Darren Smith's Story

Dear Wheelspin

Hi my name is Darren Smith and I've belonged to the club for 13 or 14 years now. My Mum first joined back in about 1987 when my Dad bought her a Rally Yellow 1974 1303 Super Beetle. He spotted it parked outside a car bodyshop on his way home from work with a For Sale sign displayed in the screen.

Darren Smith's show winner

On enquiry it turned out the car had been booked in for a freshen up, but costs had escalated and the owner had to sell the car to cover the work that had been carried out. The car has quite an interesting history. It was apparently bought new by Esso UK around the time of the 1974 oil crisis and was used for experimental purpose's-monitoring fuel/oil consumption wear and tear of engine parts etc. The original owners husband had worked for Esso and had purchased the car, when it became available. It has only covered 75,000 miles, 50,000 of which were apparently on a test track with regular mechanical strip-downs to monitor wear.

We had the interior re-upholstered, fitted some new hubcaps and running boards and then attended as many of the local shows, as possible both VW but mainly 'Classic'. We even managed to win our class at Stonor Park in 1992. The car doesn't unfortunately get much use now and has only covered 500miles or so in the last 6or7 years.

The main reason I'm writing is in the hope that you may be able to print a photo of my own Beetle that I have owned since I was 15 (I'm now 27!). It was decided that Mum's Beetle was too good for me to eventually learn to drive in, and as I was so keen to restore a car myself I could do this in preparation for my 17th birthday. At the time Mum was working for the local Rover dealer and it just so happened that they had a 1971 1300 Beetle come in as a part exchange.

Side view - Low stance

It was very rough with a smashed back wing and various holes. I ignored everyone's advice of not purchasing the first car you look at, after all it was only £50 so how could I go wrong? I managed to talk my Dad in to booking it in to the local 'specialist' for a new wing, Mot and service and then I could get him to drive it to the shows until I was old enough to learn to drive. Anyway when the local Beetle garage in Mortimer, (who wasn't such a specialist after all-but that's another story!) removed the 'crushed' back wing away came the rear quarter panel, a chunk of floorpan, half the heater channel, front lower door hinge etc. all in one piece!!!!! It turned out the car had been subject to some real bodge repairs in the past, but it was too late now- I was attached!! We had a complete set of wings fitted new rear quarters and the rest of the area's patched as safely as possible (I was still only 15 and relying in a Saturday job to pay for all this work).

The car was treated to a £200 respray and I was away! I passed my driving test and the car was christened "Horris" (read; I was getting more attached = more money!!) Various things went wrong with Horris over the next few- I can't remember a year passing when he didn't fail his Mot on something or other! I used these opportunities to fit a lowered beam, replace the brakes and many mechanical parts. In the back of my mind I knew the time would come when he'd fail the MOT on something major, and I'd have to decide if I should cut my losses.

Of course I didn't- as when it did fail on major bodywork, Horris had become a member of the family!! Basically the MOT man said the passenger heater channel didn't exist and that he advised scraping the car-after all it wasn't an 'Oval' or' Split'!! A visit to the premises next door to the MOT station (Henley Beetles) resulted in an estimate to replace both heater channels, floorpans, doors, a-post bottoms, and various mechanical parts - generator etc. .. !!

After several months of saving and talking the bank manager in to giving me a loan. Horris was booked in for the work. I collected him a month later, now solid but unpainted and with no trim side window glass etc. .. fitted. A friend put me in contact with a local Jaguar restorer who could spray Horris in his original VW brilliant orange for a good price.

My original intention was to have the bottom half sprayed (along with the doors) as the top was in good condition. However having spayed just the bottom half it was discovered that the top was not brilliant orange but just a cheap £200 respray that I had paid for 10 years before-so he was given a complete respray(more money!!).

It was at this point that I discovered a real local specialist who I thoroughly recommend!!! Danny Fox, of Fox and Son Auto Engineers, Unit 2, Phoenix Park, Nelson's Lane, Hurst, near Reading, tel; 01189320444.

Low down view

Danny fitted up Horris up with many more new parts, electronic ignition, clutch, fuel line, tank, and advised on the best way to put everything back together. His advice and quality of work are second to none. He even let a local trimmer use his workshop to fit a new headlining as the trimmer was not confident in removing the windows as he had never worked on a Beetle before.

I finally 'finished' the work at the beginning of last Summer having started the restoration 'proper' a year before. I suppose the main point I wanted to make was that Beetles are great cars, you do become attached to them, and if you do they can cost you loads of money! It is a real buzz jumping in car that you have saved from being scrapped, and that you and others can enjoy!!

It would be really great if you could print a photo of "Horris" in the club magazine, and recommend Danny Fox to anyone who wants any work carried out on there car (he specialises in all models of VW both water and aircooled) by someone who knows there way around VW's. Keep up the good work on the magazine and the website!!

Darren Smith