02x04 - Beach Buggy: Radical Reinvention

[bunniefuu]

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm Ant Anstead.

And when it comes to cars,
I can fix almost anything.

Oh, oh, there she goes!

When it comes to houses...

Whoo-hoo!

...not so much.

I'm supercharging my mission...

[CAR HORN HONKS]
Oh, my God!

...fixing up and flipping
eight more classic motors.

[LAUGHS] You look like
Laurel and Hardy, you two.

Because the 500-year-old farmhouse

I bought for my parents to retire in

is a crumbling money pit.

I would brace yourself
'cause it ain't gonna be cheap.

But I won't be defeated.

[GROANS] It's beautiful, isn't it?

I want Mum and Dad moved in
before summer ends.

We'll call it glamping, shall we?
Right. That's the spirit.

And with the help of family...

[LAUGHS]
I dd it!

...and my petrol-head pal, Duncan...

BOTH: Yay!
Come on, then, let's go.

...I'm determined
to turn cars into cash.

Oh! Ah!

Even... if it kills me. Whoa!

- One wheelbarrow.
- Oh, wonderful.

ANT: With just three months
till the end of summer,

it's all hands on deck
to move the house along,

inside and out.

[STRAINING] My God! Come on, Sue.

As you can see, Dad and I
have cleared all of this.

It doesn't look great.
I know. We're a bit worried

'cause none of this
will grow back at all.

And as you can see,
we can see through it now.

Right. So what are the options?

Take them out and replace them.

But it's going to take years
for them to regrow.

Or we put other bushes in
or flowers.

But then whatever we plant in there
is going to take time.

Yeah, what about carrying
the fence around,

four or five panels here?

And it would absolutely screen off
from that bay window.

Yeah, I think that's a good idea.

- Plan decided.
- Awesome.

More fencing isn't in the budget.
So to raise some cash,

I'm taking a trip down to Devon,
where I was born,

to check out a kit car classic
that might just brighten my day.

I saw an advert online for a 1972
VW Beetle-based beach buggy.

And the reason why
it piqued my interest so quickly

is because being a Devon boy,

I have spent many rainy Devon days
on beaches.

Also, I've lived in California
for quite a few years now,

and that is exactly where
the beach buggy scene started.

In 1964, a guy called Bruce Meyers
took a VW Beetle chassis

and stuck a lightweight
fibreglass body on it,

creating the first ever
Meyers Manx buggy.

It sparked a phenomenon,
and he sold thousands of kits

so others could create their own
customised buggies, too.

Since then, more than
a quarter of a million

have hit the road and the beach.

They're normally around ten grand

and this is actually
relatively cheap.

It's six.
I'm imagining it has problems.

But on the good side,

I'm negotiating for a beach buggy
while it's raining.

It's probably a good thing.

Hey, hopefully, you're Boyce.

How are you?
Yes, that's me, Adam Boyce.

I'm nervous when I come
to see used-car salesmen,

particularly ones called Boyce.
You must get loads of schtick
from friends.

Of course I do.
I'm here for the beach buggy.

She's in here. Come and have a look.
All right.

Let's hope this Boyce is not
flogging three-wheeled yellow vans.

So buggies are one of those cars
you just stand in front of,

and you just smile. Oh. All right.
So what is the history then?

As you can see,
I collect a few bits and bobs

on top of sales cars as well.

I've had it a couple of years.
All I've done is take
my little girl out.

- It's been brilliant.
- You've had
- just daddy-daughter fun in it.
- Yeah.

No maintenance,
haven't even checked the oil.

I'm in front of it. Give me
all the worst things about it.

Got to pull away in second, the
clutch got a juddering at first.

However, you can master it,
but if it jumps out of gear

at traffic lights,
it's embarrassing.

So it needs a new clutch.
All right.[LAUGHS] Yeah, yeah.

What an... Ugh.
I mean... who did this?

- This?
- That's like boat decking.
Yeah, that was me.

I likened it to one of those
American classics, you know,

with the wood on the side.
That does not get the woody status

in a million years.

Hop in. Have a feel. Come on.

- What is that?
- That is usage.

Oh, my God. Boyce, in real life.

I should've grow me moustache
a bit more, shouldn't I?

Give me ten, 15 minutes.
Let me have a crawl around it,

find out what else doesn't work,
and then I'll come grab you.

It is tatty.
I mean, it's really tatty.

The exhaust is rusty,
the chrome is flaking off.

There's no air filter, and
everything just feels a bit high.

This looks like it's high.
The windscreen looks like it's high.

Oh, it's a wrap.

This body isn't painted.
It's wrapped in a vinyl.

[CHUCKLES] They ultimately were
conceived as a homemade kit car,

which means that no two
beach buggies are the same

and some people made some really
choice decisions on the interior.

And the seats in this are terrible.

But, you know, the good news is
this is based on a VW Beetle,

and getting parts is relatively easy
and affordable.

[ENGINE REVVING]

Well, at least she starts.

But most importantly,
there's tonnes of potential in it,

and there's margin in it.
The only problem is

I've got to go and negotiate
with a used-car salesman...

...called Boyce.

I'm hoping to knock at least a grand
off the asking price.

So this is gonna test
my haggling skills.

So how much did you
advertise the car for?

- 5,995.
- Right. Let's go. Four grand.

Absolutely not.
The door is that way out.

All right. I mean, a little bit more
than, like, forty or fifty.

Four and a quarter.
I have mouths to feed.

I'm a Devon boy as well.
- Oh, that counts.
- Yeah.

I'm inheriting all the problems
with this car.

This is a... clean hands for you.

Four and a half grand.
Four and a half grand.

Gets it out of the way. Promise me
you'll do something cool with it.

- Four and a half.
- Four and a half?
- - Yeah.
- Done.
- Done deal.

Oh, my gosh,
my mind's already racing.

I'm already thinking about what I
can do to make a margin on this car.

I'm definitely gonna have
to do something with the body.

The blue is just a bit... meh.

It's a beach buggy.

Like, why can't it scream
a bit louder?

Because the high profits exist
when it's incredibly unique.

You narrow how many people
want it because it's wild,

but the two that want it...

...yeah, they tend to pay a bit more.

And buggies are even more fun
when the sun's shining.

So let's see if it can raise
a smile from Duncan.

Yeah?

[LAUGHS] It's a beach buggy!

- Wow.
- What do you think?

It looks a bit of fun.
Who doesn't love a beach buggy?

You see, you're already smiling.
I like it.

But it looked like
it was hopping a little bit.

That hopping
was because the clutch is gone.

And I took a punt because ultimately
it's just a VW Beetle.

So parts are cheap,
affordable and accessible.

I say what, jump in.

Fits you like a glove.

[LAUGHING] How good is that?
[LAUGHS]

Do you know what,
it kind of suits you?

The windscreen has got to come off.
It's just hideous.

It's just this is so big.
It is so big.

I'm wondering whether we kind of cut
four inches out of it.

- Yeah.
- But also, like,
we've actually bought one

that is a bit of a blank canvas.

This is actually not paint.
It's a wrap.

Hopefully, it's not hiding
any sinister bits.

I think if we pull the wrap off,

and then ultimately
do something crazy,

something that says this is
an individual beach buggy.

We can get a bit wild with this.
Right. That's the spirit

[ENGINE STARTS]

Are you holding on?

[LAUGHS] Told you
that clutch was gone.

But before I get cracking,

there's the small matter
of the fence I promised my mum.

Let's hope we've get the posts
in the right place.

We want to just put
a couple of mounting screws.

Do you reckon you can get
the drill behind that way?

- Through there?
- Yeah, through there.
Get in the hedge, Dad.

Yeah, that's perfect.
Good. Another one in the middle?

Once the fence is in position,

I'll concrete the posts
to make it solid.

Okay. Do you wanna
grab the screws...?

Dad?

Where'd he go?

The worst apprentice ever.

Lucky, my other wingman
is right where I need him.

Right. We want to get this
beach buggy driving properly.

To tackle the dodgy clutch,
the engine's got to come out.

It's going to be a fun car, right?

Laughs per mile
is going to be immense.

It's secured with just four bolts,

and I'm hoping any fixes
will be just as simple.

I love the fact
that it's totally open.

That's it. Go on, then. Go on, then!

Another patient on the trolley.

We need to strip off the clutch
to get an idea of what's going on.

Here you go.
Or do you want this one?

- I want that one.
- Why?
It's faster.[CHUCKLES]

I mean, the flywheel
looks pretty decent.

Yeah, the flywheel looks good.

But you can see
the clutch plate itself...

Look at those uneven surfaces.

Yeah, a bit of distortion.

Any warping means the clutch plate
can't sit flat on the flywheel.

So instead of a smooth bite,

you're kangaroo-hopping
all over the driveway.

All right, well,
I'll get a clutch kit.

That's not good.

Looks like I've got another problem.

Oh, man. That can't be right.

The feature of this engine is that
that crankshaft is supposed to have

a little bit of play there,
but not that much.

That's probably where
our juddering is on the clutch.

This excessive front-to-back play
is known as end float.

And left unchecked,
it'll wear down the engine,

leaving us with an even
bigger problem on our hands.

Imagine you're depressing
the clutch pedal and it engages.

It has to move that much
before it turns the clutch.

You've got no control over that.

It's our first job,
and the list is already piling up.

Great.

ANT: My beach buggy is in pieces
and the costs are growing.

Getting parts for Beetles
is really easy.

But it was more expensive
than I thought.

This clutch kit was 120 quid.

At the same time,

I've got a new rear main seal
and these shims.

Each one of these pieces of metal
is an individual and different size.

Now this engine's designed
to have a tiny bit of float.

If you have too much,
you can imagine all those rotating

and moving parts
banging left to right,

and ultimately the engine
is gonna fail.

And the good news is,
is that we can tackle it

with shims behind that flywheel.

Before I think about stripping
this flywheel off,

I want to measure exactly
how much play there is.

That will tell me
how many shims I'm gonna put in.

And to do that measurement,
I'm going to use this,

a DTI gauge.
It stands for Dial Test Indicator.

It's super accurate.

Inside, a tiny rack and pinion

converts push on the arm
to rotation of the dial.

Carefully move the flywheel out.

And that's 40 thou,
which is a millimetre,

which doesn't seem like a lot
'cause that's a minute measurement.

But when you're dealing
with an engine

that's rotating
at thousands of revs a minute...

...a millimetre is a lot.

That's about five times too much.

Right. This is normally
jammed on there quite hard.

This black piece of rubber,
that's the rear main end seal

that keeps the oil
inside the engine.

So this surface here,
this inner doughnut,

that is the back side
of the crankshaft

that goes against
these inner four bolts here.

That bolts tight to the crank,
so when the crank's rotating,

it's also rotating the flywheel.

Then the shim sits between
this smooth surface

and that smooth surface
taking up the slack.

Effectively, the shims hold it tight
against the casing on the engine.

Now we can't have it too tight.

I can't put a millimetres worth
of shims in

because it'll have no flexibility.
So what I wanna do

is using a series of these
wafer-thin shims,

get to about 0.8 millimetres,
leaving 0.2 millimetres of space.

I think these three together...

Yeah, 0.8.

There's no crazy engineering.
We're putting these shims in.

It's just a spacer.

Slots on like that.

While I'm here, I'm swapping
the rear main seal for good measure.

Beautiful!

And with the flywheel in place,

it's time to triple-check
my measurements.

Any chance to get nerdy?

Yeah, that is eight thou,


This is now correctly shimmed
and oil-tight.

Perfect! And it's gonna
tighten the engine up loads.

Finally, I can crack on
with the clutch.

Out with the old clutch
and in with the new one,

that is gonna transform
the way our car drives.

It's a precision job that requires
a clutch alignment tool.

And this clutch plate
has to be central.

The input shaft inside the gearbox,
which has teeth on it,

it's splined. You can only fit
if it's in the middle.

If this is off, it's simply not
gonna bolt the engine

to the gearbox.

When we come to sell our
beach buggy, we can say,

"Correctly shimmed.
New clutch. New oil seal."

That's gonna give the new owner
a real peace of mind.

Now a good way to know
if this is fitted centrally,

is the clutch alignment tool.

[CHUCKLES] It just pop out.
And that's it.

I'm confident
we've sorted the juddering,

but I wanna clean up
the tatty engine

and replace the missing
air filter before I test it.

First, though, we've got to
transform this ugly duckling.

Now we've definitely got to do
- something with this body.
- Yeah.

Doesn't exactly say, "Come by me",
does it?[CHUCKLING] No.

I think the best thing to do
is take the vinyl off

and see how good the fibreglass is.

This faux-wood bath mat
staying though, ain't it?

[CHUCKLES] No chance.
That's the first thing to go.

I'm now back on the glue. [CHUCKLES]

Oh, man, You know what?
It already looks better.

It's the first layer off.

Back in the 1960s, fibreglass

made perfect sense
for a beach buggy body

as it was lightweight,
strong and affordable.

[STRAINING] God. It's a workout.

Quite satisfying.
It's like peeling skin off

when you get sunburned.
Go on!

It won't rust
even if you park it in the sea.

And the gel coat colour meant
all those home buggy builders

didn't have to fork out
for a paint job.

Ah! You got too excited.

But we won't know what state
this body's in

until we've stripped
the entire wrap off.

I've got a nerdy
vinyl wrap fact for you.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

Little bits of wrapping has been
around for quite a while,

but the full-body wrapping
is owed to beige German taxis.

In the '90s, basically, all taxis
by law had to be a specific colour,

so the taxi companies
would buy the cars, wrap them,

and at the end they'd take the
wrap off and sell the car

'cause nobody wanted
to buy a beige car.

Nobody wanted to buy
an old taxi, either.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Genius.

Getting the wrap off,
we'll be one step closer

to transforming the buggy.

And the house has also gone through

some huge transformation
in the last nine months.

After insulating
the front bedroom last summer...

...it was ready for Jim the plasterer
to get to work.

Where is he? In the bedroom?
MICHAEL: Yeah.

And you know how much I like
to get stuck in.

This'll be the first time I've ever
- plastered.
- Ever plastered?

Use gravity, yeah?

That's it.[CHUCKLES]

What? Tongue in, preferably.

No, no, tongue is always gonna
be out, buddy. Look at that.

It looks like an emoji. [CHUCKLES]

Emoji symbolising
my plastering work.

All right, Mikey,
get involved, buddy.

I tried to catch it. Sorry, Jim.

Once this first coat is complete,

my vision is a lighter
line plaster on the walls,

just like the outside of the house.

Just while I've got you,
and not that I'm saying

I'm competitive
with my brother, but...

Looking at it, to be honest,

Michael's just
so much smoother. Look.

What?[LAUGHS]

- Well done.
- Cheers, Jim.

Perhaps plastering is one job
I'll leave to the pros.

But I do have some tricks
for unwrapping cars.

With the help of a heat g*n
and my daughter Amelie,

I'm finally winning against
the buggies' ugly blue vinyl.

Yeah, it's quite satisfying.

I've taken this wrap off.

I'm really pleasantly surprised.

It could have hidden
a load of sins underneath.

And actually,
this is a really complete,

solid fibreglass body shell.

- What's next, then?
- I wanna make
some really dramatic design changes.

I'm thinking to chop
- the windscreen off.
- The whole thing?

Maybe not the whole thing.
Look, like - Jump in.

This windscreen
has been eating at me.

And although it's a bold move,
this could be the solution.

- At a third of the height?
- Yeah.

And that will be enough to make sure
the wind doesn't go in my face.

All the dust and sand
is gonna fly over your head,

but it's gonna get rid
of this awkward, bulky,

horribly ugly screen,
and keep it low and slung.

Why don't we just do it?
Are you baiting me into it now?

It will look cool. Cooler than this.
Let's cut it. Let's just cut it.

It's a unanimous decision.

And I'm confident
that a sleeker profile

will make the buggy more attractive
to potential buyers.

The problem is, this is fibreglass,
so when you're gonna cut it,

it's gonna create fibreglass dust,
and that's quite dangerous.

So -You're going to cut it?
No, no, you're cutting it!

[CHUCKLES]
You're the one who's
big and brave. I'm gonna hold it.

Right. So hold it there. Start.

And then slowly...
Don't go too fast.

If you go too fast,
it's gonna hit me.

You'll be okay.
That's a lot of trust.

Right. So...

- There?
- That's it. Pull the trigger.

Whoa! You gotta keep hold of it.

You okay?

[LAUGHS]
I did it!

Yeah, but that's only half the job.
Get around the other side.

That was pretty good.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]

That has transformed
the look of the car now.

- To the beach?
- I like it.
- I love it.
- Well done.

So now we need to make
some creative decisions.

I want it to be the coolest,
most unique car at the beach.

Like, people stop and go,
"Look at that.

"I'm gonna take a picture.
- I want that".
- Yeah. So ridiculous

they're like, "No one would ever
do that, but they did."

The market, the demographic
that we wanna attract

is the more affluent market.
They're slightly older, retros in.

They want to visualise
themselves as a hippie.

If you want to go down
more hippie kind of vibes,

the classic flames or colours

or maybe summat, like,
- mythical creatures.
- Okay.

Sound good?
Yeah, I think that helps.

I mean, I still have no idea,
but I think that helps.

The buggy is not the only thing
getting spruced up.

I didn't think
we'd get to the stage at one point.

Since we plastered the bedroom,

it's gone through
an incredible transformation.

And today,
the furniture is going in.

Yes!

The first piece!

Let's put it bang in the middle.

Oh, my gosh,
it already feels like a bedroom.

MICHAEL: Watch the plaster?
[CHUCKLING] Yeah, mind the plaster.

I can't believe
how far this room has come.

I can remember standing in here,
with no roof,

nothing, and just looking
at the clouds

Like, list off what we've done.

All new electrics, radiator,

doorway... The plumbing.

All right, so knowing that this room
has basically taken us nine months,

and I'm proposing
that we do three rooms

in, like, half the time.
It should be simpler.

Every step was a step learning.
It was -Oh, it's a "lesson."

It's all a lesson.
Rehearsal room for the other three.

Let's get the rest of the bed in.

No flat pack here.

It's all second-hand treasures.

It's feeling like a bedroom.

Furnishings with character,
just like the house.

- There we go.
- And some extra
special finishing touches.

What did Dad love when
- we were kids?
- Well, trains.

- Dude.
- Oh, that's nice.

This is like an original
tin Hornby set.

As a little nod.

Don't tell him though.
I wanna see if he notices it.

- Perfect.
- He's gonna love that.

Oh, who stuck that
on my bloody van, eh?

Think he's bloody funny,
doesn't he?

ANT: We've stripped the beach buggy
back to the fibreglass,

and I want to reinject
some pride into its posture.

The thing is about these
beach buggies, in the scene,

the beach buggy actually has
this very specific stance.

It actually rakes, so the nose
dives down and the back is lifted.

And ours, ours is relatively level.

Yeah, and 'cause we've got a long
- wheelbase -It's accentuated.
- Yeah.

Most beach buggies
only have two seats,

and the shorter chassis
gives a more sporty angle

than our longer four-seater.
It had that rear section, didn't it?

Are we - We're putting
the roll bar back in?

What we might be able to do
is get the rake in the cage,

the rear a bit higher,
front a bit lower.

So you think put
the roll bar back in... Yeah.

...and weld on additional roll bar
that's deliberately raked

to give the illusion
the car is raked.

That it's sitting higher
than it actually is.

You think that'll work?
Only one way to find out.

I love it when you have
creative ideas.

I like it even more when they work.
They always work.

Using an angled roll cage
as an optical illusion

to fake the rake
might just do the trick.

And some pipe installation
will test the theory.

All right, tape that there.

Oh, I like it. Instead of a curve,

what if we just flatten that?

It does look cool.

It makes it look more purposeful.

Pretty good?
Oh, my God, it looks great.

I mean,
it'll take a bit of fabricating,

but the stance of the buggy
has changed.

Giving us a raked look.
I'll order the tube,

and then I've got a friend
who's got a tube bender.

See, I do come up
with good ideas occasionally.

- Oh, you're claiming this one?
- Yeah.
- Well, you should. It's yours.
- Yeah.

A good idea it might be,

but it's yet another job
on the ever growing list.

So I'm getting the roll cage
prep work in early.

Well, late, more like.

Mate, I see you was burning
the midnight oil,

so I brought you some chippies.

[SOBBING] You're a lifesaver.

Come on.

It's the only seat in the house.

It's the best seat, isn't it?

I'd be better if it was there... Oh!

...driving this for a sand dune.

Oh, beautiful.
It looks more like a bathtub.

I could fill it up with hot water
- and some bubbles.
- Oh, man.

No, I would love a bath.
But the problem is,

there is no bath in the house.

Thanks for doing this.
No, you're all right.

I feel like the...
the work and the progress

we're doing on the house
is really good.

Getting there.
The quality is there.

The house is beautifully
being restored, but...

...meeting the deadline...

It'll look better tomorrow.

I think the quality, though, that's
the important thing for the house.

Don't rush it, make it right.

We have to kind of rush it because
I may have told my folks

that they'll be moving in this year.
Hm.

I need to get our beach buggy
looking California cool.

So we're fabricating
a sloped roll cage

to give the illusion
of a sportier stance.

And I've had some more supplies
delivered to get the job done.

Right. This is actual CDS,
Cold Drawn Steel,

so it's not welded down the edge.

At 350 quid, it's not cheap,

but no seam weld
means a stronger pipe.

I've set up a chop saw,
and then I borrowed -

Look at you.
I know, right? I'm in the zone.

And I borrowed my mate's
tube bender. It's proper old school.

It's probably as old as this car.
And that leaves us to do...

- ...the creative bit.
- What could
possibly go wrong? [CHUCKLES]

There, about seven foot.
Right. Let's cut a piece.

Perfect.

The only thing we want to do
is get that angle accurate.

The pipe bender
uses hydraulic power

to smoothly and accurately
shape the steel.

- That's it.
- Nice and smooth.

Steady wins the race.

Slow and steady.
You sound like my dad.

Oh, look at that!

Yeah, that's nice.

So we want to get enough rake,
so it dives down,

but still enough to have
some windscreen space... Yeah.

I reckon... so we're just
going to eyeball this.

- Go with it.
- I love it. I love it.

Go on, stand back over there.
I've got the tube.

Higher, higher, higher.
- Higher or lower?
- There.

With the height of the front
decided, it's time to commit.

Oh, this is a biggie.

Close. Let's try that.

Ugh. It's been miles off.

Get the angle wrong,
and it's a 350-quid mistake.

You always have to go one more.

All right. That's it.

I love it.
Right. let's cut this down.

We wanna try and get this
metal joint as tight as possible.

This isn't just about the looks.

A close fit means stronger
and safer welds.

- Look at that!
- I'll tell you what,
another 20 years,

I reckon you get the hang of this.
Come on. That's a great joint.

That's magic, mate.
All right, well, that's half.

I could probably crack on
with that side solo.

Using the left side
of the roll cage as a template,

it's now just a case
of rinse and repeat.

And now, to weld it all together.

What I want to do
is put a tack in each corner,

stabilise the structure
before I do any substantial welding.

Now, I always like to hide my tacks.

I need to keep my eye on the heat.

Too much, and I risk burning a hole
in the metal.

Too little, and the weld
won't be secure.

It's beautiful.

That's it. That is the cage done.

And it's not just a safety issue.
Actually, the cage is gonna

transform the way the car handles.

And bear in mind
it's on a VW floor pan.

When you're driving the car,
that floor pan does flex and twist,

but adding the cage,
it stiffens the whole chassis up.

It's gonna feel more
like a performance car.

But forget about the stiffness,

forget about the safety
for a second. As a beach buggy...

...yeah, that just looks really cool.

The beach buggy
is really starting to take shape.

And after nine months
of hard work...

Right. After you.

Top of the stairs, hang a left.
I can't wait to see this.

...Mom and Dad
can finally get a glimpse

of what the house might look like
when it's done.

- Oh, my goodness.
- Wow.
[CHUCKLES] Well...?

- It's amazing.
- You're now standing
in the first finished room.

It's brilliant.
I'm so pleased with it.

The plastering just looks amazing.

It's made it
so much lighter, bigger.

The nod to the old original beams
is fantastic.

And the bed certainly fits in here,
doesn't it?

I've got this bed online
for 250 quid,

and then the carpet
is actually a seagrass.

It's a period carpet.
You can probably feel it.

- It's quite firm.
- Oh, yeah,
it's beautiful. It really is lovely.

What you don't see is this room
has been completely rewired.

All the sockets are new,
the lighting is new.

And the finishing touch
to win my dad over.

Oh, and the... door's done.

Oh, wow![ALL LAUGHING]

Oh, brilliant. That's fantastic.

[LAUGHS] The cherry on the top.

If the rest of the house
is going to look like this,

it's gonna be unbelievable.

And over in the barn,
I've given the buggy some TLC too.

Now the design
of the beach buggy means

that the engine
is completely on display,

and ours looked a little
bit tired and tatty.

So I've given everything
a cleanup, polished the shiny bits,

some high-temperature paint
on the exhaust,

and the missing air filter
is the only thing I've had to buy.

And it cost eight quid.

Minimum spend, maximum return.

Anybody who looks at the back
of our beach buggy

is gonna see a really beautifully
presented and purposeful engine.

But with a beach buggy,
it's all about the look.

I could just wrap it again
in a different colour,

but I want to do something
that really makes it stand out.

- Hi.
- WOMAN: Hey, what's up?

Luckily, my artist friend Claudia
is on board to give it

a unique showstopping paint job
for just the cost of materials.

So what I'm thinking is,
you know the kind of

'70s, '80s retro period... Yeah.
...the browns,

- golds, orange, beige, cream?
- Yes.

That's a hark back to the era
the beach buggy was created.

- Yeah.
- And then my daughter
threw in the curveball...

Hm... of like dragons,

spirituality, something mystical.
Okay.

It's actually the year of the snake.

You mean the Chinese New Year?
Yeah. And snakes

represent wisdom and transformation.

And because we're transforming this,

maybe we can do like a nice,
ferocious snake over here.

I love it! It's kind of meant to be.
All right. Yeah.

- Right.
- Perfect.
You get yourself set up.

- Thank you!
- Thank you!

Whatever I paint
has to be a statement,

so... no pressure! [CHUCKLES]

If we put some smoke
coming out of the front

and it goes around the car,
it's going to look like

the car is going vroom, vroom!
[LAUGHS]

The lines are done,
and now moment of truth.

So let's see if I did
a good job of masking it.

I love it.

I'm going to do a dusting
of this copper.

You have to spray
very gently on the nozzle.

Now comes the most tedious part,
which is painting the snake.

I don't know if it's gonna work.

I have to be honest,
I'm a little anxious.

I hope Ant likes it.

CLAUDIA: Argh! I'm always afraid...

I'm going to go in with gold,

give it a little bit more depth,
you know,

make it more 3D.

ANT: It's fair to say the old beach
buggy needed a serious glow up,

and my friend Claudia
is nearly done working her magic.

It's coming alive now.

It looks pretty strong and ferocious
and perfect for this car.

It might bite me. [LAUGHS]

I can't wait to show Ant the car.

He's probably not even gonna
recognise it. [CHUCKLES]

Oh, my gosh, that is amazing!

That's so much better
than I thought it would be.

And I knew it was gonna be good.
Aw. Thank you.

I mean, it's everything
that I asked for.

It's mythical. It's got the serpent.
It's retro.

I love the little speckle on it
'cause it looks like

it's going through sand dunes.
Yes, exactly.

It feels like a different car now.

This is exactly what we wanted.

It makes our beach buggy
completely unique.

- You smashed it!
- Yeah.

You owe me a very expensive
bottle of wine. [LAUGHS]

Make it two
if the buggy earns some cash,

'cause although
I love this radical look,

I have to find a buyer
who's gonna think the same.

- Duncan!
- What's happening?

- Dude, look.
- You've got it painted.

Yeah. What do you think?
It's quite retro, innit?

- I think it's great.
- This is gonna be
a love it or hate it car.

Let's get the engine out.
I've got a real skip in my step.

- Come on, then.
- If you take hold
- of the trolley.
- Yeah. Ready?

Keep going. Keep going.

Right. That's in, right there.
Perfect.

Beautiful. All right.

To complete the look,
some seriously smart, compact seats.

Wow. Look at that,
it's detailed with the eyelids.

- Proper retro.
- It looks like
the GT 40 Le Mans seat.

I was just thinking that.

And for the old rear bench,
a matching reupholstery job.

Stick some weight on it.
Make yourself comfortable.

All that remains is to screw it
in position from underneath.

Right. You've made sure
them screws aren't too long.

[BOTH LAUGHING]
You'll know if they are.

That one was a bit close
for comfort.[LAUGHS]

And up front,
a slim lime screen

to give that old school beach vibe.

The way the lights hitting it now
it almost looks illuminated.

I know it adds to that retro feel.

And my own nifty little
three-in-one bracket

to cap the frame cuts,
secure the screen,

and mount the mirrors.
Yeah, this is a nice idea,

if I might say so myself. [CHUCKLES]

I'll tell you what, mate...
beautiful!

Dude, I think we're there.

I feel a trip to the pub coming up.

I'm not driving.

A head turner she may be,

but this buggy needs
to make us some profit.

All right, the total for everything
on top of the 4.5 grand,

we paid £862.14,
which means this buggy owes us

£5,362 and 14 pence.

So what's your thoughts on it?
I think we privately sell it.

There is a dedicated buggy
following out there.

Why would we risk sticking
it in an auction?

We're better off putting it
under the noses

of people that we know
want a buggy.

- Sounds like a plan.
- So if
we're gonna privately sell it...

how much?

- Seven?
- I mean,
that's a great percentage profit

If we got seven.
I mean, that would be good.

I think if we got six and a half,
seven, I'd be over the moon.

That's decent profit
- straight out of the house.
- Yeah.

But before we sell it,
you know what I want to do.

- We've got to drive it.
- Obviously.

Whoo-hoo!

[EXCLAIMS][LAUGHS]

I tell you what, this car is quick.

It actually rides pretty well.

I reckon this has stiffened it up
loads as well, the cage.

Actually, yeah, considering
it's on a VW Beetle floor pan.

Look, the responsiveness
is absolutely on the bang.

I feel safer in it.
Well, I don't know about that.

Well, not for me at the wheel.
Well, you're right there.

Come on, let's have fourth gear.

I have to take a little selfie.
This is great.

This is great. We're gonna
sell this car easy.

Ready? Stupid hair. Boop.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

Oh, my life. Whoo!

Well, that is a really,
really fun car.

I can't believe it. I mean... whoo!

[EXHALES] I'm blown away.

Yeah, that trip down to Devon
from Boyce, the car salesman,

it's come a million miles.

And mechanically,
we replaced the clutch,

and that's made it way more
driveable and the body change...

You know, we've got
a VW beach buggy

that's unlike any other
beach buggy out there.

This crazy look on paper,
will isolate a number of buyers.

I don't care. I don't care.

This isn't the car for everybody,

but for somebody, for one person,
it's the ultimate car.

You ready to go again?
You wanna go again?

You don't have to ask me twice.
[LAUGHS]

[SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

She's a proper firecracker.

And where better to draw attention
than at Silverstone Festival?

It's, er, definitely unique.

And she certainly seems
to have caught someone's eye.

- Hey, how you doing?
- MAN: Hi.

I see you're admiring
- my beach buggy.
- It's yours?

- It is. Yeah.
- It's absolutely
fantastic, that's for sure.

And totally unique.
I saw it from a distance

and I thought,
I have to go and have a look.

- You're obviously interested.
- Very.

Okay. Tell me about
your car history.

Erm, I actually run a car club
called Auto Anonymous.

And we do a lot of fundraising.
Okay.

So I'm always looking for unique,
interesting cars

- to attract the audience.
- Dude, this
is where we go together perfectly,


Could you get more unique

than a hand-painted VW beach buggy?

See, I've turned
into a car salesman now.

Slink yourself into that
very comfortable bucket seat.

Do you know what I've noticed
that the seats match your hat.

Thank you very much.
Colour coordinated.

It's meant to be.[LAUGHS]
So how does that feel?

- Loving it.
- So were you specifically
looking for a buggy?

No, I wasn't. I was just looking
for something unique.

I've got friends with buggies,
but nothing as extravagant as this,

- that's for sure.
- Do you think
- it's too extravagant?
- No.

No such thing as too extravagant.

So it feels to me like this might be
the perfect car

- to join the collection.
- Yeah.

Yeah, depending
on the price, obviously.

[LAUGHS]
I knew
you were gonna get to that.

I knew we were gonna get there.
All right. I've advertised the car

for seven-and-a-half grand,
which is incredibly reasonable.

I do appreciate.
That is very reasonable for -

Great. So seven and a half?
No, six.

[BOTH LAUGH]

Six is what I've got in mind.
It is for a good cause.

It's not something
that I would be buying to sell

to make a profit. It is gonna be
used for fundraising purposes.

You look like a charitable man.
Erm, well, if you look

at the house I'm building,
you would absolutely know I am.

Erm, yeah, six is too low.

- Seven.
- We're getting there,
but not there.

Six, eight.

Six, four.

Six, six. We're gonna
meet in the middle, aren't we?

- Six and a half.
- We're gonna meet
in the middle. Six and a half.

- It's going to a charity.
- It is.
That's gonna get people driving.

You are going to have
a bunch of smiling people...

Thank you.
...in this VW beach buggy.

Congratulations.
Thank you very much.

You know, I've got to say,
I'm absolutely over the moon.

I paid 4.5 grand for it,
spent £862,

and we've made some profit.

And I always knew that going unique
and radical with the design

was ultimately gonna be a risk.

Having such a unique standout car
makes the market smaller.

It appeals to fewer people.
But if we get the right person,

we do tend to get a premium.

And the right person walked in
and bought the car.

[CAR WHOOSHING]
Sounds like a VW beach buggy.