MARION WATSON - Is an artist, who likes to experiment on vehicle designs.

Marion Watson's dream machine is her converted Volkswagen camper van, her competition surfing bus. She is a cherished historic vehicle, that Tim, her husband, and Jimmy, her son have spent hours on restoring and keeping is good condition.

Marion named her VW 'Miss Ocean' after winning a surfing title on summer season, which she could not have done without her trusty mobile wagon, a home that allowed her to relocate from one competition site to another, and still get a good night or rest.

Marion, loved to surf when she was younger. Bude was her favourite haunt. And, Birling gap near Eastbourne. She also love her Volkswagen surfing bus. Built in 1979 and still going strong. Thanks to her husband, Tim's, Welding and mechanical skills, and his devotion to her.

Marion is a keen surfer, and loves to drive her beloved T2 Volkswagen Kombi Camper to the West Country, Cornwall, Devon, the Lake District and Scotland. Her historic VW is looked after by her husband Tim, who enjoys restoring classic vehicles. General Watson is a competent welder and mechanic. Also rebuilding air cooled boxer engines, and servicing his own Jeep Cherokee.

VISION

Picture this if you will: driving in your VW camper, the sun shining, surf board strapped to the roof, the window down, the Mamas and Papas belting out California Dreamin' and the sign for Newquay appearing just on the horizon -heaven! For many, this is what they live for. As the swell builds up in Cornwall, you will see processions of VW campers making their way down there. Assorted colours of vans - orange, blue, green, yellow and the occasional custom painted masterpiece - pass one another on small country roads. Even the most die-hard of cynical motorists can’t suppress a grin!

To meet this market demand for the surfing lifestyle, there has been a growth in VW camper hire, especially in the West Country and elsewhere in the country for weddings. There are specialists in all fields waiting to help restore your old bus or dub, to sell you one or just to hire it out. There are also plenty of small businesses offering replacement pop-top bellows, VW lock repairs, replacement roofs, bespoke curtains and fully designed interiors. Why? Because the VW camper van has a loyal and devoted following. There is something magical and carefree about driving a VW camper van down to the coast to catch a few waves. Parking on a seafront will possibly capture more admiring gazes than your surf style!

As more and more surf wagons propagate the roads, this is a clear indication that this is a growing culture! The West Country welcomes the VW camper and the surfer, they go hand in hand. Unlike larger campers, the saying ‘small is beautiful’ is absolutely spot on when it comes to the V-Dub bus. Fellow motorists tend to forgive the VW camper as it slowly chugs up a 20% hill in Devon or Cornwall. During the summer months the West Country is full of tourists, but it is mainly in the month of September that serious surfers and fans appear. For in September the British National Surf Championships takes place at Fistral beach, Newquay. 

They head down to the surf hunting for that special wave which will set their blood rushing and their heart thumping. There is one particular wave known as the Cribbar or the ‘widow maker’; this wave is found just half a mile offshore from Newquay. Once a year, the sea and weather conditions produce a wave which can reach over 30ft. As Britain’s only legitimate big wave surfing spot, this small Cornish town has taken its place in UK surfing folklore – it may not be Hawaii, but you really can feel that buzz!

I know, I've been there. Camped on the hills. Eaten the full English fry ups in the morning. Sunbathed on the beaches in between surf and finally surfed the waves in a wet suit most of the time - cos it's chilly here in Blighty. We have a lesser venue at Birling Gap near Eastbourne, but the waves are half the size. We do though get more sunshine on average than Cornwall. Yup, that's true - we do. And that pleases Marion. Even Newhaven has its moments, a wind surfing haven, including Seaford Bay.

VW HISTORY

The Volkswagen Type 2, known officially, depending on body type as the Transporter, Kombi and Microbus, and informally as the Bus (US) or Camper (UK), is a panel van introduced in 1950 by German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model – following and initially deriving from Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1 (Beetle), it was given the factory designation Type 2.

As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to forward control competitors in the United States in the 1960s, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Corvan, the latter adopting the Type 2's rear-engine configuration. European competition included the 1960s FF layout Renault Estafette and the FR layout Ford Transit. The FF layout Citroën H Van though, pre-dated the VW by three years. As of January 2010, updated versions of the Type 2 remain in production in international markets— as a passenger van, as a cargo van, and as a pickup truck.

Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the "microbus", "minibus", and, due to its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, "Hippie van".

Autocar magazine has announced the T2 will cease production on December 31 2013, due to the introduction of more stringent safety regulations in Brazil.

The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. (It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production.) Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to Holland, where he saw an improvised parts-mover and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated April 23, 1947, proposing a payload of 690 kg (1,500 lb) and placing the driver at the very front. Production would have to wait, however, as the factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.

When capacity freed up a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 81, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a 25 hp (19 kW) flat four engine.

TYPE TWO T2

In late 1967, the second generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) was introduced. It was built in Germany until 1979. In Mexico, the Volkswagen Combi and Panel were produced from 1970 to 1994. Models before 1971 are often called the T2a (or "Early Bay"), while models after 1972 are called the T2b (or "Late Bay").

This second-generation Type 2 lost its distinctive split front windshield, and was slightly larger and considerably heavier than its predecessor. Its common nicknames are Breadloaf and Bay-window, or Loaf and Bay for short. At 1.6 L and 35 kW (48 PS; 47 bhp) DIN, the engine was also slightly larger. The new model also did away with the swing axle rear suspension and transfer boxes previously used to raise ride height. Instead, half-shaft axles fitted with constant velocity joints raised ride height without the wild changes in camber of the Beetle-based swing axle suspension. The updated Bus transaxle is usually sought after by off-road racers using air-cooled Volkswagen components.

The T2b was introduced by way of gradual change over three years. The first models featured rounded bumpers incorporating a step for use when the door was open (replaced by indented bumpers without steps on later models), front doors that opened to 90° from the body, no lip on the front guards, and crescent air intakes in the D-pillars (later models after the Type 4 engine option was offered, have squared off intakes). They also had unique engine hatches, and up until 1971 front indicators set low on the nose rather than high on either side of the fresh air grille – giving rise to their nickname as "Low Lights". The 1971 Type 2 featured a new, 1.6 L engine with dual intake ports on each cylinder head and was DIN-rated at 37 kW (50 PS; 50 bhp). An important change came with the introduction of front disc brakes and new roadwheels with brake ventilation holes and flatter hubcaps. 1972's most prominent change was a bigger engine compartment to fit the larger 1.7- to 2.0-litre engines from the Volkswagen Type 4, and a redesigned rear end which eliminated the removable rear apron. The air inlets were also enlarged to accommodate the increased cooling air needs of the larger engines.

In 1971 the 1600cc Type 1 engine as used in the Beetle, was supplemented with the 1700cc Type 4 engine – as it was originally designed for the Type 4 (411 and 412) models. European vans kept the option of upright fan Type 1 1600 engine but the 1700 Type 4 became standard for US spec models.

In the Type 2, the Type 4 engine was an option for the 1972 model year onward. This engine was standard in models destined for the US and Canada. Only with the Type 4 engine did an automatic transmission become available for the first time in the 1973 model year. Both engines displaced 1.7 L, DIN-rated at 49 kW (67 PS; 66 bhp) with the manual transmission and 46 kW (63 PS; 62 bhp) with the automatic. The Type 4 engine was enlarged to 1.8 L and 50 kW (68 PS; 67 bhp) DIN for the 1974 model year and again to 2.0 L and 52 kW (71 PS; 70 bhp) DIN for the 1976 model year. The 1978 2.0 L now featured hydraulic valve lifters, eliminating the need to periodically adjust the valve clearances as on earlier models. The 1975 and later U.S. model years received Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection as standard equipment; 1978 was the first year for electronic ignition, utilizing a hall effect sensor and digital controller, eliminating maintenance-requiring contact-breaker points. As with all Transporter engines, the focus in development was not on power, but on low-end torque. The Type 4 engines were considerably more robust and durable than the Type 1 engines, particularly in Transporter service.

The year 1971 also saw exterior revisions including relocated front turn indicators, squared off and set higher in the valance, above the headlights – 1972 saw square-profiled bumpers, which became standard until the end of the T2 in 1979. Crash safety improved with this change due to a compressible structure behind the front bumper. This meant that the T2b was capable of meeting US safety standards for passenger cars of the time, though not required of vans. The "VW" emblem on the front valance became slightly smaller.

Later model changes were primarily mechanical. By 1974, the T2 had gained its final shape. Very late in the T2's design life.

THE BOXER FLAT 4 ENGINE

A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896 by engineer Karl Benz, when patents were worth something, who called it the "contra engine." It should not be confused with the opposed-piston engine, in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends and no cylinder head.

Flat engines offer a low centre of gravity improving stability and control for motorcycles, and reducing body roll in automobiles and also enhancing handling precision such as during a sudden lane-change. Flat engines lend themselves well to aircraft engines.

THE VW BOXER ENGINE

The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods. It was designed by Professor Ferdinand Porsche, for the People's Car, the literal meaning of: Volks-Wagen.

TYPE 1

Variations of the engine were produced by Volkswagen plants worldwide from 1936 until 2006 for use in Volkswagen's own vehicles, notably the Type 1 (Beetle), Type 2 (bus, transporter), Type 3, and Type 4. Additionally, the engines were widely used in industrial, light aircraft and kit car applications.

Like the Volkswagen Beetle, the first Volkswagen Transporters (bus) used the Volkswagen air-cooled engine, a 1.1 litre, DIN-rated 18 kW (24 PS, 24 bhp), air-cooled four-cylinder "boxer" engine mounted in the rear. The 22 kilowatt (29 PS; 29 bhp) version became standard in 1955, while an unusual early version of the engine which developed 25 kilowatts (34 PS; 34 bhp) debuted exclusively on the Volkswagen Type 2 (T1) in 1959. Any examples that retain that early engine today are true survivors - since the 1959 engine was totally discontinued at the outset, no parts were ever made available.

The second-generation Transporter, the Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) employed a slightly larger version of the engine with 1.6 litres and 35 kilowatts (48 PS; 47 bhp).

TYPE 2

A "T2b" Type 2 was introduced by way of gradual change over three years. The 1971 Type 2 featured a new, 1.6-litre engine, now with dual intake ports on each cylinder head, and was DIN-rated at 37 kilowatts (50 PS; 50 bhp).

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