Jamie’s Beetle: Parcel Tape

What’s better than finding a sweet car that we want to feature? Finding an owner with an even cooler hobby, skill or story to tell alongside it.

A man of many talents.

This late Beetle, affectionately called ‘Parcel Tape’ belongs to Jamie, a musician, a camera operator and technician, doer of special effects and a pretty awesome artist just waiting to be discovered! With his previous Beetle far beyond economical repair (it was sold on for spares; although the new owner threw some paint at it and had it on eBay within a fortnight for 4 times the price) Jamie headed to Volksworld show in 2014 with a bag of cash and a mission to buy a new Bug.

Brown bargain

This one was rolling into the Sandown Park show when our sharp eyed shopper first spotted it. Jamie wasted no time,  stopping the owners and finding out all he needed to know, before deciding it was for him! A recent repaint and a luxury red vinyl retrim ticked the boxes. The engine was ‘only’ a stock 1600 with Weber ICT's but that mattered not. Rolling on gas burners (not his favourite wheels) he couldn't wait to personalise the car further once his name was on the V5.

Wrapped up in rubber.

As is often said, the right wheels will make the car and Jamie’s choice of SSP Slotmags are everything that he wanted for an iconic custom look. Reminiscent of the cars he remembers from his youth, in particular a custom Morris Minor that belonged to a friend of his Dad. The flat faced five spoke completes the Seventies style has gone for, complementing the vintage yellow spot light, ivory sunblind, wood rim steering wheel, Retro Sounds radio and raised white letter tyres.

DoodleBug!

Having spotted Jamie’s artwork on Instagram a year or so back, it was great to look at the originals up close. Drawn by hand, and rendered with coloured pencils, they are nothing short of exquisite, a slight change of direction from the graffiti art he cut his teeth on (and slightly more legal too...). I asked how long they take to make “There’s over 200 hours in this one” Jamie tells me pointing to the piece he’s called “Sun-Burn-Out”. Commissions are welcome, but don’t expect them to be priced on par with Athena! With a bit of luck he’ll have an online shop soon with limited edition prints available, should you like them as much as us! For now check out his  Instagram here.

Location, location, location

You may have clocked we were lucky enough to capture this Kafer at a number of different places, to best bring out its colour and seventies style. A special thanks to Field Place in Worthing for letting us shoot in front of their beautiful Manor House, a fabulous venue should you be planning a special occasion in the near future. Andy