Cheap thrills

They say a change is as good as a rest. For 30 years, Ben Lawrence lived, breathed and raced Volkswagens. From his first ever VW, a 1972 Bay Window, to his famous twin slider ’67 Samba DJ Bus, and finally a ’56 racer that planted a 12.49s quarter mile at 111mph with a self-built, 200bhp stroker on a standard gearbox.

It was the latter one that eventually broke him, though, both morally and financially, as Ben explains: “I moved from Essex to Northern Ireland and met Dave Wheatley, now of OFF fame. I got involved with him organising an air-cooled drag racing event called Drag Day. We ran it for around five years and I carried on racing the ’56, but it was taking its toll.

“In the end, I sickened myself with racing old Volkswagens alongside organising the event. Add in the financial pressure and, truth be told, I was done with it. I sold the car and, for the first time in nearly 30 years, had nothing air