12/08/2026
Next up in our featured rides is another first time and well travelled Alper, Murray and his Kombi...so what's the story Murray?
"Good question, what is my Kombi story? Your parents might have had one when you were a child ... or I bet you did your OE through Europe in one?
But for me, no, neither actually. Although I did love a panel van in my youth, but sadly mum & dad had different ideas……..so a Datsun 1200 it was!
So I guess we will mark it down as a midlife crisis. After many hours of following any Splitty Facebook group on Earth, Mrs H quietly suggested to me one day, that maybe I need to go see the bank manager, Happy Days!
Having not really been in the local VW scene, or “in the loop” as they say, I found it hard to find what I was actually looking for. Did I really know what I was looking for …..
Anywho, I did what any red blooded vehicle loving Kiwi bloke does ... I discovered the interweb.
And promptly did exactly what we are told not to do, yep buy sight unseen off the internet. Yeah well I did kinda, but I had examined heaps of photos, and the Garage selling it had been in business for 40 odd years.
I got a good vibe so “FarmTruck” had a new owner and was off to the other side of the world! FarmTruck (named that by the one and only Noel Williamson), started life on the 22 of October 1963, destination Thailand.
Unsurprisingly, not much is known about the life of my VW Kombi over the next 37 odd years, but I reckon it was restored around 2000 and imported into England shortly after that.
It probably had about 3-4 owners over time, and travelled the length and width of GB, with excursions to Europe included.
But in 2018 it was mine! (well me and the BNZ to be fair.)
All we had to do was cruise over to the Port of Tauranga and pick it up. Yeah nah, apparently there’s this thing called “Certification“, no one mentioned that until my Bus was halfway here. Long story short, we eventually got all the correct paperwork needed over time and we were finally all sorted!
Upgrades, to which there has been many. Started with a bigger engine, I mean hey, to drive all the way to the Kapiti Nationals and back and never passed a single vehicle, well that had to stop!
Followed by upgrading the inside the Bus, and too many winters spent inside the panel shop doing restoration work.
This year it’s the passengers side and HOPEFULLY things will quieten down on that front in the years to come.
We have had many a great journey in FarmTruck, Nationals, day trips, Knuckle Draggers Camp Outs and of course our epic journey last year to Air-cooled in the Alps. What’s ahead for us? Well who knows, when you own a 63 year old classic vehicle, just getting them started sometimes is an achievement on its own.
Finally one of the biggest things to me is the people, what a bunch of friendly, helpful, awesome people we have in the Volkswagen scene. It doesn’t matter where you go, North or South, there’s always a smile and a yack to be had, long may that continue!
Well, I guess That’s My Story!
Murray Holmes 63KOMB aka Farm Truck"
If you have attended an A.C.I.T.A. and would like your car featured, send through the story to [email protected]
