This is a specific Volkswagen meet/show in Southern California. The host is telling you where to find details and that it’s worth checking out if you’re into VW cars.
It’s a race track venue in Southern California. The host is saying a VW event (Looft Zegan) will be held there, so it’s a place to go see cars in person.
This is a competition where people build engines and then test them to see which one makes the most power. The host says there will be live coverage and updates.
Horsepower and torque are the two main measured outputs used to compare engines. Horsepower relates to how quickly work is done (often tied to RPM), while torque is the twisting force the engine produces—both matter for acceleration and drivability.
RPM range refers to the specific engine speed band (revolutions per minute) where testing is performed. Bill T. says they have pre-programming to run engines at exactly the same RPM range, which helps make dyno comparisons fairer between different builds.
Term
Sonoco fuel
Sonoco fuel is the specific fuel Bill T. says all the engines will use for the competition. Using a single fuel helps reduce variables so dyno results reflect the engine build rather than differences in fuel quality or formulation.
Naturally aspirated means the engine breathes air on its own—no turbo or supercharger pushing extra air in. So the power has to come from the engine’s design and tuning.
Term
MP parts
“MP parts” are the specific aftermarket parts the builders are required to use for this challenge. It’s like using the same ingredients so the results come down to the build and tuning.
The “Type 1 engine” is the classic Volkswagen flat-four design people associate with older Beetles. Here, it’s the engine they’re competing to make as powerful as possible.
A dyno is a machine that runs an engine while measuring how much power it makes. It lets you compare different builds under the same testing conditions.
“Bore” is the width of the engine’s cylinders. A “four inch bore” means the cylinders are very large, which usually helps the engine make more displacement and power.
Seward Speed Shop is a car shop that builds and prepares Volkswagen race or performance cars for events. They’re being referenced as last year’s winner.
Company
MP
“MP” is the group putting on the event. They’re hosting it at their headquarters and streaming it so people can watch from anywhere.
A “completely repainted” restoration means the bodywork and paint were redone end-to-end, not just touched up. For a classic VW bus with custom markings, repainting is often necessary to update the look while also protecting the metal from corrosion.
“Tubbed” means the body was modified to make the wheel area wider. That lets you run wider tires and usually helps the car sit lower without rubbing.
Term
lowered properly
They’re saying the bus was lowered in a way that’s meant to work, not just look low. The goal is to keep it driving right and avoid constant rubbing or scraping.
“Chassis notched” means they cut part of the frame/chassis for extra space. It’s often done to make a lowered car fit properly, but it should be done carefully so the car stays solid and safe.
They mean the bus was used for emergencies. So it wasn’t just a normal van—it had a job in disaster or incident response, which is why it looks the way it does.
Shocks help smooth out bumps and keep the wheels from bouncing after you hit something. New shocks usually make the ride feel more controlled and less bouncy.
Term
new heat changes
This sounds like they refreshed something related to the bus’s heat system. That matters because it affects how warm the cabin gets and how well the windows clear.
Term
new front end
“Front end” usually means the parts that control steering and the front suspension. If it’s been replaced, the bus should feel more stable and easier to drive.
Term
54 ribbed or oval
On classic air-cooled VWs, there are specific metal parts that shape airflow to keep the engine cool. The host is saying this Baja has an early-style “54” configuration, which is one of the reasons it’s cool to them.
Rancho Transaxle is a company that makes parts for Volkswagen drivetrain/transaxles. In this episode, they’re helping out with donations for the VW event.
The “Baja run” is a planned group drive/ride for the VW Baja crowd. They’re describing where it starts, where it goes, and where people can eat or continue on the trail.
“Lowering stuff” means parts that make the car sit lower. People do it for looks and sometimes handling, but it can change ride comfort and may require alignment afterward.
“Square back” is a nickname for a Volkswagen Type 3 with a boxier, wagon-like rear shape. The host is repainting parts of the car and planning interior changes to get the look back closer to how it originally was.
Seat covers are covers you put over the seats to protect them or change how they look. For older cars, people often pick materials that match the original style.
SCAT is a company that makes aftermarket parts for classic VWs, including seats. The host is using SCAT seats to replace the originals and match the style they want.
Tweed is a textured fabric, often seen in classic-looking clothing and upholstery. The host is saying their current interior uses tweed, but they want something closer to the original look.
Velour is a soft fabric used for car upholstery. The host is pointing out that their square back originally came with black velour, and they want to match that interior style.
Front disc brakes use brake rotors (discs) instead of drum brakes, which generally provide stronger and more consistent stopping—especially when you’re driving harder or repeatedly braking. This matters for a Beetle “sport” build because the front axle is doing a big share of the braking work.
Term
Porsche pattern
“Porsche pattern” means the mounting/fitment is set up to match Porsche-style brake hardware. That lets you use parts that fit that pattern instead of being stuck with only Beetle-specific options.
These are aftermarket wheels in a classic “twist” style, and they’re 17 inches across. Changing wheel size can change how the car rides and how low you can go without the tires hitting the body.
“Bolt-on” means performance parts you can install with basic tools, without major cutting or rebuilding the engine. It’s a common way to add power or responsiveness on a project car.
A “sub” here means the car’s bass speaker (a subwoofer). They’re saying they ordered the right one for the car, but it didn’t fit where they needed it, so they had to change the setup.
“12” and “10s” refer to subwoofer sizes, typically measured by cone diameter in inches (12-inch vs 10-inch). Going from a 12 to 10 usually helps with physical fit, but it can change how much low-bass output the system can produce depending on the enclosure and tuning.
Term
carbon gear
“Carbon gear” sounds like a carbon-fiber part related to the shifter/gear area. Carbon fiber looks distinctive, and the host is saying it stays looking great unless you start changing the surrounding bodywork.
Concept
pushes the envelope
They mean taking more creative chances with the car build instead of doing the usual thing. The idea is that seeing someone else do something different motivates you to try your own twist.
Recaro is a company that makes performance car seats. They’re designed to hold you in place better than many stock seats, especially when you’re driving hard or cornering.
A headrest is the pad behind your head in the seat. It’s there to help protect you in a crash, but in this build they removed it to get the seat to fit and look right.
Bolsters are the thicker, padded parts on the sides of a seat. They help keep you from sliding around when you turn, and here they modified them so the seats fit the car properly.
A custom bracket is a custom-made metal mount that bolts or welds the seat to the car. They made one here because the floor was different, so the seat needed a new way to be securely attached.
Floor pans are the stamped metal panels that form the car’s interior floor structure. They matter for seat mounting because seat brackets and runners need a solid, correctly shaped base to attach to.
Seat runners are the rails that let the seat slide back and forth. They used a common set of rails, but because the floor was different, they welded custom mounts to make everything fit.
The Volkswagen Beetle is a classic Volkswagen car with a rounded, easy-to-recognize shape. It’s known for having different seat setups, so people talk about how the seats feel and how much space you get. That’s why it can come up when discussing comfort and fit.
The Porsche 356 is an old-school Porsche sports car from the early days of the brand. Here, they’re talking about using one for the trip, which shows these classic cars still get driven.
Right-hand drive means the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. That matters because the UK drives on the left, so the driver sits on the right.
Left-hand drive means the steering wheel is on the left side of the car. It’s the normal setup in places that drive on the right, so it changes how you feel behind the wheel when you travel.
Term
low light gear
“Low light” is a nickname collectors use for a specific early lighting setup on certain classic Volkswagen vans. They’re saying this one is rare because of that particular front-end look.
LIVE
Happy Friday guys and welcome to another episode of Let's Talk Doves. I'm your host Bill T.
Well it's Friday and you know what that means another podcast coming through and
this week we're going to be talking Andy Finch. In about two weeks I'm headed to the UK and we're
going to be doing our cross-country journey over there so I wanted to get you guys up to speed,
talk to Andy about his plan and what kind of fun stuff's going to be happening over there. But
before we get into that this week we're getting ready to go with the first weekend of
the SoCal VW scene business, all that stuff. And it's definitely going to be something that
you may or may not want to miss. There's lots happening. I won't be there this weekend. I'm
going to be there next weekend for the Looft Zegan show that's happening at Santa Anita Raceway Park.
Check it out. Go to VW Kid on Instagram or go to directly to The Fault and look up Looft Zegan
and register for the show today. Spots are filling up so you don't want to miss out.
But yeah you'll see me down there. I'll have some stickers available for VW's American as
Apple Pie which I'm about to launch a bunch of limited edition shirts. Hopefully I'll have them
by next weekend. If I do that's great. I'll be out there selling those at the show. But
also the Falling weekend on the 20th matter of fact I'll be down before the 20th because
that week starts Impey's Engine Battle World Cup 2026 edition powered by Autolina. Now that is
going to be another engine battle this year and it's going to start on Tuesday. So you guys make
sure you subscribe to our YouTube channels. So that's Impey and Let's Talk Dub. So you can get
the live stream when we go live with respect to the engine build off that's going to be taking
place. So this year's engine build off is going to be who builds the most horsepower and torque
and there's lots of new players in the game this year. So give us a little more detail on that.
We've got Rob Mollner online right now with Impey to let us know what's happened with the
2026 Impey Engine Battle World Cup edition. We're so excited. We've completely remodeled our dyno
cell. We have modern electronic data collection now. We've got pre-programming where we can run
engines at exactly the same RPM range. All the engines are going to be drinking Sonoco fuel.
It's Evo 10 is the the race fuel unleaded that they'll be running. And we've got engines coming
from all over the United States. We've got an engine from France. We've got some new players.
We've got some repeat offenders and we're so excited to show off what our MP dealers know
how to do with our parts. And of course we got to give a shout out to AutoLinia who furnished
all the brand new aluminum cases. I mentioned Sonoco. We've got our friends at JP Group that
are co-sponsoring. We've got JBugs of course as one of our primary sponsors. So it's really just
going to be this awesome battle to see who can build the most powerful naturally aspirated type
one engine using specific MP parts. And of course bringing in most cases decades of knowledge
of building and racing and blowing up and building again. So it's going to be awesome.
Yeah. So this is a it's a little different than last year. So we've got a little more control on
the dyno side. So it's going to be exactly duplicatable and repeatable. Everything's controlled
on that end. Yes. So exactly. We spent a lot of effort, money on modernizing our
dyno. And one of the byproducts now that MP is building turnkey engines, every engine that leaves
our facility in Anaheim has what I'll call a burst certificate. So you can actually see
the dyno run that that engine was put through before we drained the oil and put it in a box and
send it out to Kia Kuk, Iowa or wherever it's going to to get a Volkswagen back on the road. So
nice. The investment the investment is really obviously beneficial for crazy ideas like the
engine battle. But for our everyday business where we're sending hundreds of engines, it's
very beneficial. And that's that's so cool. And this year we've got some new people in the game
this year. So because we did because this year it's going worldwide. You invited everybody around
the world who wanted to participate to participate in this particular engine battle. Yeah, we did.
So we've got a an MP dealer called Technique Diffusion and a builder they work with called
Sly Motors out of France. So didn't get quite the international love that we expected. But
let's face it, a lot of things have changed in the world in the last let's say 12 months. So
we've we've still got all the machine. We've got all the live stream. So we've got more engines
and more builders to focus on and give them all the love and attention they deserve.
And that's that's awesome. I mean, I'm excited to see this go on this year. I mean, I'm glad
we're doing it again. And this is going to be this weekend is a special weekend that we're
going to be doing this on the 20th. When we do the final is MP 70th anniversary that right?
It is it is it's I love a circus with more than three rings. So yeah, we've got we've got engine
battle Tuesday through Friday with the finals during the MP open house the 70th anniversary
on June 20th. So we're going to present the big check for $20,000 to the grand champion. And then
as if that's not enough, we buy that engine and we put it in the back of our SEMA bill that
will debut at the show in November. So we've got a really cool build. I can't wait to show it to you.
And I think you're gonna like it. No, I'm super excited. Now last year. Is there any other
special stuff that's going to be happening this weekend that's going to be just to celebrate
the 70th anniversary? Oh, goodness. Well, we've got what I would consider to be our biggest and
best open house ever. So we've got a few surprises I don't want to let quite out of the bag yet.
But we are going to you've been to MP, you know, we've got a relatively large facility,
we're going to cover the ground in Volkswagen's work on a I'm expecting about 4500 maybe 5000
people. And yeah, we're going to do it up big. It should be should be quite the event.
No, I'm going to be looking forward to it. I'm also bringing Zorba down we're going to be with the
with VW trends with the type three tavern that he's going to be having over there. So
I know you'll be the star of the show. Well, I'm definitely gonna be busy that weekend,
but I'm looking forward to it and looking and really excited to do the commentary on these
live streams and really looking forward to bringing this to the people, you know, the VW enthusiasts.
Me too. Me too. I'm so glad, like I said, that you're part of this. And obviously, you've got a
way with the microphone and the camera. So you interviewing our builders and talking to these
people that, you know, you might have heard about them on the internet or maybe you've seen their
Instagram, but to actually hear what they have to say. I mean, that guy like Pat Tafta, right out of
South Carolina. Yeah, I went boy's head is just he's just full of crazy Volkswagen stuff. Yeah,
he went we've got a sorry. No, he I say he went bold last year with a four inch bore motor was
having some trouble get that thing pushing it out on the dyno. But hopefully he's back this year
doing something going for something wild again. Oh, I hope so. I hope he brings something huge to
the table. I mean, that's part of the fun of not limiting displacement is that let let the mad
scientists do his science. And if he wants to do some ginormous bore stroke, bring it on, man,
let's see what you can do. That's that's what makes it fun. Yeah, I see that J bugs gonna be a part
of it. Also D&G out on that Seward Speed Shop who won last year, right? Defending champions in 24.
Yes. So yeah, we're expecting big things from Adam. No, it's built up to be quite a weekend,
man. And I definitely appreciate you coming on and give us a few a little bit of insight into
what's happening and make sure you guys are going to be there to get to get in gear for the 70th
anniversary for MP on June 20th is going to be taking place at MP headquarters down in Orange
County. And I'm real I'm real excited. I'm real I'm excited to be there, Rob. Thanks for having me
to be there for the live stream and look forward to getting this put together and bringing it to
the VW community around the world. It's exciting stuff and just remind all of your your listeners
and viewers, you can watch the live stream on the MP Facebook or the MP YouTube. So we had people
from all over the world in 24. I think there were I remember there were guys from Norway, Russia,
Japan, people were watching this all over the world and it really just it just reminds you
how universal classic Volkswagen is and how regardless of where you live, as you know,
you got a Volkswagen story and these guys want to watch and see what's going to happen. And
you know, we're I'm hoping to throw some big surprises now that we're measuring torque this
year. That's adding another kind of layer to the competition. But but again, Bill, so glad that
you're on board and looking forward to your listeners being part of the experience.
Well, cool, man. Well, Rob, I appreciate everything you're doing for the Community 3 MP
and definitely look forward to June 20th, the final showdown of a week building up so and while
you guys are at work, don't forget to subscribe to get notified of this because while you're at
work and join some time there, you can have a little YouTube video up there and watch watch
the week's events building up to the final day that'll be taking place on Saturday. So yeah,
it's going to be solid advice, Bill. It's going to be great stuff, man. And Rob,
thanks again for everything. And we'll see you in two weeks. Awesome. Thanks, Bill. All right,
you got it. Well, and don't forget to support those of support. Let's talk dubs guys support
MP by supporting your local VW supply house and make sure you buy your parts from your local people
that are out there. So keep building local community also support those support. Let's talk
dubs VW Trends magazine and magazine for the people by the people go subscribe today at VW
Trends magazine.com which they'll also be doing the type three they're going to be doing the type
three tavern taking place at MP 70th anniversary and Zorba is going to be there so you guys haven't
been able to see Zorba in the flesh come on down check it out Zorba is going to be there on June
20th at the MP 70th anniversary engine dyno and all that good stuff so you better check
that out and don't forget support those that support let's talk dubs by going to Ross Wolf high
quality aftermarket parts built for enthusiasts by enthusiasts go check out their website today
at RossWolf.com also use the code LTD10 for 10% off your order at Ross Wolf. So go pick up some
cool new you know get your motor stop leaking dude go get some of those the Vitan seals they have
they've got Vitan push rod seals Vitan engine sump seals all that stuff so your motor doesn't leak
on your driveway anymore so go to RossWolf.com and also icon pistons high quality aftermarket the
highest quality aftermarket piston you can buy today free Volkswagen they're now available in
three sizes 85 5 90.5 and 94 and three different wrist pin heights so go check them out you can
pick them up anywhere you can go to damn volks you can go to CV performance you can go to our
friends over there at type E motorsports check them out today load yourself up some icon pistons
if you only want the best now we're about to get into it guys in two weeks from now I'm headed to
the UK and I'm going to do this whole big gigantic road trip if you guys haven't been in my youtube
channel go to let's talk dubs youtube channel and check out the cow look caravan 2024 now we're
going to be doing another caravan in 2026 so go check that out go to my youtube channel but this
week I'm going to grab Andy on the podcast Andy Finch from spikes vintage restoration and we're
going to pull him on the podcast here in just a few minutes so we're going to talk about the whole
European invasion that we're doing for America's 250 I'm going to be across the pond so figure go
figure but I'll be handing out some stickers that'll be saying VW uses american as apple pie so make
sure you guys get with me on that but without any further ado guys let's get into it this week
Bill tees European vacation on this week's let's talk dubs
it's got everything that people will like the bug lights
Andy what's up buddy I'm all right how about you yeah well you know congrats well congratulations
for the volks world cover last month that was pretty legit with the uh what the 50 split mark
paints 50 split yeah that's yeah I'm pretty happy with that what and that's a brilliant age and we're
gonna have to tell mark he's got to come on the podcast because I'm tired of him dodging the podcast
everybody wants to know from the youtube videos from last uh from two years ago from the 2024
cowlet caravan everybody wants to know how long it takes to change a throttle cable and you know
mark pains your guy so he's uh that's all throttle mark I think his nickname should be because you
know we we dub Jim the general I think the nickname should mark should be throttle mark it should be
that yeah you know yeah I'm sure I'm sure he'll appreciate that because what he did is he wrapped
his throttle cable around the clutch cable couldn't figure out every time he pushed a clutch in the
engine revved high but uh you know I mean listen you know it's roadside this roadside repairs
that we had to do on the last year's uh caravan we're going but anyway we're you know I'm headed
out to the UK to meet up with you guys on uh I think it's Monday Monday or Tuesday I can't remember
yeah I think you get here Tuesday at 22nd yes so I get there and I'm landing we're meeting up and
you know a couple years ago we did the cowlet caravan and you didn't go on the front half of it
for a bunch of that stuff uh no no I didn't know for some other reasons um Jude's just some more of
uh the vagus contingent coming over this way so I had to come back and get them so I missed that
but this time I'm all over this one yeah no it's gonna it's gonna be a good time I mean so
the trip that we're gonna be doing the general trippers are gonna be uh leaving from the UK
then we're gonna end up at Hessech kick it in Hessech for a few days then we're doing we're
gonna get into detail on it in just a second but just the overview of it is we leave from England
caravan over there and then we're headed to um Hessech and then yeah Hessech going to uh European
bugging after that then from European bugging back to the UK and then I fly home so I'm gone
I actually fly home on the seventh I think it is and so I'm pretty excited for this it's it's
some miles and last time I went I drove the old catastrophic shots and uh you know that that's my
that's my favorite stallion the cruise and sent and I tried to negotiate a deal last time we were
to save if you just sold it to me do you know what I wish had a sold it here because I'm
so deep into this thing now but I mean it's been two years since you drove it um and it's used a
different kettle of fish now you know completely repainted all mechanically gone through it's been
it's been lowered properly it's been tubbed it's been chassis notched it's been rebuilt um it was
just one thing after another I've had the car for so long and literally I've done no means to it
whatsoever since I had it just drove it and you know what it's like it gets
to that point you think oh maybe I should start doing something to it and one thing led to another
and I just I'm full into this thing now but to the to the somebody who hasn't really been following
what's been going on with it it won't look that different apart from the sign writing but um you'll
definitely know it's a difference that's for sure yeah no it's I mean it's so this bus this
catastrophic shits bus for you guys don't know it says 79 right 78 it's a 1978 bus and these
buses were distributed throughout Germany they were like a catastrophe vehicle if something
were to go wrong this when you see the big orange blimp hit the streets with the blue
light on the top all of a sudden it becomes you know it's like you know something's going on
and you want to find out what's up but this bus is like it had like a little radio commands
internet had an antenna you hung off the back the back door sealed off there's no window
but it's super cool and it's in I think it's a rare thing yeah you got it was like 50 000 original
miles on it well it was less than that I think I got it and it had 20 23 000 miles on it which was
about 35 000 kilometers I think when I got it and it's now nearly on 90 000 so I put some miles on
it you know yeah and I think you did a thousand miles and it when you had it for when you used
it last it may have been a little bit more than that who's keeping track but I think I think when
I mapped out that whole loop that we did it was about 1700 miles wow that that whole loop and that
bus was just it was just a cruiser man once I think it's in fourth gear it's just cruising
and so it's a it's a late bay and it's lowered it's sitting on style 90s I think they call those
wheels design 90s and and it's got oddly enough you know it had 944 bucket seats in the front
and it sat it sat super comfortable you know I mean like it's a definitely that bus is a cruiser
man and I hope you last time when I was there I bought like a bluetooth speaker or something I
threw on the dash so I could it's still in it it's in the box for you yeah that's uh that's the go to
for the uh for the bluetooth action so you got some tunes playing yeah and yeah it's so quiet
because there's so much stuff in that bus it's kind of partitioned off from the rear to the rear
half like a crew bus yeah so I'm excited to drive that bad boy now did you you touch up the motor
dialed in the motor a little bit got it the car was cleaned up everything's done so it's
most been completely apart it's been um really sealed yeah it's got new heat changes got new
exhaust on it it's got new shocks it's got a whole new front end on it um you know you name it it's
on it it's been done and it drives so sweet brakes are all being done so um it's like gonna be like
having a brand new bus nice and and joey's also coming out too so who who do we got coming from
the u.s it's you it's me and uh joey and jen nice um lanny oh he'll say us it's the uh
east canada canada isn't it so joey i mean uh yeah so joey joey and jen lanny um
darren uh i think there's about well i know on this trip there's about 20 you know
we're gonna be having different places and then it'll mean up when we get into holland
yeah so as far as the overall itinerary this trip i mean we're we're logging some miles each day
i mean oh absolutely you know the the fun part for us for you guys that are listening to this if
you want to check it out go to my youtube channel go look at the cow look caravan i have i think i
have four days on it um a video and they're like 30 40 minute videos each but it's so legit
like that driving and that first trip that we do we're going from day one for us as we go um
from your shop so we'll all meet up in your shop which is in esics right yeah yeah and from there
we head to um we go to the ferry and go overnight that's right yeah that's right and
and then we're ending up the next day we're ended up in um in holland so it's a rotter dam
is where we go into no hookah holland we're going okay we go to hookah holland and then
from that so we do that overnight which is probably like what 45 minute drive from your
place we get on the boat it's overnight takes us across the water we get up in the morning at
what 5 30 they wake you up yeah with that annoying bing boom please exit the vehicle
that's that's that's free guys you don't know
something like that yeah yeah that that kicks off early and then we're gonna go day day one are
we making the drive all the way to hessage on that one well we got from the ferry we're gonna meet
and we're gonna drive to meet Russell and Lanny and all the guys from Scotland who've gone that way
and then we're gonna meet them somewhere and the people whoever flew into Amsterdam we're gonna
meet them at this first stop so I think we've got about an hour an hour's drive to meet Russell
and stuff then we meet up everybody and then we drive from there to hessage I think it's about
five hours six hour drive you know in air chords maybe a bit longer but this is this
we're hitting it we're not going to go on the the big cruise with the because there's just so many
people and I think it's just it could take up to God knows how much longer you know yeah there's
always there always I mean we were pretty lucky in ours we only had a couple minor hiccups and for
the most part nobody really caused a lot of issues but so so by Thursday by Thursday we're
gonna be in hessage yeah so and that's a couple hundred miles we'll drive that day and then
the whole thing for hessage is gonna be we're gonna be checking out the Grumman's collection
hessage old norfin so for all you guys listen make sure you guys subscribe to our YouTube channel
because I'm gonna be doing some live streams and stuff from where we're at and that's about
they're gonna be about eight hours ahead so it'll be first thing in the morning for you guys
we'll probably be mid afternoon so some of the stuff if I kick it off in the morning over there
I'll be coming over probably about 34 in the morning it'll start but we'll be doing some
I'll be doing a couple live streams during the evening when everybody's gonna be getting there
and then during the evening on that side but morning on this side and just checking out some
of these cool things but I've never been to hessage now you've been to hessage before
no I haven't no so you've never been I should have done no I should have done but I was never
really into vintage Volkswagen there's no even though I love Volkswagen's you know it's my passion
but the vintage stuff really wasn't for me and I've got a little bit older and it's not even
it's not so much about just the cars now it's just the whole thing you know what it's like
yeah just want to that FOMO that just want to go and you know hang out and do the stuff and it's
stuff so I'm looking forward to doing something that I haven't done before as well yeah and that's
always a good time to go check that stuff out because it's a whole different
different scene over there that whole vintage scene because even with bad camberg you know
was it a year ago at bad camberg two years two years ago bad camberg it was uh you know
was different over there because you know there's so many vintage things that are for sale and like
stuff the accessories and stuff that we don't normally see and a lot of variation for some of
this stuff it gets you a lot of inspiration I saw some pretty wild stuff I hadn't seen before so
it's a good time you know definitely if you have yeah and what was interesting is you know while
I was there in Hasetsch I ran into the the two Darren's from there's Ireland
that I met up that are listeners of the podcast and then I met up with a Bob Cook of all things
I ran into him over there you know what I mean and I just ran into him in Hasetsch it always
gonna be in Hasetsch yeah yeah I love it so we got you know and that's the cool thing
right you start running into people from all over the place over there so that's gonna be
that's gonna be something that's uh that's always interesting to see the different people you know
gives you that oh I'm at another VW show with these other guys that I always see at every location
so after Hasetsch then we're gonna we're gonna road trip from that point I think the next day
we head toward that the Fletcher Hotel is where we're leaving yeah yeah that's the one I don't
know if did you go there when you I did when you did this before yeah it's a pretty cool hotel
oh yeah I mean we went we went there when we went last year to the MIT show and that was pretty
sweet so we get our own parking area and stuff so there's quite a few of us on this on this caravan
so that should be pretty cool you know that's that's another be hike from Hasetsch to there so
yeah so that looks like it looks like it's about 84 miles and it's 84 miles to BBT says we're gonna
be um well and also uh there's so we have the Porsche Centrum Gerderlin and I think that's the
one that's that's the the Porsche dealership in the Netherlands right that's the one
could you could you say that again I was just I didn't hear what you said in Gelderlin that's
the one like I tell you your Dutch is coming on well listen I practice and so yeah that so that
was the Porsche it's a Porsche VW museum and the guy the the guy that owns a place he was at
bad camberg last or two years ago and he had a basically a car hauler there with all super rare
stuff rollbacks and hebs and all kind of stuff like that so and his collection's pretty legit to see
have you been to that Netherlands to that uh that's yeah yeah that's a pretty it's a pretty nice
shop and apparently that's the first place that Porsche started doing restorations they started
offering it through Porsche classic yeah I'll say so yeah and then we do uh we leave there and we
drive to the Fletcher and then the following day on Tuesday we're gonna be checking out BBT
going through all all some of that stuff and then we're gonna be
headed to Degrassi that's it that's yeah Degrassi that yeah that's it open house this is Degrassi
is a garage he's the guy that's uh that's it so Jeffrey works for them and Jeff is the guy I painted
the um red karmic gear last year for and um he's helped put the catastrophe back together
because he said he said to me he's gonna help you and I said yeah you can there's a whole list of
things here to do catastrophe mechanical wise so we had a bit of a trade-off and he's uh
so you'll meet Jeff he's done all the work on the catastrophe so yeah take care of it before you get
there well you know I mean what's so cool about this stuff is meeting all these people that are
into the hobby from everywhere else it's like you know when you come to the States here and you
meet all these people from all over the place and it's just cool because we all have that
common thread of Volkswagen's you know what I mean so yeah yeah that I haven't been to that
open house at Degrassi but they're a restoration shop is that what they are yeah yeah restoration
and mechanical um you know everything they're it's a really cool shop you'll like that nice
and then uh we'll leave from there and then we're headed to that crown plaza and then
uh looks like there's a Pat's VW shop that we're gonna be checking out yeah yeah that's the guy the
MP guy isn't it yeah no no that's so the MP guy that's Kurtz on Thursdays oh sorry I'm yeah that's
all right yeah that makes sense then we'll head back and we're probably gonna be doing some some
podcasts from each hotel when we stop out we're just gonna do kind of some and I'm gonna do video
versions of the podcast where we're just gonna upload them and kind of review the day and some
of that good stuff but it's kind of crazy because we do a ton of driving I don't have my you know
my girl's not going with me this year which is really bumming me out because it's normally nice
to have her there to help me with some stuff and whatever but listen sometimes you know sometimes
you got a lone wolf it she's going to she's Africa with my son and I
said yeah I'm not going to Africa so um yeah she's doing that so I'll be doing this and she's excited
to be going doing some humanitarian thing and I'm doing the humanitarian thing and just trying to
help Volkswagen people so yeah I'll feel it yeah so it's uh it's quite a trip and then
you know it's Monday through Thursday we go all the way through and then Thursday we end up at
Shimei and yeah on that leg of the trip you know from what we just discussed stopping at the
general hotel all that stuff it's a it's right here it's logged 986 miles is what it is yeah and so
and then and then EBI starts so it's I mean if you're a VW guy this has got to be
like the most epic trip to do because it would almost be if you were crossing the U.S. and you
were going from one big VW event to another so hopefully they'll be able to get some stuff like
that scheduled in the future obviously one crazy weekend would be on that you know so
because you know it's more of a three-day event which like all the shows you guys do up there
usually the large shows or multi-day events which is the big difference there to hear right
yeah definitely I mean yeah all the big shows and now like Thursday Thursday evening or Thursday
afternoon sort of sound we've got Friday, Saturday, Sunday so you know the way we are away is definitely
bad because you get to spend so much time with everybody you know yeah when you're at a show
for six hours you might see 10 people and talk to two you know yeah I mean you know it was bad
enough last year at one crazy weekend you know even though we were there for so long it got to that
point on the show day that I didn't even get around to look at half half the cast because every five
minutes you stop to talk to someone it's like I mean if that was if the actual show was on for
three days then at least you get around to look at everyone you know look at talk to them and that's
how we are there but it's just there's so much going on at your show that you sort of well you
know on that one day that you just didn't get to talk to it to see everything and talk to them you
know but you just got to learn how to deal with it differently yeah and this year
it's going to be a little bit different a little crazier to this year because
we've got so we've got a we've got some Baja's being built this year and the focus vehicle for
this year or the highlight vehicle last year was 80s cars this year's the Baja bug so we're
going to be doing we're going to be appreciating Baja bugs this year so there's a special place
for the Baja's at show up and we'll get a wide variety of vintage classic and new style Baja's
but the cool part of that is going to be uh Friday morning at one crazy weekend we're going to
depart from the hotel at about 7 a.m. and hit the road because we don't want to miss the bowling
tournament which is going to be taking place around 2 p.m. so we're going to leave the hotel
around 7 with as many Baja's as we can put together and we're going to take a trail that's
going to go all the way from the uh furthest south side of Vegas and it's about a 25 mile trail
that we're going through it's a power line road but it's a power line road that's been well worn
and so it's not just a simple cruise but we're going to be doing that and you've got a Baja
that's going to be that that's getting dialed in right now with uh oh boy joey huh that's correct
yes i mean you know it's only a 54 rid borough ball obviously with a middle haven't get on it
which uh which we sort of well i think i've had it for about three years now haven't i had it
after we took the all the way out to Colorado to go and get it yeah yeah that thing's been
sitting it's been waiting to be uh you know brought back to
life for quite a while and um i'm excited to see it because you know it's an it's an early style
bug eye Baja and on top of that it's a 54 ribbed or oval so i mean it doesn't get much i don't think
it's much cooler than that right to get a yeah i'm i'm i'm looking for i was originally the plan was
we're going to paint it and and then i was thinking well if we're going actually doing some proper
off-road in it i'm not going to paint that car now before i do it so we might we might lay some
old-school graphics on it you know and fade them out complete opposite to what i'd normally do
um which is i've probably i've got an idea i can do so then we can just hack about it and
and i haven't got to worry too much about it that's the plan anyway no i'm i'm looking forward to it
i mean i'm really looking forward to vw trends has stepped up and we've got some donations from
rancho transaxle this year for the um for the poker tournament and so there's yeah we've got
that whole thing happening with the uh with the poker tournament on thursday evening and then we've
got friday morning we've got the Baja run that's going to be the Baja challenge it's going to be
going from uh vegas to good springs and when we get to good springs there's an old saloon that was
built in the 1800 so probably grab a bite to eat there and then loop down about a 10 mile ride to
the i15 and then i15 all the way back those that want to spend the rest of the day on that trail
can turn right around and do that the the the rest of us are going to be headed back to make it in
time for the bowling tournament so it's in the bowling tournament last year i don't know if you
bowled last year but uh no you didn't yeah have you bowled before i'll have yes i don't know if we
do have that yeah you know i can sure you know so i never seen a big english bowling league or
anything like that but uh yeah that's good that's good so yeah we'll uh get back to the bowling
tournament and that's kind of the thing right there's so much happening during one crazy weekend
and you're just trying to get to you're trying to get the all of it so i'm looking forward to the
Baja challenge if i do not have a Baja there's a slight chance that i might have a Baja for this
weekend but i got so much stuff i'm working on i've got i just ordered the lowering stuff for the
sport beetle and then i just had the roof painted for the square back so next is to
fashion some new seat covers for the front and then i mean i really want to get rid of those big
couches in the front and just do um some bracketry and put those i ended up getting a set of uh
of uh early style scat seats and okay um so i might go pick up some gray carpet uh this weekend
and do just kind of make my own carpet kit for the front of that thing and uh and and then swap
out those seats but i've got uh i got vw upholstery was offering to do some seat covers for it so i might
but the the whole challenge is it's tweed and it's funky and there's a lot going on there and
the original car when it was built the square back it had black velour interior and it had
like Honda bucket seats in it and i'd like i'd like to put it back to gen one of that car
because it had a little less graphics on it a little more just kind of stealthy look
but yeah either way i'm excited that the roof got painted and the rear deck's been painted so
excited for that and looking forward to uh i might pick it up today and bring it home but out here
in vegas to 106 degrees today so i don't think i'm gonna be doing much nice i don't think i'll be
doing much uh chilling outside doing that stuff because i was i thought i'll leave work early
today i'll grab it and we'll do uh i'll take it to first friday put the sunroof back in it take
it to first friday but i don't know about all that so we'll see we'll see what uh what's happening
with all that but yeah i got i got a lot going on i got i got some videos to make with the with the
um with the square back with the sport beetle and so george and i were talking last night
about the sport beetle and uh i think the plan with that is i ordered i ordered the willwood
front disc brakes Porsche pattern and i'm gonna get rear Porsche pattern drums in the rear i'm
gonna put those 17 inch twists that i have on it we're gonna get it sitting low and then the motor
that i have for that sport beetle um we're gonna we're gonna work on getting it running and then
from getting it running uh we're gonna try to do a couple little bolt-on performance mods and
yeah i mean my my my thoughts go to i gotta sell it after that because i got it's just this
just stacking up too much andy it's gonna be you know it's getting it's getting a little crazy so
you know you know what that's like right you just keep you're like the cat lady like oh here's
another stray let me take it home you know yeah listen it's you've got a lot worse than over there
because the there's so much to choose from we haven't got it i mean if i if we had the
variety of choice of cars i'd be i'd be in the same boat i swear and if i had someone to keep
them all then you know it's bad number the minute but you know i'm building my
56 low light which is full custom i mean it's probably that it's the last real full on show car
i'm going to build myself yeah and i'm i'm i'm fully invested in this job and i'm taking it
some i'm going to debut a hessage which is a vintage a vintage show and it's like
well it's going well why are you going to take it there and i said well we're going to drive it there
and obviously we're going on to ebi i've got other shows and ebi is a complete opposite of hessage so
i'm going to do that and it's literally i've been building this car i've had it for four years um
and then when i came home from vegas last year a few things changed in my life and i decided that
i'll keep even though it's my job and people probably think it's a strange thing you can
either say but all i was doing was building everybody else's dream cars right and i really
wanted to deal with something for myself and so when i came home i decided that i was going to
not work weekends and i was going to finish at five o'clock and that was my time after that
i'm doing my own stuff and it's managed to work out quite well and the car's nearly finished and
it should be done we've got we've got 14 days left to get it finished um it's it
it should be done and then it's my i might have a day or so test drive and before we do that
monstrous journey in it so and the catastrophe but we might we might have to take a tow rope
with a catastrophe whatever well just a tow bar tow bar clean up um i you know i've been
i've seen the guia i've seen what you've done i've seen some of the custom stuff you're doing
interior wise and i'm so stoked for this car to come out man because it's in my opinion it's
something that the vwc and has been missing people walk stepping outside of what everybody
else does and just doing something different and you know we see that with the stuff buddy's
building right he goes full-on hot rod yeah and this is kind of a a little bit of a blend between
the two right so it's a it's absolutely it's i mean i had taken a lot of inspiration um from
what he did i mean i always knew that this is the interior i wanted and even now
it's hard for me to get to grips with what i'm looking at because it's pretty much exactly
how i imagined it to be and then normally you have to come up with some sort of compromise between
what you want and what can be done but this is actually i mean i'm lost for words when i saw it
and um you know there's still it's still being trimmed in a minute but the bits and pieces
i've had done and you know it's just incredible i mean it's just absolutely incredible but it's not
stupid for stupid sake it's like if i ever wanted to put a stock interior back in it there's no
body mods you know so i could if i already wanted to not that i want to but because i'm building
a car for me but you know if i ever sold a car and someone decided they wanted to put a stock
interior in it then they could but you know it's got the 23 87 motor in it and the
built gearbox and it's just there right on the front it's i mean it's just an it's got a custom
color on it i'm super super excited to get this thing out there because i it's just ridiculous i
am too man i'm digging i'm digging the whole console i'm digging i'm digging everything
man there's yeah there's it's pretty it's wild i mean i saw the the door cars the stereo
installing it it's just outrageous and i mean this actually this will make you laugh the sub
that we put in it is the original sub we ordered for your car but there's not enough room in the
back of your car to have it so we had to go from a 12 to the 10s you remember so and i sent that
sub back and anyway when we were ordering parts for it jay said to me you know what you need you
need that sub the original order for your car i've got it i was thinking this thing's so big
it's so heavy it's just ridiculous and basehead jay is uh he's excited to base that car up huh
oh man it's monstrous it's got it's got like until you 34 parts it's got 88
separates in it plus the sub is and uh you know it's got the i can't say too much until it's until
i drop the thing it's like a few weeks i'm gonna have to wait but yeah it's gonna be pretty epic
i mean the steering wheel um you know everything i've done on it now is like i was contemplating
about a steering wheel when when we did the steering wheel i was just like yeah so back to
what we were saying i was you know i looked at the the the carbon gear which buddy's built i mean it's
so outrageously good and so custom but it's gone down with 99% of the people whether you're a hot rod
guy or you're a Volkswagen guy whether you're a you know an import guy wherever it is everyone
seems to have looked at that car going you know what that's pretty cool oh yeah you know and honestly
i haven't just built this car because buddy's built one or anything stupid like that i mean i've had
it for a while but it's sort of giving me an idea i was thinking oh do you know what you know
carbon gears will always look like carbon gear as long as you don't start messing around with
body work on them they're beautiful things to look at and there's so much you can do to them
to make them look cool you know but well it's the it's the inspiration right the inspiration
that you see something being done that's a little different and then it motivates you to like you
know what i'm gonna push the envelope a little bit and do it a little bit different my way
and that's the good part about the custom part of the hobby the custom part of the hobby pushes
people a little bit more here and there and i think it just adds it breathes so much new life
into the hobby where people think like oh yeah i you know somebody's gonna be brave enough to say
i'm going for it even though people are gonna think it's cool or not think it's cool you know
yeah i mean with me jay we're looking at today laughing because i was he was trying all the
the rear door cards in and there's some bits and pieces in the back which are just you know
they're so good and so detailed and we were just laughing and thinking i said people are going to
either absolutely love this thing or they're just going to say what have you done you know it's going
to be there's no oh yeah that's all right it's either you're going to love it or you hate it you
know so and obviously i'll talk to buddy quite a bit and he said what are you doing i'll show him
and next you know i'll get this parcel turned up with some of these machine parts which he'd
used on you know the same sort of style as he'd used on that one just out of the blue all this
stuff just turns up and he said you know use it if you want to if not don't worry about it but
i'd put everything on yeah no it's it's super cool man because you know again that's what happens
right you get a guy like buddy goes just over the top with that car and then that inspires the scene
where people start pulling bits and pieces and you start to see now it just it kind of gives everybody
you know when somebody's going to be brave enough to go out there and just kick over a bucket of
and like just let let what happens happens it gives everybody else the kind of motivation to
you know what i'm going to go for it i'm going to do something a little bit different and we're
gonna you know kind of we're going to go that direction so i think it's cool man it's it's
definitely looking at your car it's inspiring me and my problem is i can't i can't stay focused for
five minutes you know i'm thinking about this that and the other thing and it's just kind of like
you know i mean i started looking at the square back and i'm like you know it's so cool and it's
trying to preserve that square back as much as i can in the same respect i started thinking like
well you know what let me just do this let's let me just do that because now you know i'm looking
at your console and i'm like i could do a console i just got to get rid of those gigantic recliners
in the front put some sporty seats in there and i picked up a set not long ago and it's like
i'm tired of buying stuff and saving it for the next project it's like i'm just going to buy it
definitely and use it now you know what i mean yeah oh absolutely i mean the seats the recaro's
i'll put in the front of it you know when they're with they they're actually the recaro's are quite
a narrow seat when you see them in a common gear because they're quite wide and they look quite lost
in it but then obviously by the time we finished doing what it's doing and and then we were looking
at it and i said oh we've got to lose the headrest so we ended up losing the headrest and then
reshaping all the bolsters on the side of the recaro's and now they're done they're just like
wow they're just so good but but subtle at the same time it's just so much
gone on and so much has changed on them that you just can oh i didn't know you could do that and
didn't know you do that and you know but they're just so far away from original recaro's they're
just so we're wicked and then how and you're you built a bracket a custom bracket to mount those on
well obviously because the car had new floor pans in it so we literally used the uh they were
actually forward forward like for a forward escort over here and they just used a standard recaro
forward escort runners and then i just welded we made some brackets i've welded them into the floor
because the car the shell was bare it was easier just to do that you know we didn't use the original
runners they weren't we just didn't even bother putting them back in so you know it's got the
all custom brackets welded into the floor so they're nice and then you know a common gear is
you sit nice and low in the car and you know so we hadn't put them wherever you want so we can
move to so because you know the wide there's normal beetle seats all the Volkswagen seats are so wide
and sloppy you can actually put them up you know where you want to so no i'm i'm pretty happy with
it the way it's turned out so far so touch wood we're all ready to go and i mean i haven't even got
anywhere to put any luggage that's why you're driving the catastrophe i'm just putting all my stuff in
van i like it i like that's that you know listen i'm more than happy to have that to hold hostage
you know this way like you want your clothes you gotta buy me dinner that's the way it's gonna go
down so not only am i using your car you're gonna buy me dinner too so yeah you know it's all right
i mean know you're taking that i mean joey's taking uh mark's 50 so we've got a pretty cool
you know joey's driving mark's 50 yeah and what's mark driving
he's taking well he's taking his barn door to hessage and a few of the trips and he's coming home
then he's to pick up his son who's just finishing his last bit of college so he's had to fish that
do his last bit so what's happening then is he's mark's gonna drive back pick his son up and then
jump in his 356 i think and bring that out there um the only reason he's not bringing the 50 he said
because he needs something he can jump in and and drive pretty quick you know and with a 50 he
said he hasn't put many miles on the 50 so he you know he said oh i'm gonna get it traded out there
and i said well i can get it driven out there for me if you if you want they said yeah i'd rather
that and put some mark on it so joey or we drive in the 50 which is pretty cool so i'll say to joey
i'll say it's all right it's only probably one of the rarest split but he was in the in the world
we got to be careful with it is it right hand drive yep well yeah no thanks i think i'd
i'd get a little too because most of the drive we're doing is left hand drive
yeah until we get back in england so uh but yeah it'll be good i i'm looking forward to this trip
and i'm looking forward to you debuting debuting that gear man because that gear is going to be
pretty sick and yeah it'd be interesting for them to see a rare low light gear at hessage that's
been custom modified so i'm looking forward to maybe i'll just set up a camera and review people's
faces about what they think about the car who knows oh yeah i'm down with that that'd be good
the good stuff but yeah i'm excited i'm excited i want to thank uh i want to thank didi
is didi nearby didi she she nearby because i'd like to thank her for all the hard work that she's
put into this so for uh getting all this stuff set up hello bill hello didi so for everybody
doesn't know didi is didi is like the magical wizard behind the scenes that nobody sees that she
does all like everything magically happens because didi's involved so didi i wanted to make sure that
we thank you personally for all the hard work effort and energy you put into coordinating
so much of this stuff for a bunch of us guys over here and uh and doing so much of the behind the
scenes work so you needed to be properly um acknowledged for that so thank you very much
it was a pleasure and russell also russell russell did a lot of work yeah russell does a
little bit but i mean listen let's let's be right now i mean you know what's so great is is over a
couple years ago we've all created this friendship that goes back and forth across the world and
it's just so cool that we're all you know we're all we're all in it for the same reasons right and
just making good memories and having good times and and spending time with our friends that we make
that uh have a lot of similar interests across across the world so no it's great and and again
you know a lot of for for me personally a lot of the logistic stuff i know that you take
care of and i appreciate you for all that stuff that uh you send me the link as i hear book your
hotel and i'm like okay and then i just gotta set the date i just gotta set the date
and make sure i put the date right and then i'm all set but uh no you're welcome you're welcome
it's been awesome and you're definitely you are the turkish delight to be around so we appreciate
we appreciate everything about you deedy so thanks so much for uh for putting so much energy into
this you know you're welcome look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks look forward to seeing
you all it's gonna be fun a great time it's always it's always so fun
when this happens because it's always just so interesting to watch us americans experience
europe and just be like how can they only make how can we only sell one type of drink
we have a choice of choice of fourth why is there actual food here to eat at the gas store i would
just like something in a package that i put in a microwave it's like weird stuff like vegetables
and all that stuff at the place you stop so weird and then water two types of water gas no gas like
what do you get and it's a whole thing so i can't i can't believe he's come around as fast i really
can't i can't believe i booked my ticket so i mean i know no can we we actually had a we had a book
we had a book running inside if you're gonna book it is he not gonna book it yeah i lost no it's uh
it was uh i just sat here last week i said all right i gotta do this instead of work so i booked
my ticket and uh you know other than that i mean normally i'm really excited but my lady's not gonna
be with me so what can you do it's shine i might just pick up the random hitchhikers i don't know
just to kind of add a little spice to the adventure show up like oh god who's in the
kind of stroffins shirts with bill like oh it's this guy his name his name is terry and i picked
him up he was selling spicy cashews and so i figured he needed a ride he had he has cashews
so
listen i'm sure we're gonna make some fun of it i'm gonna have i'm definitely i'm having my
cameras going all the time to catch all the ridiculousness and uh we'll make sure everybody
that's listened to this will be able to follow along on instagram and on youtube so that's good
well man i'm uh i'm excited to do this and see you guys here shortly and we're
gonna be looking forward to uh bill tees european tour aka what what are we calling this trip is
there a name for this trip all right we have to that's a big mic one up i think yeah it's no
long it's gonna be the uh the chaos chaos in europe that's what's gonna be called so the sour
kraut chaos in europe trip so yeah yeah i'm excited i'm excited first time it's first time for me
to be at uh hessage and i hear it's quite the thing the first time for me to see grimans museum
and stuff so there's gonna be a lot of stuff to see after this oh yeah it's gonna be it's gonna
be pretty past the next those 10 days are away a pretty event filled you know especially with
the ebi ended it's just gonna be ridiculous you know you've done ebi before so you know what to
expect but there's a lot of people who have never been who i think are just gonna be shocked what
what's it all about you know oh yeah yeah ebi is always fun stuff so well cool well good stuff
all right brother well i'm glad i'm glad we got to get john here we haven't had john a little bit
congratulations on i mean not just since since last time we had john was right after one crazy
weekend last year i think did we have enough for one reason again we did a kind of
round table yeah and travel was it was travel on it too yeah it travels travels on it yeah
trap action trap yeah we're gonna call him action trap and uh we're we're gonna definitely
we're gonna definitely do some i i think there's gonna be a lot of people to interview and do
short podcasts which i mean just short 510 minute deals it will do and uh i i think that
as we're talking about that idea is just growing in my head and i'm just thinking for sure i'm gonna
be next to your vehicle and everybody that makes a sour face i'm gonna interview him like you know
the street side interviews where they're asking the people like you know what's yeah what's the
capital of japan and they just look at this camera like they have no idea i'm gonna say
so give me your thoughts on this gear what do you think about this cool console what do you think
about this what do you think about that and so uh i think it'll be an interesting take to get
from the stock people on the custom cars what they think so yeah i think so too yeah i mean pretty
though but yeah yeah well it's gonna be a good time man so andy appreciate you didy appreciate you
um no problem and i look forward to seeing you guys here in the next few weeks
all right brother take care take care mate see you soon you got it well guys hopefully that's
what you're whistling off to want to see the vw european tour i'm going to be doing coming up soon
so i'm going to be sharing that with you guys on youtube and on instagram so i'll be doing a
little more posting just been slammed at work that's why i've been posting a lot on instagram
and facebook and all that stuff but we'll be getting back to it as we're hitting the show
circuit season so don't forget come check me out at the luke zegan show and let's also
come see us at mp20th anniversary guys so until next week guys later
so
About this episode
Bill T. and the crew kick off with dyno and rules updates for Impey's Engine Battle World Cup 2026, including a remodeled dyno cell with modern electronic data collection and pre-programming for repeatable runs. They also preview MP’s 70th anniversary engine battle and open house—engine battle days, a $20,000 grand-champion check, and a SEMA-bound prize build. The conversation then shifts to their European VW/Porsche road-trip plans with live streams, plus a few build stories like a throttle-cable mishap and a heavily modified 1978 bus.
The 2026 VW show season is officially underway, and Bill is gearing up for one of the biggest Volkswagen adventures of the year.
Before heading overseas, Bill will be taking the legendary Type 34 Karmann Ghia "Zorba" to two major events: Luft Zeigen on June 13th and the EMPI 70th Anniversary Celebration on June 20th. From there, the journey continues across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom, where he'll pick up the famous orange Katastrophenschutz Bus and begin an epic European road trip.
The route will take Bill and friends from the UK across the Netherlands and into Germany for the world-famous Hessisch Oldendorf Volkswagen Treffen, one of the most significant vintage VW events on the planet. After Germany, the adventure continues through Europe before arriving in Belgium for the legendary European Bug-In at Chimay, where thousands of air-cooled Volkswagen enthusiasts gather each year.
Joining Bill this week is longtime friend and VW builder Andy Finch, who shares the details of the upcoming trip, the planning involved in driving a classic Volkswagen across multiple countries, and some of the incredible destinations, collections, and VW enthusiasts they'll be visiting along the way.
Andy also gives listeners an inside look at what's happening at his shop, including several exciting restoration projects, new builds, and some fresh equipment and products he'll be unveiling this season. The conversation dives into vintage Volkswagen culture, European road-tripping, restoration craftsmanship, and the friendships that make the VW community unlike any other automotive hobby in the world.
Whether you're dreaming about driving a split-window Bus across Europe, attending Hessisch Oldendorf, or simply love hearing stories about classic Volkswagens and the people who keep them alive, this episode is packed with adventure, history, and plenty of VW talk. We can also never thank Russel Richie enough for being so involved in the VW seem to put so much of this together. We'll have him on the podcast real soon.
In This Episode:
Bill's 2026 European VW road trip plans
Taking Zorba to Luft Zeigen and the EMPI 70th Anniversary
Picking up the Katastrophenschutz Bus in the UK
Driving across England, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium
Hessisch Oldendorf Volkswagen Treffen preview
European Bug-In at Chimay
Andy Finch's latest restoration projects
New shop developments and upcoming debuts
Vintage VW travel tips and road trip preparation
Why the European VW scene is unlike anywhere else in the world
