Ivan's 67 Thread

[Cornpanzer]

When someone has owned a car as long as Ivan has, there has got to be some great stories.  SO lets hear it Ivan.  Where did you get the car, why, how.....?
Have you ever considered chroming your BRM's? 

[Rennsurfer]

Yes, I second this suggestion. However, gold plated wheels are all that's new in Cal Look. How about it, Ivan?

[Ivan]

When someone has owned a car as long as Ivan has, there has got to be some great stories.  SO lets hear it Ivan.  Where did you get the car, why, how.....?
Have you ever considered chroming your BRM's? 

I got it from the original owners Mr and Mrs Henderson (I don't recall them having a Sasquach though). I'd been to look at something like twenty '67s and was getting bored of people not knowing what car they were selling. Here in the UK cars in general are know by the year of manufacture rather than model year. So driving for two hours to be presented with a '68 got boring after the second time! I ended up going through a check list on the 'phone before I'd go and see a car. Question one; do you fill the gas through a door in the side of the car or do you have to lift the bonnet up?

Anyway - it was the best I could find a UK spec RHD 1300 model - so it was five lug, had sloping headlights and six volt electrics.

The shifter jumped out of second, the oil light flickered and it needed two rear fenders/wings, the paint wasn't too good - it had loads of touch ins and was pretty horrid close up.

The car had a lot of history with it  - right back to the original purchase receipt and letter dated the next day which said the deposit cheque was enclosed as it wasn't signed.

I had to promise it would be restored - Mr Henderson didn't want it to see it with  'big wheels and painted bright pink'.  I thought about telling him how rare Big Wheels actually are. And that even if I could have found a set  - I still prefer BRMs.

Anyway, I broke the promise within less than a week. It was dumped at the front, had EMPI bumper bars, BRMs an EMPI GT woodrim and an EMPI EZR shifter on it.

The car progressed from here over a long period - but money was always really tight so I couldn't step up like I wanted to.

In 1992 it had a serious engine fire due to a fuel line not being clamped properly - and that was nearly the end of the car, and the wheels!

I had to stand by the side of the road for about ten minutes watching the rear end of the car burning away and the flames going right near magnesium wheels...Talk about the worst experience ever!        

The car was toasted - the engine, rear end paintwork, interior, headliner - all gone. The car was a mess, it looked terrible and smelled a lot worse.

The insurance company agreed to have the damaged repaired, and thanks to then a nightmare turned back into a dream.

The car was stripped, repaired and repainted - this was done by Luke at Terrys Beetle Services. Then it was retrimmed by Bernard Newbury. The cars first 2007 with 48IDAs was then fitted and it was like this that it starred on the cover of VolksWorld and in The California Look Book. Back then we did not have any Old School style cars here in the UK, it was the first.

In terms of the motor, it was a RIMCO'd new case, Pauter wedgemated 78mm with Pauter reworked heads - I loved those heads! The camshaft was a Pauter P4E8. It had Skat-Trak's and Pauter roller rockers. I drove it everywhere and it made too many passes to count. The motor is now owned by Mike Pye, our Feature Editor and has been given a freshen up recently. It's waiting to go into his Oval.

If you want more info - I've got plenty of stories.

Oh, and chromed BRMs? That'd be as sensible as fitting a sunroof into a Convertible!

[speedwell]

EMPI EZR shifter on it.

i've this one in my garage since 1996 i 've bought this one to you at the vw euro when it was on the oval speedway

[speedwell]

and another pictures of your 67 at vw euro in 98 you were there with mike pye and his black 65 , and i was parked with the 61 aside your car that day
remember

here's an old links from the event on eldud web site vweuro98

[streetvw]

me next to ivans bug at bug jam must have been right after he bought it


another of Ivans little passions shown in this shot he love's his monkey bikes

[Matt Tobias]

Ivan did I see your '67 at BugFreeze in '96 with stock rims on it?

[fredy66]

more photos please

[streetvw]

[tikimadness]

Nice story and I think it is cool that you allready knew what you wanted the car to look like back then.
I changed styles many times with my first car before it was finished but I am always a bit amased at how determined some people are  and stick with their plans.

Keep those storys coming,

 Michael

[jamiep_jamiep]

I've posted this one on here before - its one I took a few years back when the fan let go. Can't remember date or event.



Such a cool bug!

[Cornpanzer]

Is it true that you are putting a turbo on it this year?     

[vwhelmot]

Loved his 67 for a long time, this is from beetle bash 96, the year the yanks came over and showed us brits how to crash properly!
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/vwhelmot/Bug%20jam/2008-10-12_20-27-24_121020086571.jpg[/img]]
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/vwhelmot/Bug%20jam/2008-10-12_20-29-08_12102008661.jpg[/img]]

[vwhelmot]

More from 96
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/vwhelmot/Bug%20jam/2008-10-12_20-26-12_12102008655.jpg[/img]]

[streetvw]

Loved his 67 for a long time, this is from beetle bash 96, the year the yanks came over and showed us brits how to crash properly!
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/vwhelmot/Bug%20jam/2008-10-12_20-27-24_121020086571.jpg[/img]]
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/vwhelmot/Bug%20jam/2008-10-12_20-29-08_12102008661.jpg[/img]]

that was the show that Ivan took me for a spin in his car and then let me drive it back to avon park I'll never forget the burbling noise from the 48's when you gave it a load of right foot awesome 

[alfie the monster]

Still think I've got about £50 worth of BRM dust up my nose from de-fuzzing them last year 

[peach_]

Awesome always liked this car 

[too old for this]

Not only the first,but still owned......almost as cool as the car,is the generosity of Ivan with the car,how many people have you heard say"when I drove Ivan's 67"? or been lent the car for a weekend?Nice car,nice bloke

[Ivan]

I've posted this one on here before - its one I took a few years back when the fan let go. Can't remember date or event.



Such a cool bug!

A day I'll never forget. For a while there had been a weird screeching noise when you gave it a bootfull of throttle. Not always, but every now and again. This was the new 2007 motor, it has a Berg 78mm forged crank, Carillo rods, Pauter heads and an FK10.
I drove up to Santa Pod made a few passes and then made a pass holding it in third a little longer than usual BANG - a really loud BANG.
I coasted the car and when I got to the return road I found the extent of the damage. The fan had let go at about 6,500rpm and made a real mess of things. The Brazilian fanhousing which had been coated along with the tinware by Adam Wik - who'd built the engine was trashed. Pieces of the had destroyed one or two of the velocity stacks, other pieces had tried to leave the car through the RH side of the engine bay denting the bodywork of the car from the inside. I was really lucky that more damage wasn't done - as the parts of the fan which went on a journey down south could have done a lot of damage - they had tried to go through the roof of the case and tried to take some head fins off. Naughty!

The decklid was also damaged - if you look closely you'll the thing end of the hinge panel is monstered.

Still every could has a silver lining. Once all the bits of fan had been removed and things were cleaned up a bit - I took it back out without a fan and it ran like a champ an did a 13.6.


Repairing the damage took a bit longer than 13 seconds though! 

An expensive mistake and my advice is don't cut corners, learn by my mistake and FIT A WELDED FAN!

[Ivan]

Not only the first,but still owned......almost as cool as the car,is the generosity of Ivan with the car,how many people have you heard say"when I drove Ivan's 67"? or been lent the car for a weekend?Nice car,nice bloke

Hi Alex, what was the deal again? I know it was  - you say I'm a nice guy and I'll pay you. But I can't remember what the fee we agreed on was?!
 

In all seriousness - cheers.   

[Ivan]

Is it true that you are putting a turbo on it this year?     

When did you find out? 

[Ivan]

Nice story and I think it is cool that you allready knew what you wanted the car to look like back then.
I changed styles many times with my first car before it was finished but I am always a bit amased at how determined some people are  and stick with their plans.

Keep those storys coming,

 Michael

I visualised how I wanted the car way before I found the car. I didn't want to de-chrome it or fit one-piece windows (had them and was never happy with them - I also like the way you can direct quarter lights to get a good breeze when its really hot.) I didn't want running board trim - not sure why. 
I wanted original coloured running board mats - just because it was original spec but not really something people were doing. Also I think it gives the car such a different look. Pal Rui got them for me from Norway - NOS.
The interior - well, I'd seen the cloth about a year previously at Bernard Newbury's workshop. He had a roll of it and it was originally from a Talbot Rancho. I said to him there and then to hang onto it - as that was the trim I wanted for my project. He thought I was nuts. At the time no one in the UK was having cars trimmed in plaid. Once it was done and in the car - he knew I wasn't mad. He went on to do many, many similar interiors.

The car has progressed from my original ideas, but I have always put a lot of thought into every change. I won't do anything unless I think it is correct for the car and will not ruin of over do things.

The only thing I didn't really know before I found the car was what colour it would be - I was and always would have been restricted by this fact as I decided from the start that what ever colour I ended up with, that is what I would stay with. Initially I was not too impressed with beige, but I grew into the colour very quickly - and today I can honestly say I love the fact it is beige. It really helps with the whole sleeper element of the car.

[Ivan]

I had that original ECONO motors licence plate frame on the car for years - but sadly the vibration shattered it. So I gave it to Adam Wise in pieces as he said he would try and glue it back together.

me next to ivans bug at bug jam must have been right after he bought it

You look about 14 years old!  And, you're correct that was the first time I took it to a show after getting it. The crazy thing is that it was only 25 years old then and had only had one owner. Now it's 43 years old! I am counting down to the day I can say I've had it longer than the original owner. Don't know why that appeals to me, but it does. 

[streetvw]

I had that original ECONO motors licence plate frame on the car for years - but sadly the vibration shattered it. So I gave it to Adam Wise in pieces as he said he would try and glue it back together.

me next to ivans bug at bug jam must have been right after he bought it

You look about 14 years old!  And, you're correct that was the first time I took it to a show after getting it. The crazy thing is that it was only 25 years old then and had only had one owner. Now it's 43 years old! I am counting down to the day I can say I've had it longer than the original owner. Don't know why that appeals to me, but it does. 

more like 21 and awe struck at the sight of BRM's sad eh!!!! but I'd never seen a set of real BRM's before and they looked great shame they were mounted on some old shed of a 67  at the time

[Donny B.]

he crazy thing is that it was only 25 years old then and had only had one owner. Now it's 43 years old! I am counting down to the day I can say I've had it longer than the original owner. Don't know why that appeals to me, but it does.

I feel the same way about my '66!  I got it from the original owner who had it for 18 years back in '84.  This July I will have owned it for 26 years.  I thought it was really cool back in 2002 when I actually passed the original owner in time owned.  My wife says she is going to bury me in it.  LOL

[too old for this]

All those greenhearts down the side of the page.......looks like someone playing Solitaire .......you owe me nothing mate,credit where credit's due,(should have the tyres ready for you this weekend)

[Tim C]

Mind they don't get gunned down by another squadron Alex 

As for the 67, great stories, pics and great car.

[Martin Greaves]

Mind they don't get gunned down by another squadron Alex 

What up Tim reading into things again.

[Tim C]

What up Tim reading into things again.

Hello Martin; sorry no idea what you mean? 

Anyway - back on topic:

[jamiep_jamiep]

Crikey Steve, I looked at that photo and never clicked it was you!!!