The ‘Green Machine’ is a culmination of many years of working on Volkswagens and Beach Buggies. It was with this project that brothers Kurt and Gunter have spent many long hours building, testing and developing to create an Air-cooled Volkswagen powered buggy that can really perform. This buggy has proven itself time and again, whether it is the beach or the bush the ‘Green Machine’ is a proven off-road machine. The buggy is also a multi-award winning show vehicle and has recently been included in a feature story in Unique Cars magazine.
There is no doubt - this car is a highly modified machine. The body, painted in Holden ’Hot House’ green with extra gold fleck, is a modified short wheel based Manx sitting strikingly on top of a custom shortened VW pan with aluminum halves and a considerable lift.
There is not much of this project that has been left in the original form, with even the tunnel being given some extra height to accommodate the Kombi Gear box - which has had its own share of work, with 1st and 2nd gear being modified to be ‘Rock Crawler’ gears. Exciting news is also just around the corner with the gearbox soon to be upgraded to include an air operated diff locker. This has been a major design and development project under taken by the Volks-Mod boys and they are very pleased with the results and can’t wait to get this into the car and head for the nearest hill.
The power plant of the ‘Green Machine’ is a Stroked 2330 VW with major head work and everything inside has been flowed and balanced. Fuel injection is also on the way. Accompanying the body lift are modified shock towers on the front, and a Volks-Mod designed and manufactured rear adjuster, which all combine to ensure that the car looks every bit the off road machine with one tough looking stance. Adding to this look are the imported Chevy Truck Edelbrok 401 Alloy Rims, which are set off nicely with Simex Extreme Centipede Rubber with rear bead lockers.
Inside the Manx is a Carbon Fibre dash which is a Volks-Mod original, it looks smart and is set off with the white faced Classic VDO gauges. Kurt likes to get out in this machine with the whole family and the car has been customized to be a complianced four seater. The front seats are also a Volks-Mod product and these have been finished off well by a very tidy upholstery job.
All this, and with Rack and Pinion steering, it drives like a dream!
UPDATE 2007
Since the original build the Green Machine has had the odd addition but nothing like it's major rebuild in 2007. The latest upgrades including the air operated diff locker and modified gearbox with rock crawler gears will make this buggy a real offroad performer. Kurt took the opportunity whist the car was in the shed to make a few more changes. A fuel injection set-up was high on Kurt's wishlist and he is very happy with the result. To accomodate the 'extra's' Kurt has now modified the rear bar set-up and added a very cool Stainless steel custom exhaust.
Comfort in buggies has always been a challenge so Kurt wanted to make sure his young family was comfortable and safe. So, in go a very comfy pair of SAAS Racing seats with full safety harness set-up. Improvements have been made to the steering area, with some clever engineering the Rack and Pinion steering has been upgraded and is now centre mounted. Whilst under the front Kurt added a pair of Bilstein Shocks to improve the ride. With some changes to the headlight location and some clever thinking there is now a hinged front bonnet very nicely finished with a 'ghosted' Volks-Mod logo, not to mention the easy access this offers.
Why stop there? Well Kurt didn't - he has totally redisigned and manufactured the roll bar set-up allowing for a little more head room and he has toppped that off with a modified hard-top which now has custom side curtains. Kurt has thrown in braided stainless brake lines for good measure and a few fine tuning aspects, and now the Green Machine is ready to perform. Keep updated for some pics of this beast taking off road challenges.
If you are interested in any of the modifications or Volks-Mod manufactured components on the Green Machine please email the Volks-Mod team, or call on 07 5593 5300 from Mon-Fri 7am-4pm.
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