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ABOVE Lilac Notch rolls in to a show LEFT On a photo shoot fresh out of the Thump! Thump! workshop. |
| LILAC NOTCH |
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Darren Brind had an old beat up Volkswagen Notchback that he was looking to get repainted and some body mods carried out at the same time. Jay Townsend was managing the Big Boys Toys parts store when Darren came into the store and asked if he knew of anyone that could spray his Notch . . . and his answer was "Sure I do, me!"
Darren handed over a deposit for a paint job and Jay set off to find a workshop, basically his money started Thump Thump and after paying the months rent up front they had just £10.00 in the bank. This was a brave move setting up but Jay and Gary never looked back, with the lilac Notch the first car to roll in to the workshops. Regular calls were made to keep tabs on the progress of the project, Darren was in for a shock when he finally saw his Notch for the first time. While at the workshop it received many mods including smoothed bodywork with solenoid doors, all handles removed, radical centra alloy wheels, a fresh coat of custom lovely lilac paint (Number 1), the top of the doors were radioused, the roof gutter de-seamed and full interior retrim for good measure. The Notch looked fresh when it rolled out the the workshop in 1988. What Darren didn't know was Volksworld had got wind of the radical ride and had arranged a photo shoot and ran the feature titled 'Lilac Wine' (see above) in the months after Darren had collected the Notch. |
The mods on the
Notch were to become 'Trademark' thump! Word soon spread and the guys at
Thump! Thump! were soon booked up well a year in advance.
A guy called Paul (Noodles) from the old Lo 'E' Nuf club in Hertfordshire bought it from Darren and enjoyed it for a number of years. He used it as a daily driver to and from work where it hardly ever let him down. During this time the Notch received a change of colour (yellow) and even had the roof cut off for about two hours before Paul decided that that looked better with it on, so promptly welded it back!
ABOVE and BELOW how the car currently looks awaiting restoration by the current owner Andy. |
Paul was asked if
he would consider selling which he replied "I'll never sell this car
it's awesome!" So he took the car to a friends and left it there as
it was safer than being left on the road in Leicester. The Notch was left
on a driveway but on Paul's return a couple of years later it had
unfortunately been moved onto a grassy patch where it had sunk into the
mud and was resting on the floors rotting away, eek! Not a happy man!
After much badgering he agreed to sell it to a guy called Andy from the midlands, who first saw the Notch when he was just 17. He intends to restore it to the way it was back when it first hit the UK show and shine scene. |
| "This was a brave move setting up but Jay and Gary never looked back" | ||
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By that time, age and negligence meant it needed a bit welding here and there and was starting to look a bit worse for wear. Paul was going traveling so he didn't bother doing any of the work and thought he'd do it when he returned. |
The Notch is in a bad way with most of the
floor pan needing to be replaced and most body panels are shot. When
the car was being sold the solenoid doors would not open so the only way
to gain access to the car was through the boot.
Parts have been started to be collected to return this Notch to the way it first rolled out of the Thump! Thump! workshop and is now in the dry awaiting a full restoration. |
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