Friday trip into West Java, VW heavy content... plus some RWBs Options

[23e Heure]

I posted this thread over on DDK and - as I know there are a lot of VW fans here on the world - am copy pasting it here for you guys to enjoy also...

My work/travel schedule has been pretty barmy lately.
In fact, since January I've spent a total of 11 weeks out of the country, going back and forth to the US, Europe, and to every corner of Asia.

When I get home from a trip I don't bother unpacking half the stuff from my suitcase, BA staff at Heathrow T5 have started to welcome me by name, and any day now I'm expecting poison pen letters from environmentalist groups about my carbon footprint.
(As a long time owner of classic Porsches, I'm surprised I didn't get those letters years ago (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif))

I landed back in the UK on Sunday, after my most punishing trip yet: In the space of just 14 days I hopscotched London-Bangkok-Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur-Manila-Jakarta-Bandung-Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur-London

All work and no play would make James a dull boy, and in February I started a policy of rounding off any long tours of duty with some R&R before coming home.
And this last trip was to be no different...

Last month I finished off a 3 week Asian trip by joining Tenn and the Renndrive crew, for a Sunday morning cars'n'coffee in Bangkok.
http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewtopic...f=1&t=64686

Tenn knows Porsche freaks all across Asia. So before I set off on this month's trip, I asked Tenn if he could recommend something for me to do when I got to Indonesia.
Turns out Tenn knew just the guy to introduce me to...

[23e Heure]

And so that's how I found myself being woken by my alarm at 5am last Friday.
I rode a Grab through the already heavy traffic, and ended up standing in the dawn light, on the platform at Jakarta's Gambir railway station.

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My father-in-law is an avid trainspotter, and I think he would have been happy enough to just stay here looking at the Indonesia rolling stock.

To be fair, he's a steam freak, and it's electrics only here at Gambir. (Indonesia is home to a popular steam railway museum, but that's not what I had planned for my day).

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[23e Heure]

In the UK, a 3 1/2 hour train journey starting at 7am would normally best be spent either sleeping or reading.

But this train was taking me deep into West Java, and the view out of the window was worth the trip alone.

Basically it went: paddy fields - jungle - small village - paddy fields in jungle - small village in paddy fields - (repeat...).
All the while with prehistoric looking hills and mountains in the distance.

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[23e Heure]

I'd managed to snag a seat on an Indonesian 'executive' train, meaning it was equipped with (freezing cold) AC.
So when I stepped off the train in Bandung the humid 35 degree heat was like a wet slap in the face, and I instantly regretted wearing a black DDK t-shirt.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait long before I was collected up by Michael, long term friend and business colleague of my host Yanto.

Now at this point I should share that I had deliberately avoided doing much googling about where I was going.
I had seen enough to know that Yanto had a car collection of some sort, VWs and Porsches. But that was pretty much it.
All I knew was that Tenn had assured me that a visit would be worth the 7 hour round trip from Jakarta.

Nonetheless, I was a bit concerned when Michael drove us to a residential street, swung suddenly off it, and parked up in front of a pretty run down looking house.

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[23e Heure]

It got weirder when Michael led me in through the offset entrance.

What must have originally been the vestibule is now home to a Beetle, and the walls are adorned with car parts and memorabilia.

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There are trinkets and car parts all over the hallway. Some of the parts at closer look may be pretty special (the VW parts I am only half aware of such things).

I made careful note of most of the details about everything I am going to share in this thread.

To kick off: Anybody care to comment on the type and age of these parts?

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A closer look at one of the lids to help:
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[23e Heure]

Michael led me up a half flight of stairs and into what must originally have been an office or sitting room.

It's now his office. "My car used to stand in the middle of this room. Then we needed the space so, before we moved it out, I put a light on the floor and painted the shadow across the wall and the door".... Curiouser and curiouser!

Any guesses on the car? (should be easy this one)

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Off the office is a sitting room, or perhaps originally a bedroom, still decorated like a normal home, with curtains on rails etc.
That room now too is home to another Beetle.

No time to snap that, because at this point Yanto arrived.

[23e Heure]

"Photos later, let's eat". We jumped in Yanto's 4x4 and drove to a local eatery.

When we arrived I started to get the feeling that Yanto isn't a "normal" guy.
Despite it being Ramadan, the car park was rammed, but space was immediately made for us to park right at the door.

Turns out that Yanto (on the left) owns one of Indonesia's largest manufacturers of plastic containers for liquids.
He has plants across Indonesia and supplies bottles to Coca Cola, Aqua Water, and a bunch of others.

Michael is his friend of over 20 years.
Son of a famous Indonesian car designer, brother of a senior designer for VW, he too has spent his life working on cars, cars, cars.

The two of them are hilarious, a comedy double act. Together they run the infamous "Terror Garage"

(sorry for picture quality of some of the photos in this thread)

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[23e Heure]

After lunch we head back to the same residential street but stop short of the first house, and instead wait for a gate to open at a house almost directly opposite.

Chalk and cheese, this place is super smart.
Out of the car and through a side gate, opening out to reveal an immaculate home that would not look out of place in LA.

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And on the opposite side of that lawn, in full view of the 'veranda', on display are a few interesting cars...

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[23e Heure]

Ever since I started travelling so much in Asia, I've been on the hunt for a RWB. And on Friday I hit the jackpot: Yanto has not one, but four of the things!

Now I know that RWB's attract a lot of mixed criticism. But you should alway see something up close before you can really judge.

So let me start with the RWB that is likely to cause most consternation, and work backwards from there.
Terror Garage is the official RWB builder for Indonesia, under approval from Akira Nakai

Yanto owns Indonesia RWB#1, #2, #3 and #4. All were built under the watchful direction of Michael, with all the signature RWB finishing touches completed by Nakai-san himself.

With the first 3 under their belt, when they started to think about what to build for #4, Michael and Yanto decided to go for something never done with an RWB before, something with an unusual, hard shell...

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[23e Heure]

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Say of it what you will, but the quality of craftsmanship cannot be denied.

Skipping ahead for a moment to the other house, here is the buck used to fashion the speedster roof:

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[23e Heure]

Next up, RWB#3 "Terror Targa"

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[23e Heure]

And RWB#2.

It's a 993 C4, which they built back in 2014:

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I took my time sizing up this car. It looks rather different to the blue DDK cars of our Paul and MIke :brilsmurf:

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In many ways it is the most vamped up of the 4, with all sorts of eye catching details.

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Yanto and Michael are friends of Magnus Walker, you'll spot MW details in many of the photos in this thread.

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But aside perhaps from the rear "Double Ladder" wing (which I'm not sure is ideal for the Mulsanne Straight!)
It's also not really that much whackier than a race car would seem if it was de-stickered, painted a flat colour and removed from the paddock.

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Family ties are strong here, Yanto named RWB#2 "Ika Kartika", after his late mother

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[23e Heure]

Finally, RWB#1.

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Built in 2013, using a '91 964, I was of course instantly attracted to its Viper Green hue.

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I can finally say that I have sat in an RWB:

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"Erabareshi Mono"... "The Chosen One"

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[23e Heure]

4 seriously "phat" cars, each one different, each one unmistakably Rauh Welt Begriff.

Stuck on the end of this line of pumped up Porsche, stands a Land Rover Defender.

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I ask Michael "Why the Defender?"
Michael says "Look closer. It's defending"

Sure enough, on closer inspection, the Landie appears to be parked atop a movable platform, offering access to a space down below...

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[sb914]

James.... you must of a great time ! What a collection. Hit us up again next time you’re in So cal.

[jim_hoyland]

Thanks for sharing James ! Fantastic (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[23e Heure]

They lead me down a smart stairway to the side of the carport, and straight into an underground personal museum of 1940s, 50s and 60s VWs!

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Kicking myself because I screwed up the settings on my camera for the cramped and low lit room... blurry sorry!

I count 14 cars (and a few Vespas).
All immaculate and mostly original:
A Rometsch Beeskow, a Hebmuller Roadster, 1 356, 4 or 5 Beetles, 4 Karmann Ghias, a Squareback, 2 campers, one a 23 window.
I lose track, but it seems like every other car had an Okrasa engine.

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A Hebmuller Roadster is rare enough on its own.
But how about this: (so I understand it: ) a 1951 car, which should be considered a "one off".
It's the only one that was actually built by both Hebmuller and Karmann - Hebmuller starting the build in 1951 (after their factory had been fire damaged, and the company were on their uppers), Karmann retrieving the car and finishing the build in 52.

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Slammed:

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"They said about me 'Oh Michael, he can only do standard cars'... So I made this. For fun"

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[23e Heure]

Yanto and Michael both have the collecting bug like an illness.

Parts and trinkets everywhere. Cases containing super old 356 radios, t-shirts, stuff...

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Over 1000 model miniatures in display cases:

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Yanto's wife is addicted to buying Hot Wheels off the internet.
He asks me to pick one for my son Jake: I go for a 917 LH 8)

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We sit and take the view in for a while.
Michael tells how his father was one of the first "name" vehicle designers in Indonesia.

Yanto meanwhile sits beaming at his incredible treasure trove (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

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[23e Heure]

We head back up the stairs, and across the street to the other "house".

There are piles of Indonesian wood cluttering the porticoed frontage.

One of Michael's guys is copying a part they have removed from another Rometsch car, which is being totally rebuilt, somewhere inside this whacked out place.

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[23e Heure]

Michael leads me back into the house, past the rooms I'd already seen, containing the 2 Beetles, piles of NOS parts, and and his office area with the 356 "shadow painting".
And we walk thru through into a huge open plan area in the centre of the original house.

What's happened on this side of the road is now coming clear:
Yanto wanted somewhere close to his home, for Michael to work on projects.
So when a house opposite his own came up for sale, Yanto bought that and turned it into a unique (and rather eccentric) workshop and storage.

The haphazard feel is deliberate:
Internal walls have been roughly knocked down, with random parts of the old partition walls left in place.
Memorobilia, parts and and nick nacks are piled here, there and everywhere.
Details from the original house are simply left intact. Ceiling lights, curtains and curtain rails, even some of the old furniture.
Never seen anything like it. If you're going to wreck a house, this is the way to do it!

This snap of a yet another Beetle gives you some of that flavour (again, sorry for image quality on some of these shots, I was too involved in all the surprises to get the settings right):

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