Cool to see VW enthusiasts on the site.

Some of you may have seen this, but then again maybe not. This car was part of the reason I stop building models. Took all my modeling skills and applied it to a 1:1 car :-).

I had an off road rail. Had it for a lot of years but got tired of towing it for an hour so I could drive it. Found a fiberglass car that was a basket case (but the body was in good shape) and went at it.
The car was registered as a modified VW dune buggy and insured so all the paper work side of things was done. Being it said "modified" that opened up the book for what I wanted to do to this car.

I picture of my off roader that I sold....



Out ripping with my daughter.


this thing would go anywhere..... almost...



I built this car 100%. Motor, trans, frame, swapped the swing with an irs. Narrowed the front beam. Car is now a full tube frame car. Normally the body is part of the structure of the car. On my car the body is just along for the ride. Motor is a 1776 for now. The Aluminum block is clearanced for a stroker crank so if I swap out the crank I can get it up over 2 liters. It's not all that fast, top end I've had it to 140KM, about 80 miles an hour. But it's damn quick and gets there in a hurry. Handling is phenomenal. I have adjusters front and real so I can change the car ride height in a few minutes. I enjoyed building this car very much. As this was pretty much a scratch built car I didn't want to invest in paint incase I needed to cut the car up again. One day it will be stripped down 100%. All steal will be sandblasted and powder coated. Body is in good condition but will get repainted eventually.  It's not how I want it but it's just too fun to drive to rip it all apart.

That's too cool! I love everything about it. You could build a model of it easily.  

Brent, thanks for the cool photos.

Yes, I have been a VW fanatic since I could drive. Actually the bug by my screen name was the car I learned to drive on back in 1965. It is a 1959 Euro ragtop sedan. Now it has been totally redone, also with a 1776, dual webers, dropped front end, beefed tranny, full disc brakes, etc. I did everything on the car except for the paint/bodywork. It is a blast to drive.

I also used to race a class 9 off-road race car. I did not do very well, but had fun. I did scratch-build a model of it, and here are a few photos. This did well, in winning a number of contests, including placing fourth at this year's GSL.







I do like your Red buggy. Great looking car, and an awesome frame. It is obvious that there is a great deal of work put into this fabulous car. Looks like Kadron carbs on the engine. I like the lowered stance.

It is ironic that you post this, as I am looking at buying a "fix-er upper" one like this. I have always wanted to have a Manx type of car. I have my eye on one in Shelton, WA, and may look at it soon. It also has a tube frame under a Manx-replica body. It has a stock 1600 engine, which would not stay long in my house!

Tumbler75 wrote:That's too cool! I love everything about it. You could build a model of it easily.  

I have a pile of Manx kits, one day its going to happen :-)

Pete!!! WOW, that's a beauty!!

I did a rail, not nearly as detailed. When I moved to Calgary I found that the hobby stores had way more selection and you could but this stuff called Styrene!!! I was hooked. This was my first scratch build ever and my return to model building. This build is the reason I have over 300 kits now LOL.




Some of my other VW builds.



















One I never finished....

Awesome VW's Brent ! had to sell all mine when I relocated. Hopefully will fall into another one someday.


So whats on the bench now?

Nice thread. When I got out of the Army in 1968 the first job I had was at a Dune Buggy Shop. Started with a broom in my hand, within a couple weeks I was shortening the floor pans to put the bodies on. We had two bodies. One was the standard Manx and the other looked like a Model T pickup. The Manx body was a 15 inch section out of the floor pan and the T was 17 1/2 inches. If I remember right, Dude that was a long time ago.

Sam wrote:Awesome VW's Brent !  had to sell all mine when I relocated. Hopefully will fall into another one someday.


So whats on the bench now?

Thx Sam. Awe man that Sux. Good thing is the VW scene is far from dead. The cars and fiberglass kits are still around (can even buy new bodies) and the aftermarket stuff has exploded. My engine is 100% new, all aftermarket. I rebuilt an old off road trans that I had for the street legal car. it's tired and old. I'll probably swap it out with a Rancho Pro Street trans eventually.

I had a few kits out..... then put them back.... need to get motivated again. Right now I have the Baja truck on the bench and giving it a series look over.

Zbuckster wrote:Nice thread. When I got out of the Army in 1968 the first job I had was at a Dune Buggy Shop. Started with a broom in my hand, within a couple weeks I was shortening the floor pans to put the bodies on. We had two bodies. One was the standard Manx and the other looked like a Model T pickup. The Manx body was a 15 inch section out of the floor pan and the T was 17 1/2 inches. If I remember right, Dude that was a long time ago.

Way cool Buck!

Hey Brent. Good to hear from you again. I built this while you were gone.

Good to see you all as well!

Very cool! That is the direction I was going with the one above that I never finished. I like it!

Brent, I love all of your bug variations, from Bajabug to sandrail to street sedan. The frame on the sandrail is great. I really like the black sedan with the roof rack. I also like the type 2 pickup, I have a kit for that too.

Great job on all of these!

I was heavily into Aircooled beetles for years - welding, building, tuning every weekend - but I think I burnt myself out
and since selling my pair of beetles last year, I don't seem to want to look at another bug again.
There will come a time again, hopefully.

Great models by the way.

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