Sommaire pour Issue 109 de VWt

Hello and welcome to issue 109 of VWt. If you read the tabloids or watch the news it would be easy to assume we reside in conflict-ridden times. It seems not a week passes by where there isn’t some mention of war breaking out with North Korea or Russia, heated debates about the aftermath of Brexit, Covid-19 or some MP blaming the state of, well just about everything on anyone from abroad. However, when it comes to the global Transporter, van and camper community there seems to be very little politics. Sure, there’s the occasional bit of arguing online, but on the whole people respect each other’s countries, their values and their vans. Even when it may be a style or ethos that isn’t to their taste. I’ve been jammy…

Adorned with the Mulliner name, those wheels have come from a very exclusive Bentley. These days, it’s no more than a luxury badge for the personal commissioning department in Crewe. Historically, H J Mulliner was responsible for more than just a fancy coloured stitch. As one of the finest coachbuilders of its time, the company founded over 120 years ago in Mayfair London had one focus and that was the nobility. Having made a custom bodied two-seater Silver Ghost roadster for none other than C S Rolls himself, Mulliner went on to primarily supply both Rolls-Royce and Bentley. In 1959, Rolls-Royce bought the brand outright and the lines began to blur.…

If you wanted to find the craziest custom rides back before the internet existed, it pretty much meant going to every show you could and buying every magazine that was printed. Even that level of commitment wouldn’t guarantee you were at the sharp end of customisation, especially on a Global scale. Nowadays, a few choice hashtags and you’re deep in the belly of the beast. But even since the romantic notion of uncovering a hidden gem has been seemingly lost forever, we’re still out here mining the deepest reaches of VW insanity to bring you the wildest rides. In today’s episode it’s time to break the stereotype on the tagline ‘Made in Taiwan’ with this mind-bending reimagination of a T4 pickup from Cosmos Secret Auto Parts in Tainan City. Forget…

Okay, let’s be real. You’ve probably just read the above statement and thought, wow that’s quite something to say. Really, the coolest car show... in the world? What about SEMA, Bonneville Speed Week, Gatebil, the Festival of Speed? Or even Players Classic’s sibling show the original Players Show at North Weald that’s been breaking necks since ’07. What makes it so worthy of that status? Maybe it’s the venue, Goodwood Motor Circuit literally drips in motorsport history. Nestled at the foot of the Sussex Downs, just a stone through from the historic city of Chichester it’s probably the best-preserved classic race circuit in the world. It’s like going back in time, from the home straight to the pit garages to the stunning manicured lawns everything is just perfect. And that’s…

After several weekends away in a row camping at shows for work, the perfect way to relax seemed to be... you guessed it camping! Yes, we really do love these vans and the lifestyle around here! But before I hit the campsite and the mega 30°C heat over the weekend I needed to make a few purchases. I picked up the new cab divider curtain from Van-X, I had the older version in my T4 which worked an absolute treat, but this new version is made from the same material as their premium curtains. Anyone who has had these will know how good they are at blocking out the light and this does the same. The other thing I like about the curtains from Van-X is their rail system has…

Now, I have to admit to a little excitement when the photos dropped online from this build. I’ve said it before, but despite owning T4s and 5s in the past, I’m more of an air-cooled/classic guy at heart. This being said, I’m just a little bit potty about pick-up trucks; I’ve owned several Split and Bay versions, as well as Chevy and GMC and my current ’77 Toyota (but we won’t talk about that). The arrival of the T6.1 front end, though, has renewed my enthusiasm to the point that I’ve toyed with building a facelifted T5 pick-up more than once recently (I like the older tech). And then this vans drops at my feet; a sign, maybe? Going back to square one on a finished build is not for…

PLEASE BE SEATED Hi VWt, I just read the feature on the new seats in Andrew’s T5.1 in issue 106 and enjoyed it. I would like to install some Golf seats and add some armrests to my 2011 T5.1, could you please tell me the seller contact details for the required bracket and armrests? Andrew Mantle via email VWt (Andrew Thompson): Hey Andrew, the seller for the arm rests and the ‘universal’ mounts is on eBay, look up the user ‘resk_deals’. Although he appears to be in the UK the items were shipped from Germany. Black leather arm rests arrived for me, and I was after black cloth so it maybe worth confirming that if you do get them from him. He doesn’t currently have any brackets / mounts listed…

GARMIN DASH CAM SERIES Garmin have announced an all-new 2021 voice-controlled dash cam series with automatic video storage and live view monitoring options to help drivers capture the moment when incidents occur. The Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2, 47, 57, and 67W are all pocket-sized dash cams that remain virtually unnoticed on the windshield while recording and automatically saving video of any detected incidents to Garmin’s new online Vault, a secure and simple way users can review and share video clips. With new Parking Guard and live view features, this connected dash cam line up keeps a vigilant eye on parked vehicles and remotely alerts drivers of activity with a smart notification on a user’s compatible smartphone through the Garmin Drive app. Whether drivers opt for the car key-sized Dash…

Let’s expand your knowledge of Taiwan with a few interesting facts about the island. The country is similar in size to Belgium but has 23 million residents dwarfing Belgium’s 11 million. Half of the county is uninhabitable forest making the population incredibly dense, particularly around the coast. The standard of living, however, is high. Traditionally they wear red for weddings and white for funerals and as a nation are very progressive, being the first Asian country to legalise gay marriage in 2019. Top fun Taiwan fact to amaze your friends? Around 50% of all the screws in America are made in Taiwan. This magazine is a beacon of education if nothing else eh?…

Low or high; what is it about extreme ride height that seems to make a lot of us stare open-mouthed in awe? Having lived the lowered life and still occasionally embracing it (I slammed and rimmed my ’68 VW Squareback a few weeks ago), I now find that I get a similar reaction when I look at high-rise vehicles with huge tyres. It doesn’t really matter what kind of vehicle it is either; I followed an early Freelander out of a car park the other week – I never really liked them, even when they were new. But this one was a clean early one and it had steelies and huge chunky tyres on all 4 wheels and the rear-mounted spare; it got my attention enough to look on eBay…

Chances are you weren’t expecting to be reading about drifting in VWt and to be honest, we we’re expecting to be writing about it either. However, when we heard about a Norwegian rear-wheel-drive T5 going sideways at an event normally reserved for the tyre smoking antics of Japanese, Swedish and German cars, we thought we’d best take a look. We mean c’mon, what kind of nutcases would want to build a drift Transporter? VWt: Hey guys, thanks for taking some time out to chat with us. So, who are the WhyNot? drifting crew? Hello VWt! We are just a bunch of mechanics from Sandnes, Norway. We met through some friends, and formed a team after the Gatebil festival in 2019. The founding members are Erik Tveit, Martin Hetland, Lasse…

BEST ENGINE The 150PS 2.0-litre diesel mated to the DSG gearbox is probably the best combo, reveals Kenny. The 204PS is pokier, but he’s had a few EGR issues with these. While the 2.6 in the T4 was undoubtedly one of the best engines VW ever made, it’s best avoided in the T5. THE HIGH LIFE A pop-top roof is an absolute must, says Kenny. And even if you think you don’t need one, you will. An elevating roof will provide essential head room to pull your jeans on in the morning and cook the important morning fry up, as well as extra sleeping capacity, a full seven foot of it! LAYOUT The traditional three-quarter width setup still makes sense when it comes to the best use of space. For…

Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8GZ www.traxshows.co.uk This year’s TRAX, is set to be the best yet… why? Because VWt magazine will be there! Yep, you will find us at the home of British motorsport showing those car folk how it’s done with a collection of the UK’s coolest vans. From previous cover stars and feature vans to future feature vans and a few special surprises too that we guarantee will have your jaw on the floor. See you there!…

TURN YOUR CAMPERVAN INTO CASH Does your camper van spend most of its time just sat on the driveway costing you money? Then this could be for you! Just Kampers Hire has launched in response to the soaring demand for campers - the peer-to-peer service connects van owners across the UK with potential renters and takes care of all the admin and the nasty bits. And, we reckon there’s plenty of demand for it! Amid continued uncertainty about overseas travel, online searches for camper van hire across the UK rose by over 60% in 2020 compared to 2019, and demand is still rising throughout 2021. So how much could you earn? Well, based on a comfortable 12 weeks’ worth of hire - at an average rental of £800 per week…

Bienvenue en France! Well, sud ouest France to be precise and the beautiful town of Biarritz. If you’ve never been before, it’s a bit like Newquay without the bad bits. Just 22 miles from the border with Spain, this town is all about one thing - surfing. If it’s in Europe and there’s surf involved, then you know a VW camper of some description is never far away. Today it rocks up in the form of a delicious T5 panel van, courtesy of Kevin Allio. He actually lives in Les Sables-d’Olonne, a little further up the west coast but he is pretty much an adopted son of the south west surf town. If you plan on spending as much time away from home as you can, then a Volkswagen van…

Pop tops have come a long way since the days of the early Westfalia Campers, these days they’re sleek, aerodynamic and not even that noticeable on some modern-day campers. However, the guys at Skyline Roofs thought they could do better still and damn have they delivered with their all-new super-low profile pop top named The Skylow. We haven’t seen one in the flesh yet, but we managed to speak to Xtremevan who were the first to fit the new roof on launch. They told us: “Honestly, from a customer point of view, you have to stand back to notice that it even has a pop top roof fitted! That coupled with no loss of headroom is a low roof market first. The rear of the roof has two diagonal gas…

G-SHOCK GST-B100GC-1AER Take a look at the new super-tough GSTB100GC-1AER part of the new G-Steel Luxury Military collection by G-Shock. A new layer guard structure houses resin cushioning parts inside the case, for a more elegant design and a better wrist fit. Equipped with Bluetooth that lets it connect with a smartphone at the press of a button, the result is accurate timekeeping no matter where in the world you happen to be. Other functions include a solar powered battery with up to two years power reserve, high brightness LED light illumination, and dual dial World Time. £349 www.g-shock.co.uk LOWDOWN TRANSPORTERS LIKE HELL TEE Are you a go low or go home kind of guy or gal? Then why not show your low life credentials with this killer new t-shirt…

Campers & Coffee is a brand-new monthly meeting for vans, campervans and enthusiasts. It’s a friendly event for all the family where you can show off your van, meet friends, make new ones and of course have a great cup of coffee. And its debut meet got off to a flyer, the sun shone, the venue was packed and there were smiling faces all round as everyone enjoyed a little bit of post-lockdown normality and plenty of VW goodness. C&C is open to all vans not just VWs, but it’s fair to say it was a mainly VW event, is there another make of van worth owning? We think not, but then we may be a tad bias. Van wise there was pretty much everything, from Bay Windows and Split…

Those who regularly pick up VWt will know I’ve been talking about getting air ride on the ‘5.1 for what seems like forever. It’s not some pipe dream, nope, in fact I’ve had the kit for nearly a year. However, it’s felt like the world has been conspiring against me when it’s come to getting it fitted. First came the pandemic and the lockdown, then I was placed into shielding due to my little one, then I had someone that was going to fit it, but I could never get them to commit to a date as they were so busy. Next came another installer, that pulled out of the installation, to be honest I was close to giving up. Trust me, if I had a garage, I would have…

Send us yours: Ever dreamed about seeing your van appear in the pages of VWt? Make that dream a reality! Simply e-mail a selection of good quality high-res images of your van to glenn.rowswell@kelsey.co.uk along with a full spec list and add the subject title ‘Your Vans’. But please remember, if you didn’t take the photos, you MUST have permission from the photographer to use the images in the magazine, and all images should be free from watermarks (by submitting an image you assume responsibility for any copyright infringement). So, what are you waiting for? Let’s see those project builds! DANIEL GVOZDOVIC’S 2020 T6.1, Lithuania Hey VWt, we are from Vilnius in Lithuania and this is our 2020 Multivan T6.1 Highline. We’ve always loved Transporters thanks to the iconic original…