Meet the Team! Air-cooled staff cars at VW Heritage

About the vehicle -

Andris drove this Beetle back from his home in Latvia in just a few days. After a bit of an engine service and a general check over he set off on his 1500 mile trip. He now uses the car daily and has been super reliable.

He can often be seen in the VW Heritage car park having a tinker, only a few months ago he had the crankcase split on a pallet and rebuilt it in a few hours! That's some commitment. The Beetle is currently running a 1384cc motor with a engle 110 cam.

Future plans involve a fully rebuilt 1600cc motor (to make the daily commute a little less dreary), possible lowering job and some SSP Alloy Wheels

About the vehicle -

When a customer called our Sales team saying he had a 1 owner from new Beetle for sale, we thought it was too good to be true!

Our IT Support guy Dave took the drive to Woking and bought the car on first impressions. All the parts were loaded into the car and then trailered back to Worthing. Only a bit of welding was required and the car took 6 months to get it to MOT stage.

It's now rolling on Polished SSP GT5 Spokes, 4" Narrowed and Adjustable beam, lowered 1 spline at the rear. The engine is the donor 1776cc unit from the Remtec Trekker fitted with 40mm Kadron carburettors, bolt on rocker shafts and an Engle cam. Interior is from TMI, finished in Sand tweed and off white vinyl.

About the vehicle -

Jo and Martin's 1957 Split Bus is a result of years of hard work and long weekends. It was sold to them in 2004 by the previous owner on the agreement that the bus was to be restored, but not modified in anyway.

The previous owner had posession of the 1957 camper for 37 years after getting hold of it from a Bognor Regis based band called 'The Southbeats'. Sadly the previous owner decided he couldn't take on the work himself, so Martin and Jo snapped it up.

The bus has received extensive welding work and a full respray in Dove Blue. Inside, campers are kept comfortable with a replica devon interior with all the fittings.

About the vehicle -

Nigel has had a long interesting list of VWs over the years, prior to this great 1974 Bay Window he had a Karmann Ghia Cabriolet. Naturally the Ghia wasn't very practical to cook and sleep in so the decision was made to move it on and look for a suitable bus. Many a family holiday has been enjoyed in the Bus, powered by a 2.0 Type 4 Fuel injected motor, the next holiday arrives a lot faster than before too!

About the vehicle -

Since the day Alex bought the '69, it's always been a rolling project. In 2009 the bus saw a complete repaint by his friend at a nearby restoration company. The van then received a narrowed front beam and some Erco's for the rear wheels, this enabled some massive 205/70 profile tyres. 2010 the bus was kitted out with a full camping interior as Alex likes sleeping in this van almost as much as he likes driving it!

The most interesting aspect of the bus lays in the back, more specifically the engine and drivetrain. It's being pushed along by an Autotechniks 2276cc Motor with an FK10 cam, 044 Heads and Weber 48IDF Carburettors. This is bolted up to a Cogbox built 091 Gearbox with a super diff and a longer 4th gear to help on the motorway.

The van gets regularly drag raced and the best pass so far clocked in at 15.2 seconds @ 81mph at Das Drag Day 2011. If you see him, give him a wave....He's a jolly nice guy!

About the vehicle -

Aurelie has worked at Heritage for 3 years now, and in that time built a hugely impressive collection of cars. When she first started she had the 1951 Beetle and her 1967 Split screen bus.

1967 Splitscreen Bus

The Splitscreen has been in Aurelie's ownership for 8 years now, in that time has had an extensive rebuild. As we all know, stance is everything with modified Air-cooled VWs, and this one ticks all the boxes. It's sat nice and low over the Chrome SSP Fooks thanks to some dropped spindles and a 4" narrowed beam. It's tracking straight and steady thanks to the addition of a steering rack conversion and also eliminates the problem of smashing the steering box everywhere she goes. A camper wouldn't be a camper without a comfy bed, so Aurelie has installed a Rock 'n' Roll bed.

1951 Beetle

The Beetle has been in Aurelie's collection since 2009. It's a tatty but very solid example, and she loves a good rat look! The Bug is running the stock 30hp engine, which has done thousands of trouble free miles from country to country!. It's running very low, (there's a bit of a theme here) on some SSP Sprintstar wheels, 6 inch narrowed beam.

Sadly we don't have room to fit pictures of the 10+ strong fleet of classic VWs that Aurelie currently owns! But, keep an eye out at some shows are you're sure to see them eventually. Given away by her pet Pot Bellied Pig 'Brutus' sat in the passenger seat! (seriously.....)