I recently found this forgotten pic of HW1, which was taken a couple of years ago when we went through one weekend to the Bundu off-road terrain near Ventersburg (you pass it after Ventersburg on the N1 heading towards Bloemfontein on your right). In the pic are Mourchelay and Sam who really enjoyed the numerous off-road challenges we tackled! Unfortunately I don't have any other pics of the day.
A few features of HW1 that can be seen from this pic:
- The (illegal) California license plates I had on the buggy most of the time I stayed in Bloem - never had any problems with the cops, but got pulled over, almost arrested and HW1 impounded the very first day I drove with it through George
- The disk on the windscreen is not for the license, but an entrance permit for Vleesbaai near Mossel Bay, where I spent the previous December holiday. The license disk were, with the correct license plates, under the drivers seat
- The bumper in the pic that was on HW1 at the time was taken off a few months before the accident, and replaced with a small chrome bumper. I still have the original HW1 bumper against my garage wall, it came off the Oval Baja I got from IMPI a few years ago
- The spot lights that were on the bumper were also taken off, and ended up on Pepi's (Forum Member Pepsicola) daughter's Beetle, till this very day
- The front beam was the original one HW1 was built with by the previous owner in '71 - I don't know if it also came off an Oval, but it had different, smaller bolts on the top shock absorber mounting points. The original A-frame brackets can also be seen in the pic. I later replaced this beam with an adjustable one which had the bump stops cut off - Merlin can tell an interesting story about being in a buggy with the suspension dropped too low
- The 'Talbot' style bullet mirror was another Piston Ring find (the seller said it came off a Capri Perana - yeah, right) and looked very nice on HW1. Unfortunately it only gave you a clear view of the tread of the right rear tyre...
- The plastic chrome wings on the wipers? Don't ask...
- The steering wheel in the pic was later changed for a 'wooden look' 3-spoke - I think the original one ended up with Eddyr?
- The padding over the roll bar was placed there the previous night to protect the passengers during off-roading, and they proved quite useful on the day
- HW1 had the same lowback seats as HW2 is getting, which H_R doesn't like
- The Hot Wheels sticker on the bonnet was the first version. It was scanned from a real Hot Wheels model card and printed on sticker vinyl, but it came out too light, and I replaced it with another Hot wheels sticker with cut yellow letters on a red background shortly after the pic was taken
- The Beetle in the background belonged to Sami - it was later given Herbie decals by Volksieshop, and then sold. I saw it again a few months later in the streets of Maseru
RIP HW1 1971 - 2007
Well done!
)
