Total Devotion

Previous SSVC ‘Van of the Year’returns after major surgery to become the first to take the award twice!

Taking on a stock restoration bears a lot of responsibility on the owner in many ways. For one, he or she is probably going to take their pride and joy to a show and that can leave you wide open for criticism about the originality of the finished article and how accurate your 100 point restoration has been. You can usually skirt around those criticisms by restoring your VW to your taste and that can be a very handy ‘out’ when you are cornered by the stock police. The restoration of this Bus was always going to be done to bring it back to stock specification, bar the engine, so James Marshall, the owner, left himself wide open but that didn’t faze him at all.

It was 2007 and James had been on the hunt for a suitable project Split Camper for more than a year when he heard of this 1964 Devon Caravette for sale not far from his home. It had been off the road for about a year and looked like it could be the perfect basis for a restoration. 

After agreeing a price, James became the new owner and after a few hours of fettling, the Bus fired up and sailed through its MOT. James ran it as it was for a year while he decided what would be the best way to tackle the restoration and, more importantly, who would carry it out. Steve Nolan at Wolfsburg VW was the man to bring this Caravette to the next level. 

Steve and his son began by stripping the Bus down and then bare-metalling it to see what lay under the Turkis paint. What was evident the previous repair work had involved gas welding new metal in place, which had warped the panels and, in order to get straight sides, there had been no choice but to smooth things out with filler. 

The main issue during the restoration was separating the old restoration from the original body and starting from scratch. One saving grace was that the previous owner had done his best to preserve it and prevent any further rust, which he did admirably. Had he not been so diligent, this Bus would have long since visited the scrap heap. 

When I asked James what panels he replaced he laughed, took a deep breath and began reeling them all off, such as new outriggers, sills and floor, before stopping to laugh again, saying it would be easier to list the entire contents from the Autocraft catalogue. Suffice to say, the Bus is now as good as new and thanks to all cavities being loaded with ‘gloopy goo’ it is better prepared for the elements than when it rolled out of the factory in 1964. 

There was only one option to go for when it came to colours and that was the original combination of Turkis and white. There were some changes from how it looked when Gordon owned it and the most obvious would be the Safari windows up front, which James removed as they were leaking, plus the ambulance mirror was removed. The now painted body was refitted with new window rubbers, bumper guard rubbers and a very rare Westfalia Swan Neck tow bar. 

The interior is just gorgeous and is flawless in its original style restoration. The stock seats have been recovered with TMI padding and covers while TMI also provided the door cards. The rear seats have been upholstered using hard to get original style material which was then given to a local upholsterer who made new seat covers. VW Curtains supplied the striped cushions and curtains. Steve Nolan had the cabinets remade in the original style, which allowed the refitting of the original Dudley two-ring gas cooker as well as all of the original J&G Meakin pottery. The original steering wheel features a Huma horn push, a rare accessory which has a high beam switch incorporated. The only deviation from stock is the modern stereo mounted under the dash. 

Mechanically the Bus has been upgraded by fitting a brand new Mexican 1600cc engine and to help push it along at motorway speeds the original gearbox was rebuilt by the Cog Box, giving a taller ratio in 4th gear. Other than that, this Caravette is bone stock from the front to the back, inside and out. It is one of those rare things nowadays: a stock Split Screen Bus.

I asked James what attracted him to this Bus over any other that he could have bought and his answer was very convincing. “There were only four owners before me in 46 years,” he said. “It had the original order form and bill of sale, all of the original J & G Meakin pottery as well as files of history. 

“The original Devon drive-away awning was still in place, though it had seen better days. More importantly, it hadn’t been customised at all and many accessories, such as the Westfalia roof rack, bud vases, ambulance step, Huma Lucky Clover horn push, ambulance fans etc. The Bus is now part of our family. We love it and couldn’t imagine life without it!”