WAGENS THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VICTORIA | OCTOBER 2016
VILLE NEWS
BORDER VDUBS
GETTING THE BUG READY FOR THE TRIP FROM ALBURY TO REVOLKS
PAUL-ERIK KOVACS
WAGENSVILLE NEWS VWCLUB.COM.AU
VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VICTORIA VWCV COMMITTEE 2016 n President n Vice President n Secretary n Associate Editor n Treasurer n Web Master n Club Historian n Technical Officer n Membership Secretary n Club Plate Scheme Officer n Cruise and Events Co-ordinator n Constitution & Association matters n Day of the Volkswagen n Editor
Andrew Ermel Michael Cronin Chris Scane Mandy Turner Matt Reynolds Julian Langlet Chris Scane John Goodison Andrew Mengyl Andrew Ermel Chris Jeffes John Stevens Lloyd Davies Dr. Wayne Lewis
president@vwclub.com.au vicepresident@vwclub.com.au secretary@vwclub.com.au associateeditor@vwclub.com.au treasurer@vwclub.com.au webmaster@vwclub.com.au historian@vwclub.com.au technical@vwclub.com.au memberships@vwclub.com.au chplates@vwclub.com.au events@vwclub.com.au constitution@vwclub.com.au dovw@vwclub.com.au editor@vwclub.com.au
'THIS HEATER IS USELESS!'
VWCV MEMBERSHIP FEES Single Annual Full membership Single 3 year Full Membership Family Membership additional Membership Joining Fee
$60 $155 $20 per mem/per year $10 first year only
7 Wagensville is the monthly newsletter of the Volkswagen Club of Victoria Inc. Correspondence, articles and items of news or items for sale are invited and should be sent to: VWCV Editor: GPO Box 1215 Melbourne, Vic 3001 or editor@vwclub.com.au
THEY TOLD ME THE 'STANDARD' WOULD BE FUN. Disclaimer: All material in this newsletter represents the opinions of the author(s) and does not carry any endorsement by the Editor and Editor Assistant or Committee unless otherwise stated. Any material advertised for sale does not carry any endorsement by the Club and the onus is on the purchaser to ensure the purchased goods meet their requirements. Each VWCV Member is a volunteer carrying out club duties in their own leisure time. The Club has no paid officials, only enthusiasts dedicated in furthering the interests of the Club and its members. Therefore, please bear this in mind when contacting Club Committee Members.
OCTOBER 2016
3
PRESIDENT
Letter to
the editorS
ANDREW ERMEL
Wayne Lewis
Keep those old Volkswagens on the road and keep those club permits coming in too!
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT IN ELECTING ME AS PRESIDENT FOR THE YEAR. IT’S BEEN A WHILE NOW SINCE I HELD THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT IN THE VW CLUB AND MANY HAVE THINGS CHANGED IN THE PAST 15 YEARS. The club is growing in membership every month and financially we are well grounded and have the ability now, as you would have seen, to return the members good value for money at club events and club meetings. Thank you to Richard Graham for a wonderful past year at the helm and thanks to Michael Cronin for your support as Vice President this year. I know that Michael is very capable and well placed to help me guide the club along. We have just returned from a long trip to Queensland with the Drag Cars where we competed in the annual Warwick VWMA event. We had four Victorian competitors this year including Michael and Julie Clark with Mikes 2332 all VW motor powered 69 Beetles. Barry and Darcy Cripps in his turbo powered Chop top black Beetle, Steven Craven in his 1968 all VW motor powered Beetle, Beetle Juice, and me with my 1957 oval Beetle 2332cc all VW motor powered Grey Ghost. Michael and Julie Clark this year travelled for the first time to Warwick with the their new VW Amarok “Core” as their tow car and they had no trouble negotiating up and down the big hills and I had to work my T4 hard just to try to minimise the distance they made on me at each stint of driving! We all managed to qualify our drag cars on the Saturday and get them through in one piece for the
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Wagensville News
LOCO GRINGOS READY TO RACE
Sunday’s finals. Steve Craven and I qualified 8th and 4th respectively in the top 8 air-cooled brackets having run 7.8 and a 7.5 1/8 mile. Michael Clark qualified in air-cooled 1 with an 8.00 and Darcy Cripps qualified in the top 8 inducted with a 7.4 On the Sunday we had a mixed bag of results with Michael Clark missing out on a round due to fuel problems but came back later in the day to lay down a massive burnout and take a win in the final round. Steve Craven’s Beetle unfortunately seized the motor going from second to third gear up against me racing in the other lane in the third round of finals.
All-in-all, it was good event with plenty of super good VW action with 92 competitors this year. Thanks to crew members, Ewan Munroe and Greg Harmer for their assistance and driving skills getting us there and back safe, and thanks to “Crew Chief” Michael Cronin for getting us set up on the days racing and navigating us through the flooded areas of NSW on the road trip.
This week there are seven different letters to the editors, but unfortunately they were all lost in the mail prior to them landing on our production desk. Keep them coming in though! You could win a trip for two to The Swagman in Ferntree Gully!
I’ve Just returned from the ReVolks 10th anniversary event and it was fantastic! I will leave the report on this event to others but I must thank Rossco Daikin and Doc Daikin for a great event. Best ever ReVolks! Cheers,
ANDREW ERMEL VWCV PRESIDENT
We now find that the crankshaft broke which has happened to us in the past in the same track at the same lane some 6 years ago! I had three wins from the four finals but missed the cut off for the final on the dial in count-back but gladly I won a trophy for the best burnout of the event. OCTOBER 2016
5
VWCV CALENDAR DATE
TIME
You just it's a great deal
DON’T FORGET YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD!
EVENT
LOCATION
DETAILS
CONTACT
MELBOURNE JAMBOREE
Calder Park Dragway, Calder Park
Full details www.jamboree.com.au
Andrew Ermel president@vwclub.com.au
Meals available. Bring your membership card. The Golf Challenge is the theme of this months meeting.
Andrew Ermel president@vwclub.com.au
NOVEMBER 8:00am
12
20
From
Drag Racing, Show n Shine, Dyno Comp, Stunt Shows and plenty more
$22,990 driveaway*
6.30pm
GENERAL MEETING Austrian Club
9:00am
MONTHLY COFFEE
Rocco & Coe, 1 Fennel St Pt Melbourne
Chris Jeffes events@vwclub.com.au
10:00am
DAY OF THE VOLKSWAGEN
Yarra Valley Racecourse, Yarra Glen
Lloyd Davies dovw@vwclub.com.au
17 19
Golf 92TSI man.
This years theme is Okrasa & R models. See poster in this issue or check the VWCV website.
^
ACROSS THE RANGE
With Volkswagen Choice^^ to approved applicants of Volkswagen Financial Services
DAY OF THE VOLKSWAGEN MONTHLY UPDATE
$16,990
6
This month’s winners is: BRENDAN PELL Wagensville News
$67,990
driveaway*
Your Volkswagen Partner
BURWOO D RD
ST
VICTOR IA RD
D LR EL RW BE
YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOU!
From driveaway*
5 Year Unlimited Kilometre Warranty available on all models^ when financed with Volkswagen Choice^^ See all our special offers atwww.bayfordvolkswagen.com.au
OXLEY RD
Isn’t it about time you got involved? Your club magazine is always looking for more contributions from club members. And each month, one story is picked at random to receive a $50 JB HIFI gift voucher.
Touareg 150TDI auto
with Rear View Camera‡
ALBERT
Any enquiries can be addressed, within the grounds, to our volunteers at the Club stand, or me, Lloyd Davies, the organiser of the Day.
Polo 66TSI Trendline man. From
RD
Finally, regarding the gate, please be respectful of the fact that we need to get 600 cars into the grounds within 180 minutes, and at peak times, this can mean six cars a minute, so please assist the gate personnel to have everything there run smoothly and quickly - this is a safety issue as we can't have cars blocking the street.
AUBURN
Parking for VIP groups will again be organised by Andrew Ermel. All enquiries regarding this should be directed to Andrew.
M CA
Other changes this year will include - a new Club President, Andrew Ermel, at the helm, which means we had to find someone as grumpy or grumpier for the gate, so Michael Cronin was a natural choice; the full use of the area called the undercroft, which is the glassed in area under the main grandstand, which has not been available to us previously (this area will be reserved for gold
sponsors, high end traders and Tech Talks, which will again be organised and chaired by Bill Malkoutzis). All this adds up to an even better day.
HENRY ST
T
HIS YEAR'S DAY OF THE VOLKSWAGEN, Sunday 20 November at Yarra Glen Race Course, will have the theme of 'Performance Volkswagens'. This can be anything from a mildly tuned air-cooled to a Judson equipped 36 HP, all the way through to a GIAC tuned Golf R. So there should be plenty of eye-candy in the performance display area. If you have a vehicle that could be displayed in this area, please bring it along.
Bayford Volkswagen Camberwell 675 Burwood Road, Hawthorn East LMCT8128 Tel: 03 9811 1888 www.bayfordvolkswagen.com.au
*Manufacturer’s campaign driveaway price for new MY16 vehicles sold by 30 September 2016 and delivered by 31 October 2016. Private buyers only, not available with any other offers. Options and metallic paint may be available for an additional cost. Volkswagen Australia reserves the right to change or extend all offers. App-connect is compatible for selected apps with the latest smartphone versions of iOS and Android. ‡Safety technologies are not a substitute for the driver’s responsibility of the vehicle. ^5 Year Warranty available at no additional cost at participating Volkswagen dealers to approved applicants of Volkswagen Financial Services (VFS)** who use a Volkswagen Choice Guaranteed Future Value (GFV)^^ product on new stock vehicles sold by 31 December 2016 and delivered by 31 January 2017. While stock lasts. Your rights under this warranty sit alongside the consumer guarantees under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which cannot be excluded. VFS** reserves the right to extend or change the offer. Standard fees and charges apply. Full conditions are available on application. Extended warranty terms and conditions at www.volkswagenaustralia.com.au/specialoffers. ^^Volkswagen Choice GFV program consists of an option to require VFS** to purchase your vehicle at the end of your VFS** finance loan for a pre-determined value. This offer is not available in conjunction with any other offer and may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Terms, conditions, fair wear & tear criteria, kilometre conditions, fees & charges apply. Fleet, government, rental buyers, hire car and chauffeur companies are excluded. **VFS is a trading name of Volkswagen Financial Services Australia Pty Limited ABN 20 097 071 460, Australian credit licence number 389344.
SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY TO CAPE YORK W
E JUST RETURNED FROM OUR 10,000KM TRIP TO THE NORTHERN TIP OF THE AUSTRALIAN MAINLAND IN OUR ‘76 KOMBI. THIS IS NOT UNIQUE - IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE. WHAT IS UNIQUE IS THAT WE ARE RE-TRACING A TRIP WE DID 23 YEARS AGO IN A 1500 BEETLE. Preparations this time were fairly routine, most spares, tools and other equipment were still in the car from last years trip to the Goldfields around Laverton and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. On our way to Cairns we visited the Carnarvon Gorge near Roma and enjoyed the Innot Hot Springs at Mount Garnet. Leaving the mad traffic in Cairns (where we picked up a new speedo cable, the one part we didn’t pack) we made our way along the various northern beaches to the Daintree River, where we had to wait 1.5hrs for the ferry.Most travellers make a return journey to Cape Tribulation (now Bitumen!) but we continued on over some hairy steep tracks to Bloomfield and found the Bloomfield River has now a million dollar bridge, when 23 years ago we had to make our way through a deep rocky crossing!
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Wagensville News
After spending some time in historic Cooktown we travelled the back road to the Old Laura Homestead and stopped at the Isabella Falls for a swim and an overnight stay - the first real bush camp and fire. On our way through Hann River, Musgrave, Coen and onwards, we endured the constant passing of 4X4s with caravans and trailers, lots of dust, flying stones, corrugations and our poor Kombi shaking but what the heck, it was all part of the adventure!
Stopping overnight at Somerset Bay, Mutee Head and Injinoo/Umagico before leaving the area and crossing the Jardine river again to tackle the home stretch, we left the main road at Fairview to make our way to Chillagoe.Anyone who loves the outback would enjoy this - the open and closing of 13 gates, great scenery, the Palmer and Mitchell River to cross and only one or two cars to be seen! Chillagoe is known for the marble mines and interesting caves to explore.
FRUIT BAT FALLS
SURPRISE!
We had a lovely swim and tried to get rid of the red dust in our hair - no way, until we had our next shower with shampoo to become 2 blondes again the result of having to open windows for fresh air!
The next destination was Mount Surprise along the 'Alternate Savannah Way' where we hit lots of rain, but somehow the unmade road surface stayed firm and we relaxed when we hit Mount Surprise and the pub where we had a brandy and took the rest of the bottle with us to keep us warm!
The ferry across the Jardine cost $90 return - that’s not bad compared with fifty-dollars 23 years ago! Coming in to Punsand Bay brought back memories but what a change! What a busy place! Next day we travelled very early along the most interesting and amazing road to the top of Cape York, climbing the last kilometre over rocks to again hug the sign to prove that we made it!
Normanton and the Purple Pub was our next stop where we had to have a beer! On to Karumba - boy has that town grown, they now have 5 caravan parks! After a couple of days of lovely sunsets and lots of prawns, we followed the road to Burketown and Doomadgee, a 160km detour to a lovely place
called Kingfisher Camp - a camping ground we loved, only to find it closed! Bugger! Back towards Burketown and another great camping spot near Gregory Downs. This area always intrigued us because it has the remains of an ancient rainforest which includes Lawn Hill, Adels Grove and Riversleigh National Park. The Gregory River is bordered by tropical vegetation and has some great private camp sites if you can find them! Going back south took us through Mount Isa, Boulia, Bedourie and a road we had not travelled before, to Windorah. Not very wise - recent floods were making their way from the north down to the Cooper and eventually to Lake Eyre. The Road to Windorah was flooded when we crossed the Farrars Channels. We had fun even though the flood level was higher then expected.
CRUMBED CHICKEN As we hit town we were told the road we just travelled was now closed and so was every other road out of town! We enjoyed a few days of sunshine, great fellow campers around the fire place and the pub with a good crumbed chicken!
OCTOBER 2016
9
SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY TO CAPE YORK F
OUR DAYS LATER THEY OPENED THE DETOUR ROAD TO JUNDAH - THE FLOOD LEVEL CAME DOWN TO .35 METRES, SO WE WERE TOLD - OKAY FOR THE KOMBI. Little did we know the flood covered 700mtrs of the road and the current was strong and the level was in places at .4 and .5 metres! Scary! We made it through, but just!
The Kombi suffered and decided enough is enough and stopped! A burnt out clutch! Help was everywhere. We were even towed into town with the police car! The council‘s chief mechanic arranged the ordering and delivery of the clutch, let us stay at his place and shared his food and beer with us! We got to know the little town and the people very well everyone was so helpful!
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Wagensville News
The parts came from Rockhampton to Longreach and eventually to Jundah. Finally after 4 days I replaced the clutch and put back the engine (not easy in the middle of the road!) and we were rolling again! All downhill from there, except finding someone in Quilpie to replace noisy wheel bearings (from my spares kit). In all our travel through the years we have never seen the outback in QLD and NSW so green and enjoyed this new experience all the way home. The car is now waiting for a few minor replacements, such as windscreen, tyres, all tie rods, broken stabiliser bar, the other wheel bearings, the air horns (drowned) etc.
OCTOBER 2016
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ROTATIONAL INERTIA OVERSTEERING FENDER MOUNTED LIGHTS
COLUMN SHIFT
STYLISH FLAT BOOT SECTION
TYPE 3 ENGINE
FLOOR RAISED BY 150MM
U
NBEKNOWN TO MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING MYSELF PRIOR TO WRITING THIS ARTICLE (AND AFTERWARDS), THERE WAS ONCE TALK OF RE-LOCATING THE VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE TYPE 1 ENGINE TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR IN LATE 1964. There was a lady from Gippsland that had wanted to purchase a vehicle that could carry her pigs to the market on Monday and then take them to the local Church on Sundays. She couldn't fit them in the front boot of her beetle, so she wondered if there could be more space made available in the rear to accommodate her pigs. It turns out this woman had previously pestered Ford in Geelong for many years asking them to build her a utility vehicle which hadn't yet been invented at the time. However, for some reason, this got Volkswagen thinking whether it was possible to modify their very own Beetle in such a way as to fulfil the lady's request. VW commenced the project and began learning about rotational inertia, which causes unstable oversteering when decelerating or braking, which is the main drawback of rear engined cars. Since 1946, there had been more than five complaints about the rear end of the beetle sliding around corners when braking or backing off on the throttle.
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INTERNAL DRIVESHAFT
Wagensville News
THIS ARTICLE GETS A RATING OF 2 OUT OF 10
SO IT SEEMED SOME OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAD HAD ENOUGH AND IT WAS TIME TO START SOLVING THIS PROBLEM.
REAR ENGINE – FRONT WHEEL DRIVE First step was to decide if it was at all feasible moving the rear engine to the front of the car. Or would it be enough to leave the engine at the rear, then insert a drive shaft to power the front wheels, therefore making the car rear-engined and frontwheel drive? This seemed like the cheapest option so the first prototypes were constructed and test driven, however they underperformed as the vehicles were still only clay mockups and some of the clay hadn't yet dried properly. It was then decided they would modify existing vehicles rather than commit to a total redesign. The floor of the beetle needed to be raised by 150mm to accomodate further chassis strengthening. The transmission and drive shaft tunnel added a further 150mm in height along the length of the cabin. The tunnel meant that the front seats needed to be narrowed by 120mm each. The handbrake was moved to underneath the passenger seat but was only accessible from the rear seat. With limited space available, the gear stick was cleverly moved to the steering wheel, thus becoming a 3-on-the-tree as third gear was removed so as not to confuse drivers who had been used to the column shift 3 gear system.
There wasn't the budget to install a proper column shift gear stick, so the old floor gear stick was used which took some time to get used to. Often windscreens were cracked or broken when trying to shift into what was the old third gear, but was now second gear or sometimes fourth. The front beam needed to be widened by 6 inches to fit in the front differential and various other components. Apart from the reduced head space, narrowed seat width and cumbersome handbrake and column shift, the car proved to be quite interesting to drive, with none of the oversteer handling issues of the rear wheel drive car, although understeer was slightly increased (150%). Most front wheel drive cars have torque steer however this wasn't an issue with the 52 Horsepower 1300cc engine.
FRONT ENGINE – REAR WHEEL DRIVE This was the configuration that VW really wanted to make work. They could use the same engine from the Type 3 which is flatter, rather than tall, so it would fit better once positioned over the front wheels. The petrol tank could be moved safely under the back seat, next to the battery. The spare tyre was not needed as there wasn't enough room. An early version of Run-Flat Tyres could be purchased as an option that simply ran flat once punctured, as the name suggested. No further details were required. The same transmission tunnel idea was used that had already been designed for the front wheel drive version, with the only change being that the tail shaft now spun in the opposite direction. (once they realised that the engine would run backwards if they left it the same way). The front bonnet had to be enlarged somewhat to fit the engine in. It partially obscured frontal vision (100mm high), but with the raised floor, this wasn't much of an issue, as they sort of cancelled each other out. Shorter shock absorbers mounted to the widened front beam were necessary along with a more fashionable, wider turning circle (3.5 metres greater). The headlights were removed to make space for large air ducts that were required to cool the engine. The headlights were repositioned on top of the fenders and surprisingly, semaphores were reintro-
duced as there was no room left (or right) to place the indicators. With the engine now removed from the rear, it was time to further utilise the now available space. Firstly it was thought that the space may need to be enlarged to cope with modern luggage requirements. The old engine boot lid was moved backwards on the same angle approximately 400mm, along with the rear apron and bumper bar. This essentially lengthened the car by 400mm without the need for extending the wheelbase and only marginally increasing rear wheel overhang (400mm). A flat piece of metal then bridged the gap between the rear window and what was now the boot lid. More metal panels were added to fill in the sides. The boot could now hold up to two small suitcases or 3 smaller ones if necessary.
THE DRIVING PLEASURE
T
HERE WERE MANY BENEFITS, BUT THERE WERE A COUPLE OF MINOR ISSUES. THE STEERING WAS SLIGHTLY HEAVIER NOW THAT THE ENGINE WAS PLACED OVER THE FRONT WHEELS BUT THIS COULD BE REDUCED BY DOUBLING THE FRONT TYRE PRESSURES. As the engine had to be mounted above the beam and other steering components, it actually sat quite high so therefore the tail shaft needed to be on a steep angle as it headed rearwards and actually protruded through the dashboard. Unfortunately it had to be located above the transmission tunnel instead of inside it which increased noise levels within the cabin.At highway speeds it was best to move away a bit from the rapidly spinning tail shaft as it was thought that it could injure occupants if it was to hit them. But the benefits were too numerous to mention. So I won't.
WAYNE LEWIS:
I give this article 2 out of 10. (One point for some correct splelling) OCTOBER 2016
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DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW!
M
Y JOURNEY WITH THE GHIA STARTED when I moved to Maryland, USA for work in 1994. One of my first tasks was to hunt through the Washington Post to find a car to drive around for the 2 or 3 years that I anticipated that I would spend in the US. I couldn’t afford the DeLorean ($17K) or the 64 Mustang ($6K) but the bright yellow 1972 Karmann Ghia convertible ($200) might be fun.
The Ghia was being sold by a 17 year old graduating high school student who was going to college in Colorado so his parents had brought him a new Jeep. When I graduated, my parents bought me lunch. Rust free and in good nick as it was originally a California car, I bought it. While in Melbourne, my daily driver (right up to this day) was a Fiat 124 2L fuel injected Spider at 84kW. It was certainly a reality check when I started driving the Ghia around (37kW), but after a while, it became fun and was a real attention grabber. I had personalised number plates “BRRRRM” which added to the fun factor.
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Wagensville News
The lack of horsepower did drive me crazy, however. That’s when I discovered “catalogues” (remember, this was before the internet). They were magical. In the USA at the time, everything and anything you could ever want to buy was in a catalogue. There was even a catalogue that listed all the other catalogues. I had one for VW performance parts. I rang a number, gave the catalogue
code, paid by credit card, and in 4 weeks a big blue box appeared on the front door step. Open it up and inside was a new Mofoco 2.2l fully tricked out, turn-key motor and performance exhaust. I popped it in over a weekend and I was not missing the Fiat any more.
When it was time to leave the States and come back home, I couldn’t bare leaving the Ghia behind, so I exported it to Melbourne. Cost was approximately $500 back then. I had to pull out and sell the Mofoco motor and put in the original 1.6L before I could export as the car needed to be stock.
Being an Aussie in the US and an excellent tourist, over the weekends I drove the Ghia back and forth to New York, Chicago, Delaware, Boston, New Jersey, North Carolina and many other places.
Unfortunately, life got busy once back in Melbourne and the Ghia sat in the garage from 1996 through to 2016 when I finally decided to get it back on the road. With the good work of Wolfgang at Volkscourt, I got the Ghia registered this year and now drive it at least once a week. It’s still lots of fun (code for not enough horse power) and I certainly don’t miss the snow and ice at all.
It seemed to be bulletproof and never broke down. The only issue was that the heater never worked well. Winters in Maryland can be severe often reaching minus temperatures and snowing on a regular basis. It seems funny to me now when Melbournians complain when it gets down to 14oC. I had to plug in an electric blanket for the battery every night to stop the battery freezing, spray alcohol into the door lock to melt the ice before I could get the key in, and had to scrape the snow and ice off every morning before I could drive off. 14oC is T-shirt weather.
OCTOBER 2016
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VWCLUB.COM.AU
VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VICTORIA 2015-16 OCTOBER 2015 VOLUME 61 ISSUE 09
EMISSIONS-FREE ISSUE!
Wagensville
News
THE OFFI CI AL M AGAZI NE OF THE VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VIC TOR IA
NOVEMBER 2015 VOLUME 61 ISSUE 10
GTI ISSUE!
Wagensville
News
THE OFFIC IAL MAGAZINE OF THE VOLKS WAGEN C LUB OF VIC TOR IA
S EMISSPIOONSSIBLE! IM SMOKE ‘EM
WILL
AGEN!
UP VOLKSW
AGEN VOLKSW
T REALLY
LY, I’M NO
? PROBAB
SURVIVE
SURE.
ER N’S CORN GEN INFO l HISTORIA VOLKSWA Y OF THE l THE DA ARTICLES ORS l FEATURE UT RIB NT CO l REGULAR ’S CORNER OR l COLLECT
l CRUISE TO ARTHUR’S SEAT l CHARMAIN’S BUG l DARWIN DUBBING l DESERT RALLY
MARCH 2016 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 14
MARCH-ERRIFIC!
Wagensville
News
THE OFFIC IAL MAZAGINE OF THE VOLKS WAGEN C LUB OF VIC TOR IA
VOYAGE!
ZA THING!
TRAVAGAN
Y NIGHT EX
RIE FRIDA
RTS NIDD
A1 AUTOPA
NEWS
E FR
T FROM TH
OW APAR
OF THE SH
ACHTUNG BABY! AND SO FORTH!
ES! EE SAUSAG
N MAIDE
EZ: STAR
AUGUST 2016 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 19
WAGENSVILLE
THE MAGAZINE THAT’S BETTER THAN NOTHING!
ONE WHOLE YEAR OF FUN AND HELL MIXED TOGETHER!
A special thanks to Josh Handicott for his all hard work over the past 12 months. Also, thanks to all VWCV members and committee who have contributed throughout the year.
A BAD CASE OF VOLKSWAGEN-IITIS! 400mm under water, and that water was flowing very fast. Normally I would cross such a bridge with some trepidation, but having seen lots of news stories of late where people have been trapped or have died when trying to drive through such situations, I decided I wasn't going to be 'that guy', with visions of news coverage and locals tut tutting and sniggering about the city slicker who didn't have a clue. JACK KNIFE ARRIVES
L
AST YEAR WHEN A GROUP OF CLUB members visited Germany, and went to the Bad Camberg vintage VW event and afterwards attended the European Bug-In in Belgium, we came across some VW Iltis vehicles, which I remember reading about in the 70s and 80s.
Not ever having seen one in the flesh, we were very interested to have a further look and the Bug-In crew were very happy to indulge us in our passion. They went on to tell us that you can buy these vehicles through ex-military auctions for between 3000 and 4000 euros, which made some of the party very interested, myself included.
powered by a 1.6 turbo diesel (or 1.7 litre petrol) which are the same engines as found in the Mark 2 Golf TDI and Mark 2 1.7 litre petrol. It is a very robust and easily maintained vehicle as Volkswagen demonstrated in entering it in the Paris-Dakar rally. AN AUTO UNION UNION
DESIGNED BY DKW
By the time the vehicle's design was completed, Volkswagen had acquired Auto Union and rebranded the marque as Audi. It seems that Volkswagen thought it was more appropriate to brand the Iltis as a Volkswagen rather than an Audi, since Volkswagen had originally decided to abandon all Auto Union brand names. Obviously, this decision was subsequently reversed to give us the Audi we know so well today.
The Iltis is a very interesting vehicle. It was designed by DKW (part of the Auto Union group), back in the mid to late 60s to be used by the German military, and was built between 1975 and 1988. Mercedes was also approached to submit a design, which turned out to be the Gwagon. The Iltis is the grand-daddy of the Audi Quattro, in that the basic layout and concept of the Quattro is a direct derivative of this vehicle. The vehicle is normally rear wheel drive and is selectable into 4wd by a simple lever action in the cab. It also has a crawler gear for steep inclines and a diff lock. It is
Having been home now for over a year, I have been toying with the idea of making a quick trip back to Germany to pick one up and to go through the process of shipping it home. Then, out of the blue, with no real reason, my son Peter forwarded me a link to CarSales with what might be the only one driving in Australia. I pondered this for a few days as the asking price seemed a bit high. I eventually decided to try to get the price reduced a bit, even though it was in very good condition compared to the European ones we had seen. After phone negotiations with the owner, we came to
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Wagensville News
an agreement on price and I arranged to collect the vehicle. Unfortunately, the Iltis was on a property outside Canberra. I asked for directions and began to feel concerned when he suggested that he send me an email. I left Melbourne at 5.30 am, complete with trailer and headed up the Hume, planning on having a couple of brief naps along the way, and aiming to arrive at about 3:30 that afternoon, which I managed to achieve. After checking the vehicle over and taking it for a brief drive around the owner's property, a deal was done. We loaded the vehicle onto the trailer, strapped it down and headed down the rough driveway to the gate. The property owner led the way, intending to shut the gate after me. At the gate, I got out of my ute to say goodbye and noticed a rear tyre on the ute was flat! GREAT! It took about half an hour to jack the ute and trailer and fit the spare and I was finally on my way heading for Yass where I planned to spend the night at our regular trailer friendly motel that we use when travelling to the Nationals. I had an 18 kilometre drive on a poor dirt road ahead of me. Along the way, the SatNav suggested I turn left onto what appeared to be a better road, so I thought 'Why not?'. I proceeded down what started as a sealed road, which quickly turned into yet another rough unmade road. All seemed well as I continued along until I came across a bridge, which normally would not be a problem, but this one appeared to be about
Having decided not to try to drive across the bridge, I figured that there was just enough room to turn around where obviously others had done so. So I backed up with the intention of doing a U-turn which would be very tight as there was an embankment on each side, but I figured I would make it if I rode up a bit on the far embankment. This went well until I found out that the far embankment which was covered in grass, was actually sand. And there I was, the ute bellied on the sand and the trailer jack-knifed! Now the ute is 4wd with a diff lock, but she wasn't coming off and it was getting dark. After a brief spell of swearing and cussing, I had no choice but to dig her out. A little while later, this old Subaru 4wd trundled across the submerged bridge, and the driver asked if I needed help. 'Yes' I replied, as I was blocking the road. I told him I thought I couldn't cross the bridge to which he replied 'We go across here all the time!' GREAT! Luckily I had a rather long tie-down strap which we used to pull the trailer straight and with a deal of difficulty, pulled the ute off the sand. After thanking him profusely, he departed and I went about driving the ute up the road to find somewhere to turn around, eventually coming back to the trailer to re-hitch, which is not easy in the dark as I had to line it up perfectly because the trailer wouldn't move. Then along came a couple of young guys in a 4wd. They helped me hitch up and gave me advice about crossing the bridge, which believe it or not, had a left hand bend at the end. After completing the crossing I eventually made it to my motel in Yass for the night and slept very well indeed!
OCTOBER 2016
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GRANNY'S BEETLE “I
’ll just sell it to a man who wants it. He can have it. I love it, but nobody wants a PROject. The Volksy would be a PROject. You don't want it, darling. It would be a PROject. Don't feel as though you have to have it for me. You're too busy for a PROject like the Beetle (Granny, 2007).
“
She had offered the Beetle to all the other grandchildren first because they were there in Adelaide with her. Nobody wanted it. It would have been too big of a project for them. It was the best day of my life when she told me she would just give it to "a man" who wanted it for parts or something. I was able to persuade her that I really, really wanted it, and I would organize everything to get it! So after everyone telling me I wouldn't want a project like the 1966 Volkswagen Beetle Deluxe; that a girl like me didn't want the hassle; I arranged for it to travel from Adelaide to Melbourne by train and continue its life with me: a girl who had ridden in it as a child, whose mother had learnt to drive in it, whose grandmother had bought it over 40 years ago.
lemonade, a bone handled butter knife, the frilly pillows that had always been there and a photograph of Granny with an inscription on the back: "Have fun my darling Kindred, tons of love, Granny." On the glove box - which a friend once described as the air conditioning system due to its temperate climate year round - was the sticker that had always been there - “The Motorists' Prayer". After more than several mechanics working on it and double that number of calls to the RACV, the Beetle - granny's Beetle, now MY Beetle - found its way to Ingrid at VW Performance. Ingrid: the medical consultant of VWs.
S
INCE MY BEETLE has been cured, treated and spoilt, it has become an official VW club member and sits contently on the road, ready to roll at any time. The photograph of Granny is propped within the glove box to be revealed like a jack-in-the-box upon opening, the motorists' blessing is ready to be recited and my Beetle is undoubtedly the best project I've ever embarked upon. Parp! Parp!
WAGENS THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VICTORIA | OCTOBER 2016
VILLE NEWS
Sharing Volkswagen knowledge since 1954
TIP 18 (From 1957):
You will find that the engine is located in the rear of the car.
When it arrived at the then Spencer St Station (now Southern Cross), there was a picnic basket in the back seat, cheese, crackers, trail mix, ginger,
FOR SALE: 1972 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE S In good running order, very little rust, very straight and original. POA. Gisborne, Victoria. Contact Ben on 0475 867 519.
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your VW club needs you! Wagensville News
OCTOBER 2016
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V O L K S W O M E N
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Wagensville News
THE LEAVING OF ReV LKS
Ballarat VW Sec. and Victorian VW Club member It was a little windy that day...
40 knots off the starboard bow. (when sailing from the other way)
PIC BY ANDY ELBE
THE NAP
THE WEDDING PARTY
LEAVING
MY FRIENDS HAD SCATTERED TO THE WINDS BUT THAT DIDN’T MATTER. I’m used to partying with my friends in a phone booth. But in this case, I had dined with my daughter Claire, son-in-law Lucas and grandchildren Nathan and Ethan, scored the couch in the restaurant and watched a bit of Bathurst. The night before was my sister Helen’s 70th birthday – so I’d had a late night. A Grandpa Nap in the teardrop was urgently needed.
WHAT DO I DO NOW? THE WIND WAS HOWLING LIKE HELL.
After another 15 minutes of wedding shots, I was ready for takeoff – back to the Rat (Ballarat). I headed out and waves were breaking over the foreshore. ‘No worries,’ I thought. ‘I’ll let one hit the windscreen because it’s all salted up.’ I slowed and - smash – windscreen cleaned. I saw a photographer up ahead go for his camera like a gunfighter.
I staggered to my assigned place (see the photo) and the lady said, ‘Is this your baby?’ I said, ‘Yes. And do you have a car here?’ She said, ‘Yes, a yellow ragtop.’ (Lady – you have been sprung). We smiled politely and I unlocked and climbed in. I thought lying down - I should have said – ‘If the trailer’s rockin’ don’t come knockin’.’ But that would be inappropriate because I didn’t know her. Doubly inappropriate because I was in there by myself. The teardrop was really rocking (the wind!), bathtubs of spray were hitting like machine gun bursts, and I lay there for a while until I thought, this thing is going to overturn.’ So I swore, hauled out and moved the car and teardrop 180 degrees to the street side of the foreshore.
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Wagensville News
‘Bugger,’ I said, ‘Coffee is required – back to the restaurant.’ Beaned up, I lurched into the wind to get back to the car. There were only two other VWs there – a yellow beach buggy and a Kombi way down near the carousel. As I held onto my hat, a Japanese wedding party were also struggling down, windblown and giggling, for a photo opportunity. They headed for the beach buggy and looked at me. ‘It’s not mine,’ I shrugged. Taking that as permission, they lined up for photos standing in front of it. Then they really went to town – climbing inside, bride’s veil blowing out backwards, someone throwing bread in the air to attract the seagulls and really getting some great shots. I watched in horror as they took turns to climb all over it. I said to distract them, ‘You can take some shots next to mine, if you like.’ The photographer said, ‘Thank you. In a few minutes?’ ‘Great,’ I thought. ‘The buggy owner will appear any minute and blame me.’
Somewhat distracted, I drove to the left of the metal poles. Were they there last year? I ended up on the concrete in front of the mussel boat. I stopped in horror. Of course, I’ve never taken a wrong turn before on a VW run. My Ballarat club members will back me on that. Now, I will admit, my trailer backing skills are somewhat limited. I’m improving but I’ve only had the teardrop for a year. I try not to reverse too much. So, what to do? If I tried a reverse, I’d end up in the drink dining on my last mussel. So, ploughing fearlessly on, I drove down the footpath past Fisherman’s Pier and lined up at the crossing, on the footpath with people waiting to walk across the road. Funny looks don’t bother me. I sat there, waited for the lights, bumped off the edge turning left, and went home. FRANK CARRUCAN
Ahoy, splice the jolly mainbrace matey! Me buccaneers are getting wet!
OCTOBER 2016
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1958 Mobilgas Trial
I
stumbled across an old newspaper recently and was interested in the article which reviews the two VW's that came first and second in the very grueling, inaugural Mobilgas Trial event. 10,000 miles were travelled clockwise around Australia and involved essentially 'stock' cars. The results and newsworthy events for this can be found with a Google search, but this article involves the Motoring Writer (Garry Barker) taking the place-getting cars for a spin after the event. Of interest also was the fact the actual race results were, at the time the article was written, not official and much controversy arose later.
ROB SMITH OCTOBER 2016
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1958 Mobilgas Trial the two seats was filled with a big spare fuel tank and odd spare parts. It was all very spartan. Cusack's car, on the other hand, seemed to have survived the trip in rather better condition. Both front and back torsion bars had settled, but the front suspension had not softened, as had Perkin's. There was no body damage, except for small tears caused by flying stones on the back “skirts”. This is common on trial Volkswagens because of the construction of the body. Cusack had altered his driving seat by padding it with foam rubber and recovering it with leather. The navigator's seat was unchanged. DRIVER ED PERKINS AND NAVIGATOR ARTHUR SMITH CONGRATULATE EACH OTHER AFTER THE RACE.
MOBILGAS TRIAL 1958: (FROM THE HERALD SEPT 15TH 1958 PAGE 31) AUTHOR: GARRY BARKER
About 30 cars of many makes finished the course, but Volkswagens have won (no matter which way the appeal court decides) and it is to them that I directed my inquiries.
AFTER THEY HAD COVERED THE 10,000 MILES IN THE TRIAL –
They were driven by Eddie Perkins, of Cowangie, Victoria, who is provisionally first, and Greg Cusack, of Canberra, who is second, under the same provisions. The differences in the two cars are quite marked, although at the outset they were more or less identical.
HOW THE WINNING VW'S HANDLED No-one yet seems to know who really won the Mobilgas Trial and no-one will know until after the final appeal court has given its findings, probably about a month from now. However I can, in the meantime, give you some findings of my own - findings on the condition of the two Volkswagens which, on provisional results, have finished first and second.
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Wagensville News
A slightly over-size bore is allowed under the trial regulation and Perkins took advantage of this: his car otherwise is stock standard. Cusack's machine is completely stock. To deal with Perkin's car first: It was quite easy to see that it had been through hard times. The left front headlamp was damaged and the bonnet was dented where it had hit a kangaroo and the car was, of course, spattered with mud. Perkins drives very hard, even for a trials driver, and his car showed some signs of the drubbing it had taken.
The front suspension was a little soft, but still undamaged, and the steering felt somewhat worn, but again the components were unhurt by their testing. The back suspension did not seem to be much changed, although it had obviously settled down a little. There were some minor body rattles, but not as many as I thought likely. Unlike some cars, fittings in the Perkin's Volkswagen were kept to bare essentials. Both seats in the car were standard, except that the navigator's chair had been fitted with Volmac seat recliners. Neither seat was fitted with a head rest. Only one speedometer was fitted (in front of the driver), compared with the two used in Laurie Whitehead's winning car last year (1957). An elaborate rally clock and a map board and average speed calculator filled the rest of the dashboard space. Map pockets were fitted to the left-hand door in place of the normal trim. Rubber and plastic trim on the floor on the 'spine' of the chassis, and in the back compartment had been removed along with the back seat. Most of the space behind
Equipment in the car was kept to a minimum. Like Perkin's car, it had a big fuel tank behind the seats but few changes were made otherwise. Both cars were fitted with windscreen washers. The reservoir for the screen jets on Perkin's car was a gallon-size plastic bottle mounted beside his right foot. On the road both cars performed almost equally. They had lost some of their tune (only to be expected) and neither car would exceed 65 mph after a run-up of about 1 and a half miles. This, however is only 3 mph less than the factory claims, which isn't much to lose in 10,000 miles of trials work. Cusack's car had more 'sting' low down in the speed range than Perkin's machine. His car made 30 mph in 7.4 sec., compared with Perkin's 8 sec. However, Perkin's machine was notably faster from 0-50, a range which it covered in 15.4 sec., compared with Cusack's 21 sec. Incidentally Cusack's car was the one he had used as personal transport. It showed 43,000 miles on the clock, compared with the 11,400 on Perkin's speedometer. SUMMING UP: Both cars had obviously been through a stiff beating, but they were still in one piece, and still going. Their performance was slightly impaired, but not seriously so. They had a few body rattles. Major structural members were undamaged.
GARRY BARKER (1958)
OCTOBER 2016
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VWCV | CHARMAIN’S NO 'E' CHALLENGE
WAGENS THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE VOLKSWAGEN CLUB OF VICTORIA | OCTOBER 2016
FIND THE MATCHING WORDS AND WIN! Actually, just find the matching words.
VILLE NEWS
I SLAMMED IST MINESELF! IST KAPUTEN SHIZER!
OTHER WORDS FROM SOME FOREIGN COUNTRIES AS WELL: CINGEO, HABERDASHERY AND FAPNE. SPRINTMASTER VINTAGE SPEED COACHWHEEL GASBURNER MOTOMETER SPEEDWELL
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Wagensville News
JENEBURG ROMSTECH BUGPACK HAPPICH COSMIC GOLDIE
HELFOS JUDSON MAXROB OKRASA VOLMAC ENGLE
FUCHS HURST PETRI BERG EMPI BRM
GTV VDO VDM
Image originally published in Gute-Fahrt.
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Paul-Erik made it safely to ReVolks (The beetle pictured on the front cover)
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Thanks Doc and Rossko!
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MEMBERSHIP | APPLICATION
OCTOBER 2016 VOLUME 62 ISSUE 21
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