Food for Thought: 'Barnfinds'

What grinds my gears to the point I need a new gearbox? 'Barnfinds'. Turns out from minor research that there are 450 million barns in the UK with classic cars, new cars, and even the not so desirable cars in them. Astonishing!

I owned a 'barnfind' project way back when I was younger. I opened up the garage to get some dinner out and bam! A wild Beetle appears! It must have been in storage for about two hours, which will undoubtedly raise the price of the car.

Basically, if you want to sell your undesirable car, stop calling it a 'Barnfind'. Unless you're on that TV programme 'Storage Hunters', be honest with it. Honesty sells!

I found a barn once, does this mean it's a 'Barnfind'?

Why VW? Addiction.

Happy Tree Friends

A person asked me on Friday, with very good reason, intrigue, and intoxication why VW owner's show such an undying and at times, chauvinistic affinity to an object, especially a classic VW Beetle.

That's why I'd quite like to debunk the thoughts today, but in a way show people a little insight into why I love classic VW's, especially Beetles and why I put up with tinkering, cursing, and breaking down both emotionally and by the roadside.

With my personal circumstance, my family has surrounded Volkswagen's for years, ever since my parents were my age. The cars back in the day were relatively cheap and easy to pick up as 10,000,000 original classic Beetles were built in Wolfsburg, Germany and are widely regarded as the desirable models, even in their cheapest times. 20 years ago, it would be akin to buying a P reg Corsa in the modern day with about 300x more character because no one likes Corsa's, or at least they shouldn't.

This doesn't mean I'm snobbish of other road users, although they do have it easy with their heated cabins, reliable motors, and electric windows. However, what attached me to a Beetle was being surrounded by the cars, parts, oil, dirt, etc which is why I caught the bug of owning VW's, which has since ballooned into a full on habit with three projects and two finished cars for my dad. Twinned with cheaper insurance, it seemed like a good idea to purchase a Beetle!

Since then, I got more and more involved in restoring our projects and I realised the coolest thing about owning a Bug is definitely the ability to pour all of your character and style into designing a car which is almost impossible with modern cars. We can change the seat type, colour of the seats, interior, cool accessories and just about everything in

between, even the engine! I won't reveal anything in terms of what we're doing with our interior for cars such as Lennon and will be kept under wraps until the Big Bug Reveal later next month! But what I can say is, for the people that know me, I'm a quirky character by nature and have subtle differences that make me stand out from the rest. These projects will undoubtedly show my family's vision, flair, and quirkiness.

More importantly, why do we love VW's? Because we're around them virtually everyday. These ageing guys and girls have a heart, just like a child or your beloved pet and it beats slowly and needs to be looked after and given a bit of care. Beetle's look happy on the road and always dejected off it, pleading for someone to restore them back to former glory. To some, I'm tinkering with inanimate objects and that's fine but to other's, it's a lot more than that. It really is a way of life because we all become immersed in our projects and to see them pass the MOT is like seeing your kid passing their final exams. It's an achievement!

The Bodyshop 2: The Return

Today I returned to the bodyshop and had a look to see how the 'light restoration' of Lennon is getting on. For people new to the scene, it's worthy to know that a 'light restoration' is usually a term thrown around when you buy a car to get in and go, later to find that it's a bucket of rust and with minor sleuthing involved, you hold your head in your hands as the list of problems rack up. Using the term 'light restoration' is communicated to your peers to cover up the ageing, stress, and dwindling finances you experience whilst buying a classic car.

Never fear, the wrinkles are here so it's worth biting the bullet and seeing how he is. I bought over the usual treats such as grapes, branded biscuits, and Calypso drinks (horrible kids drinks in the UK) to keep his blood sugar up. 

Now for the layman's technical terms, he's doing alright but Lennon looks awful right now as the team at the bodyshop have found a ton of rust and about eight tons of filler which has since been dug out and new metal has been welded into the car thus eliminating rust for a while yet!

Here are some pictures of Lennon who looks considerably worse than he did a few days ago, is now doorless, and has probably been ragged around a field before starting work on the car (last claim is outrageous and uncertain of validity).

The Bodyshop, Not The Body Shop. No Overpriced Skincare Products Here

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the lack of blogging this week. Last week I have been writing something very super special that I have to keep under wraps until release and also throughout the week I have been enjoying some downtime that has been well needed after my year at work!

Before the team commenced work on Lennon!

Although this week I spared some time to see my boy, Lennon at the bodyshop and see how he was getting on.

It's needless to say that he looks pretty rough and needs a lot of love the poor boy. However, it's worth mentioning that cars always look worse when a midst a respray or any development to a car, therefore it always looks an eyesore aesthetically.

In terms of progress, I'd like to report from our last visit that my boy is coming along well. The car has more rust than we originally thought which initially is a shame however it's good because that will be repaired with new metal, thus eliminating the potential of rust for a few years to come. It's important to get a proper job as Lennon is a keeper for years to come!

We also got the windscreen cut out with a live demonstration of a task that costs a bomb usually! The super difficult method of simply cutting the windscreen rubber and lifting out the windscreen is easily something that should be charged £200 for.

As you may know, the perfectionists at Caught the VW Bug always aim to have the correct and period equipment for all our projects. We noticed that the windscreen was wrong as it was not only minutely smaller to the extent that water started to leak into the chassis and inside the car but also that it was a heated rear window. The rear window did surprisingly have two connections to heat it up although we know that the luxury of heated windscreens weren't introduced until 1969.

Did we deface a one off prototype? Maybe. Do I want a working windscreen? Yes.

SCUM IN THE BODYSHOP!

The Swede: The Lasting Legacy

Whilst you're all indulging in your 'Two for Tuesday's' you greedy souls, I am writing to you all in a cave somewhere, which I have luckily sourced a strong WiFi connection from a distant Starbucks four miles away from here.

You should hopefully all be accustomed to The Swede by now after his arrival and road trips to Volksfest and Brighton! He has also found fame in his previous owner's blog in the past and shortly before his departure to us, a small farewell post was written in honour of this awesome car.

I decided to show to you all the photo's of his final road trip and farewell before the handover to us.

Enjoy your pizza's!

P.S. I know I am rubbish at Photoshop.

Show Report: DrugJam - Cancelled

I would like to inform you all with regret that we didn't head over to Bug Jam 28 this weekend just gone. A combination with the long waiting, the rain, and the bad reviews made us steer clear. My family didn't want their pride and joy to be scratched by someone.

I feel that Bug Jam is more suited for the hardcore and don't think for a second I will be there one day guys! Just not this year. However, I aim to stand my ground and receive some acclaim in the VW world in the future so I'd like to definitely go there!

However, I still will be attending Santa Pod Raceway the summer in the form of VW Action which is also one of the more highly regarded events on the VW show calendar. Preceding this will be an event in Billericay called VW Sweetcorn!

Show Report: Thames Valley's London Volksfest (in Essex...)

Hej, fran Svensken!

The Swede got a welcomed trip out to the London & Thames Valley VW Club's very own show, London Volksfest, in North Weald Airstrip, Essex. As you can tell by the faux pas in the show's location, the show lived up to its already misleading start. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a 'Run What You Brung' style drag racing event where competitors could take their daily driver down the strip and see what their best speed was, combining swift gear changes and reaction times to beat the opponent, or merely their PB. We saw all manner of cars, ranging from your Peugeot 106 to Sierra Cosworth's to even a full on Pro Stock dragster. 

From initial thoughts, the show didn't have a lot to do with VW's despite being called Volksfest, but once we found the Bugs it wasn't a bad show after all. It had probably in excess of 100 classic VW's there from your awesome Bugs, Campers, Ghia's and even a select few MK1 & 2 Golf's, which are arguably becoming the new classic car in the VAG (Volkswagen/Audi Group, not Vagina) family.

The Swede rocking his style all these years later.

On show there were also some odd balls and cars with rarity such as a Trekker, some Fastback's and a couple of tricked out VW dragsters.

It was good to do some sighting of the Bugs that were on show and to get a good idea for what colours we'd like to paint our Bugs one day, not to mention walking around with a hint of snobbery upon other VW drivers, which is common in the UK.

An absolutely beautiful car, The Swede!

Also, we decided to hopefully get a Split Screen Crew Cab next year and join the 'Rat Look' scene, although these ideas are very primitive. 

To round off the day, The Swede needed a quick bump start to get going which was more than fun. No panic whatsoever as his battery went a little flat and struggled to start. A quick bump sorted that out and it was plain sailing from there!

Anyway, here are a bunch of photo's below as I know you love photo's!

TO BUG JAM!

Hejdå, fran Svensken!

P.S. I feel so sorry for the owner who's window on his 1960's Cabriolet smashed upon leaving the lights on the 1/4 mile. Absolutely rough, yet wonderfully entertaining. 

Trekker named Shrekker. The puns are strong with this one.

The EMPI Inch Pincher Camper, harking back to the 60's.

Volksworld Cover Car

Supporting the Rothfink team!

A 'quick' dynamo change, tools everywhere! Congrats to the guys for getting it fixed and back on track!

Irrelevant Photo #1

I think that's Mercedes F1 Team's exhaust they tested. Sounded crap.

'Best in Show' - Timmy in the Under 7's Category designed this one.

A replica (RHD) of James Dean's 'Little Bar-Steward'

Nice blue there, any hints perhaps?

WE SPOTTED A TANGO MAN!

Moments later, the rear left hand window fell out...

A successful journey, heading home over the QE2 Bridge.