We’ve all seen the cringeworthy TV show ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ and had a laugh at the silly scrapes the groom (usually) find himself in leading up to the big day. Well we suspect customer Dominic Phillpot felt like one of those poor panicked souls the night before his wedding because instead of raising a glass or two with loved ones he was frantically donning overalls and sneaking off to the garage to put the finishing touches to his Beetle…

Okay, we don’t know the precise details but we suspect while Dom’s beautiful bride was having the final adjustments made to her wedding gown he was browsing the VW Heritage website ordering Beetle bits. Indeed, we reckon the telephone order line must have been red hot running up to the wedding day itself seeing as though the Beetle in question would be transporting them to the church!

Anyway, judging by the photos, and despite the inevitable ‘moments’ that serve to test the home mechanic and turn the air blue when bolting a car back together, we have to say it looks like he pulled off a miracle and did a cracking job.

Said Dom: “I couldn’t have done it without help from friends. It was with the painter for nine days and we built it up from a bare shell in just six weeks, including making our own wiring loom from scratch. The car was completed just two days before the wedding and it passed its MoT first time with not even a single advisory!” The only problem, being so low, says Dom, was the car hitting the ramps at the MoT station!

Like the TV show itself and probably real life in general, sadly not everything went exactly to plan. “Once it was all done I ripped off the exhaust so I had to make a quick repair the night before the wedding,” smiles Dom. And we bet that went down well as the rest of the Phillpot household were rallying around trying to get everything ready for the big day ahead!

Nevertheless, just like the TV show, there’s a happy ending to this story too. You’ll be just as relieved as Dom was that the car performed faultlessly on the day and the newly wed couple were able to drive off into the sunset. Okay, Dom probably had a few tools stashed under the bonnet just in case – but that’s between him and us isn’t it…

Ian

The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage