Table of contents for Issue 94 in VWt

If you’re working from home right now, or are unable to get to the shops, now is the time to take advantage of the great deals available via shop.kelsey.co.uk. Not only can you buy a single issue at the normal cover price, with free delivery to your door (UK only, £1 additional charge for international postage), but you can also save by ordering three issues for £9.99 in our no-strings-attached lockdown offer. Or how about a 12-month subscription? Guarantees a copy delivered straight to your door, in most cases earlier than it appears in the shops. What’s not to love about that? Alternatively, you can buy three issues of the digital edition for only £7.99 ($9.99 in the United States). Oh, and every subscriber will be able to download the…

The addiction all started a few years ago now, when my fiancée decided to take me to a VW show one sunny Sunday for a day out. On the way home, it was discussed and agreed that we must get a VW Caddy as it would be just ideal for Jane’s work, as well as something we could use for weekends away at shows. We have slept in the Caddy a few times at MotoGP events (we are both Valentino Rossi fans, as you can see, and the 46 goes everywhere with us) and also at Camper Jam. I love the Caddy, and we still have it eight years on, but seeing slammed T5s at some shows got me longing for one of those as well. I found a low…

“We’ve done over 120 Vans now so we’ve pretty much got this down” A couple of years is a long time in Volkswagen world, and so it seemed appropriate for us to revisit our favourite ex-banker and ex-occupational therapist, Steve and Chloe Bailiss. Five years before we first met, the couple had completely changed their lifestyle, throwing in the towels on their previous jobs and taking the plunge with DubMotion Campers. As is the want of most successful initiatives, the business has gone from strength to strength in that time. The news that the duo had recently finished their latest demo Van, and it was finished in Bamboo Green, was all the excuse we needed to head out to their beautifully constructed, oak-framed Dutch barn in Norfolk for a catch…

The T6 Caravelle we borrowed was a 2019 Executive model fitted with the 2.0-litre, 150bhp TDi motor and seven-speed DSG transmission, a combination which returned an average 42mpg over our five-day, 1,000-mile test. It’s a slick package and perfectly suited to the job yet, given the top-spec interior kit, it’s probably not the Van you’d purchase as the basis for a Camper conversion. With seven seats and all the mod cons, the Caravelle Executive is a perfect business shuttle, or luxury private hire vehicle. If you have a large family and make regular long-haul trips – I’m thinking annual ski trips and the like – it’ll suit you, too. The three-seater rear bench is fitted with integral seat belts and can be reclined for extra comfort, while the floor rail…

VW Action is the UK’s longest running VW Festival, and 2019 marked the 43rd anniversary of this much-loved Volkswagen fun fest. From its beginnings at Stoneleigh, it has certainly moved with the times and the last 12 years or so at Santa Pod have produced some quite exceptional shows, and 2019’s event continued to raise the bar. This is one of few shows truly about everything Volkswagen, and the event welcomes the arrival of every VAG vehicle with equal enthusiasm. Early and late Vans and Buses, classic and New Beetles, Golfs, Polos and every other representative of the air and water-cooled ranges, be they street cars, show cars, race cars or daily drivers. VW Action is about Volkswagens, it’s as simple as that. And don’t think just because it’s held…

Inspiration can sometimes come from the weirdest places. In the years I’ve been writing for VW magazines, I’ve heard it all. For many, it comes from vehicles seen at shows, or in magazines. Very few ideas are truly original any more, but are usually borrowed, copied or an adaptation of ideas seen on other builds – and not necessarily Transporters. Then there are the randoms. People who paint a car to match the colour of a favourite lipstick, or plagiarise the colour scheme of a surfboard, or motor racing team, or any other brand you care to mention. Mark Ainsley qualifies as one of those randoms, as the T4 you see here was inspired by a Honda Del Sol. You know, one of those Honda Del Sols? No, me neither……

The Great British Campout is the brainchild of VW enthusiast, Ian Alcorn, from Nottingham. Ian initially came up with the idea so his children would have something exciting to do at the weekend. The plan was simple: invite fellow VW and camping friends to spend a night in their Vans whilst parked on the drive, or in a tent pitched in the garden, with a suggested £2 ‘Just Giving’ donation in support of NHS staff and volunteers caring for Covid-19 patients (run by NHS Charities Together). A Facebook group was created on March 30 and, with the event due to take place on Saturday, April 4, the fundraising target was set at £100. When we shared the story on the VWt Facebook page, that target had already been smashed, with…

Hi VWt, I thought I’d share this BBC news story regarding my parents’ T4 Calypso Camper, which has become my temporary office through the coronavirus lockdown period. My father is a fan of your magazine and asked me to send you the link (and I’m sure he’d love to see his Camper in print!). www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-52227100/ coronavirus-my-parents-campervan-has-become-my-office Chloe Baker via email VWt: Great work, Chloe. As a matter of fact, the Ed’s T4 Karmann Gipsy has been similarly commissioned to provide a temporary office for his wife, Jo (see pic above). Here’s what she has to say about it: “Hooked up to the mains and connected to the Wi-Fi, the ‘driveway office’ is quiet, airy and comfortable… plus there’s a fridge and kettle right next to me! “Joking aside, it’s also…

“built to showcase the [Ecowagon] brand at the 2019 NEC Motorhome and Caravan Show” As far as Christmas presents go, a top-of-the-range Expo+ conversion from Ecowagon on a brand new T6 Highline would be stretching even the most optimistic of letters to Santa, and yet here we are. It’s not for us to judge how much of a good girl Louise Rockett-Bennetts has been, but if there were such a thing as a good girl gauge, it’s safe to say the scale on it has been smashed to oblivion in this instance. I have a beautiful memory from my childhood of walking into a toy sailboat shop with my dad in Gorleston, Norfolk during a family holiday. We were checking out all the little sailboats on the lower shelf and…

“Being an ex-demo, it had very low miles and was… fully loaded” Eastlands Industrial Estate, Leiston. Ever heard of it? As an opener to a feature, it’s perhaps one of the more obscure ones to make it to print – if it even makes it past the editing room floor! – but this little hive of industry, sitting just two miles from the North Sea coast in East Suffolk is pivotal to this tale. If you were to park at the entrance and look up at the Industrial Estate menu, you will find in no particular order a company called Powerclean Chemicals, one called Victory Car Sales and another known as Newton Commercial. Aha! Is that a glimmer of recognition I detect in your sub vocalisation? Of course it is.…

Highland fling Dear VWt, I have been reading the article in the May issue (no.93) about the North Coast 500 trip, which is something I’d love to do in the future. Could you let me know what time of year they did the trip as I just want to find out more about staying overnight in car parks (wild camping) at different times of year. Whenever I ask on the internet, I just get conflicting comments. Garry Pudney via email VWt: We passed this one over to Kieran and Molleigh, who replied: Thanks for your interest in our NC500 Road Trip article. We started our trip at the beginning of March, around the 8th or 9th... It was an amazing time of year to do the loop, just take it…

Here are some pictures of my T5, if you’re interested in including it in Readers’ rides in your magazine. It is a nine-seater T5.1 Caravelle – four-wheel drive – with a Seikel lift kit and bigger tyres. I’ve fitted a rear-elevating roof and a few plug ’n’ play homemade parts to convert it in a Camper. When it is in Camper mode, it is possible to add more seats so up to seven people can travel in comfort. I think it’s a very versatile Van. It has a 30-litre fresh water tank, 20-litre waste water tank, LPG for the kitchen, three-litre electric boiler, compressor refrigerator, working table, plus external plugs for the shower and LPG BBQ. Oh, and there is also a portable WC and a compressor refrigerator on board,…

“the perfect excuse to build a show / demo Van out of his practical daily for his new company” This wonderful scene we’re all part of is a vast and varied one. It contains people from all walks of life and, upon meeting them – whether it be through interviewing them to write about their Vans or face to face at a show – I’m always fascinated to hear their experiences and find out their entry point into the Transporter scene. Whilst some of us got into the T4 / ’5 / ’6 world by way of air or alternative water-cooled VWs, others buy these Vans as a simple mode of transportation, and then bam! All of a sudden, they end up with a Van like George Robinson’s T5.1 you…

“[over] 13 million units to date, and still counting” When the first Volkswagen Transporter (Type 2) rolled off the production line at Wolfsburg, Germany on March 8 1950, we’re pretty sure nobody would have ever imagined it would lead to the world’s longest production run for a commercial vehicle. The history of this cult classic spans six vehicle generations, adding up to over 13 million units to date, and still counting. And given the popularity of the latest T6.1 model, it’s clear that the Transporter timeline will run for many more years! Penned by Pon Ben Pon was a Dutch businessman who launched the Pon Automobielhandel (dealership) in 1947, and thereby became the first Volkswagen agent outside of Germany. However, Pon is also considered to be the man responsible for…