Table of contents for Issue 148 in VWt

AUCTION SUCCESS... Remember me saying a while back about buying a T5 at auction? Well, it’s finally happened and you can take a gander at the result of our frantic bidding on pages 70-74. Just to recap, the idea was for Kelsey colleague Martyn Knowles to bag a bargain at a BCA sale, then hand it over to me once he’d written about it in his magazine. The snag was, all the VW Transporters he bid on attracted a lot of interest and went way beyond what he expected to pay. To be fair, seeing as though I was destined to become its custodian, I did issue a pretty strict brief. I wanted a six+ seater SWB T5.1 with aircon and preferably DSG transmission. And preferably not in silver, as…

Race vans are just cool, aren’t they? That’s a gimme. Go to any track paddock and you’ll find a raft of support vehicles liveried up to match the cars they’re there with, and this is a technique we can trace back right through the annals of motorsport to the very beginning. One of our favourite trends that’s been bubbling up over the last few years is the classic race livery tribute. People have been dressing up their road cars in race-style livery for generations of course, that in itself is nothing new – but what we’re really loving right now is the individuality that’s shining through on the scene. There’s always a certain element of one-upmanship which happens when it comes to having the freshest wheels, the most aggressive stance,…

“My neighbours think I’m mad!” laughs 52-year-old Ian Lawrence as he fastidiously buffs a few microscopic dust particles from the paintwork of his spotlessly-presented T6 Transporter in an industrial estate near his hometown of Yeovil in Somerset. “But I just love cleaning my cars. So every week, I’m out on my drive, two buckets in tow, detailing them to within an inch of their lives.” And judging by the cleanliness of his Camper, if his other cars are anything near as neat as this, his whole street must be permanently in need of sunglasses! As a spray painter by trade, a profession Ian has worked in since he left school, he knows only too well what it takes to achieve a perfect paint finish, and maintaining it once it’s left…

You might recall us mentioning a few issues back that we’d instructed our man in the know, Martyn, to seek out and buy a T5 at auction. It will eventually replace my T25 Westy which I sold last month; I loved that wedge to bits and miss it terribly but to be brutally honest its 1.6D engine was just too slow. Moreover, having just four gears meant I was always trying to change up to a gear that didn’t exist – and that got rather tiring after a while. Despite being a bit of a dab hand at snapping up inexpensive cars at auction, Martyn got the collywobbles on the first Transporter he bid on when the price soared above ‘book’. After all the excitement and once his heartbeat had…

AUGUST 2nd – 4thKAMPER FEST 2024Quex Park, Kent CT7 OHRKamperfest.com 2nd – 4thT3 BUS MEETEast Waterside, Upton upon Severn, Worcst3busmeet.com 4thTATTON PARK VW SHOWTatton ParkTattonparkvwshow.com 4thBEACH DUBBIN’Southsea Common, Portsmouthwww.beachdubbin.co.uk 9th – 11thVW FESTIVALHarwood House, Leedsvwfestival.co.uk 16th – 18thVIVA SKEG VEGAS CLASSIC VW SHOWRevesby, LincsVivaskegvegasvw.co.uk 23rd – 25thCARFESTLaverside Park Farm, HantsCarfest.org 23rd – 25thCAMPER CALLING MUSIC FESTIVALRagley Hall, Warkscampercalling.com 23rd – 26thCORNWALL VW JAMBOREEStithians Showground, Truro TR3 7HLcornwal-jamboree.co.uk 24th – 26thGATHERING OF THE VANSBogbain Farm, Inshes, Inverness IV2 5BDSee facebook 24th – 25thGRAVITY SHOW NEC BirminghamGravityshow.co.uk 30th – 1st SeptVW ACTIONSanta Pod Racewayvwaction.co.uk 30th – 1st SeptVANWEST CHILLOUTTaunton Racecourse, Somerset TA3 7BLvanwest.co.uk SEPTEMBER 5th – 8thCARRY ON CAMPOUT!South of England Showground, Ardingly, West Sussexcarryoncampout.co.uk 6th – 8thBUSFEST Three CountiesShowground, Malvern WR13 6NWBusfest.org 8thCAMPERS & COFFEEHellingly, Hailsham BN27 4DSCampersandcoffee.co.uk 13th – 15thGRILL N…

As good as modern vans are these days, with responsive twin-turbo engines delivering over 200bhp of shove; powerful brake setups and sophisticated suspension tuning that disguise their considerable mass to make even demanding B-roads an utter blast, they’re not what most of us would probably choose for a day at the track. Surely, then, when 56-year-old self-employed builder Alan Keech commissioned ABT and Lincoln-based Camper specialist DUB Plus to build him a van that he could take on his regular jaunts to far flung foreign racing circuits, he must have some kind of screw loose. Either that, or he’s got a cunning plan up his sleeve… “I’ve owned various Transporters for the last 20 years,” says Alan. “They’re just such useful vehicles and are great to take to trackdays, which…

T5.1 LIGHTBAR HEADLIGHTS WITH DYNAMIC INDICATOR We all love a bargain, don’t we? Well, the price of these cool front lamps from Veedubtransporters have been reduced from £520.69 to – get this – just £399.99. And they are packed with features because not only do they feature a stunning LED DRL Lightbar but they also come with a snazzy ‘Audi style’ sequential LED Dynamic Indicator. They are ‘plug ‘n’ play’ to fit, come with H1/H7 bulbs and are E-marked so you won’t have any worries come MoT time. Price: £399.99From: Veedubtransporters.co.uk NAVIS LUDIS Ludis translates to ‘sports’ in Latin. Which seems pretty appropriate for a rim that looks as athletic as this sensational rim from Navis. Indeed, the Ludis 20in alloy is the epitome of sporty elegance and features a…

SHOWS This is one of the few shows in the event calendar I attend every year. Thinking back, this is a VW show I used to go to when I didn’t even own a Volkswagen! It’s a show like no other which has grown over the 30+ years it’s been running. In short, Bristol Volksfest is massive! Yet it still feels small enough to be familiar with lots of friendly faces but also big enough to have a huge variety of entertainment and book big name artists over the weekend, making this year – like every year – incred’ incred’ incredible… FAMILY FROLICS As a family run show there is always lots to do for every generation, with much of this being provided by the organisers for free. There’s stuff…

If you want to get into niche vehicles you could do a lot worse than focus on the VW scene. Classic car snobs have long looked down, and continue to do so, on anything with a VW roundel. Cheap, utilitarian transport that’s weird to work on, underpowered and with an engine that’s in the wrong end they say. Utter piffle, as we all know. So, if you’re into old Volkswagens, you’ve already immersed yourself in a niche car scene to begin with. And once you’ve dipped that first toe in the water you’ll find yourself in a niche within a niche, because there are all manner of little automotive cul-de-sacs you can drive down if you get into LWB, SWB, Panel Vans, Kombis, T3s, T4s and the like. And then…

ROB ALLEN, 2010 T5 T30 PANEL VAN Hi VWt, my name is Rob Allen. I’m a 53-year-old HGV driver from County Durham in the North East of England. This is my first T5, my first VW in fact. I’ve always been into modified cars, mostly BMWs and Audis. It doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive – if it’s low with a nice set of wheels then it’s cool in my book. That’s what I think anyway. I bought this Van in 2019 with the intention of converting it into a camper/day van but didn’t want it to look like a camper from the outside. It also needed to be my daily driver. It had already had some money spent on it in the way of a full respray…

ID.BUZZ GTX AND LWB ANNOUNCED The high-performance ID. Buzz GTX and even more spacious ID. Buzz LWB are the latest additions to the critically acclaimed ID. Buzz line-up. The GTX will be the most powerful ID. Buzz, while the LWB models provide a longer wheelbase for increased luggage capacity (and more scope for converting it into a camper) a standard seven-seat layout and a larger 86kWh battery for even greater range. The 86kWh ID. Buzz Life LWB 286PS starts at £59,545 ‘on the road’ and features a WLTP combined range of 291 miles. The 86kWh ID. Buzz Style 286PS is priced from £64,345 and has a WLTP combined range of 286 miles. Both LWB models feature the same 286PS single motor as the normal wheelbase versions. The 79kWh GTX will…

Paul Breddy primarily built this VW T5 T32 to fulfil his frequent camping exploits but with its 20in modular steel wheels and – yep, you’ve spotted it – a front mounted spare wheel, it was meant to grab attention, too. Paul’s connection with the VW brand began long before he bought this T5 though, “back when I was in my teens, I bought a 1974 Beetle 1303”, he remembers, “it was this car that first introduced me to the whole VW scene, and I’ve not really slowed down since!” A second Beetle in the shape of a 1972 1300 in Cadbury’s purple would follow and he’s owned numerous water-cooled VAG cars too, including a ’99 Golf 1.8T, a 2002 Golf GTi and a VR6 4Motion to name but a few.…

Having come up with the idea of a Race Support theme and with the old-skool Porsche Rennsport VW T1s for inspiration, we kicked things off by asking resident artist (and TV celeb) Helen Stanley to come up with an artist’s impression of how we hoped the finished Caddy could look. The render she came back with was pretty uncanny; it was just how we had envisaged the finished project would look which gave us hope and a ton of motivation to get cracking. Being quite a bit cheaper than a respray, we’d decided to get the Van wrapped. So, having sorted a few body imperfections, we dropped it off at Prestige Graphics where Jamie Broughton and his team wasted no time getting the Caddy stripped down ready for the high-quality…

1. BEST FOR: BEACHSIDE FEASTS SOUTH MILTON SANDS Why here? Pipe fish, sea scorpions and edible crabs are just a few of the natural wonders dwelling in the rock pools of National Trust-owned South Milton Sands (nationaltrust.org.uk). This wide, sheltered bay, set in an Area of Outstanding Beauty, is ideal for watersports enthusiasts; canoeists can make a beeline for the arch of Thurlestone Rock which stands majestically out at sea like a mini Durdle Door. Dine on everything from breakfast butties and burgers to freshly-landed fish and seafood at the Beach House café (beachhousedevon.com) which sits just a few yards from the beach. The café’s sister eatery, Schoolhouse Devon, is sited half an hour’s drive north close to the shores of Mothecombe beach and is running a series of summer…

Own a super-tasty Transporter, Crafter or Multivan and want it featured in these very pages? Then show us what you’ve got! Please e-mail a good selection of images that show the exterior and interior of your van to ian.cushway@kelsey.co.uk along with a spec list and add the subject title ‘Feature me VWt’. If we like what we see, we’ll get back to you ASAP about the possibility of a full VWt magazine feature shoot. So, what are you waiting for? Get snapping and show us your van, we’d love to see it!…