When John Henns, a lifelong VW guy, decided he wanted to build another VW Bus, he decided he wanted to do it differently. And he certainly accomplished that one! This thing is awesome, not only because it is a fairly rare panel van, but also because he chose to completely change the chassis, and the drivetrain inside it. Instead of the standard flat 4 air-cooled 4 cylinder that all air-cooled VWs have, this one is powered by an Aluminator Coyote Ford engine. As you can imagine, this wasn’t a simple bolt in, and while the bus does retain independent rear suspension, that’s about all it has in common with the original VW layout. It’s got a full custom chassis, lots of hot rod goodness, and is a pretty wild ride.
John says it weighs near 3,000 lbs, which is heavy for one of these, but it makes sense with all the chassis that is underneath it. And it does make 500 to the tires so it’s no slouch either! I bet there aren’t many VW busses that can keep up with this one, that’s for sure.
In this video from the Hot Rod Heaven USA YouTube Channel, you get a full feature on this build and also get to go for a ride along! Check it out, we think this thing is rad, and while it isn’t everyone’s speed it sure was done right.
