Hear the word Silverfish and most VW folk would have to Google it to find out more. One man who did just that is Stuart Woodings and boy is he happy he did





Stuart Woodings didn't know anything about his Silverfish Bay Window before he bought it and even after he drove it home it was another month before he realised he'd really struck gold. To give you an idea as to how rare Stuart's Bay is, let me tell you more about this limited edition model.


In 1978 VW decided to give the Bay Window a good send-off and made a limited run of special edition Deluxe models. The Silberfisch, as the model was known in Germany, had a limited run of 1200, and all were painted in dazzling silver. They were manufactured as a nine-seater Microbus but a few did make it to Westfalia's factory. The upholstery was an Azure Blue velour on the seats and door cards and matching blue carpets. Extras on older models but standard on the Silverfish were the chromed opening quarter-light vent windows, heated rear window, padded dashboard, headrests and a sliding steel sunroof. They also came with a trip odometer, clock, locking fuel cap, locking glovebox and of course the Deluxe trim along the sides. A Silverfish is not just a Bay painted silver, it's actually miles apart from the standard Bay spec.


Not much is known about Stuarts Bay prior to it leaving Germany and heading to the UK and that's because not much happened to it. It was bought new by an elderly gent who ordered it with a Westfalia Camper interior. He kept it very well even though it had covered 105k km (60k miles) in only a few years, before being parked up.


After the first owner's death the Bus sat for a number of years before it was found by an English gent who thought it would be the ideal vehicle for his family. The Bus was off to Blighty for the next part of its life but that's where life got very dull, or should that be dark, because once in the UK the Bus was parked in a barn and covered over. The owner had so much going on that he actually forgot he had it. So for the next 13 years the Bus sat idle but the good thing is it was in a dry shed, so the body was nicely preserved.


Enter Stuart, who at this stage was not looking for another project as he already had a Bay that was in bits, a T4 and a Type 25. To cut a long story short, Stuart said no to buying a new ride but somehow found himself in the barn anyway looking at a Bay-shaped car cover. With the cover off, Stuart couldn't believe his eyes. Although he still didn't know what a Silverfish was, he did know it was in amazing condition. Not one to be rude, Stuart felt he had to make an offer. It was accepted!


He bought a new battery, pumped up the tyres and brought some petrol even though he thought 'No way is this thing going to start after so long in one spot'. But he put it in gear, rocked it back and forth, checked for oil, added some petrol and fired it up. First try and it cut out, but on the second turn of the key it stayed running. That's right - two turns of the key and this long forgotten Bay was running, so Stuart drove it to his sister's house close by. But before you think him crazy for driving a Bus with no brakes, they worked perfectly and still do - he has not even touched them. In fact, he hasn't done any mechanical work to the Bus at all unless you count changing the wiper blades and window rubbers! Incidentally, the latter could only be found with no trim but Stuart has kept the originals.


The interior was unmarked and there were only two tiny rust bubbles that he got Creative Coachworks to repair. That's when he discovered it was a Silverfish. Looking for more information, Stuart got in touch with Wolfsburg, who were very helpful and sent documentation confirming that this was indeed a very rare vehicle - with the last one found in 2002, Stuart's could be one of only seven left in existence.


Apart from flat sanding, machine polishing and checking the oil, Stuart hasn't had to do anything more to the Bay which is a credit to German engineering and the care the previous owner gave it. Even the tyres are the originals, and with only 60k miles or so on them they should last a bit longer yet.





 

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