Discussion
So, I have been a hotrodder for more years than I care to remember. But I have always had a special place in my heart for my very first car, this 69 Beetle I bought back in 81. The only time I drove it as a standard car was the day I bought it home.
At the time I had no idea how to work on cars, so this car was my classroom. Starting with a £20 Halfords tool kit and some body parts from Chris Boyle I took four years to eventually end up with this:
And in this guise I drove it around for 10 years visiting show all over Europe and having a lot of fun.
Then in 1993 I took it off the road as it was looking a little tired with the aim of doing a quick three month refresh. And there it sat for the next 27 years in the back of my garage.
Fast forward and Covid kicks in, I am stuck at home looking for something to do and I think, why not get the Beetle back on the road. It should only take a few months. So the teardown began and it became clear very quickly that that 27 years had taken a massive toll. The car was scrape from the waste down with only the paint holding together.
So started what became a four year rebuild. The list of mods goes on forever. This time around I now know a lot more so the quality of the work is exponentially better than when I built it first time.
So far this year its won a number of awards and has been featured on the front page of Volks World magazine. I drive as often as possibe and hard. The 2110cc custom motor has a lot of punch which makes it very entertaining to drive.
I know hotrods are very marmite, but I built this just to please me and I love it
At the time I had no idea how to work on cars, so this car was my classroom. Starting with a £20 Halfords tool kit and some body parts from Chris Boyle I took four years to eventually end up with this:
And in this guise I drove it around for 10 years visiting show all over Europe and having a lot of fun.
Then in 1993 I took it off the road as it was looking a little tired with the aim of doing a quick three month refresh. And there it sat for the next 27 years in the back of my garage.
Fast forward and Covid kicks in, I am stuck at home looking for something to do and I think, why not get the Beetle back on the road. It should only take a few months. So the teardown began and it became clear very quickly that that 27 years had taken a massive toll. The car was scrape from the waste down with only the paint holding together.
So started what became a four year rebuild. The list of mods goes on forever. This time around I now know a lot more so the quality of the work is exponentially better than when I built it first time.
So far this year its won a number of awards and has been featured on the front page of Volks World magazine. I drive as often as possibe and hard. The 2110cc custom motor has a lot of punch which makes it very entertaining to drive.
I know hotrods are very marmite, but I built this just to please me and I love it
Edited by Streetrod on Wednesday 18th June 00:23
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