Peter noad, Journalist, Rallyist
It'd be boarderline impossible to talk about Cartune without also giving Peter Noad a mention. Peter was not only a journalist, but also a keen rally and autotest enthusiast. Peter wrote many articles for VW Safer Motoring, Car and Car Conversions magazine and also wrote the book Tuning Volkswagens. Later he would also write for Volksworld Magazine. His "retro" column would always be a particular highlight of mine. It's Peter's journalism that has really enabled me to put this page together as his articles stand as the only physical reference points.
The Beetle pictured is the Noad / Cartune Beetle. It was built to demonstrate that a VW could be a competitive car at relatively low cost. It featured many original Cartune parts such as a 14mm anti roll bar, modified 14" wheels, 1700cc engine and of course a pair of taper tips. This was serious stuff for 1971 and the Beetle regularly placed well or even won competitions. To the right is Peter with an assortment of tailpipes and above and below is the Beetle in action, note the Cartune VW decal across the decklid and above the front screen.
The engine, as mentioned was a 1700cc (1678) based on a 1500 single port unit, all built in house at Cartune Middlesex. It had a compression ratio of 9.1:1, 26/58 degree camshaft with 8mm lift, lightened flywheel and was fed by a single Reece Fish carburetor. At the time of the article a twin reece setup was "actively being pursued." Luckily for me, they did actually develop the twin setup and I actually own what must be one of very few sets.
It was claimed that the Taper Tips would actually add BHP alone. We're maybe talking 1-2 at best which seems meager by today's standards, but a standard VW silencer coupled with Taper Tips took a whole .9 of a second off Peter's 0-60 time, achieving a total time of 13 seconds.
Unfortunately Peter Died earlier this year (2019). I did try to contact him on a few occasions but he was unwilling to respond. I was approached By Volksworld magazine to write a small piece about him which I was more than happy to do. R.I.P Peter.