Double Trophy Win at VW Whitenoise Festival for 1956 Campervan, Restored by A-List Finishing

(PRWeb UK) September 6, 2010

The 8th VW Whitenoise Festival (http://www.vwwhitenoise.com) took place last weekend (20th-22nd August) at Fritton Lake Country Park in Norfolk. Over 3,000 Volkswagen fans turned up for the 3-day event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Campervan and take part in the prestigious Show ‘n’ Shine competition.

This year, the winner of the Best Air-Cooled Ride and Best in Show trophies went to a beautiful 1956 VW Kombi Splitscreen Campervan which had been expertly restored recently by professional body repairer Stephen Brighton and his team at A-List Finishing (http://www.a-list-finishing.co.uk/Home.html) based in Norwich, in the east of England.

This success coincides with the launch of A-List’s redesigned website which covers the 3-year-old company’s every-growing portfolio of full-body restorations and top-end paintwork on everything from pre-war classic automobiles to modern supercars. The passion, experience and expertise of Brighton and his team is reflected in the website’s new blog (http://www.a-list-finishing.blogspot.com/) featuring regular updates on A-List’s projects which Brighton describes as “a great resource for those with an interest in automobile restoration, as well as a handy method for prospective customers to get a taste of what we do here.”

The Whitenoise award-winning VW Campervan, owned by Paul Jones of Norwich, was the first vehicle that Brighton had restored for competition during his 15 years in the industry. As he recalls: “When Paul brought his camper to me in February it was in quite a sorry shape, but it was clear from the start that he was after a show-winning bus. A few weeks later, after several meetings and emails – and countless coffees – Paul had set out his specific vision for the camper.”

The extensive restoration, carried out over the following months in the run-up to the Whitenoise Festival, involved 450 hours work. The restoration included:

•     Removal of the van’s engine.
•     Complete strip down to rolling chassis.
•     Various welds including: modifications to the both front wheel arches and inner wheel arch tubs; repairs to driver’s A-post and cab door, barn doors, front screen apertures and rear hatch; and fabrication of rear hatch custom stainless steel hinges.
•     Removal of 54 years of paint, rust and material build-up.
•     Realignment of opening panel shut lines and panel gapping, leveling of each body panel to create a perfectly straight body.
•     Replacement of 95% of existing trim, glass seals and rubbers.
•     Trial fitment and final fitting of chrome safari front and rear windows, chrome opening side pop-outs and other features and accessories.
•     Complete change-of-colour paint job from a two-tone grey over white to a single colour dove-blue with refurbished white bumpers, roof rack and badge.
•     After painting and polishing full body, restoration was completed with the final fitment of all trim, glass, lock, handles, seals, lights, bumpers, roof rack, dashboard, interior door cards, carpets etc.

The campervan’s owner, Paul Jones, was delighted with seeing his vision come to life, and with the subsequent competition victory: “It’s been an amazing experience to take a beaten-up, 50-year-old vehicle and restore it to its full glory. Steve [Brighton] and his team have done a superb job of creating the dream van which I had envisioned. I am over the moon that we won two trophies at the Whitenoise Festival – getting that kind of recognition from the VW community is the highest accolade there is – we’ve created a truly first-class bus.”

Whitenoise organiser, Neil Haughey, was delighted that Jones’s van took the main award at the event. As he stated, “We had well over 100 show-standard vehicles take part in the Show 'n' Shine this year so this bus did very well to standout from the crowd. It was the quality of workmanship and attention to detail that made the judges take note of this van.”

With this achievement under their belt, Brighton and his team are on the lookout for their next major project, as he says: “we’re always keen to tackle challenging and exciting projects, we hope to build on this success and become a well-known name in the UK for first class classic automobile restorations.”

If you would like more information on A-List Finishing and the company’s past and present auto projects please visit the website at http://www.a-list-finishing.co.uk/Home.html

To keep up to date with ongoing restoration projects visit A-List’s blog at http://www.a-list-finishing.blogspot.com/

If you wish to contact A-List director Stephen Brighton about the company or for more information on this press release please call on +44 (0)1603 416777 or email at steve(at)a-list-finishing.co(dot)uk

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