Table of contents for Issue 86 in VWt

Over six generations, from the Split Screen models through to the refined and efficient T6.1, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has sold nearly 12 million units worldwide, so it’s fair to say it knows what customers are looking for in a Van. And, having seen a few of the new ’6.1 models around, I have to admit they seem a pretty neat package. Finally, VW has caught up with other manufacturers regarding electronics and interactivity, as the ’6.1 features all the latest gizmos and gadgets. And, while initially I wasn’t a fan of the taller grille on the front end, it’s growing on me and I think it’s one of the better looking medium-sized Vans on the market right now. Okay, it’s quite different to the T5 and T6 front ends we’ve…

If you can’t decide whether you need a Camper or a Day Van, the re-styled California T6.1 Beach Camper might be just your thing. The idea behind the Beach Camper range is to offer the perfect multi-purpose vehicle, or Van in this case (MPV). Day Van by day, with various seating options available, and Camper by night, when the top is popped and the full-width rear bench transforms into a double bed. VW even throws in a mattress for added comfort. Nothing new there, you say, except in the new T6.1 revision there’s also a mini kitchen unit, cleverly built into the side panel, which stows out of sight when not in use but offers tea, coffee and dinner making opportunities when pulled out. Attach the stow-away table and voilà!…

“a fantastic platform upon which to build” The first thing that came to mind when I clapped eyes on Matt Davies’ T5 was Marmite. Maybe because I love the Van and my girlfriend says she hates it, maybe because I love Marmite and used to hate it, or maybe it’s just because the colour palette resembles the colours of a Marmite jar? You decide. Whatever you feel about both Matt’s Van and Marmite, there’s no denying it’s eye catching! It’s funny how some things work in practice when you think they won’t, while other times things work in your head, but don’t live up to expectations in the cold light of day. And so it was when Editor Paul Knight sent me the contact info for Matt Davies in order…

When you think about meeting other car fanatics at a show held in the United Kingdom, I think it’s safe to say we all paint a mental picture of a serene warm sun beating down across slow motion fields of gently swaying grass, gleaming modified vehicles of every colour and shape, drink in hand and shades on. Well, turns out that was but a dream at VW Festival this year, when we were brought back down to earth with a soggy, muddy landing, thanks to the great British weather deciding a car show would be considerably more fun with rain and more mud than Digger World. That being said, it’s equally safe to say that no one batted an eyelid. Sun protectors and drinks were still in place, smiles were…

Book a campsite nearby for the Sunday night. In the past we’ve left the show on Sunday afternoon and headed straight back to the UK, absolutely knackered, so in recent years we’ve stayed one extra night, allowing us to enjoy the whole day at the show before having a shower, a decent meal and a good night’s rest prior to heading home fresh and happy on Monday morning. Last year we stayed at Camping Eau Rouge and this year tried Camping Familial in Malmedy (www.campingfamilial.be/en/).Both sites have swimming pools, good facilities and a bar / restaurant on site. What more do you need?…

“It turned into a nightmare… we had to strip it back and re-do everything” Whether you’ve had it happen to you or not, we’ve all heard of the Vans someone has bought as a finished job, only then to figure out they’ve got to re-do virtually all of the work to make it what they want. Sometimes they go bad, other times it all works out for the best. So sit back and ride along with us as Christopher Lambert explains how he bought a Van he thought was ready to go camping in, only then to have to start again from scratch and turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. “huge amount of body filler and a considerable amount of rotten metal” Before we start though, some words…

• Indicators broken? Simply slap on a Beemer badge and grille and you’re good to go! • Bobbing about Popped out for an ice cream and spotted out friendly local seal, Bob • Hawaii Five-O Hau’oli 50th lā hānau, ‘Monkey’ Mark Cornthwaite • Booyaka Budd Rollin’ with the original junglist massive in a wicked ’ickle whip • Whoopsie Sign had blown over in the night, so I didn’t spot it ’til the morning… • Bad Boys for Life Chris ‘Geez’ Slambourne and Wotang Jay-Vee on tour…

VW Van sales, servicing and customisation specialist, Leighton Vans in Rotherham, is proud to unveil its all-new LV-1 20in alloy wheel – created specifically for Volkswagen Transporters. This fresh, 10 double spoke wheel has been designed specifically to complement the lines of VW’s T6 Transporter range, offering a stylish, sporty aesthetic. LV-1 wheels are available in matt bronze, gloss black or gloss black with machined face finishes, in widths of 8.5 and 10in. Load rated to 860kg, they’re enough for a fully loaded T32 4Motion, and with a 5 x 120 PCD and the correct offset, they’ll bolt straight on and transform the look of any Transporter. Price: from £1,295 per set (also available in bundles with Uniroyal Rainsport 3 tyres From: www.leightonvans.co.uktel. 0114 283 8484…

Wayne Batho, Carmarthen I am, and have been, a Design and Technology teacher for the last 18 years, and only got into a situation where we (my wife and I) could afford our first vehicle in early 2017. We quickly realised our ownership would be short lived, though, as my wife was expecting our first child. Despite selling our first vehicle, the passion had been ignited and so I bought a VW Kombi, thinking it would be far less work to convert a Van with the windows already in… Let me tell you we’ve been on a journey to get this far, after being stung for a lot of money by a fraudulent Camper conversion business in Cornwall a couple of years ago. So, after some serious saving, we bought…

Unfortunately, there’s no other way to start this story than on a downer. It’s not how we normally like to get into feature Vans, but on this occasion the bad stuff has to come first. With great popularity comes a greater chance that the less-than-honourable underbelly of society will also take notice. The call to arms on Facebook is sadly an almost daily occurrence in the search for missing Campers, and so it was last October when Tim Roylance and his wife, Michelle, experienced the double blow of having their house broken into and the keys for their Mk7 GTi and 2007 T5 taken. The GTi was recovered after a police chase, but the T5 was never seen again. Tim: “We got rid of the Golf because it just didn’t…

Harewood House is one of the Treasure Houses of England. A historic Georgian property sitting within ‘Capability’ Brown-designed landscape, you’ll find art exhibitions, rare Chippendale furniture and jaw-dropping interior design in the State Rooms, but leave time to explore ‘Below Stairs’ where young kitchen hands can dress up and discover life as a servant. Tickets to VW Festival include access to Harewood’s grounds and Below Stairs, with upgrades to the State Floor available (£5 adult, £3 child, £12 family).…

Just my luck. I was less than a mile from the gates of the Fab Festival in sleepy Norfolk when I slowed down to allow an oncoming lorry to pass and heard the ominous sound of screeching tyres behind, followed by a loud bang… Yep, somebody had just slid into the rear of my Karmann Gipsy Camper. As I stepped out of my Van to investigate, the first thing I saw was the other car, and my heart sank as its front end was pretty much destroyed. Being a coachbuilt, my Gipsy is a combination of aluminium sides with glass fibre front and rear sections, so I really didn’t want to see what had happened to the plastic rear end, especially as I could already see my rear bumper corner…

“VW has always been a favourite of mine” I’d appreciate it if you’d allow me a moment of self-indulgence here. Hopefully, a number of you will relate. When I bought my first VW Camper – a 1973 Bay Window in 2001 for £650 with an MoT – a world in which a guy who owns a Lamborghini, as well as the latest derivative of my humble ‘hippy Bus’, would have seemed as realistic as a Trump presidency and a Boris premiership. But, ladies and gentleman, it’s now 2019 and here we are. The Donald is in the White House, the Boris is in the hot seat and Simon Stevens has an Aventador snuggled up next to a Vanworx T6, somewhere between his Aston Martin Vanquish S and his Range Rover…

If we told you that the main protagonist in this story was convenience, you’d probably think we’d all lost the plot. There’s probably not a vehicle on the road more inconvenient than a T5 with 45mm clearance between terra firma and its jacking points! But then, there’s nothing more powerful than the truth, and that is Pete Emami-Jones swapped his 4x4 pick-up truck in 2012 for a more ‘convenient’ 2008 T5 Panel Van, in a stroke saving himself the hassle of removing the tools of his builder trade from the back of the truck every night. Pete: “There’s nothing wrong with all the other Vans out there, but VW just has that whole reliability and well built thing going on that I was always going to go down that route.…

Rookie road trippers Hey VWt!I recently bought a ’95 T4 Camper conversion and decided to dive straight in at the deep end with a week-long tour of France with my wife for our first trip. We just booked a ferry and landed in France at 5am with no plan whatsoever, and it was quite literally the best thing we’ve ever done. While we didn’t have a plan, we had spent a few days studying a map and had worked out that a tour of Brittany would be nice. We found loads of campsites en-route and even tried an Aire on one night, which was cheap and cheerful. Thank god for the Carrefour supermarchéchain, though, as we soon realised we were missing some essentials (can opener, pillows, gaffer tape, scissors… you…

Anthony Watson, Swansea My love affair with our 2004 T5 Panel Van began 10 years ago. Over the past decade, as our family has grown, we have slowly converted the Van as finances allowed, eventually ending up with the Van you see today. She is sound deadened, insulated, ply lined and carpeted throughout and I’ve installed Altro flooring. We had two side window cut in to let a little light in when camping, and then fitted VanX curtains to keep the light out, and ensure our privacy, at night. She is lowered with coilovers and wears a set of 19in BMW X5 alloys. Next came a full Camper conversion from Platinum Custom Conversions, including a pop-top roof (with bed), Kiravans double swivel seat, electrical upgrades and a removable kitchen pod.…

October 04-05 Brighton Breeze From Epsom, Surrey to Madeira Drive, Brighton www.brightonbreeze.co.uk 04-06 Dubs in t’Dales Camp Kátur, Camp Hill Estate, Bedale, North Yorks DL8 2LS www.dubsintdales.co.uk 04-06 Oktoberfest River Dart Country Park, Ashburton, Devon TQ13 7NP www.oktoberfestuk.com March 2020 21-22 VolksWorld Show 2020 Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey KT10 9AJ www.volksworldshows.com Sponsored by  www.meguiars.co.uk RUN A SHOW? Why not tell us about it? EMAIL: paul.knight@ kelsey.co.uk…

“the first couple of beers in Spa were free” From Essex to Spa Having attended our favourite European VW event, Le Bug Show, for the best part or 20 years now, we’ve tried all the routes and had plenty of adventures along the way. When we’re pushed for time, the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais wins hands down (35 minutes journey time), while catching a ferry from Dover to Dunkirk (two hours) saves a little driving time in France. But this year, as we had more time, we opted for a P&O Ferry from Dover to Calais, which takes around 90 minutes – just enough time for breakfast and a cuppa and a nice way to break up the journey. There’s really nothing in it in the long run, hence…

Idon’t mind admitting I’m still astonished just how good the T5 is at eating up the miles. It seems like no time at all since the last oil and filter change, yet the service warning indicator on the dash was already reminding me it was due again. Coincidentally, I’d noticed an oily black smudge on the section of grass track I use to get to my house, so it came as no surprise that when the under tray came off it was covered in crusty old oil. I concluded the garage that did the service last time must have incorrectly seated the sump bung. “a friend asked when the fuel filter was last replaced. Good question” In case you’ve not done it before, the only real headache when carrying out…