Where do I start with this?
A Wizard Roadster was the first ever custom VW I ever built in the rear garden of my mom and dad’s house. This is the point; I knew what I was going to do for the rest of my working life; Although if you get to play cars every day is that actually work?
So, when we got the chance to build this one, I was trying hard not to burst with excitement. The build was insane in terms of timescale and the quality we wanted to deliver. Then I found out it was for Andreas, who had been a victim of an acid attack after a case of mistaken identity, leaving him with life changing injuries, including severe damage to his sight.
It then came to light that his dad was a kingpin in the “Run To The Sun show” based in Newquay; I am sure this is the golden egg of builds!
So let’s get this right, we get the chance to show off our custom roots on a bespoke build with Car S.O.S’s first ever full custom car? Oh yeah, we’re in! Representing the whole of the VW movement to give Andreas and his family a little back, after all, they had given us endless golden summers of fun. No pressure, we now need to build something extremely special, and I think you will agree, we did!
I say we, as the support we got from the following trades was amazing: A J Retrims, Eva Restorations, Just Kampers, VW Heritage, Cookie at the Ink Spot, Bossworks, Euro Carb, Granlyn Paints, Guy Lachlan of Fuzz Townshend’s Classic Oils, Hooky’s Panel Shop, Auto Craft Engineering, Damian Force at Banded Steels, Longstone Tyres, Wasp Electricals, Alec Welsh Q, Stu Betty at Back 2 ’89, James at Fresh Image, Mark Smith VW 3D Printing, No Worries, Newquay, Nutters Fastenings, Washford Powder Coating, Reeves Zinc Coating, Rainbow Polishing, Metal Fusioon Technology, Applied Surface Treatments, Car Builder Solutions, Auto Plates Direct Ltd, Chad Wired Up, Keith Seume, Ranga the Cornish connection and of course, let’s not forget Team Magic, leading the project all the way.
We can’t forget the partners, wives, mothers and families that had to put up with us during the build! We also have to take a moment to remember the missing member of our crew – Jim Cousins: R.I.P you will never be forgotten.
Spencer Wright
BuzBeats Radio
Mark Fitzgerald
This car was up there with one the worst built kits we have ever seen, a complete death trap. If you look at the pictures of the steering wheel centre shaft, it will tell you a tale itself. We called it the everything build because it literally needed everything!; the car went back to its bare spine and built upwards on our jig. So, we decided to go full Back 2 ’89, early front and wide rear, Porsche tombstones, Italian wheel, banded 205/5 rears, 50’s rear lights, louvred running boards, a whole heap of electrics, including slide away speedo that plays Run to the Sun footage when the party mode is pushed.
We even got involved with adapting the dash for Andreas so he can see the left-hand side of the car from his right eye, whilst driving. This is using a camera under the near side mirror, which feeds a central screen on the dash, which flips out when the ignition is energised. These days it’s a must to have air ride on your custom car, so Max from Eva stepped in and built a full set up in record time.
Anthony from A J Retrims dripped the inside with grey leather, we had matching scallops in the door cards and he even had some of the leather embossed with our RTTS logo. Cookie at the Ink Spot airbrushed the fuel tank with a Fistral beach scene, just like a custom motorbike would have. There is so much more to tell, but I don’t want to bore you; there are lots of videos on our YouTube channel.
One last thing before you scroll through the pictures and watch the show (if you haven’t already). What you don’t see is the super hard work all the production team put in behind the scenes, as when we are late, so are they, when we fluff a line, they sort it out. So, a massive shout out to all at Renegade pictures.
As always Fuzz and Tim are a pleasure to work with, they always guide us, You may be surprised how much these guys put into the show, it’s so much more than you can imagine……… even the tea maker counts at Volksmagic.
P.S Thanks for the doughnuts.
