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Issue 13 | Spring 2013 | AirMighty.com
Shows
> European Bug In #5, IKW Wanroij and the greatest Vintage VW show in the world: Hessisch Oldendorf! €14,95 | £12.95 | $23.95 | ¥2600
“Pour Bird” Sand Rail
The Vintech P-550
A Mango Smoothie
Built by the father in the 60’s and restored now by his son
French high-tech, carbon fibre, aluminium, cashmere concept
Canadian built Porsche 356 Speedster Replica on Air-Ride
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 chats and photos on our website: www.AirMighty.com
Exclusive: Pip’s 1952 Split!
Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AirMightyMegascene
Featured cars
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Vintage Sand Fun
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3.0L Type4 Power!
14 | High Horsepower Resto Cal From Germany: The Resto Cal Oval fitted with a huge 3.0L Type4 engine.
30 | The Mango Smoothie 356 A dream come true... Paul had been dreaming of a Speedster since he was a teenager, now he’s finally got one.
54 | Patina Air-Ride Oval Beetle Remember Vincent Pasquis’ Zombie Ghia? Here’s his girlfriend Julia’s Oval!
66 | Danish Deluxe Karmann One classy daily driver Ghia fitted with a neatly hidden Eaton Supercharger.
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86 | A 1952 Cal Look Split Bug Full time musician Pip Hancox built another sweet, sweet custom VW and we got Ed Fox to shoot it for us!
Speedster on Air
112 | Family Heirloom Sand Rail Built in the 60s this Vintage Sand Rail is a tribute to that long gone era...
130| Vintech High Tech P-550 From France, a carbon fibre coupe! Not a kit car! A hand made one-off high-tech, digitally designed concept!
Fatality
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Supercharged Karmann Ghia Spring 2013 | AirMighty Megascene |
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24 | VW’s Take Over Lydden Hill Niels went on a trip to the UK visiting the 2nd edition of the Apex Festival.
40 | Time For A New Era... The IKW moves from Budel to its new location in Wanroij, The Netherlands.
75 | Welcome To Bob’s Empire!
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The traditional pre Vintage VW Show open house party before the massive Aircooled convoy sets off to Germany.
VW Africa Challenge
78 | Vintage Volkswagen Heaven Is Hessisch Oldendorf VW Walhalla?!
98 | Aircooled African Adventure A regularity rally raid through the vast Moroccan desert with Aircooled cars.
122| Chimay’s European Bug In! The 5th EBI: packed with Nostalgia Gassers, Drag Racers and legends of the SoCal Performance VW scene!
El Dub
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European Bug In #5
148| El Dub’s Nostalgia Corner Our French correspondent gets in his new car ready and heads to EBI #5.
...and more!
IKW Wanroij
BBT's Open House
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The Shows Apex Festival
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Blackout Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Igor Vucinic
At the first glance you might think this is just another fine Resto Cal Oval, but it’s even more. Under the decklid of Stefan Hoisl’s ’56 ragtop growls a furious 3 liter Type 4 engine like which you would expect to find in a German Look style 1303. 14
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APEX FESTIVAL Show | Apex Festival 2013
Words: Niels Timmerman Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Niels Timmerman
The Apex Festival 2013... During which the “Barndoor Camp-out” weekend was held. We were invited to promote the ‘1st European Barndoor Gathering & Vintage Show’. So we took off to Lydden Hill Race Track in the UK. It wasn’t too crowded, but with just the right people there, great weather and a perfect atmosphere, we had a blast > Spring 2013 | AirMighty Megascene |
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Mango Smoothie Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Georg Otto | Yves Maertens Pictures: Niels Timmerman
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“Some day I’ll have a 356 Speedster!” At just 15 years old Paul Cormie knew that, someday, he would be cruising around Canada in one of the most beautiful cars that Porsche has ever designed! >
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Chilling at the “beach� next to the lake at the Wanroij showground, just perfect
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AirMighty contributor Erwin Stok made it into the TOP20 with his clean Panel
Show | IKW Wanroij 2013
IKW Wanroij The Aircooled VW “Internationale Kever Weekend” has found a new site, combining an events ground, campsite, trader area, plus space for thousands of visitors. The vibe at the event was just like the old location, thanks to the organisation sticking to the original show format.
Words: Bianca Swinkels Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Kevin Maquoi | Niels Timmerman
Show cars were presented one by one on the Kever Club Nederland stage
Promo for the 1st European Barndoor Gathering! Don’t miss that show in 2014
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Words: Yves Maertens Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Georg Otto Pictures: Tom Wheatley
Despite its look and extreme modifications, this Hoodride Oval is actually owned by a charming 22-year-old young lady. Built with love by Vincent, her boyfriend, it’s also their statement that a quality ground-scraping low, Rat Look can be constructed without compromising on safety or the ride-quality! 54
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DKType 14 Words: Georg Otto Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens Pictures: Jeppe Zoega
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Just another slightly modified Karmann Ghia on Fuchs wheels? No, not at all! Martin Lorentzen from Denmark went for some cool tricks including a reliable supercharged 1600 cc engine in his daily driver! Yes, he drives it 22.000 km a year! >
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Show | Hessisch Oldendorf 2013
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The 6th International Vintage Volkswagen Show in Hessisch Oldendorf was the biggest and best so far! Words: Georg Otto Pictures: Kevin Maquoi | Niels Timmerman Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Yves Maertens
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CrotchCooler52 Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Ed Fox
When Pip Hancox contacted us in December 2011 to tell us about a Type3 Squareback he was building, little did we know that, even then, he was already thinking of his next project‌ And here it is, exclusive to AirMighty Megascene, Pip’s Split! Spring 2013 | AirMighty Megascene |
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VWAfrica
Words: Patrick Deperne Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Patrick Deperne | Vanessa de Groot
When you set off on a trip into the desert you better not do it on your own, surround yourself with some friends, make sure your vehicle is well prepared and once you are ready just let the adventure begin! > onday April 29 2013, and the start is imminent. All available winter evenings and weekends have been spent in the garage to build and tune the off-road beetle we’ll be using in the 5th VW Africa challenge. The car is packed to the max: 100 litres of fuel, tools, spares, 2 spare wheels, plus our camping gear and some clothes and games for a local charity. We cover the first 1,200km to Castelnaudary in the LanguedocRoussillon region mostly by autoroute. Upon arrival, Freddy warmly welcomes us at his shop, Auto Passion sud ouest, where participants and organisers have been invited to camp. The rescue vehicles are loaded and some buggies get a final engine tune in front of the shop before the big departure. The next morning, we meet on the ‘Place de Castelnaudary’ where the start is officially staged on a Paris-Dakar style podium. First objective: Almeria, in the south of Spain. We improvise a small lunch on the docks, then embark on a ferry for the 5-hour trip to Nador in the north east of Morocco. Customs cleared, we fill up the car with fuel and food at the local supermarket and head to Taourit for our first ‘bivouac’. Next morning, rain is drizzling from a grey sky, but as soon as we reach the first winding hilly tracks our hearts beat faster. Between the fields, the bushes and the rocks, the scenery changes all the
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time. As the sun sets, we get a little bit lost and decide to sleep on the bank of a big river, which is just too dangerous to cross at night. In the morning the sun greets us by colouring the mountain in various shades of pink. What a magical moment! The whole day we’re treated to a succession of breathtaking views, and as we reach the desert the tracks become increasingly dry. Each hill is different, and the soil goes from ochre to green, from grey to black. While we’re enjoying the view, the cars are working hard. The tracks are tough, and the first technical issues emerge: our shocks and trailing arms get lose all the time despite the nylock nuts and the safety pins. We’d never seen anything like that in 10 years off-roading in our local regions! The temperature slowly climbs as we dig deeper into the desert, and at the end of the day we reach the dunes of Merzouga, a huge and majestic wall of sand, which marks the start of the real sandy stage. Now, to drive in the sand, you need to deflate your tyres to approximately 500 grams pressure. But unfortunately for us, the deep six Fuchs wheels that we used necessitate the use of tubes, and we destroyed them after a few hundred meters only… That’s when you know who your real friends are and, in this case it was Laurent and
Show | VW Africa Jenny who lent us their spare wheel so we could drive to Erfoud where we managed to cobble some tubeless valves with the help of a local mechanic – African style! After a well-deserved rest in a nice hotel, we were back at it for a marathon stage towards Foum Zguid. The challenge is an actual navigational rally, so the closer you get to the milestones described by the organizers, the more points you get. This ranking brings out a little welcome competition in the raid, whilst at the same time maintaining the good atmosphere and mutual assistance that makes it such a nice event. This ‘postcard’ stage leads us through a series of sandy dunes and oases, where we sometimes cross paths with dromedaries and local jackass-riding farmers. How’s that for a culture shock? We are halfway through and, surprisingly, the cars are holding up well. The preparation level of the vehicles is high, and it shows. When you’re doing 100 km/h on the fastest tracks, you quickly realize that our small Volkswagens are the perfect machines for this type of mission: they can carry two people with food, camping gear, tools, spares and enough fuel for 500km and they’re much more fun to drive than 4x4s. As we approach Chegaga, an ocean of dunes allows us to go and play one last time. This time the deflated tyres hold up, and the driving sensations are really ‘smooth’, even though we constantly need to play with the throttle. After half a day spent navigating and avoiding hazards in this real labyrinth, the car proves itself once again. We only had to dig it out once! The last part of the rally is more mountainous. We cross the Dadès canyon where a strip of fertile land meanders between two mountains of red and brown rocks: the view is again out of this world! After Ouarzazate, the scenery turns a bit Swiss-like with its rows of cedars and its green mountains. We cross the ‘Monkey forest’ towards the last POI of the trip; Jaffar’s Circus. The organizers clearly know their way around Morocco, and are able to select the most beautiful places to visit. From Midels, we finally make it to our hotel in Fès for the closing evening. The prizegiving ceremony takes place beside the swimming pool, with the sounds of local music playing in the background – a very nice way to finish the event. Laurent & Jenny finish 1st in their GP buggy, we (Pat & Vanessa) finish 2nd in our
181-based Mexico beetle, and Yann & Audrey close the podium in their army green beetle. We would like to congratulate Freddy and his team for their professionalism, as well as all the participants for their good spirit and their sportsmanship. See you next year! ontag, 29. April, kurz vor dem Start. Den ganzen Winter über haben wir geschraubt, um unseren Off Road-Käfer auf die 5. VW Africa Challenge vorzubereiten. Jetzt ist der Wagen bis obenhin vollgeladen mit 100 Litern Sprit, Werkzeug, Ersatzteilen, zwei Reserverädern, unseren Camping-Sachen sowie mit Kleidung und Spielen für eine Spendenaktion.
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Die ersten 1200 Kilometer nach Castelnaudary legen wir auf der Autobahn zurück. Bei der Ankunft am Auto Passion Südwest-Shop werden wir herzlich von Inhaber und Organisator Freddy Verdaguer begrüßt. Dort sind die Teilnehmer zu einer letzten Übernachtung vor dem Beginn der Rallye eingeladen. Während die Versorgungsfahrzeuge gepackt werden, erhalten vor dem Laden einige der Buggies noch letzte Feinabstimmungen. Am nächsten Morgen treffen wir dann am Place de Castelnaudary mit allen anderen zusammen, um im Stil der Paris-Dakar von einem Podium aus zu starten. Unser erstes Ziel: Almeria, im Süden Spaniens. Dort nehmen wir ein provisorisches Mittagessen an den Docks ein, bevor wir an Bord der Fähre gehen. Fünf Stunden dauert die Überfahrt nach Nador, im Norden Marokkos. Nach den Zollformalitäten füllen wir noch mal Sprit und Lebensmittel nach, dann geht’s auf nach Taourit zu unserem ersten Biwak. Regen begrüßt uns am folgenden Morgen. Doch als wir die ersten gewundenen und hügeligen Pfade erreichen, wird uns warm ums Herz. Zwischen den Feldern, Büschen uns Felsen ändert sich ständig die Szenerie. Bei Sonnenuntergang haben wir uns vor lauter Staunen über die Landschaft ein wenig verirrt und entscheiden uns dafür, am Ufer eines breiten Flusses die Nacht zu verbringen. Eine Durchquerung im Dunkeln scheint uns zu gefährlich. Der nächste Tag weckt uns mit Sonnenstrahlen, die die Berge um uns herum in pinkfarbenes Licht tauchen. Was für ein magischer Moment! Der ganze Tag besteht
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SANDRAIL
Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Georg Otto | Yves Maertens Pictures: Niels Timmerman
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“What ever is that?” Cort Elgar gets asked this question a lot, even when he’s on the sand dunes among fellow enthusiasts. His response…”It’s a dune buggy, built back in the 1960s. That’s how they were, back then.”
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European Bug-In #5
Words: Yves Maertens Pictures: Stivo | Old Garages | Kevin Maquoi | Niels Timmerman Translation: Kobus Cantraine | Georg Otto
“Bababap-pa-pa-paaaah!!! CHIMAAAYYY, YEAH!!!� The cheers of Dyno Don resonating through the speakers as people cheered together with him on the grand stand overlooking the drag strip... Just one of those souvenirs of the EBI#5 weekend! > 122
Show | European Bug-In #5
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Words: Kobus Cantraine Translation: Yves Maertens | Georg Otto Pictures: Christian Martin
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