Deluxe Delight

Due to their commercial and often gritty roles, factory Split Window trucks remain stark by nature with few frills. But what if Volkswagen had built a Deluxe version? Here is a potential answer, in the shape of Mark Angus’ well-appointed 1964 Crew Cab. It even features an additional suicide door!

- Stephan Szantai

For years British Columbia has been a hotbed of TV/movie activity, something that’s resulted in Mark Angus bagging the perfect job. He’s made a career supplying cars for films, television shows and commercials. Okay, it can be challenging finding the right vehicles – but having been a petrolhead since childhood, you’re unlikely to ever hear him complain.

While the Vancouver resident has owned his fair share of unusual cars over the years, ranging from a twin-turbo Porsche 911 to a 5-ton truck, his dream vehicle – an early VW Crew Cab – had always eluded him. That is until a potential candidate finally appeared, specifically a ’64 model featured in a TV commercial filmed locally. The truck had been imported from Southern California half-a-dozen years earlier, looking pretty good at first glance with its velvet green paint and Radar-style rims.

Lanny in da house

With a busy job schedule giving him very little time to play, Mark realised he didn’t have the opportunity to tackle a complete restoration on his own, hence he contacted one of his good friends, Lanny Hussey, who has had a solid reputation as one of the best air-cooled VW builders in the Canadian scene. Lanny’s been responsible for several noteworthy projects, including his own Sepia Brown ’67 Beetle, which he unveiled during California’s 2007 VW Classic show. As a side note: He had already driven the same Cal Looker (in its former Pearly White guise) to ‘the Classic’ in 1997, a trip of over 2,600 miles; the car later evolved into a stout street/strip contender capable of quarter-mile ETs in the 12.40s.