![]() for transforming into a Porsche 356, 550 Spyder replica or beach buggy. Small, squat, nimble and easy to literally hop in and out of, it’s the perfect urban transport. The Volkswagen Beetle is possibly the most frequently used kit car donor vehicle. A beach buggy is fun anywhere, even in central London. Removed from modern, highly complex supercars that have performance that’s unaccessible on the road. Actually, the Nomad is rather like a modern beach buggy. It’s the same problem that owners of Ariel’s Nomad must have: where to use it. The motor is torquey, with great throttle response once it’s warmed up.īut where’s the beach? I haven’t looked into it but I suspect that finding an expanse of sand on which the car could live up to its name is very difficult unless you live in Scotland or near Pendine Sands in Wales.Ĭhurning up sand is not environmentally friendly. ![]() Now, I’m not claiming Lotus- Elise-like handling for the buggy but it feels fabulously light on its feet, with light and direct steering, a ride that’s good by modern standards and acceleration that is probably lousy against a watch but feels very sprightly through the trousers. It feels very light when you push it around and it feels light to drive. The car hasn’t been on the scales, either, but I’d guess at no more than 650kg. The tyres are suitably podgy 215/60 R15s at the front and 275/50 R15s rear. At the front, there are disc brakes from a standard Beetle but with four-to-five stud adaptors. Built to stand abuse from motoring TV stars, it uses an independent rear suspension from a 1302 ‘Super Beetle’, CV joints from a Type 2 van (they’re stronger and allow more travel) and rear hubs from a VW Type 181 ‘Thing’. This buggy was built using a brand-new body by a company in Birmingham called Kingfisher Kustoms, which is run by lifetime buggy enthusiast Dave Fisher. Unless you’re building a long-wheelbase buggy, which doesn’t look quite right, you have to cut and shut the floorpan. The body is ultra simple, with no doors or openings, and literally bolts to a Volkswagen Beetle chassis. The glassfibre body is a Prowler, which is essentially a copy of a GP body, which, as all beach buggies have been, is a copy of the original Meyers Manx. It’s going to give me a great deal of pleasure to describe to you the technical spec of May’s buggy. My working world these days is full of infotainment, smartphone mirroring and lots of technology to do with electric cars that I don’t fully understand.
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