Table of contents for Issue 165 - January 2026 in VWt

IT TAKES ALL SORTS... Hello and a very warm welcome to the January issue of VWt. As the year draws to a close and the festive lights twinkle, let’s be honest – there’s only one thing on our wish list: more time on the road to enjoy our beloved Transporters. After all, all we want for Christmas... is a full tank, an open road and a cool, well kitted-out van to drive off in to new adventures. So, whether you’re gearing up for winter trips or simply enjoying your pride and joy in the driveway, this mag’s packed with stories, tips and inspiration to keep your Transporter dreams alive. And the great thing about this issue is that we’ve gathered together a truly eclectic mix of vehicles, ranging from a…

We like to think of our Transporters as indestructible don’t we – and that’s precisely the thinking behind Kieran Sharp’s Tonka-inspired T4. He bought the van from a workmate back in 2020 having had a long-nose Caravelle previously, a van he’d heavily modified and painfully regretted selling. “I asked my friend at work if I could have first dibs if he ever wanted to get rid of it and a year or so later he went out and bought a T5 and offered me the T4 for a great price,” smiled Kieran. “He’d owned it for around 4-5 years and had always looked after it so I knew it was a great van.” Kieran admits he would never have looked to buy a yellow and black van, but knew it…

I’ve got a mate over here, Kenny, who tends to my motors. He worked at an Audi/VW specialist in the UK and came over to live in France a few years ago and set up on his own. He pretty much single-handedly restored the derelict stone cowshed he and his family now inhabit and it looks amazing. He’s that sort of chap, bloody good at everything he turns his hand to – and thankfully for me, that includes VWs. The only fly in the ointment is that word of just how good he is at fixing cars has got around in rural Brittany so now he’s got quite a waiting list. I’ve become a victim of his success, so to speak. Anyway, a few weeks ago, with my T5.1 up…

JANUARY 2026 1st CAMPER MART Telford International Showground www.campermart.co.uk FEBRUARY 2026 17th-22nd CARAVAN, CAMPING & MOTORHOME SHOW NEC Birmingham Ccmshow.co.uk MARCH 2026 22nd THE VOLKSWORLD SHOW South of England Showground, Amberly, West Sussex www.classicsworld.co.uk APRIL 17-19th ALIVE & KICKIN Haughley Park, Suffolk See facebook MAY 2026 5th STANFORD HALL VW SHOW Stanford Hall, Leicestershire Stanfordhallvw.com 21st-25th DUBS IN THE MIDDLE Hanley Castle Country Estate, Worcestershire WR8 OAA Dubsinthemiddle.co.uk 29th-31st VANLIFE FESTIVAL The West Midlands Showground, Shrewsbury SY1 2PF Thevanlifefestival.co.uk JUNE 12th-14th BRISTOL VOLKSFEST Birches Farm, Bristol, BS48 3RN Bristolvolksfest.co.uk 19th-21st VANLIFE FEST Scampston Hall, Malton, North Yorks Vanlifefest.co.uk JULY 2026 2nd-5th VANS IN THE VALLEY Reeth, North Yorks Vansinthevalley.com 3rd-5th European Bug In Chimay, Belgium Europeanbugin.com 10th-12th VOLKSWEALD Penshurst, Kent Volksweald.co.uk 19th ENDLESS SUMMER VW SHOW Vicargage Farm Park, Basingstoke…

For most Transporter owners, the journey to motoring Nirvana is all about balancing practicality and lifestyle – space for the family, room for the gear, and the reliability to go wherever the adventure might take you. But for Colchester-based Daryl Stanley, that was never quite enough. As a fuel injection technician with a long-standing passion for fast Fords and turbocharged toys, he wanted something different. Something unique. Something that could carry his family camping one weekend, haul motocross bikes the next, and still make him grin every time he pressed the loud pedal. The result? A 2004 Volkswagen Transporter T5 T28 that hides a potent secret under its bonnet – one of the most unusual engine swaps in the VW scene. Forget your TDI conversions or your off-the-shelf tuning packages;…

EAZY BED If the prospect of putting up or down the rock ‘n’ roll bed in your van has you reaching for the Ralgex, then check out the Eazy Bed from SK Conversions. It will enable you to transform your seating area into a comfortable sleeping space, or vice versa, with a simple press of a button. Crafted in the UK from 2.5mm thick mild steel with a sleek matt black powder coat finish and boasting a M1 crash-tested frame (112cm), it’s the ultimate luxury bed system for your campervan. Moreover, it comes fully equipped with seatbelts and a fitting kit – so installation is a doddle – and you can even specify ISOfix as an option. The bed’s operation is of the traditional slide out affair with generous amounts…

Cut Robin Fearn in half and it’s likely to say VW T3 in the middle. Not only has he owned and modified more T3s than I’ve had Big Macs, but his passion is also his work, as he’s the boss at Busmeister – The T3 specialist. Ironically this wasn’t the T3 he was planning to buy; he’d had his sights set on another California which fell through at the last minute, and by then he’d already sold his Multivan to finance it, so he was left vanless. Obviously that was not an acceptable situation that he could live with for long. “I was without a van, so I put feelers out to my contacts in Germany saying I was looking for a Cali, ideally in white,” he remembers. “I was…

Some builds creep along over years, slowly evolving with each season. Others explode onto the scene, seemingly finished before the dust has even settled. At just 31, Beau Cowlin has already proven he belongs firmly in the latter camp. His 2018 VW T6 DSG T32 LWB Startline didn’t arrive in his Rayleigh driveway as the gleaming orange showstopper you see here. In fact, it came looking worse for wear, battle-scarred from a life in high-vis service. Yet within weeks, Beau had transformed it into a clean, slammed, colour-coded creation that epitomises what happens when obsession, skill and vision collide. The thing is, Beau knows a thing or two about transformations. He runs his own customisation and repair outfit, Beau Automotive, and has spent his life spanner-in-oil-stained-hand and knee-deep in Volkswagens.…

Arran is said to be ‘Scotland in miniature’ and having visited, I can see why – it has all the key features; lowlands, forests, lochs, hills and mountains. The night prior to leaving our home in Lancashire and heading to Arran we washed and packed up our T5.1 ‘Stan’ with great excitement. Although we have visited lots of places in Scotland, as well as a few of the Islands, Arran had remained undiscovered. We took the ferry from Troon to Brodick and Stan looked wonderful in the sunshine waiting to drive on board. A ferry trip is always an exciting moment and although Arran is easily accessible from the mainland you do feel like you are going on an a bit of an adventure. As the island comes into view…

There’s no point spending all your time and effort in transforming the interior of your Transporter with a kitchen, dining room and bedroom if you can’t make the most of it. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way of turning the passenger seat around so it faces towards the rear of your camper? Good news; there is a way you can do this! In fact, it’s pretty easy to do and takes very little technical expertise and the results speak for themselves; a seat which can be locked in position to either face the windscreen when the vehicle is moving, or the rear living area when parked up. Result. We fitted a Kiravans twin swivel base which is crash tested and TÜV-approved. Note – if you have a…