It’s an even brighter yellow than the opening sunflowers in the garden, and as small as, well, an old Polo. We’ve got it for a little over a week to test, and although it’s no road burner with only 55bhp, it does have ESP. Quite why, we don’t know; maybe it’s got more power than we think. Whatever, with its sunny demeanour and cheery character, it should be fun finding out.
Unbelievable. That describes the price of a piece of Volkswagen literature that I sold at the weekend. Posted on online selling favourite eBay last week for a 10-day auction, look at the price an early 1990s brochure for the admittedly rare Volkswagen Caravelle/Transporter Syncro T3 fetched. Even though it’s over 18 years old, it’s only 12 pages long.
My large collection of literature from the German manufacturer and its associated brands has moved with me from house to flat, flat to house, and now, several years too late, it’s time to get rid of the non-essential stuff. So, it’s all slowly going up on eBay, and some of the brochures are obviously of more interest than others.
I’d have thought the caravan and commercial vehicle items would be virtual non-sellers, but I’ve been proved very wrong. Starting a listing at 99p might turn out to be a good strategy, as buyers think they are getting a bargain to begin with; if the price goes up, the price goes up – and usually items do – but not by this much. This one sold for £66 – 66 x what I originally listed it as.
That’s the highest I’ve ever sold a brochure for online, and this one has beat what the usually very rare ones for the more cult models like the Golf GTI go for. It’s a nice reversal of fortune; normally I’m sthe one buying ‘rubbish’ (it’s not), but as it turns out, the stuff I have and am selling might not be rubbish at all…
Volkswagen is innovative in its marketing these days, embracing the technology that online platforms and handheld devices bring. Following in the tyre tracks of the Volkswagen Polo Challenge game for the iPhone, the UK marketing team has recently launched the ‘GTI Project’, a web-based game in which you control a very neat 1:43 scale model of the new Golf GTI.
The full size car is launched on 22 May, and to promote it, Volkswagen has constructed a 30ft by 25ft Scalextric track inside a hangar. The work of 60 modelers, the track weaves around 200 scale buildings, and you control the tiny Golf GTI as it negotiates the hairpins, straights and narrow bridges, all against the clock.
Just as with a real Scalextric, over enthusiasm results in the model car crashing off the track. And just like the real thing, a hand comes and puts the car back on the track, allowing you to continue your lap, and even try to get on the global leader board. It’s all very clever, and full marks to the Volkswagen marketing team for the attention to detail.
Of course, being an elaborate marketing campaign, you can learn more about the new £22,410 to £22,995 Golf GTI proper, and even order a brochure or book a test drive. Set a particularly quick time and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to possibly win a new Golf GTI for three months. Log onto www.gtiproject.com and get racing.
The perfect film to watch at the end of a day strolling around vintage Volkswagens at Stanford Hall, the five Disney-made films about the Beetle with a heart are my equivalent to Nik’s beloved Bond franchise. Originally a series of four made between 1969 and 1981, Herbie Fully Loaded was added to the set in 2005, when like with recent Bonds, the franchise was rebooted (restarted or rebuilt in this case).
I was taken to see all of the films about the lovable Volkswagen when they were originally released in the cinema, but haven’t watched one for years, even though they do occasionally make up part of a Bank Holiday TV billing (clearly when Bond’s not available). I wasn’t expecting anything approaching excitement – these were family films in the 1970s remember – just lots of Disney schmaltz, sentimentality, and fun, which this film delivers in spades.
Released in 1977, nine years after the series opener The Love Bug, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo sees the racing Bug reunited with his original driver, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones). On the premise that it’s 12 years since the duo won their last title, the pair enter the Trans-France race, bringing along Douglas’ rubber-faced mechanic, Wheely Applegate (Don Knotts). Starting in Paris, the race winds down through the French countryside to Monte Carlo, and though fictional, was reportedly based on the Monte Carlo Rally that ran in 1976 or 1977.
Along the way, Herbie becomes the unwitting suspect in a jewel robbery, falls in love with a Lancia Beta Montecarlo (‘Giselle’) – while ‘her’ driver, Diane Darcy (Julie Sommars) is eventually charmed by Jim Douglas – and has many scrapes in the race itself. No, the story isn’t the strongest part of the film; the bits that impress are, as always in a Herbie movie, the sight of the famous 53-wearing Beetle doing all his tricksy stuff.
Not only do we see Herbie take a shower and woo his ‘female’ companion (even ending up riding on the Baton Rouge down the Seine), but he also pirouettes, sighs with admiration, and does the staple Herbie film trick of pulling more than a wheelie or two. It’s all harmless family fun of course, but impressive nevertheless.
It’s interesting watching this set of adventures of the little white car now, as back then I didn’t know what other cars formed the Bug’s opponents in the movie’s race scenes. Now though, 32 years later, and with a fondness for older and more classic machinery, I can tell the DeTomaso Panteras from the Porsche 917s, the Lancia Stratos’ from the BMW 3.0 CSis, and the Ferrari Daytonas from the Datsun 260Zs.
And, back then I no doubt thought that only one car was used for the multi-talented Herbie, when obviously several of differing vintages were used, some with Porsche engines for the faster shots and stunts. Most films like this these days would favour CGI, but Disney kept doing things the long way around; the only way there was. That makes Herbie a much more ‘human’ and believable, if dated, character. Much like the Herbie lookalike that I always used to want in my grown-up garage…
This ever-popular Volkswagen event was ever popular again yesterday. I’ve been going as long as I’ve been attending shows on the VW scene (since 1992 since you ask), and 2009 celebrated the 33rd running of the traditional show season opener. It’s always blessed with good weather, and an outstanding collection of standard vintage Volkswagens, and yesterday was no exception.
Old and new Beetles rubbed tyres with campers, Polos and Derbys jostled with Corrados and Sciroccos, while Golfs parked next to Audi Coupes. The concours d’elegance is one of the most well-regarded in VW show circles, and for the first time, there were enough Polos to have a separate class for these unlikely scrubbed and polished everyday hatchbacks.
Aside from the 40-minute traffic jam to get off the A14 and into the grounds of the historic house, the highlights of the show for me were the Disney ‘Herbie’ look-alikes, a flawless lime green VW-Porsche 914, and of course, the early Polos, three of which hadn’t been at the show before. The standard of cars both in the concours and club displays was again typically Stanford high, and while the autojumble offered more to the water-cooled enthusiast, air-cooled parts were still in the majority.
Arriving in time for lunch, and not displaying in the clubs area, meant that we saw the show from a different perspective this year. Parked in one of the public car parks with the rabble (a mild-mannered one at Stanford Hall), let us walk around the grounds admiring the other cars, and rummage through the parts bins with no time restrictions. The need to be back at the car for club duties didn’t exist, and with lunch in our backpack, we grabbed a food table when we could.
Yes, there was something (I don’t know what) missing, and it didn’t quite feel the same (I don’t know why), but that’s to say it still wasn’t enjoyable. A May Day Bank Holiday weekend tradition, and probably my favourite Volkswagen event for the mix of classic and factory fresh-looking cars and relaxed atmosphere, there’s (thankfully) no sign of the Stanford Hall appeal dimming just yet.
