The last four weeks were characterized by preparations and even more preparations. The car was tinkered with and screwed together. BUTCH was foiled, rear carriers and water tanks were built and mounted. It felt like the car was in the workshop more than any oldtimer. - That's why we were asked from time to time whether we weren't overdoing it a bit.
Especially looking at the picture, the following would spontaneously occur to me:
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„Wir leben ständig über unsere Verhältnisse, aber immer noch nicht standesgemäß“
The picture was taken at PerfectCAR in Cologne. Not only the workshop we trust, but also for Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Bentley and Aston Martin, Rover, Austin, Triumph, Smart and recently also for VW Bulli. - Here you can find one dream car next to the other. - But BUTCH is more. Because it is the only one on the place that offers on top the comfort of a two-room apartment, kitchen, hall, bathroom, balcony.
To ensure that the new filming is appropriately protected, BUTCH was given the Glossy Bornheim an additional ceramic sealant. Step by step, BUTCH became our home. - Inside, too, it is slowly becoming domestic. A little decoration, cowhide on the floor, everything is slowly finding its place. Today we have to put the last boxes away. Then BUTCH is finally ready to go. - Our great adventure can begin.
Doch es heißt auch Abschied nehmen. – Nachdem wir in Köln „die Zelte abgebrochen haben“ – (so heißt das bei Nomaden) – hat es uns in den Raum Düren, auf den Punkt gebracht nach Niederzier und Hambach verschlagen. Nach dem Ort sind der Hambacher Forst und der Tagebau Hambach benannt. Auf den ersten Blick wirkt hier alles ein wenig beschaulich. Dass es darunter brodelt, oder heißt es kokelt, ist ja sicherlich aus Funk und Fernsehen bekannt. Hier sollte sich jeder seine eigene Meinung bilden. So etwas funktioniert natürlich am besten vor Ort.
While you're there, don't forget to visit Hambach Castle and Obbendorf Castle. But we have once again gone where opinions are best exchanged. In the Kölsch garden on site, more precisely in's Gaffel Häusgen Hambach verschlagen. Genau, ihr habt richtig gehört. Das Wirtshaus trägt unseren Namen, Häusgen. Wobei sich das Häusgen in diesem Fall auf meinen Bruder bezieht. Doch was macht ein Gaffel so weit weg vom Dom, von Kölle? Mein Bruder Dirk hat gemeint, sein Lieblingskölsch von der Gaffel Brauerei, in der Region etablieren zu müssen. Dies ist ihm auch geglückt. Das Brau- und Gästehaus ist inzwischen in der Region bekannt. Uns gefällt vor allem der Biergarten. Wobei ich ja eingestehen muss, dass ich Schmitz Kölsch bevorzuge. Doch bei Kölsch hat ja jeder seinen persönlichen Favoriten. – Ist das jetzt schon Werbung? Ja, ausdrücklich und deshalb auch der Hinweis. Ausnahmsweise sogar bezahlt, mit zwei Gaffel Kölsch. Hier in der Sonne, auch richtig lecker. 😉
(Note from Torgit: For the car people, the Gaffel Haus Häusgen Hambach holds a gravel parking lot, even with a free power connection ready. I have rarely experienced such a great service).
But what else drove us to the region? We were allowed to enjoy the hospitality of my brother, his wife Mira and their son Gordan here for a few more weeks. - We felt very comfortable and above all welcome. - It was nice after such a long time to once again live with big brother under one roof.
Da wir schon hier sind, haben wir uns natürlich auch den Tagebau aus der Nähe angesehen. Der Anblick ist unbeschreiblich. Wenn ich mir vorstelle, dass in diesem Loch ganze Ortschaften verschwunden sind, da der Tagebau „rechtlich dem Wohl der Allgemeinheit diene“ ist für mich unfassbar. Der Bagger erinnert mich an einen überdimensionierten Dinosaurier. – Heißt es deshalb fossile Brennstoffe? – Stehe ich vor einem Fossil? – Die Zeit wird es zeigen.
But now it's time to say goodbye to the region and get back on the road. Everything is packed and stowed. The water tanks are filled, the SUP in the waterproof and dustproof Ortlieb X-TREMER Packsack stowed. This holds an indescribable 150 liters and has already proven itself on our last tour. Also our Delta 4×4 spare wheel gets a befitting packaging. The Spare Wheel Cover
comes, like our garbage bags, from Delta Bags.
So BUTCH is finally ready to go. He also gets his reward. As a crown, so to speak, he gets his very own nameplate. - Where the T4 has the VOLKSWAGEN lettering, BUTCH also has the original lettering. At least almost, because VOLKsWAGEN has now become WAGENVOLK. The S must have been lost. - Since day 102 of our last tour around the Spanish peninsula, I knew that the new one will carry this lettering. At that time, I discovered it at Anja and Michael, on their old Sparkasse bus.
WAGENVOLK, I find this expression incredibly sympathetic. Surely not everyone sees it that way, but we don't care.
We are not only happy to get back on the road, but also to belong to the WAGENVOLK now, to lead a nomadic life, almost a little like gypsies and other vagabonds. - Oh yes, you don't say gypsy anymore. Even with Grandma Kleinmann, a Cologne pub institution now condemns the Gypsy schnitzel from its menu. This is also a good thing, since a large part of the Sinti and Roma reject this term as a stigma. And yet I also find it a bit of a shame. Because something is also lost. For all those who have always associated this term not with something negative, but with the longing for a free, unconstrained life, just a Gypsy life. So forgive me this term, I have already as a young guy, with passion sang the following lines:
„Schnorrer, Penner, schräge Narren, Kesselflicker, Diebe
Find in gypsy cart Nachtquartier und Liebe“
Note from Torgit: I'm more with Alexandra:
English 
German 
Italian 
French 
Japanese 
Dutch 
Spanish
Being a Gypsy is a way of life after all, I never associated the term with Sinti and Roma, only Travellers, here today and there tomorrow or in another place ?
Driving people, I missed this expression. Thank you!
Where can I get the Wagenvolk lettering? I would like it for our LT.
Ciao Bernhard,
I'm right there with you. It fits perfectly on an LT.
The WAGENVOLK lettering is just a pieced-together VOLKsWAGEN lettering, without the S.
You can still buy it new. E.g. here: https://shop.ahw-shop.de/original-volkswagen-schriftzug-hinten-heckklappen-emblem-schwarz-weiss
Ours is from the flea market.
Hello-Allow me to be a traveler....
Your enthusiasm in all honor, and admitted, your Butch is an eye-catcher-but times quite honestly: that was then already!
Nur ein Beispiel:Die,,Dusche“-
Ich stell mir grad vor,abends irgendwo im ,,Outback“,Windstärke 2-3:
There you stand surrounded by a fluttering cape
And if you use even a tiny bar of soap to wash the sweat from your armpits, do you think the grass will grow better in the near future?
Or the toilet, or rather the outhouse: How do you imagine it when the passenger watches and listens while doing the big business? Or does he/she have to wait outside during this time? At minus 10 degrees, pitch dark, somewhere in the middle of nowhere?
Also ganz ehrlich:Wer sich mit solchen ,,Lösungen“ zufrieden gibt (und auch noch stolz darauf ist),der ist nicht zu beneiden!
I can use my mobile, which by the way cost a fraction of your butch, in any place, at any time, in any weather toilet and / or shower inside the mobile, heated and ventilated.
My well-founded conclusion to your butch (and all other self-builds) can only be:
Chic from the outside, but on closer inspection primitive and unusable...
Nevertheless: Many greetings from the Baltic Sea!
Hello Roland,
Thank you for the critical feedback. It's good that tastes are so different.
We get a lot of positive feedback, even from those who have copied the concept.
Doch ich bin ganz bei Dir, dieses Konzept passt nicht für jeden. Da Du ja scheinbar für Dich die eierlegende Wollmichsau, zu einem „Bruchteil“ der Kosten realisiert hast, wirst Du Dein Fahrzeug ja sicher irgendwo vorstellen!? Sende uns gern den Link.
Sunny greetings to the Baltic Sea