This immaculate machine is a melting pot of economy and prestige, hippy and yuppie, good times and racing prowess. Ninety percent built by friend John Kanter over the last decade before he sold the car to Mark, the VW is beyond immaculate and, more importantly, now runs about as much Porsche gear as it does Volkswagen.
Originally from California, this 1979 Super Bug was imported into the country many years ago as a stolen and recovered wreck lacking any interior, gearbox or engine. John somehow found the car in the mid ’90s sitting under a tree out in the countryside, quietly rusting away. Deciding to save the Bug from certain death, John purchased the car and began the very long, painstaking process of rebuilding the Volkswagen.
Being a left hook US example, many hours were spent converting the car to right hand drive, while the rusted floor was also chopped out and replaced with a brand new one. Coming from California, where the air tends to be a lot drier than the rest of the country, the VW’s body was in surprisingly good shape, although John still pulled the whole car apart and sandblasted every panel. Before putting the Beetle back together, the rear guards were widened a full inch on each side, and the side indicators were also deleted.
A custom Glasurit green/blue hue was chosen to coat the now perfect panel work, and along with all new re-chromed bumpers, a custom-made soft top and Audi windbreaker, the car was starting to look like something a little special. If you look carefully, you might notice a pair of very rare headlight washers mounted on the gleaming front bumper. These powerful sprayers were only ever sold on VWs in Sweden, and apparently are quite a collector’s item to Beetle aficionados. Put the car on a hoist and look underneath and things are just as spectacular. The super-clean underbelly also has a latticework of bracing, designed to stiffen up the chassis and stop wheel shudder under heavy launch.
Mark’s Beetle looks amazing in the flesh, but what really sets it apart is what lies underneath that deep, lusty skin. Sitting just above the rear wheels, in place of the original 1600cc four-cylinder VW motor, is a Porsche Type 4 2-litre engine pulled from a Porsche 914. Before John mounted the engine into the tiny boot space, he pulled the motor apart to add a stroker crank and slightly larger 105mm pistons. The head has also been ported and polished, and uses big valves and a round exhaust port conversion to aid flow. Extra cooling ability has been added by the addition of a front-mounted oil cooler and Porsche 911 12-blade fan. Originally a carburetted engine, Mark’s Type 4 now runs a full Haltech F9A computer, transforming it into a howling, fuel injected beast, pumping out 200-odd horsepower.
To keep things as quiet as possible, a very nice custom alloy air box encloses the twin 50mm throttle bodies in an effort to reduce induction noise and add power, while a set of equal length headers and a short custom-built exhaust system extract waste gasses in as quiet a manner as possible. Of course, those couple of hundred ponies don’t have far to gallop on their way to the road, reaching the rear Porsche 911 Turbo Twist Cup rims – wrapped in 205/40R17 rubber – with little complaint. This is thanks to a very strong 911 5-speed gearbox, mated to a 914 flywheel and heavy-duty clutch. Looking through the large gaps in those awesome 911 rims, you will notice that the brakes are also of the Porsche variety.
Source : www.performancecar.co.nz
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