Heres some pictures from the past. I was given this when I was 16 it used to be my mums daily until she got an Uno (I'm 35 now!)
The family had two previous beetles one my dad stripped as a project car but per usual that was as far as it got before being moved on. I was engulfed in Vw magazines for years so I new what I wanted to do with it.
The usual problems presented themselves with structural areas needing replacing new floors etc. I had the bumpers removed for a cleaner look. It was based on the Cal Look theme of the time only being the 1303 model it wasnt really the way to go but it was donated! So a slighty more modern twist was put on it.
being 17 when it was finished I didnt have a lot of knowledge and my dads tools were limited. I used to hang out in a local garage where they used to build race cars for the locals so I knew a few people.
As anyone who's owned one of these they're a real money pit! I had it lowered using adjustable front legs, one spline at the back and had a disc brake conversion on the front uprated anti roll bar at the front and one fitted to the rear. Spax adjustable shocks on the back. It handled well put I only ever had a standard engine in it.
Unfortunatley I drove it like a racing car being the teenager I was! Even though I did have the original engine stripped and rebuilt regularly running it off the clock soon put a hole in that! Luckily I had bought another project a 1967 1500 beetle
I used the engine in this to keep the other on the road and ended up stripping the rest for profit. Hanging around the Hot Rod/ Stock Car fraternity of the mid late 90's the Toyota Starlet was the car to have on the track. Although I had an interest in racing my family didnt so racing at the time wasnt on the agenda. Starlets were often offered for sale and I dabbled in a few just to make money to spend on the bug. Driving these about I realised how much fun they were and eventually id own one for good. University was beckoning and I was working at Tesco part time but earning well for a student. I decided on a new project after seeing a friends son with a Race car style Starlet on the road. They also raced a Starlet and had a few spare cars but were looking to sell up.
This was the basis for the project a standard 1.0 litre Starlet slighty crusty on the body put solid where it counted. I also bought their spare race engine a 1.3 with a cam and lightened flywheel. I think the lot cost me £550.
Using metal trailer arches cut in two side skirts and a front panel it had the race car treatment on the body work.
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I then had it sprayed Ford Imperial Blue, purchased some revo's and some yokohama tyres, Rs Turbo Recaros and an Autometer rev counter.
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It had the springs basically chopped in half and Polleysport dampers all round. It was hard a nails! I couldnt drive much more than half an hour without getting neck ache or a headache! Luckily most journeys were local albeit flat out!
I gave the car death and could make the tyres sticky in my three mile trip to work. The only mechanical failure was a head gasket and a gearbox which id changed for a 5 speed.
I was still running the Beetle at the time and at University, I didnt spend my time drinking I was working at Tesco!
My best mate also built one using an earlier bug eyed Mk1. He didnt use it much it had a bigger cam in it and was a bit harder to drive, his prop would often scrape the tunnel with just him in it where as mine only did it with passengers in the back.
The family had two previous beetles one my dad stripped as a project car but per usual that was as far as it got before being moved on. I was engulfed in Vw magazines for years so I new what I wanted to do with it.
The usual problems presented themselves with structural areas needing replacing new floors etc. I had the bumpers removed for a cleaner look. It was based on the Cal Look theme of the time only being the 1303 model it wasnt really the way to go but it was donated! So a slighty more modern twist was put on it.
being 17 when it was finished I didnt have a lot of knowledge and my dads tools were limited. I used to hang out in a local garage where they used to build race cars for the locals so I knew a few people.As anyone who's owned one of these they're a real money pit! I had it lowered using adjustable front legs, one spline at the back and had a disc brake conversion on the front uprated anti roll bar at the front and one fitted to the rear. Spax adjustable shocks on the back. It handled well put I only ever had a standard engine in it.
Unfortunatley I drove it like a racing car being the teenager I was! Even though I did have the original engine stripped and rebuilt regularly running it off the clock soon put a hole in that! Luckily I had bought another project a 1967 1500 beetle
I used the engine in this to keep the other on the road and ended up stripping the rest for profit. Hanging around the Hot Rod/ Stock Car fraternity of the mid late 90's the Toyota Starlet was the car to have on the track. Although I had an interest in racing my family didnt so racing at the time wasnt on the agenda. Starlets were often offered for sale and I dabbled in a few just to make money to spend on the bug. Driving these about I realised how much fun they were and eventually id own one for good. University was beckoning and I was working at Tesco part time but earning well for a student. I decided on a new project after seeing a friends son with a Race car style Starlet on the road. They also raced a Starlet and had a few spare cars but were looking to sell up.This was the basis for the project a standard 1.0 litre Starlet slighty crusty on the body put solid where it counted. I also bought their spare race engine a 1.3 with a cam and lightened flywheel. I think the lot cost me £550.
Using metal trailer arches cut in two side skirts and a front panel it had the race car treatment on the body work.
[img src="
I then had it sprayed Ford Imperial Blue, purchased some revo's and some yokohama tyres, Rs Turbo Recaros and an Autometer rev counter.
[img src="
It had the springs basically chopped in half and Polleysport dampers all round. It was hard a nails! I couldnt drive much more than half an hour without getting neck ache or a headache! Luckily most journeys were local albeit flat out!
I gave the car death and could make the tyres sticky in my three mile trip to work. The only mechanical failure was a head gasket and a gearbox which id changed for a 5 speed.
I was still running the Beetle at the time and at University, I didnt spend my time drinking I was working at Tesco!
My best mate also built one using an earlier bug eyed Mk1. He didnt use it much it had a bigger cam in it and was a bit harder to drive, his prop would often scrape the tunnel with just him in it where as mine only did it with passengers in the back.
With £1300 in my pocket I found a Vw golf in the Autotrader. Id always wanted a Mk2 Gti 16V especially a blue one.
I slipped up here! On the test drive the heavens opened. I didnt notice any smoke coming out of it due to the spray! It wasnt excessive but from Portsmouth to London it would burn a litre of oil! My engine builder was layed up for a year with back trouble. Other than that it ran sweet as a nut, the roof rack it came with completely limiting the performance by 35mph on the top end. I'l not put a roof rack on a car again! Even though it had done 130k it still felt like a new car, I was very impressed with build quality. Then the heater matrix let go! Apparently a factory recall on the model in 1990 only this car never went in! Ten years later the local dealer replaced the matrix under warranty! I was gutted id stripped the interior already and they didnt bother cleaning it because id already done it! Loved the car but it was FWD! I longed for another Starlet! Doing security checks at work I found an Exchange and Mart on top of the lockers flicked through to Toyota and found a big advert for a 1985 on B 1.0 27k miles and mint condition for £1200! When I turned up the vendor was just drying it down with all the dors open it looked like a new car from the brochure!
I won this for £221! Bearing in mind this was 8 years ago when Ebay had some serious bargains! It was pretty clean and straight didnt need any welding about 40k miles, it had been attacked by someone who had tried to hot wire it, the cowl around the ignition was missing. The diff was noisy and I think the brakes might have been unbalanced plus I think the steering failed the Mot. While on Honeymoon my best man sourced another race car which I picked up the day after I got back! It was a rolling shell but all the roll cage fabrication and bodywork had been done. So Race car number two was on the cards! What started out as a basic build plan turned into a bit of a beast. I wanted to try the 5k 1500cc engine out of the Liteace van. The original cars 4k 1300 was punching well above its weight and beating many 2.0ltr cars even some 16v! I reckoned the extra cc's would help, so just a cam lightened flywheel should do the job? My engine builder had other ideas! John Maspero of Solent Race & Rally reckoned on twin 40's getting the head polished and gas flowed by basil, lightening and balancing the rods stainless valves etc etc. It started with 136bhp on the dyno and the last run on the rollers It made 108bhp at the rear wheels a few years later. We played around with different cams some were so wild it was almost undriveable on the wet chalk of SAA. We made it better but I never really got on with it. It didnt help that this also came up for sale!
It only broke down once when the cam belt went, probably because we never changed it since we'd built it! Luckily on these it causes no damage so for £7 it was fixed! The front hangers gave up in the end after many years of talking to the Mot tester while under that area he couldnt ignore it anymore! Fuel prices were rising as fast as the fuel gauge dropped so a blessing in disguise but a dear friend missed!
Id sold the 2nd build car as someone wanted more than I liked it! And with the second child on its way it seemed the sensible thing to do! Then a friend bought a car raced it a few times then went away to work on the cruise ships again! That left his car on my trailer at my mum and dads and he wanted to sell it. I didnt fancy being messed around by other people coming to view it so I bought it myself!
