Regular VW Heritage customer down under Ross Clarke has a bevy of beautiful Dubs, including this gorgeous 1966 VW Fastback. Having been dismantled, painted and subsequently left sat for 20 years waiting to be finished it was a case of putting the jigsaw puzzle of bits back together again as well as adding some clever mods of his own to create the gorgeous retro rarity you see here…

Having found this car stored away for 20 odd years Ross was keen to add it to his collection which already included a ‘58 rag top Beetle, ‘75 Beetle Cabrio and a T25 Kombi – lucky man! It was a one-owner totally rot free 1966 Pearl White Fastback, totally complete – but far from running. He agreed a price with the owner and countless body spares, including 40 or so original boxes of parts, all of which had been meticulously labelled and catalogued, were handed over…

The Fastback was taken home where it sat for another 12 months while Ross underwent a kind of restoration of his own – having a pair of replacement hips fitted! He used his convalescence to do some much needed research into his new project and consider where to source the necessary parts – a list that would eventually include some original NOS accessories from Europe.

Once he started there was no stopping Ross – after all, the resto had already been on hold for the last two decades. He assembled the doors, installed the glass, removed the motor to release the clutch plate from the input shaft (it had become stuck after sitting for so long) and applied under and inner body rustproofing wax. The brake cylinders were rebored with stainless steel liners, and the drums assembled with new linings. Once the engine was installed and he had reliable brakes the car was started for the first time in 20 years. A few turns and it came to life! He wasn’t far off getting the Fasty sleeping beauty back on the road.

The most involved job, confirmed Ross, was installing the dash and instruments, “there’s no room for big hands”. Sorting out the wiring was a bit fiddly, too. “All the old wiring labels had faded and each wire had to be located and connected. While doing this I also repaired the vinyl dash and hand made a ‘dash cover’ to protect the 47 year-old vinyl from our harsh Queensland sun.” A replacement 12 volt clock was purchased cheaply from a swap meet, pulled apart and repaired and an aftermarket steering wheel was fitted, along with a set of Sprint Star wheels from VW Heritage to give it a sporty feel…

An expensive part of the restoration was having the bumpers rechromed. However, Ross considered it money well spent with the end result perfect and car itself well deserving. Luckily the original interior was in reasonable nick, and here Ross adopted a process used by the marine industry of repainting the roof lining which saved a lot of money and time. It still looks good after two years of use and exposure. New door trims were fitted and the Fasty was really starting to take shape!

Meanwhile, all the existing body exterior chrome trim was refitted with new clips, and the front and rear screen was installed. A front and rear carpet set was ordered together with a LHD carpet kit, the only Type 3 carpet kit available at the time. Ordering an extra two square meters of carpet allowed Ross to cut (using the old driver’s floor carpet as a template)  for a RHD version!

Some interesting accessories were also added, including spotlights, under dash parcel tray, temperature gauge (essential in the hot Aussie weather), tacho, mud flaps, scratch plates for the door handle recesses, hand made rear luggage rack and original Australian-supplied aluminium rear screen louvres. The front end was lowered one and a half inches, together with a new set of standard sized tyres for the long interstate trips planned.

The end result – you must agree – is stunning. Certainly not a trailer queen but a practical, good looking road tourer to be used and enjoyed for many years to come. It just so happens that the car’s first trip to Melbourne, Victoria was to the Yarra Glen VW swap meet and to visit family. And Ross is pleased to report that the Fasty went like new covering over 2,000 miles on the trip.

We understand that Ross is on the look out for another restoration project – he just missed out on this Porsche 356 but now has his eyes on a ‘rally’ Beetle. “My biggest problem is storage,” says Ross. “I have a whole stack of oval Beetle parts so I guess this is the way to go. I’ve always wanted an older 36bhp ‘rally’ Beetle – it’s basic,  but with loads of character.”

Knowing Ross, you just know whatever car he finds, it will be a good ‘un…

Ian