After meeting with the Hopkins’ for the first time we knew this was going to be a long term business relationship and certainly a friendship; After explaining their love for cars and the automotive industry we knew this was going to be an interesting project.

The VW T6 Highline Kombi was dropped into us at NWCC just two weeks before the scheduled Christmas shut down so the team had no time to spare. With this family simply wanting to achieve something which was a lot more realistic to drive everyday and killing that road noise, whilst also creating a more luxurious interior.

Planning to use the van as a daily drive it was best for the Hopkins’ to opt for the 18” BBS XA and B14 Bilstein combination providing comfort and practicality for day to day drivability. Not everyone is a fan of the popular ABT or Sportline front spoiler options so the decision was made to opt for the gloss black GRP Lip spoiler and the OEM VW tailgate spoiler. The vehicles external paint underwent an in-house specialist 2 stage polishing process and was then finished with the Shine Supply sealer, perfecting and protecting the vehicles now perfect paint work.

This wasn’t a straight forward lining conversion, Team NWCC had the task of dealing with the eyesore that was the rear heater matrix cover, along with the rear quarter hot air ducting and the over head outlet vents. We decided to modify and trim the plastic cover panels to disguise them as much as possible. The challenge then moved to how to tackle the headliner; After a few discussions in the wood shop the decision was made to complete what was needed by using old school hand routing methods instead of dedicating time to drawing up CNC files. Every individual panel was machined from Birch ply and then trimmed in Alcantara from the front to rear. The headlining was then finished with a bright and crisp LED lighting layout.

To enhance the acoustics within the vehicle it was decided to upgrade from the standard VW audio set up, replacing it with the Audison AP8 & AP1 Prima option up front and simply adding in the Prima 100mm speakers in the rear, housed in the NWCC exclusive speaker pods. As for the Amp we talked the Hopkins’ around to the Audison AP4.9 Bit 4-channel amplifier with DSP as Mike and Martin both knew the amazing level of set up which can be achieved with the affordable yet advanced little amp.

We have a lot more to come from this project in the very near future, with upgraded seating to the rear combined with a full leather interior, we also have a neat little collaboration coming together with the Hopkins’ huge spec Defender “Watch this space”!