Sommaire pour Issue 89 de VWt

The first thing to note here is that the DVLA’s recently introduced new road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty, or VED) structure for Campers and motorhomes does notaffect any Campervans that are already registered, it only applies to new registrations. Previously, all new Campervan conversions built using brand new, factory-built base vehicles could be registered under the category Private Light Goods (PLG) with a flat rate road tax charge of £265 per year. But from September 1 2019, all new Campervans will be assigned a road tax rate according to their published CO2 emissions (the same system used for all passenger cars). In fairness, this is nothing new. Since September 1 2018, the emissions-based road tax structure has applied to all new factory-built Campervans such as the VW California, so the…

Dear VWt, I really enjoyed reading the Road trip story in Issue 87 by Darren and Wendy DuRose. It was a lovely piece to read and the photos were great – something for everyone and some useful comments, too. Get them to do another one! James Clarke via email VWt: Hi James, we’re glad you enjoyed Darren and Wendy’s Road trip report. In case you didn’t already know, the DuRoses are no strangers to the pages of VWtand you’ll be pleased to hear they’re already planning some future adventures, which we’ll bring to you in due course. And that’s not all… We’ve just completed a photoshoot of their Van, so you can read all about that in an upcoming issue, too!…

“Our goal was to build an all out show Van that was also completely useable” If you owned a high-end VW conversion company that wasn’t afraid of a £100,000 Camper every now and then, and you were given free rein to do almost anything you wanted to a T6, what would you actually do? Oh how I wish we were all sitting around a campfire with a belly full of burger and a beer in hand to really give that question the debating it deserves. For now, we’ll just have to take a real-world version of what could happen in this scenario, as for Dave Garnsworthy, owner of Vanworx, and his Technical Director, Dan Gillam, the answer is this stunning, Grape Yellow, ABT T6. No holds barred Now surely one…

Regular readers of VWt will be familiar with the VisionTech Automotive (VTA) name as we’ve featured quite a few Vans converted by Dan and his team over the years. But rather than just standing still and being content with their trademark curved pod-style units, and solid customer base, the company is constantly innovating and developing new products. We headed to Visiontech HQ in Colchester to see what 2020 will bring. Whilst many of the conversion companies in the T4-’6 scene were borne out of an enthusiasm for VW Vans, Dan from VisionTech started out a little differently. He’s owned a ’57 Beetle for over 20 years, and been a VW enthusiast from an early age, but his first forays into business were working on vehicles in the luxury sector, specialising…

There are huge festivals, one-day events, cruises, weekenders packed with dance acts and then there’s VW Fab Festival. The best way to describe it is like a weekend camping with your friends… albeit all of your friends, and all of their friends and family, too. What it isn’t is an all-night drunken rave-up. So you can take even the littlest of Dubbers along without worrying about them, and you’ll almost certainly end up making friends with your neighbours and arranging to meet the following year. Camping plots are limited to a couple of hundred, but day visitors are welcome, too. And as 2019 proved to be hot, hot, hot, additional parking was required on the Sunday as an unprecedented number of people headed for the show en masse. Camping aside,…

• Toysporter T5 up top, Toyota Land Cruiser down below… • Ich bin ein caravanner Retro ’van hotel at BaseCamp Bonn • RIP Mick The world is a less colourful place without Kinky Mick Tattersall • Ginger S Aurus Happy 50th to my BBQ brother from another mother • DVLA-approved No problems registering this hi-top as a motorhome… • Facelift first The first ’6.1 facelift we’ve seen, courtesy of Stitches + Steel • Six appeal Extra long wheelbase custom creation courtesy of Jo’s Fab Lab…

The VolksWorld Show is Europe’s largest indoor air-cooled VW show, with hundreds of top quality cars displayed inside and outside the hallowed halls of Sandown Park in Esher, Surrey. There are also club stands, traders, a whole floor of swapmeet tables, live music and other VW-related entertainment throughout the duration of the show. If you want to make a weekend of it, why not come for the weekend and camp (pre-booking via the website is essential, you cannot turn up on the day and camp)? It’s the best way to enjoy the show at leisure and soak up the atmosphere. Make sure you bring the family too, because kids go free and there is loads for them to do. By the way, early-bird ticket deals are running until the end…

Hi VWt, I wanted to share my pride and joy with you. I bought my T4 seven years ago, when the 2.5 TDi motor had covered 87,000 miles. Today the odometer shows 145,000 miles, and there’s definitely a lot more still to come. “follow me on Instagram @explore_in_a_vwt4” The Van has always been my daily driver, but it’s also my weekend Camper, and my kids, Oakley and Katie, love it just as much as I do. When I picked the Van up it was empty inside and, over the years, it’s had four interior re-fits, each one better than the last. Other than the pop-top and the rear storage area, which Combe Valley Campers made a great job of, the interior is all my own work. As you can see…

“a colour like Lhasa Green but with a modern twist” If there is any truth in the disparaging idiom ‘those who can, can, those who can’t, teach’ then Kevin Snuggs definitely can, and he absolutely did – just don’t go expecting him to be rocking up at your local polytechnic any time soon! This neck-breaking T5 is a product entirely cast from his own hands, with help from his cousin, big Daz, along the way. The path to a T5 for 41-year-old Kev is a familiar one, with a ferry load of Golfs and Caddys in one form or another having passed through his hands first. Well, familiar that is until we hit a Renault Traffic around 2013. Kev explains (and he’d better!): “At the time, I was doing mobile…

While we’re going to concentrate purely on the Transporter-related content here, it’s worth pointing out that this show includes much more than just VWs. Much more than just Campers even. There are typically over 1,000 display vehicles and caravans inside the 11 halls, and some 400-500 traders selling parts, accessories and more. There are celebrity meet ’n’ greets, shows and launches, towing displays, chefs and demonstrations, and apparently more than 100,000 visitors. In short, it really is a full-on event. As such, it’s a great place to debut new products, or display your wares, hence it includes pretty much all the key VW Transporter traders, dealers and conversion specialists from the UK, and beyond. Given the amount of stuff to see and do, it’s also as cheap as chips with…

We bought our hi-top T4 about nine years ago now and have taken it to France most years since, but this time we fancied a change so settled on the Harz Mountains in northern Germany, with their highest peak, the Brocken, as an aiming point. Disembarking from the ferry at Hook of Holland we were greeted by heavy rain, which kept up for much of our time in The Netherlands. “we decided to try cycling in Germany for the first time, finding it brilliant” As is usual for us on continental trips, we hadn’t booked any campsites, or made any concrete plans, so we stopped for some breakfast in a large, empty beach car park and pondered the journey ahead. East was the only possible direction, and we soon arrived…

When we ask a feature Van owner what got them into VWs, we’re not often given an answer we’ve not heard before, but I’ll freely admit James’ reply took me back a little. “I kitted out four T5 Vans for rental a few years ago, did eight rentals in total and then decided it wasn’t for me.” Pushing him further for an explanation of that statement, it turns out not everyone cares about either their own belongings, or those of other people, as much as you might think – or at least hope. The Vans were returning with damage and excessive wear and tear, making James think twice about his chosen business. “he wanted to see 300bhp out of the engine” What followed, though, was an even bigger surprise. “A…

Fade to grey Dear VWt, the bumpers on my ’94 T4 have faded over the years and now look blotchy and pale grey, rather than the rich black they used to be. I’ve tried bumper silicone, but that just turned them a more even shade of grey and, as soon as it rained, they went back to blotchy flat grey again. I searched a few Facebook groups and found some people suggesting a hot air gun, but on the same thread were people saying it was a bad idea. What’s the best solution? Can I paint them, or should I just bite the bullet and fit new bumpers? James Coveley via email VWt: As you’ve already found James, most bumper rejuvenation products are a temporary solution at best. However, after…

After a long search for the right Van, I found this one at a main dealer in Northern Ireland. It started life as a 150bhp T30 Highline Kombi, with Comfort dash, LED lights, sat nav and a single captain’s seat up front. Once I’d collected it from the dealership, I drove it straight to Exploria (www. exploriaonline.co.uk) in Brighouse to be kitted out with a full camping interior. Just six weeks later the Van was ready to be collected, and I’m over the moon with the end result. “you can’t put a price on memories and fun times” As it was to be a Van for life, I went to town on the spec, with considerable input from my daughter, and it now includes: Reimo slimline pop-top; programmable LED lights;…

January 2020 04-05 Aircooled Winterfest Autotron Rosmalen, The Netherlands www.keverwinterfestijn.nl February 16 Dubfreeze Stafford County Showground, Staffordshire ST18 0BD www.dubfreeze.co.uk March 08 Ultimate Dubs Telford International Centre, Telford TF3 4JH www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk 21-22 The VolksWorld Show 2020 Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey KT10 9AJ www.volksworldshow.com E: volksworld.show@kelsey.co.uk April 09-13 Camperfest Chester Racecourse, Chester, CH1 2LY www.camperfest.co.uk May 15-17 Big Bang Camper & Bus Show Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Way, Podington, Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7XA www.big-bang.co.uk Sponsored by www.meguiars.co.uk RUN A SHOW? Why not tell us about it? EMAIL: paul.knight@ kelsey.co.uk…

While Jimbo had tackled the bulk of the interior conversion before I took over the VWt T5 project, there were several interior niggles and details that needed sorting out. And, as the trimming of the Rusty Lee-supplied rock ’n’ roll bed was a job for the professionals (news on that coming soon) and the completion of the cabinets was something Jolly Jim has offered to cover in the near future, I decided to concentrate on some of the simple ‘zero-cost’ fixes required. First was to tidy up the wiring and connections on a few sockets, which were hooked up to the leisure battery. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find the faults and replace a few blown fuses, which sorted the lights and restored power to the 12V outlets and…