Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon visited the VW factory on Wednesday, 23 April 1947, when it was still controlled by the British Occupational Forces under the command of Major Ivan Hirst, a British Army officer and engineer assigned to rebuild Volkswagen after the war. Pon wanted to talk about importing Volkswagens into the Netherlands, but it was a special day because he did something else. He took out his notebook and drew an oblong transport vehicle. It was basically no more than a soapbox on wheels, with the cab in front, and in the back, the engine.

How his conversation ended, nobody knows. But one thing is for sure, in 1947 his idea was revolutionary. It was brilliantly simple a large cargo space in a small area. According to Pon’s calculations, the vehicle would weigh in at just 750 kilos and be capable of carrying cargo in excess of 750 kilos as well. He based his design on the Plattenwagen, a primitive vehicle which looks like a pushbike with a moped engine, designed by the Volkswagen engineers for internal factory transportation at the Volkswagen plant. Like the Plattenwagen, his design had to be built on the chassis of a Beetle.

SPLITTY
The first generation of Volkswagen buses, the Type 2 — often referred to as split-window buses, the split-screen,microbus, or the ‘Splitty’ — were built between 1949 and 1967. This second vehicle line introduced by Volkswagen, after the iconic Beetle, is generally considered to be the forerunner of modern van. Split-screen vans came in many guises, as a panel, kombi, standard, deluxe, ambulance, fire truck, single and double cab, walk-through, and double door versions, during an 18-year production period. Split-screen models are recognisable for the sweeping V-line front and a large VW emblem. They also boasted generous interior space, about 4.8 cubic metres, which made them ideal for tradespeople and for carrying passengers.

The engine was courtesy of the Beetle, but the Splitty boasted unitary construction supported by a ladder frame. It consisted of two longitudinal parallel girders or beams upon which the suspension, engine, and transmission are mounted, instead of on the central frame platform. The payload was roughly 750kg, and the torsional rigidity inherent in the design ensures that the handling, although not brilliant, is adequate, which explains their usefulness as transporters. The engine had a cubic capacity of just over 1100cc, with an output of 18kW at 3300rpm.

Five decades on, this old-school icon from the 1960s — the era of the Beatles, Woodstock, love, peace, and all things free — built its own sub-culture associated with road trips, surfing, safaris, and endless summer. Given those associations with youth and innocence, the hippiemobile, hippie bus, hippie van, call it what you will, is as popular as ever, whether you actually experienced that kind of carefree VW- powered wandering back then or not. This friendly and fun-loving van with its bubbly engine note bustles its way into everyone’s affections with as much personality as a floppy family dog.

While the second-generation models are almost as revered, the original Splitties are now rare and highly prized collector’s items all over the globe. Whatever nickname you give it, the Kombi reigns supreme over its segment and has set itself into history for good.

KOMBINED HOLIDAYS
We recently caught up with VW enthusiast Steve Fejos, son of Hungarian parents who arrived in New Zealand as refugees after the ’56 uprising. Being European, Steve was naturally attracted to European cars, especially the more affordable VWs. “We must have owned at least 20 Kombis and Beetles over the years,” says Steve. “My father was a handyman and was always doing things buying, selling, and doing work and repairs at his property, so the Kombi was the ideal workhorse he needed.” As a young boy, under 10 years of age, Steve always liked to tag along with his father. Kombis in the 1960s and 1970s were usually rust buckets, but that didn’t deter his father from buying one every year and spending the winter months ‘doing it up’. “My father’s method of restoration usually included a few tin sheets, plenty of body filler, and a quick coat of paint, done in the driveway, ready for the family Christmas adventure to Taupo, Rotorua, and Auckland, departing every year on Boxing Day,” says Steve.

These definitely were far more basic than salubrious campers with all modcons you see travelling the country today. Many had nothing more than mattress tightly squeezed onto a home-built base as the family explored various camp sites around the North Island. Upon their return home, the Kombi was sold, and each year the process began again. “I have incredibly fond memories of working with my dad. We learnt everything about Kombis and the motors. We could pull out a motor in 30 minutes as teenagers, plus we naturally had all the gear and specialised tools, not that there was much needed,” says Steve.

THE ONE
Steve has dreamt of owning his own classic Kombi, but for many years it was never the right time or not the right van. Steve instantly knew he’d found the right Kombi when he discovered this much-loved example in Gisborne. It had been owned by the same couple for almost 40 years. They also had an album full of lasting memories of many years of camping holidays with their kids. The Kombi also came with an added bonus, which clinched the deal for Steve. It was not only the last German-assembled, right-hand drive, split-window built-in 1967, but it was also a rare factory ‘walk through’. These models had a single passenger and driver seat, allowing you to walk through to the rear.

With the deal done, Steve was excited to pick up his new pride and joy the following morning. “As I hit the motorway, it blew a spark plug — it had de-threaded. I had never seen or heard of that happening before. I limped the van to Thorndon. I had to have it trucked home to Johnsonville — to be greeted with applause by my neighbours and friends,” says Steve.

Steve would like to say a special thanks to the team at The Surgery, including Maurice Lindsay, the mechanic responsible for the engine work, and Lance Parker of Rotary Motor Trimmers who made six attempts at fitting the ceiling until it was perfect. He also imported the material for the seat cushions from Australia to have it as close to the original cushions as possible and replaced with the piping, etc, to have the absolute original look.

SURGICAL PROCEDURE
The first call Steve made was to renowned restoration specialist John Galvin at The Surgery. “I was so pleased we have such expertise based here in Wellington,” says Steve. Within a couple of weeks, it was another trip on the back of a tow truck to The Surgery for an analysis. “With the expertise on hand from the team at The Surgery we made some very logical decisions to ensure we had a reliable vehicle. We ended up fitting a complete new 1500cc motor built to original specifications.” This wasn’t exactly spoiling its originality, as the original motor had been changed out 25 years ago. The only upgrade was electronic ignition and a stainless steel exhaust. The gearbox had a whine, so that too was completely rebuilt to original specifications. While the running gear was out, the petrol tank was also removed, flushed, and repainted in original colours, and the motor housing area was sandblasted and repainted. Everything mechanical was restored and reconditioned. The original kingpins that were also replaced, and a reconditioned steering box fitted.

“Where possible, everything has been kept original and the temptation to modernise resisted. We even still have the drum brakes, which work absolutely fine,” says Steve. He had wanted to repaint the Kombi red and white, but a work progressed he realised this was perhaps the most original Kombi still running and thought a colour change back to its original Velvet Green and Pearl White scheme was more appropriate. All the brightwork was refurbished, plus a few modern chrome accessories were ordered and fitted. “The van has always been registered and has retained the original black plates, which to me added value and originality,” says Steve.

The van retains the original badges, cabinets, and hinges, and it even has the original clothes hangers for the wardrobe, which are held in place with the original wooden dowels. Steve repaired and restored the cabinetry (during lockdown). The ceiling has been relined in new, original-style VW material, and the upholstery fabric for
the seats was imported from Australia. “We have endeavoured to add some modern luxuries to the camping
experience, including a drive-in tent with fully closable sides — we do have the original awning but prefer the much larger option — and our camping table comes complete with our Nespresso machine. The original gas stove still works and is intact and even came with the original refillable gas bottle,” says Steve.

Now as a grandparent — and as a tribute to his late father — Steve and his wife Denise are now sharing that same camping experience with their grandkids for a Kombined experience.

During the 1940s, Ford battled financial issues but fought back with several successful new products. Although the decade will always be remembered as ‘The War Years’, Ford produced some vehicles outside of its war effort that are still very much sought after by enthusiasts today.

In January 1948, a new era began at the Ford Motor Company with the release of a new range of trucks. Ford promoted this range as the ‘Bonus Built Line’. It featured an extensive range of models with different cab and chassis combinations starting out with the light-duty half-ton-rated F-1 pickup trucks through to the extra heavy-duty, three-ton-rated F-8.

The fresh new look of the F-series line-up was met with a positive response from the buying public. The squared-off front guards wrapped smoothly into the front fascia, which contained a prominent horizontal-
bar grille. Rear guards were styled to match the profile of the fronts, plus for the first time, a one-piece windscreen to tie it all together into one very handsome truck.

For 1949, the truck line was not affected. All trucks shared the same corporate face of the 1948 redesign, regardless of chassis set-up or weight class so they could easily be identified as a Ford.

THE PERFECT CHOICE

On 28 October 1998, Frank Gibson purchased this 1948 Ford Bonus pickup truck for approximately $12K from someone nearby in Paraparaumu. After some initial maintenance work, it was warranted four months later.

Frank was no stranger to working on anything mechanical. He’d
been interested in metalwork and engineering from the age of 11, building and making things for his three younger brothers.

Motorbikes became Frank’s passion during his teenage years. He spent most of his free time either working on his bike, or fixing bikes for other people. Frank was also the first person in Hull, Yorkshire (his birthplace) to import chopper parts from the US and soon found himself fitting them for his customers.

On long rides with his biker ‘gang’, Frank rode at the back to ensure that no one was left behind and to lend a hand for any mechanicals at the side of the road. He was the ‘Guy Martin’ of Hull.

Given his passion for all things mechanical from an early age, Frank’s career was hardly surprising. After leaving school at 16, he worked as a mechanic for several different garages before ending up at British Gas, eventually becoming the foreman.

NEW ZEALAND BOUND

After being inspired by a holiday to New Zealand to visit his sister-in-law, Frank moved to New Zealand in 1995 with his wife Sue and son, Luke, eventually settling in Pukerua Bay.

With the family settled into Kiwi life, Frank worked as a diesel mechanic and enjoyed fishing, rugby league, and working on his Ford Bonus.

Likewise, his Ford has also had a long working life. This was evident when stripping the truck — two spanners were found welded to the bonnet, used as a quick fix to reinforce it at some stage.

Frank also used the Bonus regularly to help out the community, family, and friends when possible. Whether delivering loads of firewood for people, driving around the community and picking up donations for the local school gala, or driving kids around at the beach on summer days, the truck was a constant presence in the community, and Frank wasn’t afraid to get it on the road and dirty.

Frank had a passion for constantly wanting to improve things, and the truck was no different. He took the truck off the road in late 1999 for an engine and gearbox conversion that took about a year, doing the lion’s share of the work himself, only enlisting aid when required. Five years later the truck was off the road again, and then again in 2008 when Frank decided to do a full restoration, hoping to have it ready in time for his retirement.

FRANK’S RECOMMENDATION

Unfortunately, life never goes as planned, and Frank’s wife was diagnosed with cancer in early 2015, sadly passing away in 2017.

Frank still continued to work on the truck throughout this time but, as one would expect, it was no longer at the forefront of his mind. The truck was in pieces in the garage, while Frank worked on what he loved best — the engine.

Sadly, Frank himself was diagnosed with cancer early in 2018 and passed away in November of that same year. Prior to his passing, Frank finished
the chassis and fitted new suspension components. With the help of his brother-in-law and nephew, he was also able to install the rebuilt engine and run it in.

Several weeks before passing away, at Frank’s recommendation, his son Luke contacted The Surgery in Porirua to pick up where Frank had left off — to help realize Frank’s dream of getting the truck fully rebuilt, back on the road, and on its way to Beach Hop.

SURGICAL TEAM

In response to Luke’s inquiry, John Galvin and Mike Baucke traveled to Frank’s home to inspect and photograph the proposed restoration project and started to put a project plan together. The brief from the family was quite clear: the truck was to be restored back to how Frank had it rather than back to factory original specification. Luke had also indicated to John and Mike that his father’s dream had been to get it ready for Beach Hop in March for his last ride. This left just over four months to get the job done, which was tight, to say the least, but a challenge that the team at The Surgery was keen to be a part of.

As the timeline was tight, John and Mike quickly compiled a project plan, and together with initial project estimates and options, this was sent to the family. The next day, they got The Surgery team together to discuss how to handle the project with such a tight timeframe.

NO TIME TO WASTE

With all the formalities taken care of, the truck was delivered to The Surgery workshop. The last major work that Frank had completed was the restoration of the chassis and running gear, which had been finished to a high standard. The rest of the truck was completely disassembled, a job that Frank had started and worked on until he became too ill.

Using a combination of sandblasting and acid-dip stripping, all the panel work and fittings were taken back to bare steel. From this point, the team at The Surgery knew exactly what it was dealing with. Like most commercial vehicles of its age, the Ford had been a trusted workhorse for most of its life and had taken a fair share of knocks and abuse in the course of earning
its keep.

As with most restorations, the team had hoped for better news due to the tight deadline. Unfortunately, almost every panel had some level of rust
that required repairs and, due to the extent of old repairs and previous rust work, it almost doubled the metalwork needed that was initially assessed before being stripped. All panels were bare-metal treated and then coated with epoxy etch primer, leaving the old repairs and rusted sections free to be replaced. Where it was cost-effective to manufacture new panels in house, this was done, otherwise, new repair panels were ordered in for the metalwork to commence.

SAD NEWS

By this time the unfortunate news that Frank Gibson had passed away was relayed to the team at The Surgery. As a group of passionate automotive people, they were saddened to hear it, passing their sympathy to the family. This news only spurred the team on though, with the goal of Beach Hop in sight.

Every panel on the truck required repair work of some type — a complete new wellside tray, for example, was manufactured due to the poor condition of the original. The existing original Ford rear fenders were repaired and re-used to keep to the style and look that Frank had created many years before.

After the completion of all metalwork, a full reassembly and test-fit of the cab, tray, and all other panels took place. This was the first time in many years that the family had seen the truck looking like a truck again, and it gave everyone a much-needed boost.

FULL STEAM AHEAD

While all of the metalwork was taking place, the steering, brake pedals, door mechanisms, and many other items were overhauled ready for installation. The same went for the chrome work and fittings, which had been metal finished, repaired, and then sent off for chrome plating.

The body filling, finishing, and straightening started immediately after the metalwork was completed, with little time to spare. Due to the deadline, the team operated a segmented overlapping system to approve areas that had been filled, finished, and straightened so that they could go to paint before the rest of the vehicle.

Beach Hop was looming, so it was all hands on deck to ensure that the quality of finish remained high — the family wanted the end result to be show-stopping. Filling, finishing, and straightening was happening all at the same time as paint, with panels being signed off and passed over.

The Surgery paint shop team moved into top gear at this point and prepped, etched, surfaced, and undercoated everything. Next, the cab and tray were again removed from the chassis ready for paint. Things went back to basics from there, with every panel being carefully hand-block sanded and detailed to ensure a perfect surface for the application of the PPG Envirobase waterborne metallic blue/black base colour. After the base colour was applied, the final high-solids clear coat was laid on and then baked to a deep gloss finish.

COUNTDOWN

At this point, there was only 10 days until Beach Hop. The entire team at The Surgery wanted to hit the deadline to honour Frank and his family and
the pace was intense but this continued speed was accompanied by increased risks. It was becoming clear that there was too much work to do to hit the deadline — no one wanted to pull back

the pace, but no one wanted to see any issues or mistakes being made either. This was discussed with Luke, and all agreed to dial things back a little. Luke indicated that he was still keen to get the truck to Beach Hop, if not this year, then the next.

Paint continued to flow on the bonnet, front and rear guards, and any remaining small parts. As the family wanted that old-school, very deep gloss, all of the paintwork was then hand sanded with 2000 grit and then machine and hand-polished to a perfect glass-like finish.

By the time all the panels were finished and the truck was ready to
be fully assembled, they’d missed Beach Hop. Spirits were positive, though, as the family was really happy with how the truck and its new paint job were looking. Reassembly began at a slower pace, and by early May the Bonus was being road tested. A couple of mechanical issues reared their heads

during the testing phase, some of which only Frank would have known about. The Surgery worked through these issues and got the truck running like a dream. In total, the team at spent 1370 hours restoring Franks truck to its former glory.

FORCED LOCKDOWN

The story of Frank’s Ford and the
road to Beach Hop does not end
there. After the truck was finished, Luke moved to the UK for work. The Bonus went into storage with the team at The Surgery, waiting for Luke to return for Beach Hop 2020. Little did any of us know what was in store for New Zealand and the rest of the world at that time. The Covid-19 pandemic swept across the world at the start of 2020, forcing many countries to go into lockdown. New Zealand was one of the first to close its borders while calling for all public events to be canceled, including Beach Hop, which has since been rescheduled for November. As the months move on and international travel has ground to a halt, Luke has had to remain unsure of his plans for Beach Hop 2020. The drive to honour Frank Gibson might just have to wait until 2021. 