Taking 8 months off work and travelling round Europe in your camper might seem like a dream to many; we caught up with VW Heritage team member Ben Pascoe, who’s living that very dream. Over to him, to explain more.
After twelve years of working for VW Heritage and twenty years in total working in the parts industry it was time for a break and when that break was offered I took it!
I decided I’d like to see a bit more of Europe and what better way than in a ’69 VW bus? So with my life packed up in boxes and sitting on a shelf somewhere in the new warehouse ( I hope), a health check for the bus by Autotechniks and an emotional goodbye to friends and family at the new warehouse, I was on my way, first stop; The Hot Rod Show in Belgium. A good weekend of sampling Chimay, in Chimay with mates before making my way to Le Mans for the classic race weekend, via Paris and various campsites along the way.
I caught up with friends from as far away as Norway at Le Mans, and staying trackside watching and hearing GT cars from yesteryear blasting past day and night it was heaven!
Now, the plan for my roadtrip was I had to be in certain places on certain dates and everything in between was to be made up along the way! I was due back at Le Mans in 2 weeks after the classic meet for the Super VW Nationals, and this was the first time the ‘no agenda’ agenda hit. The lack of organisation struck me, and it was my first opportunity to style it out!
I needed some coast in my life so I headed west to the island of Normutier for my first real spate of R&R. Before I left I was a bit of a workaholic, and I thought it was going to take me a while to switch off, but the brilliant sunsets coupled with great wine and seafood soon had me unwinding.
I got back to Le Mans in time to check out the French VW scene; I’ve been to many Belgian and German shows before but this was the first French show, and it didn’t disappoint.The Super VW Nationals marked the end of my first month of living in a 1.5 x 4 metre space, and being a tin top bus, cabin fever had set in. With a week to go to the French VW Bus Meet in Fley I decided a hotel was in order. Just one night in a hotel, a haircut and a good meal and I was ready for anything!
Fley saw another influx of friends on my trip, and Pascal from Serial Kombi was the perfect host, even taking me for a spin in the Wind Split (Pascal’s high top 12 second drag bus that defies all the laws of physics). With great entertainment, food stalls and over 1200 buses in attendance, the bus meet is a highly recommended meet to go to, right in the middle of wine country!
With Fley out of the way, I discovered that some very good friends were on holiday near St Tropez (thanks to the power of Facebook) making my next stop an obvious choice. With it being August,and the coast being a popular holiday destination, camp sites were at a premium (€65 a night) and even then they were all fully booked. Luckily I found one just off the main strip, but with my limited French and the owners limited English, he found a stick and drew the price in the sand!
St Tropez was a real eye opener and a sort of escape from reality, I recommend a trip to the port to see some disgustingly expensive boats, boutiques and maybe the odd celeb too!
After consulting my trusty lonely planet guide I took the coast road through Nice and Cannes along to Monaco; but as I’ve discovered so many times on my trip, there’s not many parking spaces available beach side for a bus, and before I knew it I was on the other side of Monaco, and heading to Italy.
This was my first time in Italy and what can I say but spectacular. I spent a few days travelling along the west coast stopping off at camp sites in Genoa and Cinque Terra on my way to Livorno to visit Enrico from Cantone Ricambi. He has been a customer of the company for many years and speaks very good English. I spent a few days here and Enrico kindly let me use his workshop to change my oil as I’d covered about 2,500 miles since the last one. I also spent some time with his family, in fact that family has since grown by one more, as Francesco and his wife were expecting their first child a few days after I left. Congratulations guys!
With some fresh oil in the bus I travelled inland to Pisa. In a country covered in ancient ruins, vineyards and olive groves it would’ve been very easy to spend my whole time sightseeing, so I decided to pick the most famous landmark (to me) as featured in Superman, my pyjamas and wallpaper (aged 5)!
Another week of my trip was spent in the hills of Chianti and the spectacular town of Siena before heading to some ‘petrol head’ sightseeing, further north in the Bologna region. Two major supercar manufacturers both have very impressive museums, Lamborghini being the more refined of the two, Ferrari was a bit of a Disneyland experience, both having suitably expensive gift shops!
Heading further north, I spent a few days camped on the edge of lake Garda, which was breathtaking by day and even more impressive during a lightning storm at night.
On to another weekend with friends, I met up with Pascal and his team again for The Hills Race at the Rivanazzano raceway in Pavia to watch him put the Wind Split through its paces. That ticked another track off of the Drag Racing bucket list!
With my time in Italy coming to an end, I spent a few days at lake Como before heading back south to get the ferry from Genoa to Barcelona, one of my planned events was imminent. After 18 hours on the ferry, I headed down the coast to Tarragona for a few days before heading inland to Motorland in Alcaniz, Aragon for the MotoGP. I bought the ticket for the race back in March on the day they were released, there was no way I was going to miss this one, and with one of the longest straights on the GP calendar, I knew I had to have a grandstand seat right at the very end of it. Watching Marquez and Rossi qualifying and racing for 3 days was a dream come true.
The Monday morning after the race saw me driving 250 miles to Madrid. I had arranged to meet my Mum at her best friends house in the capital, almost 3 months to the day after I left. A good few days were spent catching up and taking advantage of a few home comforts in my ‘care package’ (FHM, Nakd bars & original source mint shower gel!)
After dropping Mum at Madrid airport and not really having any plans for a month or so, I thought I’d surprise my good friend and customer, Luis Linares at Volkstuning in Estepona on the south coast. I left the airport at 12.30 and took a leisurely 8 hour/ 600km drive down there!
I have quite a few friends in this part of Spain as I come over here on holiday a few times a year. I have spent the past month in this area attending various car meets including the classic meet at Jerez racetrack.
All in all, so far, it has been a trip of a lifetime for me, and I wouldn’t change any part of it. The bus has behaved for about 6,000 miles so far and sits happily at 60-70 mph on the motorway due to the engine and gearbox combination.
If you’re planning a roadtrip I’d recommend plenty of spares. My philosophy is”if you have it, you won’t need it!” I’ve been carrying spare fuel pumps, cables, fan belts and a clutch and not needed any of them; I’ve even got a can of fuel I’ve been carrying since Calais!
So what does the next few months have in store?
I went to La Herredura for a VW show the other weekend, it has one of the only beaches on the Costa that you can drive and park directly on. Then I’m flying to the UK for 2 weeks over Christmas, and in the new year I’ll start making my way to Portugal.
Then finally off to northern Spain to see if I can get a sponsorship deal from a vineyard in the Rioja region before thinking about making my way back home!
Van spec 69 bay window deluxe, original paint, US import – modifications by Kev Donlon, Creative Engineering weed eater beam, Custom wide 5 front disc brakes
Motor 2109cc type 1 engine, Engle 120 cam, Low Bugget 044 heads 40 x 35.5 valves with match ported manifolds, Full flow oil system with 72 row oil cooler & air scoop, Twin 44 IDF Weber carburettors & stock fuel pump, 55 amp alternator, Split charging system, DAUS fire extinguisher, CSP single quiet pack exhaust
Gearbox 002 case, 4.57 ring & pinion, Standard 1st – 3rd gears, 0.82 4th (20mph per 1000rpm in 4th)
Wheels BBT Sprintstars 5.5″ all round Fronts are ET34 fitted with 175/55 bridgestone potenzas, Rears are ET25 fitted with 195/65 bridgestone potenzas
Interior Re-upholstered stock seats and panels with a rock & roll bed in the back, Steering wheel is either from a 60’s mustang or corvette, modified by mark at Flatlands Engineering to fit a grant boss, CSP shifter, Autometer oil pressure,temperature gauges along with a monster tacho
Ben
The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of VW Heritage