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'Love My Bus' and Win Up To £200 of VW Goodies!

Competition Now Closed

What would you spend £200 on at this year's BusFreeze camper show if we gave you the money on the day? Wheels, tyres, panels, interior... Enter the BusFreeze competition and you could be that lucky person. Here's how...

Tell us, in no more than 500 words, all about your VW Bus and why you love it so much. You must include a few photos too. We'll not only add them and your story to the BusFreeze website, we'll also put you in the BusFreeze prize draw to win a £200 shopping spree and a refund for two paid show entry tickets (worth £20) at BusFreeze 2011.

Send your story and pics to COMPETITION CLOSED. Closing date for all entries is midnight on the 18th October 2011.

Last minute entries received. Thanks for taking the time and joining in with the fun competition. And that's what owning a VW Bus is all about!

Terms & Conditions

Free competition draw takes place at BusFreeze at the Charity Auction stand (1pm). One winner only. Winner must be present at the BusFreeze Charity Auction to collect prize when drawn. £200 cash handed over to the winner just after 1pm and then 1 hour to spend, spend, spend. Any cash left over after 1 hour is donated to the Charity Auction total. If winner is not present then there is no alternative/substitute prize (including free entry tickets).

Showing a Little Lurve So Far...

Janine Mills - His Name is Dieter and He'd Like to Meet Ya

 
2 Ton for our wee Hon (ey!), would go a long way. We would be able to get the side bars that he has on his list to Santa, but as his dad has lost his job, (no kidding!) I didn't want to be the one to tell him that Santa won't be coming this year. The big holidays might be a thing of the past for a while, but his new bling would make his heart sing, if he was to win :)

Over the years, we have had some bays & some T25s, then my husband & I decided to sell the T4 (& the Mini we had) & use the money to put a deposit on a new T5…this was in 2007 & although these guys are starting to be accepted by the “Bus Brotherhood”, back then, at Vanfest, when you told folk what you drove, they thought:

(a) Too much money, snob!
(b)You’ve gone over to The Dark side! Repent!

But, we worked hard & paid him up over a few years (0% finance is great! - we’re not lotto winners!)


 
So, in short, we love our bus for the following reasons:

His name is Dieter,
And there is nothing sweeter,
Than his colour & electric sunroof,
And his ride is so totally smooth,
He’s comfy & his heating is toasty warm,
We took him back to Hanover, to see where he was born,
He’s so flexible, he’s our house & then a packhorse,
Because of the space, there’s loads of room, of course!
With a Bulli, you can let your creative juices flow,
But sometimes, lack of cash, makes the process go slow,
We’ve still got loads of things we plan to do,
Meanwhile, he’s pampered & is serviced, when due,
We enjoy every journey, whether short or long,
Time passes, his stereo belts out our favourite songs,
Loving the independence, the freedom we feel,
Making new friends, behind the wheel, that’s….
…..Why we love our bus :)

Janine Mills

Nadine and Andy - Evie's an Aussie

 
Here is Evie our beloved Aussie 1971 Camper. In 2007 we packed our bags and left to fulfil our dream to travel the lengths of Australia in VW camper. But it had to be an early Bay. After many weeks of searching after arriving in Australia, Evie was found. Evie became 'Evie' as the Hippy Family who sold her to us had a daughter called Evie, who has stuck her name in stickers all over the camper. So within minutes of driving off we had chosen her name.


 
So Evie, myself (Andy) and Nadine started our travels. We started in Sydney and drove all up the east coast, having to stop half way in Rockhampton to get a new engine (after the valves dropped!!!!!) all the way up to Cairns, across the middle through to the big red rock (via Croc Dundees pub), back down to Adelaide, along the Great Ocean Road, Melbourne and back to our base in Canberra. After a short sight seeing trip to New Zealand we returned to Australia and arrange for Evie to be shipped back to the UK. So in August of 2008 Evie arrived in London and has continued to be our faithful travel companion ever since.

She has had many a trip to Newquay, Germany and Wales - as well as her monthly trips to the VW shows.

She is like a child / pet. We have neither - we have a camper called Evie!!!!

Nadine and Andy

Bev Doyle - Logo is Now My Baby Too

 
The Dogs N Dubs bus is called Logo and he was Marc's project. Logo was going to be Marc's baby and I only had a mild interest (mainly in ensuring that we didn’t have to call our good friends at the AA too often....).


 
But things changed over the spring and summer of 2011. Logo is now my baby too. I love the fact that he brings a smile to peoples faces, whether he’s parked up or trundling along local roads or motorways. I love the fact that we can use him on a daily basis and I love the fact that he makes going to work (at shows) much more fun than any other vehicle we’ve owned.

Bev Doyle

Jean Cass - The Dehler Blues

 
Welcome to our Dehler – she is a unique T25 camper van. She is a real star to us and a very special member of our family.

We have owned our Dehler for 4 years and have used her to visit lots of VW shows, camping weekends and adventures with our bikes loaded on the back.


 
One particular VW show saw us queuing for hours in the rain to get entry to the show. But no problem for us we just parked up, had our dinner by the side of the road and admired the vans passing us by!

Despite our love for her we have considered selling her but somehow something always goes wrong. So perhaps it’s not meant to be and she is ours for life!

Jean Cass

Charlotte Pitt - Partner For Life

 
I love my bus because she is 'Lucy the Love Bus'. Lucy is a 21 window deluxe wedding bus and she takes lots of bride & grooms for a road trip on their special day.


 
She is imported from America and was born in 1963. She has had a full refurb in 2011 and is now ready for action. Everytime people see Lucy The Love Bus they fall in love and want to marry her!

Charlotte Pitt

Martyn and Andrea - Primrose is Such a Buzz and Wow

 
Why we love our bus? Well it's simple really, because you only have to look at her to see what a beauty she is! We had her from Oregan, California and she was in need of a make-over, so we began our dream.... We decided that the original blue was just not her colour so decided on yellow and cream, then of course you have to consider the interior and felt that she would appreciate her little gingham curtains and yellow leatherette seats. Of course we could not resist colour coding her roof racks. To drive her gives us such a buzz and wow - what a head tuner she can be... whatever the weather when we are in Primrose you cant help but smile and feel so at ease and relaxed... A welcome feeling in this stressful world!

There are still some little extras we want to add to her, but of course money is tight after all the work we have already carried out so a little spare cash would really help us transform her some more.

We think that we have said enough really and you just have to take a look at her and climb aboard to appreciate what we mean.

Martyn and Andrea

Phil Goacher - We Just Go Gooey

 
We only got Ernie about 10 months ago and he's a work in progress, but use him more than we work on him because we love him that much. The reason we love our camper is because he makes us feel real gooey inside.

Phil Goacher

The Williams Family - We'd Rather Sell Our House

 
This is Beryl. We have had her for 3 yrs and done everything in her. First show was BusFreeze 2008 and on way the wipers broke. We got recovered and then fitted a spare wiper system (that my wife did tell me to take with us) and then set off again and showed up at 3pm when everyone else was leaving


 
She has had a lot of new bits engine/interior and body work. We recently went to France and had no probs whatsoever. And the kids love her so much that they said they would rather sell our house than sell Beryl.

The Williams Family

Claire McWilliams - A Campervan is for Life, Not Just a Summer!

 
I love my bus because, well, look at it!!! It's a rat! And not a nasty rat, it's a cool rat! It has custom bamboo panels on the inside, custom driftwood dashboard and drag wheels. A 1.8litre engine means it goes pretty well too and gets a lot of attention - good and bad! My husband and I have spent a lot of time on it, him wiring up a leisure battery and connecting various switches (including a new switch to the electrically adjustable leather seats!!!) and me using a sewing machine for the first time to do all the girly bits! PLEASE don't check out my dodgy stitching - though I've been saying that the wobbly lines and lose threads are purposely done as they're part of the rat look!

We recently got married and, other than our house, the camper is our largest joint venture and we both love it. Originally bought with just a double bed in the back, we're working hard to make our frequent weekends away like 'glamping' in a rat look van as opposed to just camping!


 
The final reason I love my van is because it's a rag top. Not only is that pretty uncommon these days but it's ace for star gazing/sun bathing or letting out the smoke when I've burnt something!

Owning a cool camper is ace - the freedom to wander off wherever and whenever you please without the hassle of booking accommodation. The room to do everything you need to in a vehicle that's not that much bigger then a car when you think about it. Mostly, the community of a campervan. Everyone knows and recognises a 'proper' VW Camper and the friendliness of nearly all who own one is warmly felt. From random waving to another camper driver to spending hours discussing the in's and out's of every part - the campervan is for life - not just a summer!!!!

Claire McWilliams

Nick Whittaker - You Must Be Joking!

 
Let me get one thing straight from the start, I hate the bloody things. You see my job is fixing cars, paint prep, the lot. Having done it for over 30 years I've done something to most kinda cars and other than fixing a Beetle the worst thing in the world is seeing a type 2 Bay Window or Splitty pull into the yard with the owner full of pride and stories about their piece of shi-story. All I see is years of rust and `bogg` hidden under a "quick flash over cuz I'm selling it" paint job and a van so reliable it inspired the birth of roadside recovery and is still solely responsible for the AA's continued existence.

I'm a ford man. I love em. I've got a 79 RS 2000 and a 62 Consul Classic. I've Owned lots, restored them, raced them. I couldn't remember how many transit vans I've had over the years. Ahhh,..proper vans them. But... To do this job as long as I have (and still be skint) you need to have some pride in each job, take something from every repair or respray that makes you feel something has been achieved, otherwise it would be the same old same and I would have gone insane long ago with the endless traffic of damaged rusty bangers with chumps for owners who bounce their cars off fixed objects as a kind of parking sonar system. Along the way it's inevitable that a VW van is going to pull up and the smiley owner with his jaunty tales of travel and troubles will endear himself to you, in a non-gay kinda way, then before you know it your ankle deep in 20 year old filler dust as his 'life and joy' becomes the nightmare job you curse yourself for doing right up to the point when it turns from rot to resprayed. Before you know it you have a guy weak at the knees (not in a gay way) standing before his gleaming bus lost for words, and as I watch him drive away I feel there's a bit of myself going with it.

Pride for a job well done, another happy camper to clog up the hard shoulder. You see I've painted Beetles, Splittys, Bays, T25s, T4s, T5s. I even own a T4 now and all because every time a bit of me goes with a van, a bit of that rusty old Dub gets stuck on me. But please please, please don't tell anybody I enjoy my job because if you ask if I like doing VWs I will say...You must be joking!

Nick Whittaker

Tim Rigg - It's the Buzz

 
I love my bus because it took me eight years to resuscitate her and I get such a great buzz every time I drive her around. I still have lots more goodies I would like to add so a little cash would help.


 
Tim Rigg

Sandy Workman - Why I love Charlie

 
After many years of dreaming and the constant oooo’s and arghs every time I saw a camper I eventually raised enough money to buy my very own gem. His name is “Charlie”. He is a 1979 Bay Window Palomino 2.0 litre. He came taxed and tested but as to be expected with a cheap van he also came with his problems. Some I knew about and others such as the inch thick filler in the front panel, plastic bags with a skim of filler over to cover a hole, a piece of road sign bent and wired in place to prevent the obligatory oil leak dripping on the exhaust and then there was about a can of expanding foam squirted anywhere there was a hole.

So we…that’s me and my partner set to work getting rid of any rot, bigger job than we thought but eventually we managed it and after quite a few hundred quid in Schofields till and many others along the way we are getting somewhere near….. Well…. nearer than we were. We are just about ready to put some paint onto him and then we can get onto the interior. All very time consuming when we are doing everything ourselves when we are not working. Not easy when I work nights and my partner works days.


 
Well with boxes full of stuff from a recent trip to Vanfest stashed in the caravan, panels hanging in the workshop, cab seats being re-upholstered in the dining room ( I haven’t seen the dining table for months), rolls of flooring in the bedroom and curtain and seat fabric under the bed. So with our next A4 wish list ready for busfreeze the prize money would come in very handy.

Well after writing and reading this it makes me wonder why I love him so much.. (that’s “Charlie” not the other half)..he has kept me out in the cold at times, spent all my money, gives me nothing back and takes me nowhere….yes still on about Charlie…. Oh… could apply to the other half as well. But I do love “Charlie” because I know when he is done he will stop spending all of my hard earned cash and take me everywhere …. and if the other half is good and behaves I might even take him with me because I love him too.

Sandy…… a very proud VW Bay owner.

Caroline Davies - From Little Cars Do Big Campers Grow

 
I’ve always loved Beetles. I’m not sure where the passion came from as there’s no family link but I always knew it was the car I wanted. Even before I could drive I would annually visit Bugfreeze/Dubfreeze and imagine me owning a VW. I’d collected over 200 models and memorabilia so it just seemed obvious what I’d want when I passed my driving test. It was a Friday 13th when I collected my sea-sand 1966 Beetle which had been recently restored. The following few weeks saw the drivers door jam, clutch break, brakes fail, indicator not stay on and ignition come apart. It was a steep learning curve for all involved. As I always said to my friends, the man I fall in love with needs to be a mechanic! But I did fall in love with the car and everything that came with it.

When I first met my now-husband, Adam, he wouldn’t look at anything that wasn’t a Ford. His little Fiesta was nippy and had caught my eye. After all, my Beetle had now been in my possession for 5 years and I was thinking of a change. Our first conversations were all car related, with him trying to persuade me to get a Fiesta and me telling tales of enjoyable experiences in the Bug. As we got closer, I was put on his insurance and, the first time I ever sat in the driver’s seat, I reversed his precious car into his Granddad’s garage door promptly hitting his car also. Oh, and it was the first time I had met the family. My excuse was I hadn’t driven a modern car since the day I passed. As his Mum said, ‘That’s a story for the wedding speech,’ and indeed it was.


 
We decided to keep the Beetle and the Fiesta, as they had helped us get together and we did love them both so much. As our wedding day approached, Adam worked hard on giving Bob the Beetle a respray and it was amazing to be chauffeured around in it on our big day. We asked for wedding donations towards our next project: A Camper. Four months later we spotted one we wanted as a project at the first Busfreeze. On our way to a show down south one of our rear wheels came away from the axle and we ended up stranded on a motorway only 40 miles from home. (We learnt it pays to get your new purchase checked out by a garage!) Months later at Dubfreeze we were pushing our new-born baby in a pram and I decided the Beetle had to go so we could focus money and attention on our family Campervan. It was sad to see it leave and I did have a tear in my eye, but it’s played such an important part in my family’s life so far and I know Roland the Camper will be just the same.

Caroline Davies

Philip Clayton-Smith - Noo Noo is Our Bus

 
She was found after months of seaching for a camper. So many wasted trips we thought but not in vain to find a well loved bus. We brought Noo Noo from Ely in Cambridgeshire. Drove her home and she never missed a beat.

The inside was not done out completely, just had units and a bed. We had the seats and rear seats recovered by a classic restorer. It made us love Noo Noo even more. Is a labour of love looking after our camper, as i am so jealous that no ordinary grease monkey will ever touch her, for fear of her being damaged.

This year we did a body make over and a trim update just in time to do a wedding run, for a old school friend's daughter's wedding. Everybody loved seeing Noo Noo on the big day, even the Bride's father was impressed as he wanted to book a Roller. We love driving noo noo at every opportunity, even if if just a trip to the shops. The smiles and waves we get when were out is the best feeling you could ever have from being in a bus you love to bits.

Philip Clayton-Smith

Gareth Lake - Why? Why Wouldn't I?!!!!!

 
Ok so I'm one of the newer T4 camper loving weirdo's that some (not all) don't like. After Finally accepting my desire to own a VW Transporter, I looked at what it was going to be. I've always wanted a T2 as the look is iconic and well, who wouldn't. After deciding that I'd need something with the reliability to be used as a daily runner, a workhorse to carry all my mountain biking kit and to hold all of my 6ft 3" carcass, the T4 model was my final decision.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still love to own a T2 one day but for my first attempt at converting and owning a camper/van, the new option was more realistic. After hunting for a base model on the internet I stumbled across a potential candidate. After a 10 minute phone call I arranged a visit. A good walk around, test drive and serious talk (I'm not one to be intimidated and forced in to a sale) we came to a fair and reasonable price.


 
The drive home was a great one. Plans were already flying around the big old head of mine and well, I wanted it done now. This was back in March 2010. 18 months later and the Ex AA SWB 2.5TDI has changed from the canary yellow to British Racing Green and then the Dark Camouflage grey and purple, it's been lowered, remapped, borbet'd, fully converted inside and used on more than one occasion in an unplanned beer hotel in random and unknown cities and towns. Never mind the festivals and mountain bike racing events around the country.

The project is far from complete and by the time I tip up at Bus Freeze this October, the rim colours would have changed, yet another set of seats would have gone into the front, she my lay lower still and well, more alterations may occur inside and out. Either way, it'll still be loved no matter what happens to it. Will it have a younger brother or sister sat next to it on the drive in a year or so? Who knows............. Well I do anyway. Haha.

Gareth Lake

Anthony Cartwright - Sell My Camper????

 
Poppy is a 1972 crossover model and I was first attracted by the unusual layout. It was initially seen for sale in the winter of 2008. Having not been able to reach an agreement it went unsold. It then re-emerged at the start of 2009 and I couldn’t resist.

I had never driven a VW camper before, or even a LHD car. The wayward steering led for an ‘interesting’ first drive. “Take it steady encase anything goes wrong,” was at the forefront of my anxious mind. With the help of my friend Jon, Poppy took baby steps to the MOT test centre. As I came through the quiet roads in Hucclecote, satisfied that I was making good progress at a speed where Poppy and I could go in the direction of my choosing, I looked down and noticed I was doing a measly 20mph. There was clearly a long way to go!

Poppy was then driven the 91 miles north to where she would be kept, at my parents driveway. A waterproof cover was quickly bought and draped over the van.

Through many weekend hours and several moments of “oh, you little . . .!” a collection of most pressing tasks was formed. The front panel had badly corroded and was smothered in filler, the fiberglass roof had leaked and the frame rotted, etc.


 
Much of the work being done was simple enough for inexperienced hands. Digging out filler and rot became therapeutic. One experience where the speedometer packed up was particularly satisfying. Taking one and a half hours of simplifying a spider’s web of electrical cables behind the dashboard to find that a tiny clip had broken that attaches the end of the speedo cable to the grease cap on the wheel was frustrating at the time, but on repairing it, a certain comfort in the knowledge that the speedometer wouldn’t or shouldn’t pack up again was found.

Classic VWs have always been interesting to me, but the banking crisis at the time gave the perfect nudge to get started. As banks and building societies were offering low interest rates it seemed a secure investment. The work towards the restoration of this classic was always meant to be done as a low priority. Something to keep me occupied as a rolling restoration in order to be practical.

Slow and steady progress on Poppy improved the condition, but more often than not one job led to another and the fever to get a good finish soon set in. In the pursuit of a respectable bus, my family gave me a mixture of banter and practical help. Poppy still has a long way to go, but since 2009 she has developed to being a lot safer, more reliable and practical compared to how she was. My skills have also improved along with a growing tool kit.

Poppy has helped move house twice and provided several fun days out and introduced me to lots of interesting characters. Sell my camper? No, thank you!

Anthony Cartwright

Paul Howe - It's Just A Numbers Game

 
This is how I got my RHD 23 window.

I had always wanted a 23 window, so when I heard of this one I just had to have her. I have spent alot of hard earned cash getting her turned around and now I have run out of cash to finish her due to work issues. I would really love to win some cash to help buy some much needed parts for the project and to let her know I have not forgot her.


 
Please help us get back on the road.

Paul Howe