When Tinonee’s Noel Piercy was first asked if he wanted his 1973 VW Kombi he said “not really.”
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That was 17 years ago.
“The next thing it was here,” he laughs.
The bus didn’t run and Noel already had his hands full with another Kombi project that was pretty rusted out.
But it turned out the body of the new VW was better than the old, so Noel decided to swap motors and give up on the old project.
The ‘73 bay window quickly became a much loved member of the Piercy family and was used as all good Kombi’s should be used - as a family beach bus ferrying salty kids and wet surfboards.
For 14 years Noel did little else to the VW but use it.
A few years ago though it became clear that rust was starting to get the better of the Kombi and as luck would have it, Noel’s wife Rachel had some good connections.
“My brother in-law opened a smash repairs in Gloucester. I said ‘mate, book me in!’”
Noel, Rachel and their children, Maddy and Jack, hooked into the project getting it ready to hand over to Andrew Gibbons of what was then Gloucester Smash Repairs.
“We worked through a whole block of the school holidays on the whizzers and using paint stripper to get it back to bare metal,” explained Noel.
“Andrew then worked his magic.”
The big push was to get the Kombi ready for the upcoming Old Bar Beach Festival held annually on the October long weekend.
“We were still putting it together the day of the show hoping to take part in the Kombi drive by,” said Noel.
“We made it by the skin of our teeth!”
The combination of the white and light green paintwork and the re-upholstered interior by Taree’s Graham Pearson ensures the Kombi receives admiring glances wherever it goes.
Noel admits parking it anywhere means someone will soon saunter over with a Kombi story of their own.
“You meet people and always have a yarn,” he said
One of the things Noel likes best about the life of a kombi owner is the friendly waves from passers by.
“Kids always look,” he said. “They love it.”
His surf bus mght be prettier these days but Noel isnt precious about the Kombi.
The surfboards still travel in the back and the upholstery is never without a layer of sand.
“It is what it’s meant to be – a beautiful car to drive and to be enjoyed,” he said.
This weekend Noel will head to the 2016 VW Spectacular at Nambucca Heads and again in October will join hundreds of Kombi enthusiasts for the Old Bar Beach Festival.
Wave if you see him.
Related story: VWs descend on Nambucca Shire
