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THE ONLY VW MAGAZINE YOU’LL EVER NEED! WWW.ULTRAVW.COM
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Words: Keith Seume Photos: Gwynn Clark
HIGHCLASS Originally designed for use principally in the clothing industry, high-roof Transporters are pretty unusual, but that didn’t stop Nick Openshaw from creating his own personalised version…
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s the owner of any VW Camper will tell you, headroom is pretty restricted – unless you add an elevating-roof, or ‘pop-top’. You soon get used to adopting the ‘Camper stoop’, but after a few nights that gets to feel pretty odd. Of course, this problem wasn’t restricted solely to Campers – even regular delivery vans could benefit from a higher roof line on occasion. That’s why Volkswagen introduced the M222 option on its Transporter range. The correct factory designation was ‘Grossraum Kastenwagen’, or quite literally ‘Big space van’, a name which hints at its major advantage over the stock Transporter. The increased roof height appealed
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principally to companies operating within the clothing and dry-cleaning industries, where there was a need to transport dresses and suits without folding them so that they wouldn’t end up creased. The Grossraum Kastenwagen was tall enough to allow, once clothes rails had been installed, dresses to be hung full-length. Other markets to which the M222 option proved attractive were the meat and beer trades. Sides of meat could be hung inside without dragging on the floor, and a large number of crates of bottles could also be stored inside. As a design, it was the perfect all-rounder, yet unmolested survivors remain pretty rare today, with many having been converted into Campers, with side-windows.
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HAPPYRETURNS! No, we’re not talking about birthdays here, but about Gary Dunlop’s beautiful 1970 Westy. You see, he bought it, rebuilt it… and then sold it. But then he bought it back again – and now he’s just sold it once more! Words: Keith Seume Photos: Mike Key
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T
here’s many a time when people have made it clear that ‘You should never buy back one of your old cars.’ In many cases, that’s sound advice, as it’s too easy to put on those rose-tinted glasses when looking back at our vehicular past. What we tend to gloss over is that rust we never quite got round to fixing, or the incurable oil leak. Or the time we were left stranded by the roadside at the dead of night… No, sometimes it’s better to leave the past where it belongs – in the past. But in the case of Gary Dunlop and his 1970 Westfalia Campmobile, we’d have gladly made an exception – Gary did and snapped up his former ride when the opportunity arose. But, as time was to prove, he was also wise enough to know when it was time to let things go again… Based in Braintree, Essex, Gary’s something of a Camper fanatic– or, more accurately, a Bay-window fanatic, both early and late styles. He has a hobby ‘business’, westcoastbays.com, which allows him to indulge himself buying the odd rot-free Camper in the USA, enjoying it for a while and then moving it on to finance his next project. This means he spends a lot of time on-line, checking out the latest deals across the Pond, a pastime that led him to discover this gem on Craigslist one night. Craigslist, for those unfamiliar with the name, is a web-based sales listing. You get all kinds of stuff turn up for sale, some good, some bad and some just plain ugly! However, Gary struck lucky one night when, back in 2008, he clicked on an advert for a 1970 Westfalia Campmobile, located in Sacramento, California. He’d already owned a series of VWs, including ’61 and ’67 Beetles, a turbo’d 1969 Westy and a pair of Microbuses
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Words & Photos: Paul Knight
TOWtheLINE Back in 2005 we featured Phil West’s awesome drag car. At the time he was working on his tow vehicle, a 1967 Kombi, which came out so nice that we decided to pay Phil a second visit...
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ll too often we get so excited about drag cars and the like that we sometimes miss the equally cool tow cars that, let’s be honest, do much of the hard work but get none of the glory! This was the case when we last visited Phil West. Blown away by his race car, we only noticed the 1967 Kombi as we packed up to leave the photoshoot. Back then it was a rolling project, providing reliable transport, hauling parts and being the day-to-day dogsbody around Phil of the West’s ranch. However, closer inspection revealed it to be a real peach, with very little rust and, other than the odd spot here and there, in very good, original condition. Of course, we told Phil to give us a call when it was finished... and here we are! However, before we get ahead of
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ourselves, let’s find out a bit more about the history of this unusual Kombi. Phil told us, ‘I was working in Japan back in 2001 when I got a call from Ian at Wolfsburg Performance about a cool Bus that belonged to his friend Mike Walden, which might be coming up for sale’. The Bus in question had been imported from Italy in the ’90s and had been treated to a few chassis modifications, with the bodywork being left as original as possible. The Bus had dropped spindles fitted to the front end and had been converted to IRS, but, more importantly, was good and solid and priced just right. To make things better, Ian just happened to have a turn-key 1776cc motor going spare, which Phil had him fit in readiness for his return from Japan later that year. Phil commented, ‘it was a cool ride, and I went on to tackle a series of minor jobs while keeping it on the road where possible’.
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ROCKSTOCK With less than 17,000 miles on the odometer, this 1976 Mk1 Golf LS is one of the cleanest and most original examples we’ve ever seen. Paul Knight checks out this bone-stock beauty... Words & Photos: Paul Knight
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f we mentioned the name Paul Frost to you, it might not immediately ring any bells. However, if we said ‘Frosty’ and mentioned his green and white shortened Split Bus (once pale blue and pink and known as ‘Dolly Mixture’), you’d probably know exactly who we were talking about. After all, his amazing wheel-standing drag strip actions have made his tiny Split Bus one of the most photographed VWs in the UK, ever! Therefore you’ll probably be as shocked as we were to learn that Frosty is the owner of this 100 per cent factory-fresh Mk 1 Golf! This Spooky VW Club member clearly has an eclectic taste in VWs. Frosty told us, ‘I had been meaning to treat the ex- Jay Dean orange Ghia to a light overhaul for some time, but due to being at university, I just didn’t have the finances available to do it the justice it deserved’. He continued, ‘therefore I ended up selling the Ghia, which left me with a chunk of cash burning a hole in my pocket and a spare spot on the driveway’. Strangely enough, Frosty wasn’t actually looking for a Golf... in fact, he wasn’t really in the market for anything in particular! That was until he noticed a small classified ad in the Classic Car Weekly paper, describing a totally original Mk 1 Golf with just 16,000
miles on the clock. He told us, ‘It was curiosity than anything else, but I jumped straight in the car and headed for Surrey with a back pocket full of cash just in case it turned out to be something special.’ And boy, was it ever special! Garaged since day one and never driven in the rain, etc, the little Golf was in better condition than anyone could have imagined. It seems the owner had bought the car new, used it once in a while for the first few years, then decided to park it up and leave to his daughter as an 18th birthday present. Every few months the Golf was fired up and rolled around the gated community before being wrapped up nice and snug in the back of the garage. But, instead of being a nice surprise, the Golf turned out to be a bit of a let-down for the daughter, who really wanted a new Mini! Fortunately, Frosty could see the beauty in this little yellow Golf, so snapped it up and immediately took it back to Essex. As he looked closer at the L20A Marino Yellow five-door, the deal just got better and better. Not only was there a full history file with the car, including the original bill of sale and service schedule, there were a large number of factory and dealer supplied accessories that just added to the appeal. We’re talking about things such as the
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By Burly Burlile
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011 proved to be a mixed bag for the Volkswagen land speed racing community, beginning with rain in Australia hours before the Dry Lakes Racing Associations (DLRA) was ready to open their annual Speedweek on the great salt pan of South Australia’s Lake Gairdner! The deluge caught racers en-route along the normally dry, seventy-five mile dirt entrance road to the salt flats, turning the red powdery dust into a quagmire. Even four-wheel-drives were temporarily stranded. Needless to say, the event was postponed until March of 2012, when it is hoped the Aboriginal deities watching over this national treasure will again smile on the salt flat racers. A large group of VW racers were prepared to attack the salt in both the 36hp Challenge and big-block VW categories but now Team Ratmuller will have another year to refine their racers and go after their counterparts north of the equator. Likewise, the Bonneville Nationals Speedweek, the later World of Speed and
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World Finals in the United States were all affected by sudden and severe rainstorms. The first two Bonneville events were fortunately not affected to the degree Australia’s Speedweek and the US World Finals suffered, with the first two US meets being both fast and successful. During the US Speedweek, a deluge hit the nearby town of Wendover in Utah. The deluge turned the clay surface at the Roads Bend site, where a couple of thousand folks were camping, into a slippery mess. Many campers were caught out and required professional help to extract their motorhomes and caravans from the once dry lakebed. The gods were smiling on the US Speedweek though as the Bonneville Salt Flats themselves, just a few miles away, were dry, and racing went on as per the schedule. The World of Speed only lost its final half day of competition, but otherwise enjoyed four days of fast racing, along with gorgeous skies and glorious temperatures. That was the Ugly!
Misfortune was minor in that only a couple of the 29 Volkswagen racers at the September World of Speed experienced any type of mechanical failure. The always fast Blackline Racing Team arrived with a 2332cc big-block VW stuffed into the back of a bright Ravena Green 1974 Bug and immediately went into the 120mph+ range, finally seeing a pass of 127.480mph on the timing slip in the standing mile. They encountered problems on their final pass when a cylinder head suffered a structural failure, bringing their race week to an early end. The Harig family, Scot the dad and sons Kevin and Scot, brought their red and black ’68 Beetle all the way from Michigan and managed to get two runs in before the turbocharged big-block melted a piston. They topped out at 109.051mph. During the August Speedweek, Bob Stahl experienced gear shift problems on his fast 1965 Bug (159mph, fuel injected Type 4), overreved the motor and damaged a valve. A valiant effort and some fast mail order deliveries to Wendover were in vain as
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he was unable to get in another run. Likewise, the Burns family from Tennessee returned to Speedweek for a second time with their 1974 Karmann Ghia coupé, only to first have a cross shaft break in the bellhousing and then, after repairs, they dropped a valve in their 1915cc engine. Zach did manage a 144.752mph run before losing the motor, however. That was the Bad! The rest was all good! During the US Speedweek, the team of Keith Pedersen and Mike Manghelli finally resolved a long-standing mysterious problem with the two-litre turbocharged four-cylinder VW watercooled engine in their 1980 Caddy, and clicked off an amazing speed of 195.582mph with Keith at the wheel.
This boxy little truck has a stock body modified only by a front air dam and a tonneau cover over the bed; no chopping or channelling! It rides on air bags and stopping is assisted by a drag chute. However, the drag from the Caddy’s stubby little shape normally makes deploying the chute unnecessary. The team returned to the salt in October for the World Finals with hopes of gaining membership in the SCTA’s elite 200mph club, but their effort was thwarted by the October rain. A red 200mph club hat would look good on Keith...! Speedweek also featured a team from the United Kingdom in the form of Skoda Racing UK. Skodas come from the Volkswagen family in the Czech Republic and
Britt Grannis and crew push his 1967 Ghia to the line just prior to the 139.756mph pass that led him to become the first air-cooled VW in the USFRA’s 130mph club
Spectators line the race course along four miles of salt to enjoy the racing. Some erect stands, some shade canopies and others just enjoy the sights and sounds of Bonneville from the comfort of their cars. (Or their ‘little red wagon’, Chevy-powered of course!)
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TEAK
Words & Photos: Paul Knight
TYPE 3 Magne Baevre owns one of the rarest of all the special edition Type 3 models. Paul Knight takes a look at this Teak-trimmed Fastback
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Perfect Seasand paint is period perfect, yet it’s the rare, Teak interior trim that causes Type 3 fans to go weak at the knees
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THE
PRESERVATION
GAME
Words & Photos: Stephan Szantai
Sure, the vehicle shows minor dents and scratches, but its amazing condition inspired Pat not to repaint the outside
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During the last few years, Volkswagen enthusiasts have embraced the concept of preserving unmolested and rust-free cars, rather than rebuilding/repainting them to showroom condition. Pat Deperne’s exceptional ’56 Kombi belongs to this breed of rare survivors. But as he planned on driving it extensively all over Europe, he performed a handful of smart updates...
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ow things have changed in the last two decades. Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, locating an old VW unaffected by tin worm remained fairly easy. Such a car would thereby become the perfect candidate for a restoration, or mild to wild custom project. Yet, these finds only turn up on rare occasions nowadays, and are certain to stir positive emotions within our hobby. After all, a Volkswagen from the 1950s just happens to be over half a century old... One such survivor, the ’56 Kombi gracing these pages, belongs to Pat Deperne who runs a well-known VW shop in Belgium, PAT Stock & Performance. This long-time Vee Dub buff has also been involved with Der Autobahn Scrapers since Day One and, as one of the club founders in 1992, you can still see him drag race his famous 13-second Beryl Green ’62 Ragtop, which has been a crowd-pleaser for two decades! Pat has owned a number of other notable Volkswagens over the years, with his current fleet including a ’58 drag Bug and a Porsche 356 coupé replica built by Envemo in Brazil. Highly involved in the day-to-day business, girlfriend Vanessa prefers cruising in her own ’64 1500S Notch, which rolls on Fuchs wheels – a vehicle in great original shape first sold in Switzerland. But back to the subject of our article, the L31 Dove Blue Kombi... During his 25 years of VW interest, Pat concedes having seldom seen a model in such a mind-boggling factoryfresh condition. He had known about this workhorse since 1994, when good friend Jojo took possession of it. The latter, a notorious Bus guru, had amassed an impressive collection
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