Table of contents for Issue 155 in VWt

MAKE A SHOW OF YOURSELF... WTF, I can’t believe I am writing my intro for the April issue already. Yes, April, for goodness sake... It seems with all the floods, storms, horizontal rain and everything else global warming has to chuck at us, we’re still in the depths of winter. Still, I’ve found driving my Transporter a good way to beat the gloom and it’s been strangely satisfying sitting up high with brilliant all-round visibility battling through the rubbish conditions in complete comfort. I am slowly crossing off a few little jobs on the T5.1 Caravelle, including fitting some new sidebars which turned out to be rather more involved than I thought; I’ll tell you all about it next time. Meanwhile, I am gearing up for the VolksWorld Show on…

T5/T6 DRIVESHAFT STUB AXLE Yours started whining? Then these stub axles will be just the ticket. They’re compatible with six-speed manuals and it’s from Meyle, so it’s good. £54.24Heritagepartscentre.com T5/T5.1 LED HIGH LEVEL BRAKE LIGHT We like LEDs because they look all modern and bang up to date. That’s why this LED upgrade for the high-level rear brake light featuring a stealthily smoked lens will look pretty cool on your T5/T5.1. Made by SSP, it’s fitted with super bright LED bulbs that enhance visibility, especially in low light conditions. £31.96 (tailgate), £41.95 (barndoor)Heritagepartscentre.com WAHOO ELEMNT ACE Make all the ride moves with the latest Wahoo bike computer. It’s crammed with features, including textured buttons, a 3.8in touchscreen and a battery which lasts a whopping 30 hours. With brilliant connectivity, great…

Most car enthusiasts can recall a tale of ‘the one that got away’ and Leigh Hicks is no different. Except his story also has a sequel called “and then I bought it back again six years later,” which got us rather intrigued. The story, explains Leigh, starts in 2009 with a random search result on AutoTrader. “I was actually looking for a T4 at the time, but when I put ‘1.9TD Caravelle’ in the search engine, this ‘83 T25 with an AAZ diesel engine came up and I knew straight away that I had to have it. It was in Portsmouth and was red and white at the time, and I lived in Bexhill (about 80 miles away) and my only method of transport was a Honda C90 moped!” A…

The story behind this van begins in 2022 when the urge to escape with their two Staffordshire bull terriers (Belle and Gracie) got Gavin Traynor and his wife, Louise, thinking about embarking on a cool van project. But there were a couple of hurdles to negotiate first... “For a start, I wanted a Caddy but Louise thought it would be too small,” recalls Gavin, “and to be honest we didn’t really have the money to buy a Transporter”. Feeling a little despondent no doubt, the usual trawl of Marketplace commenced and as expected the search for a van within their budget proved fruitless. Especially as it was slap bang at the height of the post-pandemic price hikes. “My wife, Louise, was particularly invested in finding a camper and decided to…

Ever dreamed about seeing your Van appear within these pages and getting your 15-minutes of fame? Make that dream a reality by submitting it to VWt (ian.cushway@kelsey.co.uk) and getting it in Your Vans. Whether it’s the finished article, still being built or just some photos of your adventures, we’d love to see it and share it. Let’s see those Vans! PHIL PARRY, 2006 T5 Hi VWt, I’m Phil, I am 41 and live in St Helens, Merseyside (so obviously a big St Helens rugby supporter!) I am an engineer and engaged to Tammy my partner who I’ve been with for 10 years. I have two little dogs (a Westie and a Scottie) which come everywhere with us in the van. I bought the T5 off a guy in Carnforth and…

“I aimed to just keep it simple; lowered, with nice wheels. Air ride would be great when on site” “I’ve always had Ford Transits for work,” confesses 41-year-old mezzanine floor technician Ricki, “but having fallen in love with my last van, I thought I’d take the plunge and buy a VW to use instead”. And that’s indeed music to the ears for us folk at VWt HQ because judging by his last Transporter-shaped creation, the Chesnut Brown ‘poo van’ T6 that graced our December ’23 cover, Ricki’s unlikely to fall short when it comes to dealing up something a tad special. “I got the T6.1 from James from Custom Transporters in Wombourne, near Wolverhampton, which is where I got the poo van from,” explains Ricki. “I told him I wanted…

Needless to say, the family were dead impressed with the shiny new van-shaped addition to the Cushway fleet when it arrived. I was too embarrassed to mention it last issue but there was a slight mishap reversing on to the drive for the first time. Sod’s law, I managed to clip the driver’s side wing mirror – the gates are crazy narrow and the kids’ delight in seeing the van distracted me from making my usual scalpel sharp reversing manouevre. It didn’t shatter the mirror itself but the plastic cover’s scarred and I had to bend the whole thing back before it was able to fold again automatically. I am not making excuses but I blame the DSG. Being on an incline, I wasn’t afforded the same clutch control I’d…

Ever fancied a winter trip in your Transporter? Well, we did – and a few days snowboarding in Scotland seemed like the dream activity. The drive from home (Chesterfield) to Glenshee Ski Centre was 350 miles so we broke up the six-and-a-half hour journey with a night in Dumbarton. Before leaving, we swapped our LV3 wheels back to our old LV1’s, just in case we had to use our snow chains. Luckily they never came out of the boot, our Continental AllSeasonContact tyres are winter rated and we had every confidence in them. After a quick stopover, and with a very well stocked van, we headed into the mountains, via a snowy, woodland walk to keep Luna the hound happy. We were prepared to struggle in the snow but the…

For me, one of the most memorable road trips I embarked on last year was my visit to the Van Life Festival in Shrewsbury. I was asked to showcase my van in the inspiring Field of Dreams, coordinated by Levi, which was a massive privilege. My van was positioned right at the heart of the festival, surrounded by an eclectic mix of individuals from various backgrounds. It was truly incredible to relax and chat with such a diverse group of folk, all united by our shared passion for Van Life. Despite our differences, we connected effortlessly, which is a rare thing in today’s world. This being my second visit, I can confidently say it’s the finest festival on the circuit. Looking ahead to the 2025 gathering, I’m particularly excited because…

FEBRUARY 18th – 23rd CARAVAN CAMPING & MOTORHOME SHOW NEC Birmingham Ccmshow.co.uk MARCH 9th ULTIMATE DUBS Telford International Centre, Telford Ultimate-dubs.co.uk MARCH 23rd VOLKSWORLD SHOW South of England Showground, Ardingly, W Sussex Classicsworld.co.uk Apply to display your modern Transporter in the exclusive VWt display on the Summer Lawn area at Ardingly. All you need to do is click on the following link and upload your details and some images to apply. Get my van on display – visit: https://www5.shocklogic.com/sl/9119248 APRIL 5th – 6th DUBSHED Eikon Centre, Lisburn, Northern Ireland Gtini.com 17th – 21st CAMPERFEST Roodee Racecourse, Chester Camperfest.co.uk 18th – 20th CARRY ON CAMPOUT South of England Showground, RH17 6TH Carryoncampout.co.uk 25th – 27th ALIVE & KICKIN Haughley Park, Suffolk Aliveandvdubbing.co.uk MAY 4th STANFORD HALL Lutterworth, Leics Stanfordhallvw.com 9th –…