One for the B289 crowd!

If Greg Aronson had grown up in Essex in the late eighties/early nineties, could his landmark car have looked more like this? pastel paint rules!

Picture courtesy of Louis Gaston

type 3 drop spindles and narrowed arms

new at old speed in the usa are these welded 2" drop spindles for type 3s. note also the 1" narrowed trailing arms, too - all available on exchange basis. parts are all welded on a jig, and spindles cost from $350 (and the arms will be around the same price)
more info from
Russell Ludwig
Old Speed
7311 Madison St.
Paramount, CA 90723

UVW art guy, jon was right to go lower!

Jon uses his Splitty pretty much on a daily basis - hence he could do with a bit more 'go'!

he's got a later motor in there already, but now it's time to lose those reduction boxes and get modern with the IRS! Paul Miller at Harry Harpics is busy swapping in the bay rear arms and 1303 gearbox. Note adapters to retain the wide 5 wheels. yep, it's going lower, but not slammed as it's a daily driver.

watch out for an update on dropping the front..

the shortest bus in the world?

is this the shortest one out there? currently for sale on thesamba.com

check out the pop outs, every window opens (including the skylights!).

crazy!

Back from Dubfreeze

and for once it wasn't soooo cold!
more in the next issue of ultra vw, but for now here's a pic of my only purchases.

a set of rear brake shoes for my notch (62/63 only... these are VERY hard to come by now!). Thanks to Owain Warlow for turning them up.


Oh, there was one other 'good buy' of the weekend, and that ws a curry in Stafford town on the saturday night! (left to right: Richie-Rich Grant (of VW Action fame... Korma), Brett Mullinder (from the 80s... Prawn Balti) and Jolly Jim Warner (post-war UK drag race celebrity... brown curry!).

a good weekend was had all by all!

Richie Webb at Irwindale Speedway, 20th February

Go Richie!

Watch Richie 1st pass Irwindale 022009  |  

Watch Richie 2nd pass Irwindale 022009  |  

this is awesome!

i don't know which is more shocking, witnessing the destruction of vintage tin, or the fact that he walked away (well, drove away, even!). crazy

how long does it take to strip a beetle?

try 20 seconds!


or how about a speedy motor removal?

this is the famous clip showing that the vw motor was held in place by just 4 bolts.

Dark deeds in the depthsof Cornwall...

The long days and dark nights have finally got to Ben Lewis. The workmanship on Martin Fenner's Cabrio is amazing. Read all about it on the restowagenuk.com forums!

13" 5-bolt alloys

there's a free sticker to the first person to email the correct name for these wheels to us!
don't foroget your address - ultravw@chpltd.com

how low can you go?

Poor little Beetle!

check out this fun car crash (if there is such a thing!) clip by legendary comedic French filmmaker, Jacques Tati. The poor red Bug takes quite a beating, but we really love the ace brakes on the Citroen DS! Ah, the good old days before CGI ruled the roost!

sneak preview...

it'll be with subscribers within days ;)
also, check the online store, where you'll be able to purchase the March issue as a single copy with FREE postage.
and, if you like late-lookers, you'll love the 8-page Cal-look feature in the March issue... that's enough of the tasters, make sure you don't missout!

When California meets Aberdeen

Just arrived in Scotland, the (ex) Doug Mische 'Wocket' – quite possibly the best-detailed Cal Looker for years. But Scottish weather must have come as a bit of a shock for the 2387cc ’67 as it headed for Russell Ritchie's garage!

Or perhaps low and slow vans are your thing?

Not everyone likes to run fast, some like to go low and slow...
www.lowbus.com

Into fast Buses?

Why not check out the official Buses With Attitude website?
www.buseswithattitude.co.uk

VW fix it for Jim!

Now then, now then, jingle, jangle!
Here's Sir Jimmy Saville with his brand new T5 California Camper. Jimmy has long been a fan of the VW Camper and was featured camping in his old T25 in Scotland on the Louis Theroux TV show. We'd imagine the new T5 Cali must seem like luxury in comparison!
Good work Jimmy!!

Bored of your split- or oval-window bug?...

.. then why not opt for the 'late' look - bring your ride up-to-date today with a big-window conversion!
this was all the rage back in the late 50s/early 60s... just check out that pile of scrap split- and oval-window sections... shocking!!!

VW Gol (not a spelling mistake...)

Brazilian answer to the Polo – front-engined, front-wheel drive but flat-four, 1600cc air-cooled power! How cool is that? Check the Porsche-style cooling system. We already know of at least one person in Europe adapting this for use in a Beetle. Who's next?

Getting some air

Brit Richie Webb gets some serious air-time at Irwindale (yes, he shipped the car over to the USA!)

looking for some unusual rims for your 5-bolt vw? how about these brazilian Fumagalli's? they're for sale here!
(incidentally, they work out to be roughly £245 for the set... but they are located in Sao Paulo!)

VW38 prototype found?

Ignore the larger back window, ignore the Volga (front-engined) chassis... What appears to be one of the few pre-War VW38 prototypes has been found in Lithuania. If you want to see more photos and the story behind the discovery, take a look at THIS... Truly amazing! Note the squared-off top edge to the engine lid – an identifying feature of the 1938-built VW38 prototypes

And we complain about the cold...

now this is what i call a LOT of snow!

start digging!

the happy bus!

I was quite surprised this morning when I found some budding artist had drawn a happy face on my T4 - it raised a smile though and it was almost a shame to have to clear it off!


At first I thought it must have been local kids, but when I reached up to clear the screen I realised that the culprit must have been about 6-feet tall to reach up onto the screen... so who was it?!

No, your eyes do not deceive you...

It really is a Porsche Carrera four-cam motor...