Table of contents for Issue 144 in VWt

MAN ON A T5.1 MISSION Hello and a warm welcome to May 2024, edition 144, of VWt magazine. I got an email last week from a Kelsey colleague and fellow editor, Martyn Knowles. The chap at the healm of Car Mechanics magazine. He runs project cars and wanted my two pennies’ worth on buying a T5. Which got me thinking (again!). It would be great to run the project in VWt too, introducing some practical content, then I could take on the T5 myself once the project had finished in the other mag. Martyn seemed cool with the idea so I told him what kind of Van would suit me best, given that I’d eventually become its new custodian. I had a horror with my old 2.5 T5 engine, so…

We owe a lot to the 1970s in terms of style, culture and fashion. Bell-bottoms, zig-zag-patterned tank tops, gold lamé jackets, it’s all coming round in waves. The area of seventies automotive fashion, however, is something that a lot of people would happily leave in a file marked ‘The Past’, locked away in a cabinet and left alone. Think back to the UK custom car scene of the period and you’ll find all sorts of things there that you wouldn’t get away with today: fluffy Muppet-skin interiors, Perspex porthole windows, airbrushed murals of buxom mermaids, jacked up rear ends showing off chromed Jaguar diffs… very cool if that’s your thing, but arguably tricky to pull off in 2024. There is, however, one 1970s motif that’s back with a vengeance: brown.…

Sometimes I like to get other people to work on my vehicles. I am not being lazy, it’s just that I like the reassurance of having a second set of expert eyes giving everything a good eyeball underneath to make sure I’ve not missed anything. So, while on a UK visit down south, I booked my recently acquired 2.5 T5 into The Southern Motor Group at Cowfold, West Sussex – an authorised VW van sales and service centre – for an oil service. Due to menu servicing and the need to compete with independents, it wasn’t nearly as dear as I imagined, and I was told it would include a free ‘express’ visual check, a free wash and vacuum and they’d be using the oil recommended by VW for engines…

APRIL 19th – 21st ALIVE & KICKIN Haughley Park, Suffolk aliveandvdubbin.co.uk 21st – 23rd VW CAMPFEST Chester Racecourse, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2LY www.camperfest.co.uk MAY 3rd – 6th VW CAMPOUT Budle Bay, Northumberland vwcampout.uk 5th STANFORD HALL Lutterworth, Leicestershire Stanfordhallvw.com 9th – 12th DERBYSHIRE DUBS VW FESTIVAL 2024 Seed Low Rake Camping, Wardlow, Derbyshire Derbyshiredubs.com 17th – 19th VW BREAKOUT Santa Pod Raceway Santapod.co.uk 23rd – 27th DUBS IN THE MIDDLE Badsey Road, Evesham, Worcestershire Dubsinthemiddle.co.uk 24th – 27th RUN TO THE SUN Newquay, Cornwall Rtts.co.uk JUNE 2nd STONOR VW Stonor Park, Henley on Thames Theabvwc.wixsite.com 6th – 9th ALIVE & V-DUBBIN Haughley Park, Suffolk Aliveandvdubbin.co.uk 7th – 9th BRISTOL VOLKFEST Birches Farm, Bristol, BS48 3RN www.bristolvolksfest.co.uk 22nd DRIVE YOUR VW TO WORK DAY Global 28th – 30th EUROPEAN BUG IN…

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!…

HOT VANS Welcome to the third installation in the trilogy of top campers out of DCD Transporters in Suffolk. You’ve already seen their super-clean T5.1 and bonkers Crafter, built as a homage to VW’s sporty R-Line series. Now it’s time to take a look at this latest creation. With one eye on mountain biking and one on comfort, owner Darren DuRose has melded the two in perfect harmony onboard this 2020 T6.1 Highline. “Right from the start, this Fortana Red Panel Van was already quite unusual for us as we always tend to build from Kombi vans,” says Darren. “When I ordered the Van we bought a set of Rotiform LAS-R alloys in a staggered 20in fit at the same time. These and the first revision on the suspension were…

NAVIS LUDIS In case you didn’t know, Ludis means ‘to play’ in Latin. Which is obviously pretty appropriate for a rim that looks as athletic as this new hoop from Navis. Indeed, the Ludis 20in alloy is the epitome of sporty elegance and features a sleek design the exudes confidence and performance prowess. In that respect, see them less as an upgrade, more as bold statement of intent. Of course Navis is a brand that’s always been renowned for the strong, rugged, built for load look of their VW Transporter wheels and with the Ludis they’ve cleverly combined the strength and load rating with a sportier look for the finer spoke fanciers out there. Built for enthusiasts who crave both form and function, the Ludis alloy delivers a perfect balance…

“I bought it back in November 2013 and I have to admit that it was a bit of emotion-led purchase,” recalls life-long VW fan Mark. The Bus looked great and had been overhauled a few years earlier. However, as Mark began to dig a little deeper, he soon realised that not all that glitters is indeed gold. He continued, “My initial plan was to fit the GT gearbox, 2007cc motor and Porsche brakes, which I had in the garage. But once it was up on the ramp and the belly pans were removed, I realised that it was going to need everything throwing at it.” First though, Mark took the Bus to Matt Balls for some suspension and associated chassis work, which included fitting up a Dogback beam, plus a…

HERETICS DATES FOR 2024 The Sussex-based meet celebrates its 14th year! There can’t be many cars and coffee events that make it into their ’teens but Heritage Parts Centre ‘Heretics’ meets shows no sign of slowing down with a full calendar of gatherings planned for the season ahead. Open to owners of Volkswagens and Porsches, the Thursday night pop up car show takes place once a month from April through to September at their Shorehamby-Sea HQ and regularly has over 150 vehicles in attendance. With DJ’s providing music, quality local street food to fill you up, and decent coffee to wash it all back down with, it’s a three-hour, weekday treat full of great cars and a throng of friendly people (dogs on leads welcome). So, here are the dates:…

As we know, the VW Transporter has had to evolve radically over the years in order to keep up with strong competition, and the longevity of each design and continuous sales success confirms VW is still getting it right. Incredibly, the T5 and its not so dissimilar successor have managed to notch up a production run of almost two decades combined. Values remain rock solid, waiting lists long and their desirability is something rival manufacturers constantly strive to tap into. Yet, when you see two examples of the Transporter with a half century between them side by side you really get chance to ring the changes and appreciate the evolutionary road its driven down. We were lucky to be given such an opportunity when Chris and Victoria McCulloch arrived for…

When it came to kitting out the back of our Caddy, it was a case of putting heads together to come up with a suitable idea that would keep our sponsor TengTools happy, work with our Race Support theme and be realistic to achieve on our ‘sensible’ budget. The outcome was to have a huge chest-type tool box visible when you open the rear doors, perhaps with a couple of cubby holes above it, to house power tools, etc. In the centre of the Van, accessible through either of the sliding doors, would be another, slightly lower-level tool box on top of a frame sitting on top of the rear wheel wells, housing the Fly air tank and Air Lift management. A false floor would then fill the lower section…

STUART BAILEY, 2020 STARTLINE T6.1 I’ve been a reader of VWt for a few years now, however living overseas makes it difficult to get a regular copy. Normally, when friends or family visit, they are sent to WHSmith first to pick up a copy for me. What I need is an online subscription! [Yep, definitely – see page 48 and get it sorted! – Ed]. Anyway, I’m Stu, 55 years young, and have been living “la vida buena” on the Spanish Costa Blanca for the past 12 years. I’ve always been a VW addict, my second ever car was a Scirocco Mk2 which got me hooked. Since then there has been a VW in the fleet for the past 35 years, mainly Golf GTis but also a Touran which I…