One of the most well-known is Barry, a Volkswagen T2 Westfalia Camper owned by longtime SGMW member Stu Bird. In addition to frequent appearances at group gatherings, this vintage VW was voted as the ‘Best Members Car’ at our 2023 Heritage Day, demonstrating its popularity among SGMW members.

Now, in Stu’s own words, here’s everything you need to know about Barry.

When did you get your car, and why did you choose it?

Way back in 2008 I picked up Barry during my finals at uni. I said I was going to fail and having put my council tax money aside (full-time education makes you exempt) I went out shopping. I looked at several, all in the wrong colours. I wanted green. I didn’t want yellow. 3 I looked at were yellow. None were green.

He was found at an importer near Milton Keynes. Being a California import, I stood a better chance at not having to learn welding when I should be learning nursing. He didn’t run well but was solid. A deal was done and the next week he rolled off the low-loader.   

Barry is a Westfalia Campmobile. In Europe that means Berlin. Because most Americans don’t know there are other countries outside of the US of A, the town of Germany was going to be lost. So instead the heavily Christian country was to call it Campmobile. 

The Berlin interior had almost everything. Good sized kitchen that is better than the current offerings from VW, and a pop-top. Upright cocktail mixing is so much better when one isn’t bent over, unless, well that’s a different story for a different publication.  Another reason for choosing a bus from the States was engine size. There was more chance of finding one with the bigger 2 litre type 4 engine from the Porsche 914 in it.

Happiest memory of driving your car, and where?

This has to be at the start of 2013 when, after a year of continual breakdowns in 2012, Barry didn’t break down. Intermittent faults are the worst to find and I could have quite easily pushed this thing off a cliff and denied all responsibility for doing it. That said, we got there. And back. 

What’s the best and worst things about owning your car?

The worst thing is the people you meet along the way. The stories they tell you about a trip they took etc are the exception. But you get these people at shows who go on and on about renting out your van. I’ll admit, these are expensive vehicles and out of reach to many pockets. In today’s market, I don’t think l would spend the £23k a good one commands. Anyway, I once made a couple make a hasty retreat. After being bored with their constant badgering about renting out my Bus I replied “I’ve entertained men on that bed!” I never did see them again.

The best thing about owning a classic VW are the friends you make. Through this I’ve met Dave who has become my best mate of 15 years. Through his outright straight masculinity, he manages to keep me a bit grounded. Whenever I’ve had a bad day, he’ll be the first I turn to. 

If you had to give your car a review rating, how many stars from five would you give it?

3 stars. These are old vehicles and expensive in every direction of ownership. As much as I’d like to say 5, the owning experience of driving, maintaining and running costs are not for the fainthearted who buy these on a whim of romance and scented summer nights. They are a pain in the arse that require pampering and mechanical knowhow.

Do agree with the Autocar verdict on the T2?

In Autocar’s Volkswagen T2 buying guide, they were less than kind about the T2 stating “So it struggles to get up to speed, and once you’re there, it struggles to come back down again. Is its redeeming feature its handling, then? Unfortunately not. It’s tall, and with this comes a high centre of gravity.”

Do I agree with this? No I do not. I’ve driven many T2’s and each one is different. However, a well sorted one will not leave you with this stereotypical impression. That’s just lazy journalism. 

Admittedly the 1600 is slow but you have to change your mindset no matter what VW Bus you drive. There is something quite lush about keeping the speed to 50-60 on the motorway. The gearing in my 2 litre does enable it to move off the line sharpish. Must to the aggression of other drivers.

I’ve never arrived at a destination frazzled. And the brakes are pretty good with or without a servo. As for its handling, I was once able to amaze new cars editor Alan Taylor-Jones from CAR with Barry’s handling ability. I think if CAR magazine wrote that, he’d correct that.  

What’s the best or worst thing someone has said about your car?

Someone in a Tesco got very animated about my Bus. They then asked what its name was. When I told them Barry they looked perplexed and said “Oh no. It should be a girls name” My Bus is all spotlights and spoilers. It’s far from a girly van. The bunting inside sets a scene, it must be said. So I replied “He’s not a Trans-It. He’s been called that for 13 years now. I’m hardly going to change it now!”

He also gets called orange. The colour is Chrome yellow. Code L20A. Something I had to educate head VW PR Mike Orford at a recent VW media event.

The post SGMW member’s cars: Barry the Volkswagen T2 Westfalia Campmobile appeared first on Southern Group of Motoring Writers.

Sue, who was a pioneering force in motoring journalism, a long-standing SGMW member and former chairman, passed away in November 2022 after bravely battling Motor Neurone Disease.

To celebrate Sue’s contribution to the world of motoring and the SGMW, members agreed that this year’s annual karting event would take place in her honour, renaming it the SGMW Sue Baker Memorial Karting Grand Prix with the Motor Neurone Disease Association as its nominated charity.

Fifteen teams entered – with last year’s winners Gazoo Racing competing against BMW, Genesis, Honda, Ineos/PFPR, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Newspress/Loop, Nobull, Porsche, SMMT, Toyota, Volkswagen – along with the Southern group team entry, Volvo by SGMW.

From the moment the lights went out, every one of the teams dug deep with some very committed racing.

The early pacesetter was the Porsche team, trailed by SGMW by Volvo in second and Gazoo Racing in third. In the early stages, the SGMW’s own Sean Ward set the pace with a fastest lap time of 49.868 seconds.

After nearly 50 laps, Nobull had broken into the top three only a couple of seconds behind SGMW by Volvo by SGMW in second place, while the Porsche team was showing strong pace in first place, quickly establishing a lead of nearly 12 seconds.

Soon after, Nobull battled into first place – with Porsche, Gazoo Racing and SGMW by Volvo regularly swapping places to make up the top four – with all showing strong pace to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

By the end of the two-and-a-half-hour race though, the Porsche team claimed victory with a brilliant fightback to complete 161 laps by the chequered flag and take the coveted SGMW Karting GP Trophy.

In second place, Gazoo Racing finished only 14.3 seconds behind the winner. It completed the same number of laps, while the Volvo by SGMW team took a well-deserved third place completing 159 laps.

All of the top three teams set the pace throughout the race with only a few tenths of a second separating them for the quickest lap of the day.

Overall winners Porsche recorded a time of 47.989 seconds, with second place Gazoo Racing just ahead with a time of 47.704.

Both were denied the bragging rights by SGMW by Volvo driver Sean Ward, who set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 47.648 seconds in the final stint of the race.

The race finished with SGMW treasurer Chris Manning handing over a cheque for £4,850 to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).

SGMW chairman Ian Robertson said: “A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in organising the karting event.

“But, more importantly, thanks so much to everyone that supports the event, donates the money, participates in racing and who helped us to raise a whopping £4,850 for Motor Neurone Disease in memory of our dear friend and colleague, Sue Baker.

“Since we started the annual charity karting event, we have now raised more than £30,000. It’s thanks to our colleagues in the industry that this has been made possible.

“As chairman of the Southern Group of Motoring Writers, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

The top picture shows Stuart Bird, a leading light of the SGMW karting organising team, and Sarah Armstrong, MND Association south east regional fund-raiser, with the £4,850 cheque and other SGMW members.

To learn more about the MNDA’s fantastic work visit www.mndassociation.org

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Our fifth Heritage Day, again staged at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire, was enjoyed by 25 SGMW members, a record number representing three-quarters of our total membership.

They were joined at this popular blast from the past by 17 PRs, from seven manufacturers, while another four brands sent cars, both heritage and modern models, for SGMW members to drive.

SGMW secretary and Heritage Day organiser Chris Rees said: “The response was overwhelmingly positive at the end of the day.

“People didn’t want to go and they were just glowing about our Heritage Day. People also stayed and visited the motor museum.”

Every single car supplied by manufacturers for the event was driven while some SGMW members added to the heritage haul by bringing their cherished classic cars.

At the end of the day everyone voted for their champion cars – the Car of the Day brought by manufacturers and best car belonging to an SGMW member.

Manufacturers Car of the Day was a two-horse race between the current Porsche Cayman GT4 and 1993 Ford Escort RS Cosworth with the former winning by a single vote.

Stuart Bird’s characterful SEAT Terra van was the runaway SGMW winner.

The full range of manufacturers’ cars driven were:

• BMW 1 Series M Coupe.
• Citroen’s new C5X executive crossover.
• Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Mustang Mach 1 and Mustang Mach-E.
• Genesis GV60 SUVs.
• Honda HR-V SUV.
• Kia Stinger 3.3 V6 GT-S and original Soul EV.
• Lexus IS F and NX HEV SUV.
• Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 and Cayenne Turbo GT.
• Skoda Fabia vRS Mark 1.
• Toyota Yaris Mark 1 and MR2 TF 300 Roadster.
• Volkswagen Polo GTI.

A big thank you to all the manufacturers and SGMW members who supplied cars and made the event such a success.

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