Into The Blue

When his previous Bus turned out to be a bit of a pup, Kevin Porter decided to throw himself into the deep end and restore this Brilliant Blue Deluxe himself

- Gordie Woollacott

If it were possible to transmit a sort of gracious silence via the medium of written word, then now would be the time to send it. Kevin Porter’s ’69 Deluxe is a thing of beauty and deserves a moment of quiet contemplation to drink in the glory of a vintage VW. The one-year-only Brilliant Blue is the paint department’s finest hour. It plays with light in ways no other original VW colour does. Introduce some sun and you’re instantly clued up as to where the Brilliant comes from, but for Kevin, it almost put an end to the entire restoration project…

As a carpenter and joiner for many years, Kevin has long been associated with the commercial aspect of VW, diligently working his way through a fleet of T3, T4 and T5 incarnations. In amongst all those, he got distracted by the early air-cooled side of VW life and landed him and wife, Michelle a lovely Crossover Dormobile. Kevin: “Well, it looked like it was in great condition and was shiny in all the right places. Truth is, I bought it with my heart and not my eyes.” After dramatically failing the first MoT due to serious corrosion issues, Kevin cut his losses and sold it to a friend who spent the next three years restoring it.

Down but not out, he decided the smarter way to get a Camper in their life would be to start with a project and build his own, safe in the knowledge of what lies beneath. Kevin: “I’ve never been afraid to try out different things and learn new skills. I felt confident there was a lot I could handle myself, and use the professionals when needed.”

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