When his previous Bus turned out to be a bit of a pup, Kevin Porter decided to throw himself into the deep end and restore this Brilliant Blue Deluxe himself
If it were possible to transmit a sort of gracious silence via the medium of written word, then now would be the time to send it. Kevin Porter’s ’69 Deluxe is a thing of beauty and deserves a moment of quiet contemplation to drink in the glory of a vintage VW. The one-year-only Brilliant Blue is the paint department’s finest hour. It plays with light in ways no other original VW colour does. Introduce some sun and you’re instantly clued up as to where the Brilliant comes from, but for Kevin, it almost put an end to the entire restoration project…
As a carpenter and joiner for many years, Kevin has long been associated with the commercial aspect of VW, diligently working his way through a fleet of T3, T4 and T5 incarnations. In amongst all those, he got distracted by the early air-cooled side of VW life and landed him and wife, Michelle a lovely Crossover Dormobile. Kevin: “Well, it looked like it was in great condition and was shiny in all the right places. Truth is, I bought it with my heart and not my eyes.” After dramatically failing the first MoT due to serious corrosion issues, Kevin cut his losses and sold it to a friend who spent the next three years restoring it.
Down but not out, he decided the smarter way to get a Camper in their life would be to start with a project and build his own, safe in the knowledge of what lies beneath. Kevin: “I’ve never been afraid to try out different things and learn new skills. I felt confident there was a lot I could handle myself, and use the professionals when needed.”
Scrapheap challenge
Denne historien er fra February 2019-utgaven av VW CAMPER & BUS.
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Denne historien er fra February 2019-utgaven av VW CAMPER & BUS.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
T5 Buyers Guide
If you want a large, practical VW you can stamp your mark on and drive daily, perhaps it’s time you look at buying a T5? Here’s what you need to check
Germany Calling
Cycling and sight-seeing whilst taking in plenty of history along the way.
Village Bus
A RHD Barndoor Deluxe Bus is an incredibly rare and very desirable vehicle and Carl Elliott’s superb ’54 is perhaps the best example anywhere in the world!
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
As the saying goes, it’s only original once. Fortunately, this retired fruit pickers Bus had been left to ripen in a farmer’s barn
Family 'Wagen
What do you do when you have a kick-ass Ghia but a large family? Simple. You build a kick-ass Bay Window Microbus as well
Status Cymbal
When drummer Nick Robin’s AA card was taking too much of a beating it was time to visit VW Downunder
I Is For Industrial
While the best place for an air-cooled VW engine will always be in the back of a VW, the industrial variants have ended up in many unexpected places as well. Including a very big gun…
Still Doin' It
After a hard working life, three engines and two restorations, you’d think this Pick-up had earned its retirement. Not quite
The Freddy Files
Paul Knight whisks us along a fun-filled, 36-hour road trip to the Freddy Files show in Ninove, Belgium
Readers' Rides
Your pride and joy is our delight to share, so here they are
