Feeling all washed up with this cold, grey winter weather? If so, check out this fun Beetle powered boat to buoy up your spirits! It’s the creation of whacky Dub fan down under Tony Anstee – and here’s the story of how it all came about…

So what gave Tony the whole boat idea in the first place, and how did he craft the masterpiece of VW powered nautical engineering you see before you?

“The inspiration for the build probably stems back to my childhood, when I spent most of my weekends and holidays at our family’s holiday home on the waterfront of a major lake in Victoria,” smiles Tony. “I spent countless hours water skiing and basically hanging around in ski boats. I’ve always liked the sweeping lines of the wraparound windscreens and wondered if it would be possible to combine the styling into a land based vehicle. It also offered the opportunity to own an open topped car!”

Part of the challenge, explains Tony, was to complete the build on a very limited budget. “There’s a part of my mother’s spirit in me that enjoys trying to make more from less. Trawling roadside rubbish became a daily event as I searched for parts.”

After weeks of scavenging Tony eventually found a suitable boat hull on eBay which he successfully bid on and won for the princely sum of AU $61 (£35).

“The hull was perfect as it had the correct dimensions to fit on a beetle floorpan and was never going to see water again (unless it rained!) as it was waterlogged from previous damage.”

Little did the eBay seller know what his intentions were, which was probably just as well… “I had to stifle a grin when the previous owner asked what my plans were for it and when did I plan on getting it back in the water?” laughs Tony.

The next stage involved locating a suitable VW donor vehicle. Again, eBay came to the rescue with an early ’70s Beetle which he purchased for $225 (£125). “So far I was well within budget,” explained Tony, “but I did have a seven hour round trip to retrieve the Beetle from country Victoria.”

Once back in Melbourne, the build commenced in earnest. The deadline was Volkswagen Club of Victoria’s annual car show, Day of the Volkswagen 2012, and Tony had approximately six months of weekends and evenings after work to complete the project.

The first stage of the build involved removal of the body from the Beetle floorpan. This he carried out with the assistance of shipmate and official wingman to many a mad VW recovery mission, Brent, who was keen to make his premises available to do the work. The rolling and drive-able pan was then bought home where it began to become as one with the hull.

After many hours of sawing, cutting and itching from the fibreglass, Tony had the hull bolted to the Beetle pan. he next step was building a narrowed beam to match the taper of the bow of the hull.

Having tried cutting 2in, 4in and 6in out of the beam, he eventually took out a full 24in and further shortening of the trailing arms was required to give clearance for the highway rated 12in trailer wheels from the floorpan. A relocated McPherson strut steering box was used to control the drastically shortened tie rods. Initially the IRS suspension was simply rotated to give a noticeable drop in altitude. However, after running this setup for a few events, Tony wanted to go a step further…

“Knowing this vehicle was never going to be registered for road or water use, I decided to use it as a test bed for some radical suspension modifications. A second IRS torsion ousting was mounted 6in above the original and all components transferred upward, but not before 8in was taken out of the width of the torsion housing.”

This second change was made to allow the fitment of 26in tall McCreary street strip drag tyres on 15inx10in steel rims! Raising the torsion housing subsequently required the installation of new handbrake tubes, gearshift rod and brake lines.

At the same time, Tony decided to relocate the gearlever closer to the driver which in turn meant relocating the handbrake, which was moved forward of the shifter. To minimise the negative camber inherent in lowering the rear of a VW, he then raised the standard 1600cc dual port engine and transmission by 2in. Steel oil drums were butchered to make the wheel tubs and front seats.

While stock internally, Tony also wanted to simulate the over transom (a nautical term for the back of the boat) exhaust pipes seen on racing ski crafts. Fortunately a neighbour who was replacing the exhaust on his motor home offered the perfect solution. “He gave me a full twin 3in exhaust system so it was cut and welded into what you see here.”

Finally the project was completed to the point where he could trailer it to car shows and enjoy it. The desired effect had been achieved with countless smiles and shaking of heads as people tried to make sense of what they were seeing. Luftwasser was done!

Tony couldn’t have got the whole project afloat without the help of others and wants to thank members of Melburg Luft (a Melbourne based VW forum) who contributed with advice, suggestions and parts.

I guess you’ll be wondering what Tony will be skippering next? Well, it’s something called ‘Passair’ – a Passat based on a Bug floorpan…

Can’t wait to see that!

Ian