Epic journey for VW camper van fans

Five Volkswagen fans have arrived in Germany after a marathon three-month journey from Malaysia in south-east Asia.

Driving three Bullis and one Beetle, they crossed two continents and travelled 12,420 miles before reaching their destination – the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles assembly plant in Hannover.

When they arrived, they were greeted warmly at the production site and even allowed to bring their vintage vehicles into the factory halls where they observed production of the latest T-Series model.

The intrepid five were Cliften Nathaniel (T2), Terence Moses (T1), Stephen Pang (T1), Monica Xavier and Udhaya Kumar (Beetle).

Their route in the Bullis (two from 1967 and one from 1978) passed through Thailand, Laos, China, Russia and Europe.

“This is a dream come true for us,” said Stephen Pang “We always wanted to go to the place where the Bullis were built.

“Now we not only know how quality vehicles drive, but also where they originated over the vehicle generations.

“It is impressive how perfectly humans and robots work together and how large the factory is.”

Terence Moses added: “Bullis are simply indestructible. And when they do need repair, we can usually handle it ourselves.”

To ensure this was possible, they had tyres, replacement parts and tool sets lashed to their fully laden roof rails, along with countless pieces of luggage.

“We know that we have Bulli fans across the globe,” said VW’s Friedrich Mattiszik.

“But to see them travel to us from such a distance in their vintage vehicles – we have never experienced this before.

“It is an honour for us to show our plant to these globe-trotting fans.”