Rebuilt Wreck

Looking at this beautifully restored 11 windows Microbus it’s hard to believe that it was almost a total wreck when rescued.

- DAVID ECCLES

Aglance at the picture of how it looked when found (check out the detail panel overleaf ) only hints at how bad it was! It had been dumped with several other Splits behind a US dealership out of sight, a tree had grown and squashed the front panel, bushes were growing through it, it was battered and rusting, the frame was twisted, there was no engine or transmission, handles and headlights were gone, many windows were cracked or broken … and the owner was not prepared to negotiate on his price!

Most people would have simply walked away, but for Mark Cherrington, this was exactly what he wanted – an early German bus that could be restored to his own spec, for his own personal enjoyment but also to showcase the work of his company, Starlight Campers.

Having shipped it back to England, Mark contacted Neil at VW Retro Resto and asked them to take on the work, with the brief to restore the body to original condition with all metalwork to as close to original factory specs and retain as many of the original fittings as possible, but with custom mods of being lowered, a 2” narrowed beam (but no tubbing) and a performance engine.