GREG MATHERS’

12a VW Beetle

Although we’ll forgive you for mistaking this as Greg’s first well-known bug, on closer inspection, you’ll find that it’s far from it. This mishmash ’58-floorpan ’60-body Volkswagen Beetle was built in no more than 22 days from start to finish — yep, 22 days, people. The reason that’s bloody impressive, if you haven’t picked it already, is the fact that it’s now 12A bridgeport powered. A bridgey in a bug? Blasphemy!

It all began after Greg sold up his first bug and headed up to Whangarei the following day to pick up the rotang, but it was an idea that was clearly already in the works, as six months prior, a gearbox adaptor plate had been acquired out of Oz to suit the 1500 manual. A spare Beetle sitting in a friend’s shed was selected as the lucky recipient, although it ended up having its body chopped up for its floorpan alone, before a second Beetle, packing a gaggle of better bits, was purchased and got attacked with the saw, too. The box was bolted to the ’58 floorpan, while the ’60 body was cut open to allow for installation of the radiator pipes. With the engine and box mated together, the waterworks were then made to work in the confined space.

“Marc from Te Rapa Auto Electrical came around and wired up what it needed to run, and, before you knew it, videos of it running were floating around on the net for the first time, a day out from nats,” Greg told us.

A last-minute effort was made to get all the other things sorted, including an accelerator cable to ensure that it would be able to roll into the halls under its own steam, then, two hours later, it was driven off the trailer into the event.

“I think the most expensive part of the build was the amount of alcohol consumed,” Greg said, laughing.