NOW WE’RE TORQUING

I’m not 100% sure where my love for VWs originated. Most likely it came as a nine-year-old, enjoying Herbie films, drawing pictures of Bugs and watching trash on telly. After all, even Libby from Neighbours drove a Bug for a while! One thing’s for sure, one of my oldest friends, Grant Tatum (of GT Restorations), played a big hand in fuelling my enthusiasm. Having met at school, Grant and I would talk VWs; we liked the same stuff, and spent hours drooling over magazine features.

However, despite my love of the aesthetics, I had this underlying impression that old VWs were, well, just a bit rubbish. Sure, they looked cool (and I ‘got’ that), but they just didn’t seem to be quite as practical or reliable in daily use as the old-timers’ stories might suggest. Oil leaks, steamy windows, dodgy heaters and constant care and maintenance, that’s how most VW owners described their beloved Beetles to me through my teen years.

But, somehow this added to the mysterious appeal for me. How cool would it be to have an iconic little car which not only looked the part, but also delivered impressive performance without compromising day-to-day reliability. A dream? Yes, maybe, but it was a