erschienen die Heimschläfer am Samstag Morgen und eine Stunde später ging es auch schon los in Richtung Brighton. In der Zwischenzeit ist der veranstaltende Split Screen Van Club dabei in Brighton alles vorzubereiten. Mit Aufgang der Sonne beginnen auch die Händler ihre Stände unter den Arkaden zu öffnen und ihre Waren feilzubieten. Von Zündkerzen bis Vorhänge gibt es alles, was man so benötigt. Etwa ein Drittel der Teilnehmer ist bereits vor Ort, parkt am Madeira Drive direkt am der Kai-Mauer und hält für Freunde ein paar gute Plätze frei. Das T4 Forum und The Early Bay glänzten mit schönen Displays, genauso wie der New Waves Club, der zehn herrliche Volkswagen und einige klassische BMX-Räder ausstellte (verpasst nicht deren BMX Show & Shine
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The Untouchable ’55 Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Niels Timmerman
You can’t judge a book just by looking at the cover, as the Yardbirds’ song goes, and nowhere is this truer than Richard Krom’s early ’55 Oval ragtop. Built down to a budget? Forget it! Here’s the full low-down on what it really means to ‘go Dutch’ as we explore the detail that went into the creation of his dream car. 136
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angekommen, wurde er schon von einem alten Herrn begrüßt. Der Erstbesitzer, wie sich herausstellte. Nein, verkaufen wolle er den VW eigentlich nicht. Aber er zeigte Riccardo die kurz nach der Auslieferung eingemotteten Sitzbänke und die damals neu gekauften, zusätzlichen Stahlfelgen mit Winterreifen. Die habe er aber nie gebraucht, weil er den Bus nie im Winter fahre, erzählte der Herr. Noch Fragen? Generell machte der T1 einen hervorragenden Eindruck. Man muss bedenken, dass solche Fahrzeuge früher Arbeitstiere waren und keine Lifestyle-Automobile. Sein Besitzer hatte es aber auch gut mit ihm gemeint, fuhr den Bulli nur ab und zu zum Fischen und pflegte ihn auch sonst sehr gut. Im Land der Fiat und Alfa Romeo kostete so ein Deutscher Bus in den 60ern ein kleines Vermögen. 1991 trat der Transporter in den Ruhestand und wurde von da an nicht mehr bewegt. Riccardo brauchte acht Monate und viele Besuche, bis er den Bus endlich verkauft bekam. Dazu gab ihm der Erstbesitzer noch Broschüren mit, die er beim Kauf 1963 bekam, außerdem die Bedienungsanleitung, Ersatzschlüssel und den Händler-Schlüsselanhänger. Um den Wagen wieder ans Laufen zu bekommen bedurfte es lediglich einer normalen Inspektion. Dazu gab es eine ordentliche Politur. Seit dem dient der T1 als Wochenend-Transportfahrzeug für Familie Tosi. Sohn Tazio liebt den Volkswagen jetzt schon und wird irgendwann der dritte Besitzer dieses herrlich originalen Transporters sein.
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ous sommes à quelques kilomètres de Milan, ville ‘mode’ par excellence du nord de l’Italie. Nous avons été invités pas Riccardo Tosi, l’homme qui se cache derrière VSK-Parts, un shop VW récemment ouvert, spécialisé dans les pièces VW NOS. Normalement, nous devions uniquement visiter son atelier et peut être mettre la main sur une ou deux pièces rares, mais quand nous tombons sur son bus, nos plans changent immédiatement! Et quand Ricardo nous lance les clés, difficile de refuser... On n’a pas la chance tous les jours de conduire un bus split avec à peine 75.000km au compteur!
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> his bus has lead an easy life, it was mainly used for fishing trips to lakes in the Northern part of Italy. < Riccardo est dans la VW depuis le début des années ‘90. Un de ces premiers achats est un combi vert velours, qu’il revend peu de temps après à un collectionneur japonais. Quelques semaines plus tard, il commence à regretter son geste, réalisant qu’il ne retrouvera jamais un bus dans un tel état d’origine. Les années passent, les bus aussi, mais aucun n’arrive à la cheville de son ancien split vert... Après plus de 130 bus (!), Riccardo trouve enfin son bonheur sous la forme de ce magnifique combi de ‘63. Riccardo est tuyauté sur l’existence du combi par un ami. En allant le voir, il est accueilli par son premier propriétaire, un vieil homme
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Next to Riccardo’s 1963 bus his original 1961 125cc Vespa that he’s owned since 1993!
l’ayant acheté neuf en 1963. L’homme n’est clairement pas prêt à vendre son bus, mais il lui montre tout de même les banquettes d’origine, enlevées le jour même de l’achat et stockées bien à l’abri depuis, ainsi qu’un jeu de jantes neuves, montées en pneus neige. En fait, elles n’ont jamais servi, car le vieil homme ne conduisait pas son bus en hiver...
> Totally unrestored, original paint, you just can’t beat that. < Après 8 mois de visites régulières et une bonne dose de persuasion, l’homme cède finalement le bus à Riccardo. Le combi est dans un état remarquable, même s’il n’a plus bougé depuis quelques années. Après un bon entretien et un coup de polish, il retrouve toute sa jeunesse. Normalement, les bus sont des véhicules utilitaires, mais celui-ci a clairement eu la vie facile. Son propriétaire l’utilisait principalement pour se rendre à la pêche, à l’un des nombreux lacs qui parsèment
Dub Specs BODY 12/1963 Type 23 kombi, L380 turquoise paint, all original metal never welded and never repainted. M codes 403 and 043 for Italian market; Hella side markers, white front turn signals and the mandatory low beam dashboard indicator INTERIOR All stock seats, nine seater version, M code 013 Middle and rear seats plus panels in the cargo area, Grey upholstery, 100% unrestored, still complete with jack, tools, manuals. TECH Stock 1198cc 34hp engine, first factory engine, never pulled out of the car, 6.40-15” BF-Goodrich “repro” tyres. stock wheels, beam, brakes, all as it left factory
M-code plaque and the paint code sticker, L380
The original tools and owners manual still there
Rear loading area is dent free, this bus has lived a very, very easy life
The church key is in perfect condition
The dashboard is in virginal condition, pure and basic functional VW design
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