SURF'S UP FOR THIS TAMIYA VW

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: you don’t necessarily have to re-design your rig from the ground up to make it into Readers’ Rides. We love getting those complex custom projects, but we also appreciate someone who can make subtle, tasteful upgrades to an already great model. And if they can showcase those tweaks in the right setting in some beautifully composed photos—like Jim and Mindi Harris did with their Tamiya VW Bus (officially a Type 2 T1)—we’re happy to show them off here. Mechanically the changes are minor: a swap to Traxxas radio gear and steering servo, and they replaced all the bushings with bearings. For paint they chose Tamiya blue and topped the roof panel with flat clear to look like canvas. The made a tray out of balsa to cover up the electronics and decorated it with ‘60s-style artwork, and had a scale custom license plate made up at SRDLV.COM. The crowning touch, however, is the scale surf board they made up for the beach photo shoot.