Tag: Cars

BAGGED VW BEETLE: A BUG’S LIFE

Midge is so deep inside the modding life, he builds feature cars by accident. See this bagged VW Beetle? This was only ever meant to be a daily runabout…

From Fast Car magazine. Words: Dan Bevis. Photos: Daniel Pullen

The new-wave Volkswagen Beetle has always been a bit of an outsider on the modding scene. Its cute retro looks ensured that it was a decent seller when the covers first came off back in 1998, and there was a decent range of specs and options available – but there’s no escaping the fact that quite a lot of the Bugs we see today are slightly battered yellow snotters with puny power and flower stickers gummed all over them. To those in the know, however, there was a very cool option in the form of the Turbo Beetle; that’s right, VW saw fit to drop a 1.8T in there and, while this wasn’t the most popular variant in the showrooms, it had huge potential by virtue of the fact that the Beetle is basically a Mk4 Golf underneath.

The fact that this car is an outsider fits in pretty neatly with the modding adventures of our Midge. He’s always been a bit of an outsider himself, you see. That may sound like a weird thing to say given that he’s been sat right at the core of the UK modifying scene for the last couple of decades or so, and has been a central part of Fast Car for the last seventeen years, but there’s something important you need to know about Midge: he really does not give one single solitary f*ck what anybody thinks.

That’s not to say he’s uncaring, of course. He’s one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. It’s just that his modifying mantra has always been that you build your project car for yourself. There’s no point creating something to please other people; sure, it’s nice if folk like what you’ve done, that’s always a good feeling – but the whole point of modding a car is to do it the way you want it. He’s in it for the artistry, always has been. It’s not just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.

“If it’s right, it’s right,” he says. “I’m not trying to push any boundaries with new ideas, everything just needs to be right for the car.”

Bagged VW Beetle: Getting The Bug

This is very much a standpoint that he’s earned, as Midge has been building awesome cars since he was in short trousers. Well, he still does wear short trousers (y’know, because he’s short), but you know what we mean. Every car he’s built has been on his own terms – his own personal concept of what’s cool. And, as with so many feature car owners that have appeared in these pages over the decades, there’s one overriding notion that binds the community together: getting a bit carried away.

“The Beetle was never meant to be a show car or a feature car,” he ponders, casting an eye over his creation with the slightly dazed expression of a man who’s only just realised what he’s done. “I originally bought this car as a daily driver about four or five years ago; it was a decent low-mileage example, and you don’t find a lot of Turbo Beetles about – to begin with I was kinda thinking I’d make it match the TT, make them a set of twins.”

You’ll find the Audi TT in a few weeks time on the site, but the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s beige. Which the Beetle, er, isn’t. In fact, for a while this Bug was wearing some very cool rusty paint, the sort that you slap on and rough up to give the car a bit of rat-look without actually having any rust – all very tongue-in-cheek, particularly when you make your plastic bumpers all rusty. But as time went on and the list of mods got longer and stuffed with higher-quality equipment, Midge reached an epiphanic turning point. Quite simply, he felt that the car deserved better.

“I wanted to pay the bagged VW Beetle a bit of respect,” he reasons, and you can’t really argue with that. As a low-mileage example of a rare car, with all sorts of love and attention being paid to the specs, it was too good to be a jokey ratter. It was time to level-up. So Midge decided to pay a visit to Kwok, renowned paintsmith at Kode, to elevate things to the next level.

Before we talk about the paint, however, it’s important to acknowledge just how far the car had come. Having started as a cheapish daily, it was never the plan to, for example, fit a pair of Cobra Misano recliners and trim the whole interior in teal vinyl – and yet that, somehow, is where we find ourselves. And being the all-in sort of guy he is, there had to be a quality audio install too, because bangin’ installs is where it all started for Midge. High-end sounds have always been a key part of the equation. The magic wasn’t just happening inside either: under the bonnet, he was keen to get stuck in and make some improvements, because the 1.8T comes in a relatively mild state of tune in the Bug, and we all know how much potential they have. So now we’re looking at a RamAir intake, Forge diverter valve, custom EMP 3-inch turbo-back exhaust, Phantom Tuning ECU map and a few other tweaks and tricks to get it all singing from the Fast Car hymn sheet. Trust us, this little Dub sounds badass, and it ain’t exactly shy about lifting up its skirts and haring for the horizon.

Life on air

Lifting is something it does rather well actually, as the little dude’s done right by the Mk4 platform and shoved a full Air Lift Performance setup in there, airing out over a set of Rota D154s which are just dripping in motorsport chic. You see, all the pieces are in place for a full-on build – this daily runabout morphed into a show-quality ride without Midge even realising. That’s just how good he is. So the rust paint, as wicked as it looked, suddenly didn’t seem all that appropriate.

“I’ve known Kwok for years, and we’d always talked about him painting one of my cars,” he explains. “When I dropped the bagged VW Beetle off to him, it was really only meant to be for a quick blow-over – but by the time I got home he was already sending me pictures of the car with the wings removed and stuff. Those guys work fast! So it turned into a full repaint, and the colour is a VW shade – Pure Grey. I was thinking about going Nardo, but then Glenn suggested this colour and I knew right away it was the right one. Something a bit more sympathetic, more respectful to the car. I always wanted to give it a retro look, pay tribute to the history of the old air-cooled Volkswagens and bring it up to date, and this colour’s done that perfectly. In fact, I might even paint the TT to match!”

That’s just how quickly and easily these projects can change direction. Midge never sets out with an over-arching plan, he doesn’t buy a car and immediately draw up a mental list of what he wants to achieve with it and what the end-point should be. Because there is no end-point. He’s not a man who ever likes selling cars, unless he has to, they just keep on morphing and evolving as time goes on, because he simply can’t stop buggering about with them. A tweak here, a change there, and suddenly loads of stuff has happened without him really thinking about it. That’s just how elbows-deep in the scene our favourite little garage-hobbit is. He only meant for this car to be a daily runabout, and he’s built it into the UK’s coolest bagged VW Beetle Turbo totally by accident. It’s just how Midge rolls.

Tech Spec: Bagged VW Beetle

Styling:

Full repaint in VW Pure Grey with gloss black roof, flush bonnet, side repeaters deleted, Autobra bonnet bra, Team Heko wind deflectors, Tauro Designs 3D plate, tinted headlights and indicators, grille and wing mirrors

Tuning:

1.8T, RamAir intake, SAI delete, Forge diverter valve, Samco Sport TIP, boost and auxiliary hoses, custom EMP 3-inch turbo-back exhaust, Phantom Tuning ECU map, colour-coded engine cover, custom trimmed slam, black caps

Chassis:

8.5×18-inch Rota D154 (ET15) – painted gloss black, 215/40 Toyo Proxes Sport tyres, black tuner bolts, EBC USR discs with YellowStuff pads, Air Lift Performance 3P air-ride kit

Interior:

Cobra Misano recliners in custom teal vinyl, rear seats, doorcards, parcel shelf and armrest retrimmed to match, Kode steering wheel, Mishimoto shift knob, plastics painted black with colour-coded doorcards

Audio:

Kenwood headunit, JL Audio front components and rear co-axials, Kicker 5-channel amplifier, Kicker CompC subwoofer and passive radiator in ported enclosure, Dynamat sound deadening

Source

June 22, 2021
WIDEBODY E36 M3: EVERGREEN

For as long as there have been cars, patriotic British racers have been painting them British Racing Green. But what on Earth is this colour doing on a widebody E36 M3 in Texas? Bizarrely, once we delve into the back-story, it actually makes perfect sense…

From Performance BMW. Words: Dan Bevis. Photos: Danh Phan

If we peek back through the swirling mists of time to 1903, and specifically to the Gordon Bennett Cup races of that year, we find the origins of British Racing Green. Motorsport at the time was illegal in England, so this UK leg of the cup was held in Ireland (which was then still part of the United Kingdom), and the British entrants painted their cars in shamrock green in honour of their Irish hosts. The theme stuck, and as countries began to adopt national racing colours (French Racing Blue, for example), the Irish green paradoxically became an intrinsically British thing.

Unsurprisingly then, it’s never been a hue particularly associated with BMWs. However, there is one notable exception: the E36 M3 GT. This limited-run special, built to homologate the E36 for the FIA European GT Series, is often mistaken for the more common Boston Green, but no – look closer and you’ll see that it’s the distinctive and non-metallic BRG that’s been inexplicably chosen.

This is a decision which fascinated Houston-based BMW superfan Alexander Jackson (aka AJ) (@bimerdude ), and it’s something he’s paid homage to here with his own M3 build. You see, he spent his youth watching E36 Touring Cars racing on his TV screen; “I grew up watching the DTM, seeing the M3s wiping the floor with the Mercedes 190Es,” he explains – and what better way to pay tribute to those memories than to paint his car in British Racing Green, a colour which neatly draws together the threads of race cars and homologation specials, while also being nerdy enough to appeal to true enthusiasts? This colour, of course, was never officially offered in the US market, so it serves as a cunning Easter egg for true BMW aficionados.

All of this suggests, quite rightly, that AJ hasn’t fallen into any of these decisions by accident. Indeed, he’s a lifelong Beemer obsessive, as his automotive history (and current alter-ego as ‘Bimmer Dude’ on YouTube) attests: “I’ve been into BMWs since the third grade,” he says. “My dad bought my mom a 1992 E30 325i Sedan, and I felt like it was the fastest car ever! I used to love getting picked up from school in it. The brand is special to me because of my dad, he bought me my first BMW in high school – a time when I knew nothing about cars. Since it was an older car it needed a lot of cosmetic work but it was mechanically sound; however, one weekend my best friend, Lloyd Baldemor, and I decided to drive it to the beach and it overheated on us halfway there. We got stranded and my dad had to come help us get it towed home. It sat in my parents’ garage for years, broken… that’s when I decided I would learn to work on cars myself.”

So the passion was ingrained, and so was the enthusiasm to get stuck in. After years of drooling over BMW builds in Euro Power magazine, it was inevitable that a broad spectrum of Bavarian rides would pass through the Jackson stable. When he got his first IT job (he now works as a network engineer), AJ treated himself to a 2000 328Ci, which ended up with all manner of neat styling twists and fancy wheels. Today, the driveway sports an E46 M3 as the daily driver, an E39 530i Sport – his wife’s daily – and, of course, the British Racing Green street weapon we see here. It’s a 1999 E36 M3 Convertible, originally chosen because the E36 reminded him of the one his dad had bought him all those years ago. “It needed a lot of work, but the drivetrain was solid,” AJ recalls. “Plus it pulled like a freight train! I found it at a used car dealership that always had classic BMWs for sale; it was a trade-in car, the interior is was in horrible shape and the convertible top barely worked… not to mention the fact that the ragtop had a ton of small tears. It leaked water every time it rained!”

But our hero saw only potential here, and he got busy rectifying the woes and making everything brighter straight away. It’s one of those projects that starts out as a mild resto and transforms into a full-on street-and-show effort; not simply a case of fixing the faults, but cranking the dial up to the next level. Job one was to spruce up that rank interior, which was deftly dealt with in short order by the addition of a pair of tasty Recaro SR-6 seats (“I feel like every old BMW needs some type of Recaro seat,” grins AJ), and of course, it was necessary to stop that pesky water ingress. The solution here has been quite a radical one, essentially by stopping the convertible being a convertible at all. AJ was somehow lucky enough to track down a super-rare OEM-option aluminium hardtop, and in the process of fitting it, he stripped out and threw away all of the mechanisms and wiring for the drop-top, thereby saving a handy 115kg-ish of weight.

The next thing to ‘fix’ was the fact that the M3 was an automatic. Not a problem to many, sure, but… well, it’s a question of purity, isn’t it? AJ’s aspirations were fuelled by those childhood because-race-car vibes, so there was no question that he’d have to bolt a manual ’box in there sooner rather than later. A Clutch Masters Stage 3 clutch and 11lb flywheel found their way in at the same time, and the original auto-spec LSD axle was retained as AJ prefers the torquier ratio. And since the engine had to come out for the transmission swap, it would have been rude not to show it a little love before dropping the big-six back in, right? AJ rolled up his sleeves and set about massaging things to improve the S52’s vital stats: a ported and polished head with ARP studs was bolted on to ensure consistent compression, and the combination of an M50 manifold and Dinan big-bore throttle body work together to optimise efficiency. The engine was remote dyno-tuned by TRM Tuning in Atlanta, via Mayco Performance in Houston and, with its new mods along with a stainless Supersprint system (chosen for its free-flowing nature as well as its bassy, non-raspy sound) it now makes an impressive 257whp and 238lb ft wtq.

As he was busy stalking through the spec list like a ruthless sniper, the chassis mods were the next target in AJ’s sights. The ageing suspension was unceremoniously ripped out and replaced by a bespoke set of CX Racing coilovers. “These have custom-valved dampers from BC Racing, along with Swift springs to ensure the suspension remains planted,” he explains. “I also fitted custom monoball tie rod ends, Whiteline front control arm bushes, Powerflex rear subframe bushes and diff mounts, as well as solid monoball trailing arm bushes and differential bolt bracing from Garagistic.” The brakes are pretty fancy too, being a Brembo BBK from a 996-generation Porsche 911. With all of this belt-and-braces stuff taken care of, AJ then set his sights a little higher. Or, more specifically, wider.

“I’m not usually a fan of wide-body kits,” he admits, “as they often don’t follow the body lines of the car. But when this Pandem kit came out for the E36 M3, it reminded me so much of the racers I grew up watching – so I went for it! I ordered the kit and installed it all myself in my garage, filming it for the Bimmer Dude YouTube channel.” Everything was then lovingly slathered in that 312-code British Racing Green paint, and the results really are magnificent. The race car heritage, the aggression of the girth, the combination of a relatively sober shade and some seriously ostentatious lines, it all adds up to something impressive and, frankly, slightly scary.

Those fat arches needed to be filled with something equally chunky, and AJ was ahead of the curve here: “I wanted a wheel that was widely unknown,” he says, “something that reminded you of others but was also clearly unique. What I’ve chosen is a set of Dinan Enduro three-piece wheels, custom-specced to 10.5×17” at the front and 12.5×17” at the rear. Only 50 sets of these wheels were ever made by DP Motorsport, a specialist Porsche tuning outfit, built for E34s equipped with Dinan turbos. My inspiration was to gain a Time Attack-inspired look for the streets; a way to make a statement whether standing still or in motion.” It’s fair to say he’s achieved this goal, and with that puzzle piece clicked into place, the overall outlook is pretty bright. Sitting in the driver’s seat, it’s the perfect fusion of retro-cool and modern modding. “I generally buy used parts and recondition them, and build the interior around the seat design,” AJ explains, and those Recaros make for a great centrepiece alongside the brutalist Cliqtuning chassis-mounted gear shifter and racer-chic deep-dish steering wheel. It’s in this up-and-at-’em position that AJ can enjoy his favourite element of the whole car. No, it’s not the wide-body arches, or the iconic colour, or the screaming S52. It’s that rare-as-hens’-teeth aluminium hardtop. “It gives the widebody E36 M3 an open and airy feel when driving without actually having the roof open,” he reasons. “It’s the most fun you can have in a car without the top down! And it also stiffens the chassis quite a bit…”

As AJ outlined in his Bimmer Dude videos when he fitted the Pandem kit, the build is dedicated to his late father, who sadly passed away with cancer around that time. AJ has a whole wish list to work through to add further kudos to that legacy: a full roll-cage, a turbo, an interior retrim, six-pot Brembos, there’s a long way to go. But this is more about the journey than the destination. And with that iconic paint colour determining a consistent thread of motorsport thrills, this is one ride which is going to keep getting more and more thrilling.

Tech Spec: Widebody E36 M3

Engine & Transmission:

3.2-litre straight-six S52B32, ported and polished decked cylinder head, ARP head studs, Dinan intake with heat shield, M50 intake manifold, Dinan big-bore throttle body, Supersprint exhaust manifold, mid-pipe and axle-back stainless exhaust system, TRM custom dyno tune. ZF Type C five-speed manual gearbox, Clutch Masters Stage 3 clutch, 11lb flywheel, auto-spec LSD

Power:

257whp and 238lb ft wtq

Chassis:

10.5×17” ET-26 (front) and 12.5×17” ET-56 (rear) Dinan Enduro three-piece wheels with 275/40 (front) and 315/35 (rear) Toyo Extensa HP tyres, CX Racing coilovers with custom-valved BC Racing dampers and 12k/14k Swift springs, custom monoball tie rods, monoball trailing arm bushes, Whiteline front control arm bushes, Powerflex rear subframe bushes and diff mounts, Porsche 996 911 big brake kit

Exterior:

British Racing Green (312) paint, OEM aluminium hardtop, Rocket Bunny Pandem wide-body kit, ZWING bash bar, Depo/ZKW headlights

Interior:

Recaro SR-6 seats, Sparco L320 steering wheel, Cliqtuning chassis-mounted gear lever, custom Android in-dash OBC

Source

June 21, 2021
MODIFIED F56 MINI: THE ART OF JUST ENOUGH

Subtlety, nuance and a creative eye for detail set this uniquely modified F56 MINI apart from the crowd.

From Performance Mini. Words: Ben Birch. Photos: Jason Dodd

Most MINI fans will agree that one of the most exciting things about the brand is the infinite potential for personalisation. No matter what generation or spec you own, there are almost no limits as to the choice of products you can bolt on or screw in to make your MINI more ‘you’.

It’s this very fact that can lead to some owners going well over the top with the spec of their build, and ironically end up making it look exactly the same as all the others. If too much choice can create a confused result, then Edd Little’s modified F56 MINI is a moving lesson in purity and self-restraint.

Edd says, “Maybe being around lots of different car scenes over the years means I haven’t got sucked into the normal way of doing things. Or then again, maybe it’s just because I’m getting old and have made all of my mistakes already.”

In a previous life, Edd was an air-cooled VW guy –a scene that in its halcyon days was a hotbed of creativity and innovation, and which still influences every other modified car scene today. As anyone who has been into Bugs can empathise, Edd says he wanted to get into another make of car because the ‘dub world had got a bit samey and stale. The VWs are beautifully done, but there now seems to be a set formula for building one, and a lot of the top examples are exactly the same as the next, just painted a different colour. And so it was that Edd’s MINI journey began.

First was an R53 JCW with a Union Flag wrap. Not all that subtle, then, and his next project took things to an even wilder level with a bit of egging on from his friend and now business partner, Rog.

Edd explains, “I bought a GP1 and managed to keep it standard for five years. Then between Rog and I we decided to go completely mad on it.”

With Rog and Edd both being Porsche fans and owners, they took inspiration from the highly coveted Singer builds from California, including retro tartan seats, serious suspension and trick wheels. The end result was an instantly recognisable MINI; in fact, some may remember it from YouTube, where it was driven by Petrol Ped. If not, type in ‘the perfect B-road Mini’ and enjoy 20 minutes of epic supercharger whine.

That R53 really helped to kick-start the pair’s business venture, B_Road Hunting Club. Not only is B_Road a growing hotspot for petrolhead meets and coffee days (think the Caffeine and Machine of the south), it’s a place where you can have your dream MINI hand-built by the chaps.

“Over the years we’d each outsourced various work on our own project cars, and a lot of the time ended up redoing the work ourselves as they’d never done it quite right,” continues Edd. “As we got more competent, people who wanted something a bit different started coming to us, and the business grew from there.”

He goes on to describe the usual type of build they get involved in as ‘anything a bit off the wall’, and this is the exact ethos they took to building the Cooper S you see here.

Edd says, “I’d sold the GP1 and had actually put a deposit on a GP3. But when I found out it wasn’t going to be available with a manual ‘box, I cancelled immediately and started looking for something a bit unusual to build my own interpretation of the ultimate B-road F56.”

After trawling through the classified ads, he came across this 8000-mile Rebel Green example, which had already been tastefully modified by its owner Simon.

“If you want a car to be different from the usual you have to go for unusual specs,” smiles Edd, “so the colour was a great starting point.” In fact, he goes on to admit that he’s changed just 20 per cent of the car since buying it – but it’s the last 20 per cent of tweaking and refining that’s really put the cherry on the cake in transforming the looks and the overall driving experience.

Edd says, “The car came with Team Dynamics wheels, the Coolerworx shifter, the carbon interior pieces and the Lohen performance mods. With 300bhp it was always going to be more than quick enough, but it really needed the stance and driving dynamics changed, and the visuals elevated.”

Inspiration for the latter came from an old picture of a classic Mini race car lapping the Goodwood circuit. The little racer’s vintage green paint and white livery oozed pure class, and after a bit of contemplating ‘will it work, won’t it work’, the whole look was boldly recreated by Edd and Rog on the modified F56 MINI with spectacular results. At the same time, they changed the original black roof colour to an ‘antique white’ to match the livery, and, maybe surprisingly, they replaced the JCW hatch spoiler with a standard Cooper item.

“I think the more subtle spoiler gives cleaner lines,” adds Edd. “It now looks like a modern interpretation of a classic Cooper S to me, rather than just another aggressive modern hot hatch.” To complete the visual changes, the extremely popular TD wheels were removed, precisely because of their extreme popularity.

Edd says, “A trick I’ve learned over the years is that if you want to create something unique that not many people can copy, you ignore the most popular parts and instead search out the rarest parts.

“By default you end up being one of a kind or certainly one of a tiny minority.” It’s a simple concept but one that takes much research and patience.

“I knew that the old Audi RS6 ran 8x17in BBS wheels with an ET35 offset,” he continues, “the perfect size and offset for the F56 as it’s the same fitted to the MINI CHALLENGE cars.” Six laborious months later and his eBay search finally turned up a set, which he snapped up immediately.

Edd laughs, “The guy had them just sat in his garage for donkey’s years, and within two minutes of putting them up for sale he’d sold them to me. He was stunned.”

The gorgeous German art is framed by Michelin and hung on a B_Road Hunting Club signature mod – a wheel stud kit. “We do it on all our builds. It’s more race-car, looks cleaner in my opinion and works especially well on wheels without centre caps.”

With the right wheels now in the arches, the KW suspension was set up to B_Road Hunting Club’s tried-and-tested geometry, tuned to make the best of English countryside blasts. A lot of people go too track-orientated with their suspension and end up creating something that’s amazing for the 5 per cent of time they drive it on track, but horrible for the other 95 per cent of the time.

Edd agrees: “The beauty of a MINI is that you don’t have to be going ridiculously fast to have ridiculous fun, and for most of us a more road-based set up will be more rewarding more of the time.” It was this grown-up approach that also led to him swapping the Scorpion exhaust for a JCW Pro exhaust. “The Bluetooth switchability of the JCW Pro means I can have it lairy if I want, but for most of the time it’s turned to Sport and it has a much better tone. I also got it with stainless tips just to be a bit different.”

The sum of these changes to the driving experience is much greater than the individual changes would imply – Edd has owned a Porsche Cayman and owns a replica Porsche 356 period racer, yet still describes this modified F56 MINI as the best car he’s ever had.

“I got in it the other day after not having driven it for a few months,” he enthuses, “and after a few miles hunkered into the carbon-accented cockpit, banging through the short-shifter with my Carrera GT-inspired gearknob. I was laughing to myself. It always amazes me what such a wicked little car this is – the fact you can package so much fun and performance alongside genuine everyday driveability is just mind-blowing.”

After executing such a well-disciplined exercise in sympathetic modification, it’s no surprise that Edd also knows when to stop tinkering. “I’m deep into my 356 project now so I don’t plan to do anything with the MINI other than enjoy it. Anyway, this car is simply spot on, so why ruin it?”

Exactly. You really can create a stand-out show car and driving machine without going bonkers for bonkers’ sake…

Tech Spec: Modified F56 Mini

Engine:

Airtec intercooler, Eventuri scoop and full carbon fibre intake, carbon fibre engine heat shielding, Scorpion decat, JCW Pro exhaust with stainless tips, power upgrades by Lohen

Power:

300bhp and 500Nm/370lb.ft torque (owner’s estimate)

Transmission:

Coolerworx shifter

Suspension:

Wieschers carbon strut brace, KW V1 coilovers, Cravenspeed under-body bracing, Powerflex bushes

Wheels & Tyres:

Stud kit, 8Jx17 ET35 BBS RC307 alloys, 225/40R17 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

Interior:

Carrera GT-inspired gearknob, genuine MINI carbon dash and door handles, Royal Black Alcantara steering wheel with carbon inserts

Exterior:

Rebel Green and black JCW (pre-LCI), full Pro splitters front and rear, blacked-out badges, custom Goodwood-inspired graphics

Source

June 18, 2021