Story by Tobias Lindbäck in   TotalVW(May-june 2001) about the project:

Reversed    kit car

Many    people are building Porsche replicas using a VW pan. Pelle Havn did it the    other way around, he turned his 1985 Porsche Carrera in to a split window bug.

The story    of Pelle Havn's 1950 split started 15 years ago when he got his first job.    After receiving his very first pay check, he celebrated it by buying the old    family car from his mother for the modest sum of £65. It was a 1950 beetle in    original condition with the normal rust in the bottom. Pelle took care of the    rot and replaced the trusty old 25 horsed with a more vivid Porsche Super 90    engine. As one can imagine the 1950 gearbox didn't like its new companion and    soon gave up. After solving the problem by dropping in an IRS transmission    from a bus he was soon out on the road again.

Pelle kept    this combination until the carbs decided to overflow, thus creating a fire in    the engine compartment. Luckily a police with a fire extinguisher was nearby    saving the car. The engine was however heavily damaged by the powder from the    extinguisher and could not be saved. After literary putting the Super 90    remains in the trash Pelle tried to find a good replacement power plant. He    did soon find out that restored Super 90 engines had turned very expensive.    The project slowed down while Pelle thought about how he could continue.

Bad times    turned out to be Pelle's luck. As Porsches were extremely popular amongst    Swedish yuppies in the late 80's there were many wrecked examples imported by    people who repaired them to make some quick money. When bad times strucked in    the early 90's the market for fixed-up Porsches died quickly. At this time    Pelle did find a crashed German 911 from 1985 with good mechanics, but with a    need for a new body. He made the owner an offer, which was first turned down.    Later the owner called Pelle and asked if the offer was still open, a deal was    struck and the next day a tow truck dropped of the wreck were Pelle lived. At    that time he still lived with his parents and Pelle's mother did not like a    wrecked car in her garden. The ultimatum was: "I do not want to see any    sleeping projects here, if you want to have it here you have to keep working    on it. You can not leave it untouched for more than two days in a row". This    phrase did a lot to speed up the project!

Pelle's    original idea was to keep the transmission, the brakes, and some other    components, and then selling of the engine and some other parts. But as he cut    away the damaged bodywork his thoughts turned in another direction. Instead of    turning his bug in to a Porsche he thought it would be a lot simpler to make    the Porsche turn in to a bug. He then started to build a tubular frame to    support the floor section, including the drive train and the suspension parts,    from the Carrerra    before putting on the body of the bug. At first he did a very crude job making    it as simple as possible just to see if it was possible. It wasn't a beauty at    the time, as the proportion of the body was dictated of the Porsche parts, but    it worked. The maiden journey went to Bug Run in Mantorp Sweden, the biggest    VW-meeting in Scandinavia. He got the prize for "Best innovation", a prize    which he by now has got more than once.

Since then    his VW/Porsche, which he calls "project 50/50", has been totally redone three    times to get everything right both esthetical and mechanical. After the latest    iteration in 1997 the proportions are now very good.

One of    these rebuilds was the move from a GRP flip front to a totally stock front    section (well, at least externally stock?). At the time Pelle was helping a    friend restoring a Hebmüller which needed a lot of new sheet metal in the    front section. When he was done Pelle took the scrapped parts from the    Hebmüller and started fitting them on the project 50/50 to see if it was    possible to squeeze in the Porsche front suspension parts under a stock front    bonnet. He found it could be done, although the margins were nil. This way    Pelles car ended up with some original Hebmüller steel in its body!

A whole    magazine could be spent explaining all the details of the conversions and the    different step Pelle did to get 50/50 where it is today, instead I will try to    summarise it in a short "how to" recipe:

Take    the chassis from your favourite 911, lengthen it by 80 mm between the front    suspension and the pedal assembly. Shorten the front suspension by the same    amount before you build a tubular frame around the chassis. Then take your    mothers old bug and move the rear fenders forward 50 mm. Remove the rear apron    and cut out unnecessary sheet metal under the front bonnet. Now you are ready    to put the body of the bug on to the chassis. Next step is to hide the things    sticking out of the body by widening the rear fenders and building a slightly    fatter rear apron. Now you are ready to roll!

Pelle did    not only re-use the mechanical parts, he kept the electric system, complete    with ventilation fans, electric powered windows etc. This all adds up to a car    that is very reliable and easy to use for being such a heavily modified    vehicle.

One of my    privilege as a part time motoring journalist is to ride in the creatures I    write about. Despite sub zero temperature and snow falling on the ground Pelle    took me out on a spin in the 50/50. After climbing through the roll cage I    fall down in a firm, but yet comfortable, sport seat in leather. The heat    comes fast and plenty, thanks to electrical fans that draws warm air from the    oversized heat exchangers connected to the engine, and the Porsche instruments    reduces the feeling of sitting in a 50+ year old car.

After    finding a road with not too much snow and ice Pelle tries some acceleration.    The 17" tires easily lose grip in the cold weather but the limited slip diff    in the gearbox helps us on our way. The engine has a deep and warm rumbling    tone that gives a feeling of confidence making the fast acceleration less    dramatic than what is usually the case in hot rodded bugs. 65-140 mph is a good touring speed for the 50/50, which I have no reason to doubt    (and I assume he only cruises at that speed on German autobahns?).

Pelle's    latest dream is to ship the car to the USA for a nation wide cruise. Let's    guess that he will be humming on the old Van Halen tune "I can't drive 55".

Make and    model: 1950 VW type 1 / 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera

Owner:    Pelle Havn, Huddinge, Sweden

Age: 32

Occupation:    Consultant manager

Owned    since: 1985

Purchase    price: £65/130$

Body: VW    1950 type 1

Supporting    structure: GUSS/homebuilt frame

Engine:    Porsche 911 Carrera stock 3.2 litre with DME fuel injection

Gearbox:    Porsche 911 Carrera

Front    suspension: Porsche 911 Carrera, shortened 80mm

Rear    suspension: Porsche 911 Carrera with Koni Coilovers

Interior:    Porsche 911 Carrera, seats re-upholstered in black and grey leather.