AirMighty Megascene #12 - Winter 2013

: ents Pres n! y t h ig tio AirM hite Edi W The

Issue 12 | Winter 2013 | AirMighty.com

Shows

> Finland Winter Rally, Freddy Files, VolksWorld Show, Salt Flats Racing, 1st of May €14,95 | £12.95 | $23.95 | ¥2600

A Swiss Squareback

The Gonzoline Special

Aircooled Porsche 924

L87 Pearl White 1500S Variant built with Helvetic Precision!

The second coming of the “Gonzo” Volks-Rod Custom!

A low-budget, home-built and Type1 powered project

Up-To-Date

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There’s a lot going on in the scene, be sure to catch the latest news, events, forum and photos on our website: www.AirMighty.com

The Gonzoline

Like us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AirMightyMegascene

Featured cars

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924 VW powered

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Samba-Deluxe

14 | A Swiss Built Squareback After having built many top level tuned watercooled cars Mario finally took on an Aircooled project.

38 | Kieft & Klok Samba-Deluxe Dutch Type2 specialists Kieft en Klok show us stock restoration perfection and we took it straight to the studio.

56 | The Custom Aircooled 924 In a record time two German friends built a rear engined Porsche 924.

80 | The White Delight RestoCal

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Marc shows us that the Resto-Cal style has hit Germany as well with his ultra clean rag top AirRide Beetle.

103 | Daily Driver Westfalia T2A

SwissSquare

From Holland a white Westy that is driven to and from work every day!

122| King Crabs on an Early 356 Greg Banfill knows a thing or two about Stance! Here’s his 356 Pre-A!

142| GonzoSpecial-Second Life!

One of the world’s most amazing VolksRods, inspired by old IndyCars.

’54 356 Pre-A

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White Delight - Perfection!

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24 | Sub-Zero Aircooled Fun! Extreme Rally Racing on ice and snow with studded tires in Finland.

51 | Our AirMighty Cruise #6!

Already in it’s sixth year, the annual AirMighty Cruise 2 Ninove.

52 | Ninove NoH2O 2013!

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Horrible weather did not dampen any spirits, that’s how it goes in the rain capital of Europe, Belgium!

Freddy Files, Ninove

66 | Land Speed Records!

Not on Bonneville but on the Salt Flats in Australia! Go team Ratmüller!

94 | The VolksWorld Show The traditional gathering of the finest Aircooled cars of Europe in the U.K.

112 | Germany’s Biggest!

Possibly even the World’s biggest one day Aircooled VW meeting.

Salt Flats Racing

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134| El Dub’s Nostalgia Corner An Interview with the owners of the legendary Lightning Bug, the Schley’s!

...and more!

1st May - Käfer Treffen, Hannover

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The Volksworld Show

51 The Shows 134 AirMighty Cruise 2 Ninove

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Winter Games - Finish Style

El Dub-Schley Bros.

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SwissSquare Mario Gehrig’s 1964 VW Variant Midlife Motivation Words: Marc Wöltinger Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Marc Wöltinger

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After numerous tuned watercooled VW’s Mario finally decided the time had come for him to undertake an Aircooled restoration.

He found a 1500S Squareback not far from his home. After some careful style and stance research, he decided on the colour and how he would build it! The result speaks for itself!

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VW Rally Finland

Finnish VW drivers play Winter Games.

Words: Kobus Cantraine | Juhani JyränkÜ Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Heikki Malinen

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Show | VW Rally Finland

One of the hunters for the top finish spots Strefan Wiik in his 1973 1303 S

The ques to checking control were long, over 225 cars participated in this rally

These is what you call WINTER-tires! Michelins or Pirellis with around 400studs!

Timo Varis’1500 S has been in rally scene over 20 years and still goes strong!

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Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Niels Timmerman | Digitalestudio.nl

Samba brochure anno 2013

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Freddy Files Ninove 2013

We only got there on Sunday after our Cruise to Ninove...

But plenty of people had already driven to the cosy Belgian town to kick off their weekend on Saturday with the Witkap Brewery visit...

They got a head start but we quickly caught up on Sunday! > Words: Frederic Peeters Pictures: Hendrik-jan Letteboer | Niels Timmerman | Sergio Desimpel Linares Translation: Georg Otto | GaĂŤlle Remacle

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Show | Freddy Files, Ninove 2013 The Witkap Brewery visit The Slagmuylder brewery is a family business that’s built its reputation on a rich tradition and heritage since 1860, with an eye on the future.

Their beers are carefully brewed, and they are particularly proud of their famous blonde WITKAP brew. On the Saturday, members of the UK contingent were offered a tour of the brewery, and those not driving were served a foaming glass of the white beer. For the second time, a special FreddyFiles WITKAP glass was made, emblazoned with the Ninove event logo. More info on www.witkap.be

The Brewery still looks like it did 50 years ago!

Cheers! A cosy start of an always fine weekend!

Saturday most people there were Brits or Belgians

The Balzd-GoofBack found a new Dutch owner!

Every inch of the Brewery’s parking lot was packed

ell, to be honest, I was thinking in the morning that I was gonna be sipping a beer real soon in the Ninovian bars with the crew, because the weather was so dismal. No one would be crazy enough to drive through this, I thought. It was even snowing when I got out of bed at 6.00am Sunday morning.

But I’d underestimated the resolve of AirCooled owners: the volume of Beetles coming through the entrance gates proved me totally wrong.

Count ‘em: 520 mega-motivated Volkswagen drivers, despite the bad weather, to be precise! Aircoolers from all over Europe were sufficiently motivated to drive their prideand-joy through the rain and sometimes even the snow. There was the HANGY crew that started off in the Swiss mountains where snow is a given. Not forgetting the VAST cruise coming over from the UK with all kinds of aircooled derivatives. Hanging at the entrance when the cars roll in really is exiting ... kinda like a box of chocolates, as a certain

movie character would say... “you’ll never know what you gonna get!” And boy, was I stunned when I saw the cars driving trough the gates! The first 300 participants received a free T-shirt with the event logo from Pat in a goody-bag, with a programme including a free dash plaque and participant number sticker for everybody. This year the emphasis was on the Drop-Gates, so we reserved a nice space for the single- and double-cabs driving to Ninove, and they did indeed make for a super-sexy line-up.

hand out the prize grails, as donated by Bob of BBT, and as a distraction we had a really aircooled Miss Freddyfiles handing them out to the winners. The Best of Show donated

by VOLKSWORLD was given to Andy “the paint” with his super sexy white topped red notchback and the AirMighty Award went to Harold Coolen with his green-hued late-model squareback. I personally have to own up to having a weak spot for this car, which was spot on and dropped to the max.

As discussed by our jury, it is really amazing that the quality of the cars is growing every year. It’s becoming harder and harder to pick out the cars genuinely worthy of an award.

The jury is in for a difficult job next year...

If this year 520 cars could show up in bad weather... how many cars are gonna be there when the rain is gone in 2014? Is Ninove gonna be too small for all this aircooled madness ? Be there... and you’ll see for yourself!

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The traders and swapmeeters were there in full force too. They had to unpack in heavy weather, but they were able to promote themselves and their rare and quite specific drop-gate goodies to the punters. And then, yureeka! By noon the skies had dried up, and we were able to walk around without umbrellas. Some folk must have got wet feet, however... By 4.00pm it was time to

You can’t go much lower than these two 181’s, they were super slammed!

Cal Look Beetles in Ninof, but they didn’t bring the Californian sunshine...

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50 Day Project An aircooled VW powered Porsche 924

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We’ve seen several water-cooled Vdubs converted to air-cooled engines but never a Porsche 924. Holger Ehlers and Kai Breyer wanted to build this creature before the May Show 2013 in Hanover, Germany.

A challenge that began with a tight deadline‌ > Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Niels Timmerman

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Blood, Sweat and Bullet Holes at 118mph – A New World Record!

Words: Stephen Müller | Ashley Roan Translation: Georg Otto | Gaëlle Remacle Pictures: Stephen Müller

“In searing heat, the blindingly bright salt lake lies before me.

The track markers recede into infinity. The Roo Shooter vibrates and shudders with mechanical anticipation. It’s hard to breathe as I ease it up to the line. I know this is where we’re both destined to be - where man and machine become one and fade into the horizon...” > 66

Show | Salt Racing at Lake Gairdner

t’s Monday, February 18th, 2013. The location is Lake Gairdner, South Australia, Australia’s fourth largest salt lake, around 150km northwest of Port Augusta. Speed Week is held here each year, organized by the DLRA, although this one is more eagerly anticipated than most. You see, for the last two years, it’s been cancelled due to rain. All this has done is strengthen Stephen Müller’s (VolksMüller Racing) resolve, and this year he has brought along a few unlikely VWs to break some land speed records. Firstly, meet The Roo Shooter.

It’s a 1957 Volkswagen Kombi panel van with a truly dark history.

In the late 1950s, it started life as a dry cleaner’s van, the original signage being still visible if you look through the rusty patina. It then earned its name by becoming a shooter’s van, complete with an array of bullet holes, bloodstains and a gun rack next to the driver’s seat. After being put out to pasture for almost 30 years, it was bought and rescued by Stephen and the team at VolksMüller. The Roo Shooter now features a normally aspirated 1970s air-cooled Kombi engine which has been bored and stroked to 2.7-litres. When asked why he chose this vehicle, Stephen said “It’s a personal challenge when people say you can’t put a square peg in a round hole... but you can, with a little bit of modification, make-do, and Australian know-how.” He wasn’t wrong: this battle-hardened VW bus established a new world record of 117.878 mph (188,604 km/h) in

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the Classic Production Class - engine class H (2 – 3.0-litre engines).

This also represents a record for the fastest Kombi in the world.

The previous record was set last year at Bonneville at a speed of 109mph (174,400 km/h). Stephen comments, “The run was dedicated to a friend of mine who lost his life, Mark James. He used to worship my Kombi knowledge, and he thought it was unique to the point where he thought we could do a television program, and that’s how our friendship got started. So, Mark, we’re there, we’ve done it and we haven’t forgotten you.” A new Volkswagen Golf was also part of the VolksMüller team. The Golf achieved a new Australian record in the H/PS category (Production Supercharged) being an engine of 1 – 1.5-litres. It set a record-breaking run of 115.1 mph (184,16 km/h). The Golf was completely standard, and featured a 1.2-litre turbocharged engine. At 39- 41°C on the salt flats, the air conditioning definitely came in handy. VolksMüller Racing decided specifically on the factory-standard 1.2-litre engine to prove a point: that you can go out, have fun and compete straight off the showroom floor. Rounding out the team, and the record-breaking runs, was yet another vintage Volkswagen, a 1956 oval Beetle driven by John Weninger, competing in the 36HP World Challenge. Another salt flats top speed was set with a pass of 78.332 miles-per-hour (125,331 km/h) in the Stone Stock 36 Bug category. Stephen reflects on the

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Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Georg Otto | Yves Maertens Pictures: Niels Timmerman

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One step forward, two steps backwards!

That’s basically how the restoration of Marc Hänel’s über-clean ’63 ragtop Beetle went. It’s a five year long story of assembly and disassembly to end up with Germany’s best Resto Cal.

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Volksworld Show

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Show | Volksworld Show 2013

Words: Ivan McCutcheon Pictures: Niels Timmerman Translation: Georg Otto | GaĂŤlle Remacle

> The leading Volkswagen exhibition in the United Kingdom is a showcase for the best new show cars of the year. The VolksWorld Show at Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the calendar.

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Bart Verstappen caught the Aircooled virus some years ago after he had visited the Spa Bug Show.

Two Beetles and a ‘78 highroof preceeded this super clean Wesftfalia. All the cars he has owned have always been daily driven!

hey’re unreliable: you’ll be standing by the roadside waiting for a tow truck all the time.” “Isn’t their fuel consumption terrible?” “Their heater never works! You’ll freeze come wintertime!” Those are the kind of remarks you can expect to get when you tell someone who’s not a die-hard VW fan that you’re thinking of buying an old Aircooled VW, and that you want to drive it on an every-day basis!

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Yes, there are such people, and Bart Verstappen is one of them! Now 33-years old, and a VW fan since the age of 10, when he attended his first VW event - the infamous Spa Bug-Show in 2004 - Bart was hooked, and since then he’s owned two beetles, and now he’s cruising his second bus.

He moved onto the Type2 a few years ago, and found a late Baywindow Highroof.

After a while he decided to lower it, so he got in touch with the Type2Detectives and purchased a narrowed front beam.

He decided to go with the 4in narrowed beam that used early pre-1967 Split window Type2 spindles. He sorted out his highroof bit by bit. As he told us, “Well, it was a bit of a driving project, there were plenty of things I wanted to do to it, but at the same time it was my daily driver; and then I stumbled on the Westy… you know how it goes!”

Bart wasn’t particularly looking for a new project when he saw an online ad from one of the Dutch VW shops. Some weeks later the ad was still online, so he decided to take a look in person. This was in February 2010, and back then, project Westfalia campers were still a lot cheaper than they are today.

He discovered that the bus needed quite a bit of work, but it was relatively rust-free, and the camper interior was almost complete.

A deal was struck, and Bart and his father trailered the bus home. “I didn’t waste much time, and a few days after I got it, I decided to fit the T2D front beam underneath my new acquisition. But I wanted to take it a step further than I’d gone on the Highroof.

So I notched the frame to clear the trailing arms and the driveshafts in the rear, and C-cut the front section to make room for the steering rods.” Looks like Bart decided he was going to slam his bus. Creating the necessary space for the suspension to move also gave him enough suspension travel to retain some comfort, which was no bad thing as this bus, just like his last one, was to serve as his daily driver!

Once he had the 1970 Westy rolling and he’d sold his Highroof, Bart got busy on the body. Typically, it needed a bit of welding here and there, some dents removed from

the nose and a rear corner replacing. But he wanted to get everything done properly, so instead of patching up a few pin holes on the front floor he called on Evam for a brand new funky green floor, and fitted that with no problem: not bad for someone who’d never done anything like that before. After a well-deserved paintjob in factory Lotus White, an almost stock rebuild followed.

> A narrowed front beam and some well executed chassis notching created the needed stance! < Nothing too fancy and nothing complicated.

“I was trying to build it as clean as possible, and without breaking the bank. I got some TMI seat covers which I fitted myself, and I made the door panels and front kick panels from plywood which I painted to match the seat fabric.” The engine is a stock 1600cc flat-four that’s been fine-tuned and does the job with its 50hp. Remember, this is a daily-driven bus, so no need for big carburettors, etc. And to keep nicely warm on those cold Dutch winter days he fitted a Webasto petrol heater under the centre seat. “When I wake up in the morning, I fire up the heater and after I’ve had my breakfast and coffee I can get into my

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Show | 1 Mai Käfer Treffen

1 Mai KäferTreffen

Hannover There are many shows we can recommend around the world, but the massive “Mai-Käfer-Treffen”, or “May Show” in Hanover, Germany, is one that you should visit one day for sure! > Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Gaëlle Remacle Pictures: Niels Timmerman

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Pictures: Ed Fox Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto

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Pre A with Curb Appeal How many windscreens is it OK for you to shatter? How many rare early Fuchs will you need to slice? How many powertrains will you need to fit? How many curbs shall you scrape? And how many new headliners will it take before the result is satisfactory? Just ask Greg!

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Gonzoline

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Words: Adrian Bird | Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Jon Robinson-Pratt

When Mike Pye and Steve Gosling first built Dr. Gonzo as a VolksRod demo for the 2005 VolksWorld Show they had no idea it would be turned into one of the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most Amazing VWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s years later!

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