Well, it might be a tad difficult to understand how an Englishman who started life with Aston Martin and Jaguar ended up in Amsterdam, repairing and developing engines and gearboxes for the VWT3 world… but fact is fact — this is what happened. It would take a book to explain.

Yes — Zen and the Art of the VWT3, indeed.

So here’s the short version.

I left the UK and emigrated to the Netherlands — Holland — in the mid-90s. From 1995 to 2011, I stepped away from engineering to follow another passion: Zen and Reiki. During those years, I travelled the world, immersed myself in full-time Zen study, and spent a great deal of time in my beloved T3 — Miss Satsang. She was special. We even held meetings inside her. But like many old ladies, she was also a handful. Many long evenings fixing things — no cold beer (again), the fridge playing up, and yes… the gearbox was waiting in the wings.

In 2011, somehow, Dream was born.

And it turns out the garage is my Zendo after all. Life is funny.

Since then, my life, soul, and love have been poured into Dream & Drive. What began as a small rental fleet evolved into a fully-fledged workshop. There was a clear gap in the T3 world, and we had the dedication — and the love — to fill it. In 2015, we moved into NDSM. I remember crying. I was trying to be all Zen, but Dream was growing, and I was deep in the busyness of it all. I missed the point. That’s the thing: you never know — which is real knowledge.

Ten years on, the biggest challenge of my life arrived — moving Dream & Drive to a new home: De Boomgaard. The move is now complete, and we're up and running in 's-Graveland.

For me, Dream & Drive is about love, about detail, and about shared interest. All T3s are mechanically similar — but you, the people who drive them, are entirely unique. And that’s where my two worlds meet: Zen and the Art of the VWT3.

And no — I’m not retiring. I’m just warming up.

I hope you enjoy this latest version of our website, made with the same care, humour, and heart as always.

You're invited

– Mark Pluygers, Amsterdam