I set myself a challenge, 'chose one car that sums up the great things about the UK scene', it was pretty difficult to be honest, the Uk has turned out all sorts of great cars in the field of hot rods, racers, street machines, VW, Ford, you get the idea... But if there is one car that to me sums up what is great about the UK for modified cars, then that car is Billabug.
Let me set the stage, it is 1989, the UK is enjoying the second summer of love, pastel shades are the palette, rave music the sound track. The UK VW scene is enjoying a lot of activity, many fantastic cars and characters are making their way through it, the big event to be at in the UK is Bug Jam, now in its third year and really hitting it's stride. Over at the workshops of Thump Thump they are hatching a legend, not that they knew this at the time, particularly as it was only just over seven weeks till the show, and they had no car.
Thump Thump had recently started up as a workshop, the joint venture of Jay Townsend and Gary Constable, so showing something great at Bug Jam was a must. Rumour has it Billabug is the result of a bet, but that will forever remain rumour we suspect. What we do know is that it took five weeks to make and it really was a statement of intent from the Thump Thump guys as to the quality and innovation they would produce.
A quick run down of the modifications; Body work has been deseamed and swage lines smoothed, the engine cover has been similarly smoothed. The B pillar has been removed making a pillarless Beetle. To go with the smooth look the handles have all been removed (the suicide doors in one of these photos are a later addition). The interior is decked out in Billabong pattern fabric, the dashboard is smoothed and steering wheel colour coded to the body and wheels. Wheels are painted standard steels. The engine has smoothed tinware and just about everything hidden, carb, coil, fuel pump, the lot, it looks like it is running on magic alone.
Beyond the headline modifications the car has a great attention to detail that makes sure the theme and style is carried through to every part.
So why is it my car that sums up great things about the UK scene?
Firstly the innovation, the car is mind blowing, even now if we'd not seen the likes of Billabug and it rolled into a show fresh, it would turn heads and create a stir, we in the UK can still do this, we have a spirit that stops us boxing ourselves in, a willingness to try something different.
Secondly the speed of turnaround of these ideas, a five week build shows the dedication of the people behind it and the mastery of craft that allows this to happen, the UK has a great engineering heritage and a determination to produce cool cars.
Thirdly, the quality, whilst a lot of cars from that time have fallen apart as it become obvious they were stuck together with chicken wire and plaster, Billabug has survived the abuse it has received and made it back out onto the show ground, we like to build cars that last here.
Finally it shows that truly great cars are more than just slapping some wheels on and chopping some springs, they possess all the traits that Billabug has, they are hard work, they are high quality, they are innovative, and for a small country the UK has turned out more than its fair share of them. Something we will continue to do with our thriving Retro Scene.
You can read more about Thump Thump and their other cars on the Thump Thump website. It is also worth checking out B289 website for some more period cars from the VW scene.
Subscribe