Back in the 1960s, when Geoff Sumpter was a penniless student, he needed some inexpensive transport to get him to and from Norwich, where he attended college. As this is a Volkswagen magazine and Geoff is every bit the hard-core VW enthusiast, you could be forgiven for guessing that his first car would have been a Beetle. Well, guess again, for it was actually an Austin Metropolitan!
Fortunately, for the benefit of our readership and the Volkswagen farternity in general, Geoff soon saw the error of his ways. Within weeks of driving what has generally become regarded as the Julian Clary or Graham Norton of the automotive world, Geoff fell in love with a Beetle owned by a college friend. It may have only been a grey and dowdy ‘standard’ model, but its looks and engineering excellence won Geoff’s affection in an instant.
The result of this ‘road to Damascus’ experience was that Geoff sold the Metropolitan and purchased – for just £90 – a 1954 Oval-window Beetle.
This served as reliable, inexpensive transport for some time until, one day on the way to Norwich, the engine expired. He managed to limp the car to a VW dealership on just three cylinders. The diagnosis was such that a full engine rebuild was in order, so the motor was duly stripped, repaired and reinstalled – all for the princely sum of £39!
Now, while that may seem ludicrously cheap, bear in mind that Geoff’s weekly income at the time was just £9. The result? He was forced to leave the car at the dealer until he was able to scrape together sufficient funds to pay for the repairs.
Ever since then, Geoff has owned Beetles and other air-cooled Volkswagens of one sort or another, but it’s for his interest in military vehicles that he is perhaps best known. As he points out, back in the 1960s, if you had an interest – or a desire to own – an old Beetle, the chances were that you’d quite possibly end up with an ex-military VW of some kind, be it a post-war Beetle or an old Kübelwagen. This penchant for old-time Volkswagens has never left the Sumpter psyche and he has since owned a couple of Kübelwagens, a Schwimmwagen, a trio of Split-window Beetles (including a 1949 model) and the chassis and running gear of a 1944 KdF-wagen, of which more anon. Oh, and this Split-screen Camper.
The vehicle shown here is, in fact, a 1958 Devon Caravette, which Geoff purchased off fellow vintage (and military) VW enthusiast, Martin Southwell. Martin discovered the Splittie for sale in the driveway of a house on a local authority estate near Taunton, Somerset, several years ago, looking a little forlorn but essentially sound. He then sold it for £700 in 1986 to Geoff, who carried out a quick restoration over the course of the next year or so.
