FASTBACK

Name: Juan Kerr

Location: Hereford

Three words to describe yourself?

Royale with cheese

How long have you been in the scene / interested in VWs?

Forever. Since my grandparents had aircooled VW's when I was little i've been stuck on them

What sparked your interest in VWs?

My grandparents had aircooled VW's when I was little and i've been stuck on them ever since. One day trip I remember was to Skegness when i was little, the family convoy was a bay panel van, a fastback, a squareback and a beetle. My Mum crashed the square into the back of the van. I was always amazed by the type 3 having its engine hidden under the floor. My best mate's mum in secondary school had a beetle, and my first road legal car was a 1976 double door bay window. I just love the sound, the style, the quirkiness, the way they bring a smile to people's faces and spark memories and conversation from so many people in all walks of life all around the world.

Aircooled or Watercooled?

Aircooled. For me its less about the mechanicals and more about the aesthetics. Up until the late 60's VW just got the simple design right. I'm not a purist and have a scooby conversion in my double cab, but the simplicity of the aircooled flat 4 engine which can trace its origins right back to the 1930's and went on for 70 years, fundamentally unchanged from the original design, is just pure class.

What’s your daily drive?

We don't talk about that in public. I have a 200 mile daily commute to and from work, its safe to say I want to do that in a safe, fast(ish), modern car with good fuel economy. If my commute was a lot shorter i'd be using something aircooled, tax and MOT exempt...

This isn’t your only VW, talk through the rest of your collection

In order of how me and Sue came to have them;

A 1974 tintop south african bay window with westy continental interior which we got back in 2003. This is "our baby" and is in need of a resto as it had a hard life living outside the past 20 years.

1972 9 seater microbus I imported from the USA.

1972 crewcab/double cab pickup truck, south african, this i've converted to subrau power

1967 beetle (Lurch) I swapped this for a 1976 westfalia rolling shell - he got a good deal as this crap box was a lethal death trap when I got it. It gained the name "Lurch, the stupid low bug" because it was stupid static lowered and would literally lurch around all over the road. I've since put the suspension somewhere a bot more comfortable, swapped the interior, gone through all the mechanicals, fitted an original 1500 single port engine to it and fitted a headliner. Its crusty and rusty but has never left us in the lurch... Its now known as "Lurch, the not so stupid low bug"

1966 Type 3 N model with factory sunroof. I bought this from Mario Steinhauser of Type 3 HQ fame and drove to Holland to pick it up from Marco de Waal. There we saw a 971 Karmann Ghia Convertible in Lemon yellow which was being sold by Andy (Spike) Finch so we went back a month later and picked that up too.

Another 1966 Notchback i got cheap through facebook market place - I always wanted a notchback from being little and don't consider it greedy to have a back up

A totally hideous and unique one off Volksrod beach buggy sat on a shortened beetle chassis which has a 73 beetle chassis spine mated to a 58 beetle front and rear end - don't ask... It came with £6k of parts and was too cheap to turn down.

A 1968 type 3 Squareback imported from Grand Junction, Colorado by Mark Walker

The 1967 customised purple fastback you see in the photos which I bought from Steve Walker. This is quite a special car which has survived amazingly well given that the work was all done back in 1992, although its had the benefit of the SoCal climate on its side. The work was all done to a very high standard, and save for some remedial work to correct some minor damage here and there we don't plan to change it in any way. I'll probably add some small touches inside, i'll make some billet switches etc, a new ragtop and carpets, but other than that we're just custodians.

Are you working on any interesting projects right now?

See the list above - its quite extensive! The ones actually getting worked on right now are the ghia - new wiring loom part way through being installed - i've also fitted a new engine and will be fitting new door cards and carpet once its running again. It really needs a new roof, but given that its a convertible that can wait a little while longer as we'll only drive it in the sun. The squareback has been completely stripped back, i've exposed a few small areas of rust which are being sorted, its just had the new headliner installed. I'm machine polishing every last millimetre of the car, i'll be fitting all new seals and rubbers and then turn attention to new upholstery and carpets. The patina on this thing is killer so i've decided that no, i'm not going to paint it!

Anything still on the wish list?

Too many really if money was no object, but for certain - 1967 Mustang coupe, V8, Trabant saloon. I'd like a Karmann Ghia coupe maybe one day, and a razor but i think the prices are getting too strong for me now. No regerts but i do wish i had got a 912 and a 914 when they were being given away!

Other than BVF, which events do you attend?

We haven't done too many shows for a number of years, i got a bit disillusioned with the "scene" for a while, too many purists and builders vans. This year we've clocked up about 4000 miles in the fastback, Barryfornia twice, Classics at the Clubhouse, BVF, Tatton Park, Stonor, Bristol Jamboree, Dubs at the Castle, Bromyard Speed Festival, Caffeine and Machine ACAS nights, Dubtoberfest, VDubs in the valley and a host of small vintage car shows. We tried to get to Stanford Hall in the notch but the engine let go on the M42. Its been a great summer for shows this year though and we hope to get over to Europe next year if possible.

If you could only go on one roadtrip, where would it be and what would you drive(VW)?

Solo, i'd like to drive to Nordkapp (North Cape) in the Arctic circle. I'd want to do this in the beetle and spend a week or so not washing and growing a beard. As a family i'd like us to do Route 66 and then the west coast from Seattle down to San Diego - this is where the 1967 Mustang dream comes in...

What does the future of the VW scene look like to you?

I'll be honest, the modern cars do nothing for me. I really do appreciate the work people put into their cars, but i'm not a fan of the modern converted builders vans, T5/T6. Its great to see the work youngsters are putting into Mk1/2 golfs, jettas, polos and lupos, but sadly whilst there are still cheaper aircooled cars out there, many of the younger crowd are being driven out of aircooled ownership by the high ticket price and the cost of keeping these old cars going, not to mention escalating insurance costs. My first type 2 cost me £1000 in 1992 - you can barely get a pair of rotten doors for that these days. I'm liking the Back to 89 renaissance right now and look forward to seeing what new crop of highly modified aircooled cars come out of it for the future.

Vehicle Details:

How long have you owned: We've had the fastback since April 2022

Model: Type 3 1600TL Fastback

Engine Size: 1776

BHP: No idea - quick enough i think, it will easily cruise at 80 if I wanted it to.

Wheels: Polished 914 "2 litre" alloys

Colour: Purple. Its purple.

Modifications: Custom purple paint with pearl and ghost flames, suicide doors, shaved door handles and remote poppers, single piece windows, custom interior, ragtop, flat 4 steering wheel and shifter, Alpine headunit and subwoofer which only plays 90's and earlier music.