engine sounds... with his mouth?!

turn up the volume and check this guy out!

rat bug or overloaded daily?!

it's the look many strive to achive, yet i think this is the real deal!

van stolen 35 years ago is returned to insurance company!

SPOKANE, Wash. – A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport.

Customs agents found the 1965 van on Oct. 19 when they opened a shipping container bound for The Netherlands, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported. They ran the vehicle identification number and discovered it was listed as stolen.

Law officers said the van, which is in great shape, was stolen from an upholstery shop in Spokane on July 12, 1974 — while Spokane was hosting the 1974 World's Fair.

Authorities have not been able to find the original owner, whom they would not identify.

The operators of a vehicle restoration business in Arizona were the latest to have possession of the van, which they refurbished and planned to sell overseas, said Michael Maleta, an investigator with the California Highway Patrol. Maleta said the shop is also considered a victim in the case, and he declined to identify it.

The van now legally belongs to Allstate Insurance Co., which paid off the original owner's theft claim back in 1974. The Highway Patrol turned over the van to Allstate this week.

Maleta said the van had been restored to pristine condition.

"Now it's probably worth 27 grand," he said. "It's a beautiful van."

Megan Brunet, a spokeswoman for Allstate, said the company is looking through old records trying to find the original policy and theft claim.

"Trying to find paper files from that far back can be pretty challenging," she said.

The company will likely have the van appraised and go through the process of getting a replacement title before selling it at auction, she said.

___

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com

New Outlaw Flat 4 DVD trailer

more info in the next issue of Ultra VW!

Try your luck @ funcup!

you can download a full version for your pc here
if you have a joystick or control pad, you'll find this far easier, but if not (like us!) you'll need to use the direction arrows (up is 'accelerate')

how to change a fanbelt in 5 seconds..

don't try this at home.. (but, if you do (!), watch your knuckles and your paintwork!)



crazy!
we've seen belts 'flipped' in the start-up lane at the strip with a screwdriver (as shown above), but the 'refit' is a new one on us... we dread to think what might happen if the new belt was considerably shorter (or longer) than the old one - scary stuff! eek

Race Taxi for the next century - T5 with GT2 running gear!

awesome!

how not to drag race!

i think he needs to beef up those rear links!

Retro Custom Are Expanding!

The guys at Retro Custom have been in touch to let us know they are fighting the recession head on, and are actually busier than ever right now!

As a result they have a couple of openings for keen and experienced individuals within their busy workshop;
-If you are a proficient welder/fabricator, and can work to the highest standards carrying out repairs 'as factory' they would like to hear from you.
-Similarly, if you know the workings of aircooled VW's like the back of your hand then their opening for an experienced service engineer/mechanic
could be the perfect role for you!

For both roles the successful candidate will be an enthusiastic person who is passionate about classic Volkswagens, has a 'can do' attitude, and a
real eye for attention to detail.

CV's are invited to be sent to info@retrocustom.com

Check out the ULTRA VW cylinder head porting guide

this is just a sample of the great technical info you'll find in Ultra VW Magazine. Subscribe today!

crazy high-rise vw in belgium!

we just found this on youtube.. it's crazy!
..quote ,'...this 1965-66 Splitscreen VW Kombi Bulli was re-build in 1976-77 for use on a tobacco farm in Belgium, NOT an Offroad as in 4x4, Bigfoot or sandraces, but a home made tractor!! all suspension, engine (6 volt 1500), gearbox, wheels are still the original VW !! ...used untill summer 2006... now driven again a few weeks ago... weird feeling, can't describe it!!'

We didn't have to wait too long!

just a few weeks ago we posted 'how long before we see an 8-second floorpan Bug'... well, it wasn't a long wait!
Congratulations to Tor Øyvind Skinnes on his recent 8-second pass at Kjula raceway in Sweden - just unbelievable!
His best time of the day was 8.60 sec, with a 1.30 sec 60ft and a terminal speed of 161mph!

This car still runs a conventional H pattern gear shift, pump gas and DOT tires. Apparently 'there's more to come', which is even more amazing!

We don't have a clip of the actual pass (yet) but here's another clip from last year. it really shows what this thing can do..

ULTRA VW BUG BOOGIE

BUG BOOGIE - THIS WEEKEND!! DON'T MISS IT!

Wellington Country Park, Sunday 20th September 2009

mark the date in your diary – it's a great family event and we'd love to see you there.
Traders should contact frank.archer@chpltd.com to book a plot. Advertisers get FREE trade spots, so don't miss out!
Swap meet stalls are also FREE - simply ask for the swap meet area when you arrive, and make sure you get there early!!

congratulations russ!

Russ Fellows turned out an awesome 9.3 second pass in his road legal (yes, really a proper road car!) Bug at VW Action this past weekend. Will we see an 8 at the Euro Finals at Santa Pod this coming weekend... watch this space!!

12.02 second Bay window in the UK!

Congratulation to Paul Hamilton of VSM fame who managed an amazing 12.0 pass at York Raceway this past weekend. More amazing is that he drove his Bay window panel van to and from the event! With 500+bhp on tap, that's one wild, turbocharged Type 2!
Watch out for more soon - that was only the 2nd run.. this van has World-record breaking potential!!







clips commandeered from Kevdonlon of vzi! many thanks!

WIN THIS ENGINE!

All you need to do to win this Air Speed 1641cc Type 1 engine is answer the following multiple-choice questions and explain in 20 words, or less, why you need a new engine for your VW!
> 1. What torque figure were our connecting rod nuts torqued to? a) 32ft lbs, b) 15ft lbs, c) 300ft lbs
> 2. What diameter are our 1641cc barrels and pistons? a) 85.5mm, b) 94mm, c) 87mm
> 3. What did we set our valve clearances to? a) 0.06in, b) 0.006in, c)06.00in
> 4. What will you find an image of on the Air Speed homepage? a) a Camper b) an engine c) the Air Speed premises
You can e-mail your answers, tie-breaker and full contact details to airspeed@chpltd.com or post your answers on a postcard to Airspeed Competition, Ultra VW Magazine, CHPublications Ltd, Nimax House, 20 Ullswater Crescent, Ullswater Business Park, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 2HR

New caravelle announced

what do you think? we quite like the new 'scirocco-style' look!

how long before we see an 8-second floorpan bug!

Tor Øyvind Skinnes Turbobeetle doing 9.03 @ 1/4 mile at this weekend's SCC drag meeting at Gardermoen raceway, Norway. This makes it the Worlds fastest street legal, floorpan Beetle! Apparently he ran 9.01 the following day... just amazing!

KOOL KARMANN KAMPER!

How neat is this? It's a Karmann Colorado RS - a factory, built 340bhp Camper! It's also the world's fastest motorhome.. si a bit quicker than your average Bay!!!
you can this factory-built beauty, just click here

Bug Jam!

windy, sunny then wet - but boy, was it ever good fun!

check out our track highlights...
more pics here

fastback meets bug..

pic was taken at detling 'back in the day'.
that must have taken hundreds of hours to 'fabricate'!!

Bug Jam is nearly here!

With only 16 days to go till Bug Jam 23 you’d better get your skates on if you want to ensure you get your advance tickets for the original and best VW fest this summer!
Advance tickets close on Friday 10th July at 5pm online and 5.30pm via phone. We recommend you don’t leave it till the last minute as we wouldn’t want you to miss out on the advance ticket savings on offer.
This year’s event is certainly going to be a whopper, with activities and entertainment morning, noon and night, the anticipation is rising and the buzz is definitely buzzing. A true festival in every sense of the word, with a vibrant and fun atmosphere, bringing to life the very essence of VW culture.
Don’t forget, there’s free camping on-site all weekend and better still, the under 13’s get in for absolutely nothing! (Three under 13’s FREE per paying adult).
With a capacity crowd expected, show goers are advised to book their tickets early, you DO NOT want to miss this one!
For more information, or to book tickets, click to www.bugjam.co.uk or call 01234 782828.

EBI is right around the corner!

3-5 July 2009

click the pic for full info!

2332cc motor first fire-up

fired up a friend's 2332cc/FK89/IDA motor last night - all good, thank god! it gets a bit amokey as the greasy handprints and paint burn off the exhaust though... next time we'll run it up outside!
watch out for this one on a street near you sometime soon ;)

cool norwegian slammer

edit:- we just recieved a link from Tom Rune to this thread about a neat norwegian slammer belonging to Thomas (see comment!). we can't understand the words, but the pics certainly do the talking! if you have a good project thread going on, let us know..
here is an english version! thanks Thomas!
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3808554

richie webb runs a 9.33!

hats off to brit Richie Webb for running an amazing 9.33 second pass at 149mph in the USA! and that's in his full-weight, streetable cabriolet, too !! truly awesome

Keith Seume visits Southend on Top Gear!

check out this rare footage from 'back in the day'. Keith talks about 'the look' and they check out the legendary Chris Jory Oval, Gary Constable's Fasty and Ritchie King's 'Rad' red Ghia, too.
I remember seeing this on TV and, I have to admit, it's part of the reason I got into the whole VW thing. It was shot on Southend seafront, and all the cars were familiar.. in fact, I'd just bought my first Beetle and these cars were my influences!
So, thanks Keith, Ritchie and co., it was nice to see this nostalgic UK footage again, it brought it all flooding back!
PK

2500hp keith black motor!

wayne then showed off the 2500hp (!) blown, alki, keith black hemi motor, which is the kind of motor serious racers use to push into the 6-second bracket! serious sh!t, for sure!
that's £1200-worth of rods, doncha know!!
check out the carbon fibre injector scoop - awesome!
and we loved the old-skool 'lid with fireproof mask and goggles - madness!!!

a day at the Intergalactic Custom Shop!

we arrived with biscuits to see what was going on in wayne's world right now. there was plenty to see (as usual) and we met some cool world travellers (40k km in a vw buggy, and still going - but more of this soon...), and, of course, checked out the progress of the Mental Breakdown drag Bus!
here's the hot seat!

and here is wayne at the wheel of his neat daily-driver, a chevy truck rollin' on 20s!

vancake for sale!

for sale in the Ultra VW classified pages is the Andy Saunders-built 'Worlds lowest Camper' by the name of Vancake. This was built at Bug Jam 2008 in just three days and has appeared on TV. What a cool promotional tool!
We're not so sure that it's a 4-birth camper any more though...

old-school, heads-up racing @ bitburg!

don't miss out - this is one of our favourite european drag events of the year!

oscar's first driving lesson..

well, i let my boy, Oscar (3yrs old) loose with the electric bus today... oh-oh! there's a big chunk smashed off the rear of the bumper and we have a few new scuffs on the corners now! look out leigh-on-sea, there's a new liability boy on the scene!!!

at least his first vw is 'tuckin' like a mo-fo' ...
not all of us can boast that much! ;)
paul k.

what size rims will fit a buggy?

well, these 20s look pretty damn huge on this buggy!

they're big, but you could go bigger!
how about these 30-inch monsters?!
we've thrown down the gauntlet, now show us your VW donks!

a good day 'in the shed'

managed to get this 2332cc shortblock assembled today (after many headaches!), which we hope will be running before the uk drag day in a couple of weeks time (it's a lot of hope and a little luck!). did the maths, worked out the necessary deck etc. so now just waiting for some seals and spacers to arrive and it can become a longblock at long last... more progress very soon (i hope!)
pk

team jagerbug @ big bang

Pandora's Box V8 gasser Splitty gets some rear-wheel air at Big Bang!

swimsuit car wash?

swimsuit special!

where are theses hot chicks now?!

UVW reader, Steve Taylor sent us this pic of his Speedster replica... very tasty, we're sure you'll agree!

slammed, ratty 356...

...this isn't a photoshop creation, it's for real... and oh-so-cool, non?!

DKW bus

are you looking for a camper with a difference?? how about this über-rare DKW-based conversion?! Awesome!!

shopping for a t4 california..

today we went t4 california shopping for a friend and found this cool, silver metallic, turbo-diesel camper, which was already UK-registered. The t4 california (westfalia-built camper) was only ever available in LHD format on the European market, so UK-registered vans are mostly private imports, and are few and far between... This van was imported (from Germany) to the UK around 3 years ago and has since been repainted, lowered and fitted with some cool Audi-sourced rims. It ticked all the boxes and, being priced well-within budget, it was snapped up right away!
Fans of T4 Cali's can check it out at Big Bang, where it will be parked alongside Ultra VWs own slammed T4 California workhorse!

More Country Buggy action!

How crazy?

Ben Lewis's crazy Country Buggy!

Yes, it really is as crazy as it looks! Slammed on chromed Fuchs, with a 1720cc Porsche 912 motor pushing it around. It puts a smile on everyone's face!

Google maps street level photography

Look out Luke Theochari, we've found your workshop on google!
Check out the google pages, which are constanty being updated with new street level imagery. let us know if you can find more VWs in any other street. Outside Terry's Beetle Services in Shirley Gardens are quite a few, including an original Herbie built by Disney!

View Larger Map
take a tour around and check out some of the other rides, too!

fancy building a wartime replica?

or just like the look of blackout light covers?!
repro's are available here
http://www.tankmodel.com/vw166_parts.html
also loads of cool kdf, schwimm and kubel parts (new and used)

the james dean porsche 550

probably the most famous 550 ever. bottom pic was taken just days before his untimely death at the wheel of the 'Little Bastard'

kerunch!

Richie Webb wheelie action!

Shame Richie Webb lost the clutch on this run, but it must have left an impression on the V8-loving crowd at the famous 'March Meet' at Bakersfield! Way to go, Richie!

UK Cal Look Drag Day!

What are you doing on Sunday May 17th? Nothing? Great! Head for Santa Pod an watch the cream of the UK's Cal Look VWs take to the strip – over 50 of them so far have booked in, including our own resident DKP member, Keith Seume... See you there!

the fastest builder's truck in the east?

Paul Geary stopped by this afternoon with his T25 truck. what can I say but 'wow, what a neat ride!'. It's running a built 'box (from Bears) with longer 1st and 2nd gears, big porsche brakes all round and, of course, the matching tuned 3.6litre 6-cylinder motor with a RUF chipped ECU.

Oh, did I forget to mention that it's due a nitrous kit anyday soon, too! I'd imagine it must be 250hp ish (over 300 when the gas goes on..), and it sounds just awesome.

On the road it's a real sleeper. mild mannered and easy to drive... until you drop the hammer, that is! What a beast - I really want it!

Apparently it's keeping the ratty outward appearance for real sleeper appeal. watch out for it at a drag strip near you in 2009 ;)

thank god for the torquemeister!

if you don't already have one of these in toolkit, get one! 20lb/ft of torque by hand is multiplied through the gearing enough to undo a rear hub nut. it makes working on brakes a doddle!

it was used twice yesterday - they also work great on flywheel gland nuts, too. i don't know what i'd do without mine

more photoshop madness

fun photoshop mods

here's a neat 'photoshopping' from French VW site http://calcruiser.free.fr

Amazing collection at auction

sadly the auction has closed, but just have a look through the catalogue - it's impressive!

http://www.kearnsauctions.com.au/AUCT/AUCT27/page/cat2.html#3

it's hard to believe that so many rare vintage cabriolet's, coachbuilts and early porsche's could come up for sale at one time, clearly a collector's clearout!

DIY parts cleaner!

it's the home dishwasher filled with degreasant granules and modified to accept big parts... such as crankcase halves and cylinder heads - just don't tell the wife!!