The iconic Volkswagen Beetle remains a hugely popular project vehicle for keen tinkerers worldwide. That’s despite (or perhaps because of?) the fact that it’s a mechanically odd shitbox, with its squashed-flat, air-cooled, mostly alloy engine up its bum and a body design that hardly changed for 70 years. Of course, plenty of folks are into Beetles just because they reckon they look cute, but that’s not a word you’d associate with this monster Bug built by Rob Downing.

First published in the July 2025 issue of Street Machine

Rob, a Queensland-based mechanic and auto electrician, has – like many of us – been sniffing petrol for a long time. The first car he tinkered with, a 1964 EH Holden, remains in his possession nearly 30 years after he rebuilt it, and he clearly recalls the first Beetle he worked on.

“It was a dead-stock 1970s Super Bug with the coil-spring front end,” he says. “I had to service it, and I hardly knew anything about them. I was a 100 per cent newbie, so I decided it was junk. I hated it!”

A decade later, a family tragedy prompted Rob and his wife Celina to take some time off, and they decided to build a car together. “I knew she liked 1955 Chevs, so that’s what I thought we’d build, but she said to me: ‘I want a Volkswagen!’ Rob says. “I was like, ‘Oh no!’”

Although Beetles looked pretty much the same for the 20-odd years they were made here in Oz, there were significant differences under those curves depending on the model. Rob was aware of that, but he still had to learn what was what, what was hot and what was not. “One of the blokes I was doing roadworthies for ran a VW workshop, so I asked him for a crash course in ‘Beetle’,” he explains. “Out of that information, I worked out that the 1968-1971 model would be the best one to buy.

“So, I bought one from Coffs Harbour that was a bit of a race car, with a stripped interior, wide guards, late-model Porsche wheels, Bilstein dampers and a modified engine.”

Rob trailered it home and an extensive rebuild began. Finished in orange and white, that rebuilt Bug and its tweaked 1835cc motor was a great introduction for Rob into the world of trick, old-school Vee-Dubs.

“Nine weeks and one day after buying it, we showed up at the Cooly Rocks On festival, and we won Top Coupe!” Rob says. “We were blown away by the love that car received. Everyone loves them; everyone has a story about a Bug.”

Working on that car birthed a new business venture for Rob in the form of his Custom Dream Industries workshop on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. “We had so many offers to buy the car, so that grew into me building Bugs for others,” he explains. “I think I played with another 20-odd Beetles for other people.”

The 1963 Beetle build you see here began with Rob spying an online ad for a cheapie model. “It wasn’t far away, and it looked pretty good for the dollars,” he says. “It was in bits, but I thought it was worth doing.” Later, Rob was told of an in-primer Beetle body that had been sitting at the back of a panel shop for 20 years, so he picked it up for $500.

Plonking this better second body onto the cheap car’s chassis should have been a quick and easy path to a perfect project Bug. But to cut a long story short, it wasn’t! Sure, Beetles are generally cheap, reliable and easy to work on, but as Rob explains it, several letdowns by trusted tradies left the build plan in turmoil, with $30,000 worth of false starts.

Rob got things back on track by dedicating more of his own time and experience to building the car. The result of his efforts is that there’s now hardly one square centimetre of the car, inside or out, that hasn’t been tweaked.

“We smoothed absolutely everything,” Rob says, highlighting the lesser-seen work done to the Bug’s interior behind the seats, under the dash and around the inside edges of the original turret and roof. That’s in addition, of course, to the ‘usual’ areas of the underside of the chassis, body and guards.

Given the amount of work in the body, it’s no surprise that Rob took his time deciding what colour would best highlight it. He eventually settled on this custom turquoise from Cromax – a colour he’d previously considered for his elite-level, nitrous-assisted Meyers Manx build (though he’d ended up going with reddish brown for that). “But this bluey-green stayed with me,” he says. “I fell in love with it.” Glenn at Killa Kustoms Paint & Panel took care of the body and paint stuff that Rob didn’t do, including laying down the chosen hue.

The engine, though, is all Rob’s handiwork. Based on a 1970s VW Super Bug case (VW speak for ‘block’), the mill’s original 1584cc capacity has been stretched to 2276cc thanks to four larger-bore versions of the Beetle’s removable cylinder barrels, with matching pistons and a longer-stroke crank. Most Bug nuts would be happy with that, but not Rob; his ambitions also included boost from a T03 turbo!

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the car is the custom interior – especially those astonishing seats. “My first idea was to do little low-back alloy ‘outlaw’-type seats,” explains Rob. “But then I had the idea of these shapes kind of floating in the cabin.” He built the pews from laser-cut steel frames, timber backings and hand-cut foam, before Chris at Stitchcraft Motor Trimming swathed them in stunning leather and suede.

With the Beetle finished and its show duties at Street Machine Summernats, Meguiar’s MotorEx and the Sydney Hot Rod & Custom Auto Expo now complete, Rob is itching to drive it. “I’m going to flog it; I’m going to unleash it!” he says with a laugh. “I don’t understand anyone who builds a car with all the good gear but only ever takes it to shows on a trailer.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what’s gonna break!”

BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Volkswagen Beetles use a rear-mounted, air-cooled flat-four. Instead of liquid coolant absorbing engine heat to be dissipated by a radiator, a high-volume centrifugal engine fan draws air in through slots in the body under the rear window, before blowing it via ducting over the engine’s hottest bits.

Higher-performance mills such as Rob’s produce more heat that must be shifted, so engine running temps can benefit from extra airflow, which is why his and many other go-fast Beetles have the top edge of the engine lid propped open.

ROB DOWNING
1963 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE

THANKS
Les at Fat Pipes Custom Exhausts for the exhaust; Paul and Adam at Thermal Edge Coating for the powdercoating and ceramic work; Chris at Stitchcraft Motor Trimming for bringing my crazy designs to life; Glenn at Killa Kustoms Paint & Panel for laying down the paint; Shane at Shane’s Autoglass; my best mate Stewie for all his help and long hours; KingFab for the laser-cutting work.