June 29, 2016

Lovely Lavenham

Last weekend the 3rd International Vintage Volkswagen Show was held in the historic town of Lavenham in Suffolk, UK. I had helped to organise the first two shows which take place every four years but this on was organised by The UK Historic VW Club who I entrusted it to after deciding it need a bigger, dedicated team for it to continue to happen.

I set off for the 150 mile, 3 hour drive to Lavenham at 5.30am on Saturday morning. The sun was already out and the weather was looking promising for the day. When I arrived in Lavenham, I managed to park near the Market Square which was to be home to the oldest Beetles and Busses – following the same format as the previous shows. There was a great turn out with around 160 vehicles pre registered for the weekend, arriving from all over Europe. I hung around the Square taking photographs until it was full and chatted with some old friends who I’ve not seen for a while – probably the last show in Lavenham 4 years ago!

Moving on, I followed the ‘Vintage VW Trail’ which lead me to Lavenham Hall which was a new display area which hasn’t been used before for the show. The house and gardens made a fantastic setting for the Karmann Ghias and Commercial Busses. The house is home to sculptor Kate Denton and her sculptures are placed around the grounds and gallery, next to the house and barns.

Continuing along the trail, I was directed to the sports field which was the location of the sixties beetles, later split busses, military VWs and the trade stands. Lots more traders present this year which was great to see. I stopped to chat with Rob and Paul for a while over coffee and bacon rolls and then headed back to the market square just in time for the first rain shower of the day. The rain quickly passed and the sun returned for a while before the next shower rolled in. I headed home having had a great day as a visitor to the show. Thanks to The Historic VW Club and everyone involved for putting on a fantastic show, well done!

Click on the first picture for full screen images…

January 18, 2016

Original ’55 for sale – again!

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Well, after selling my very original 1955 Stratos Silver Beetle to Laurent Gachoud from Switzerland a few months ago, It would seem that Laurent would be required to restore the car to be able to register it in Switzerland! Laurent has therefore decided that the car is far too original and would be far better staying as it is so would like to sell the car to someone who’s local vehicle laws are not as strict as those in Switzerland. There are lots of photos on my previous post and you can contact Laurent directly at: laurent.gachoud@bluewin.ch if you are interested in purchasing the beetle.

September 15, 2015

Original ’55 for sale

Thanks for all the interest, Sale pending…

I’ve decided that after six years of ownership, it’s time to sell my very original 1955 Oval-Window Beetle.

It’s an unrestored 1955 VW Oval Beetle still in original Stratos Silver paint, one of the nicest colours for a vintage VW. It has driven just 139084 KM (86422 Miles) from new and only had one owner in Sweden from 1955 -2003 when it had 68,000 Miles on the clock. It has never required any welding and is in remarkable condition for a 60 year old beetle, a true survivor!

The Stratos Silver paint and all the bodywork is completely original and has a lovely patina. It appears that just a single semaphore was replaced at some point in it’s early life in Sweden. It has it’s original 30hp engine from April ’55 which has just been serviced and drives great – as you would expect for a low-mileage VW.

The interior is original too and has the original floor mats, carpets, upholstery, door-cards and headlining. VW lap belts are fitted at the front and a single 3-point belt at the back.

I’ve always kept the beetle in my garage and it’s only covered 700 miles since I bought it in 2009.

It has several period accessories fitted including original Swedish wheel trims which it would have had from new, a dash-clock, Bambus parcel shelf, VW Gear leaver lock (no key), Passenger sun-visor and a high-level rear LED Brake light in the back window which helps overcome the size of the small heart-shaped rear brake lights! It also has an optima red-top battery so it always starts easily even after several months.

If originality is your thing, I doubt you will find a better early oval-window beetle. I’m happy to help with world wide shipping at the buyers expense. I would consider a trade for a VW T4 or T5 Camper with a similar value in the UK.

I can be contacted through this blog or directly via: malcolm@vueca.com

September 29, 2014

3 years ago today…

I just got a reminder from WordPress that it was exactly 3 years ago today that I made my first post on Bandwagen. And it’s also a double celebration as today the followers counter ticked over the 6,000 mark. So a big thank you to everyone out there who is following my blog. If you look back at my earlier posts, I think that my photography has improved a bit over the 3 years – And the photos have gotten bigger too! Here are some of the photos from that first post, way back in 2011 from the REME show…

September 26, 2014

Unrestored, all-original 1956 Volkswagen Beetle headed to auction

Ran When Parked

Our friends at Hemmings Motor News are reporting that an unrestored, all-original 1956 Volkswagen Beetle is scheduled to cross the auction block in Hershey, Pennsylvania, next month. Interestingly, the Beetle occupies the “V” spot in New Hampshire-based enthusiast John Moir’s A-to-Z collection of cars that represent each letter of the alphabet.

The Beetle was purchased new by Moir’s father in 1956 and almost exclusively used to run short errands. Moir Sr. occasionally loaned it to visiting family members who needed a car to get around while in town, but overall the Beetle appears to have been very sparingly driven in the first few years of its life.

Moir Sr. eventually passed the Beetle on to a number of family members including one of his sons and one of his grandsons. The car joined Moir Jr.’s growing collection after it became too worn out to drive on a regular basis.

RM…

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August 23, 2014

Stanford Hall 2014 Continued…

Here is my second set of photos from this year’s show. Still not all of them though! Such a good VW show and some nice weather helps too.

July 31, 2014

VWs at Vintage Stony

Last month I made it along to the annual summer classic car gathering in Stony Stratford, about 30 minutes drive from where I now live. It was a very hot day which was perfect for getting everyone out in their classics for the day. As usual, there were just a hand full of Volkswagens but the quality definitely made up for the quantity! I’ve posted some other pictures from the show on my other blog, MHPIX.

July 20, 2014

Vueca – The Camera Market

Another photography related hobby of mine is collecting Vintage Canon Film Cameras. I often visit antique markets, auctions and boot sales on the hunt for old cameras, sometimes buying a ‘lot’ of cameras to get a single camera for my collection. I don’t have space for all of them so I have been auctioning the unwanted cameras, often really nice, sometimes really rare, on good ol’ ebay to try and recoup some of the cost of collecting…

We’ll after a conversation with a full-time camera dealer, I decided to take the plunge and try and come up with a serious alternative for buyers and sellers of photographic equipment to list and buy their gear at sensible prices – No listing fees, No final value fees and No fees on postage. All very simple…

Vueca – The Camera Market is what I’ve come up with. It’s only been up and running for a few day but there are already around 100 items listed for sale. Sellers can list globally in any currency and choose to just ship locally or internationally. Hopefully some of you reading this have an interest in Photography and Vintage in general so may find the site useful – You may even have an old camera you would like to sell or, perhaps you may know someone else who might like to take a look?

It’s free to register to list and buy/bid on the site so please spread the word about Vueca – The Camera Market.

June 18, 2014

El Prado: VWs In The Meadow 2014

Some great photos here from Eric, looks like a lovely show…

May 18, 2014

The Chiltern Hills Rally 2014

As is was a nice day, I decided to pop along to the Chiltern Hills Rally. I’ve not been to this car show before but, there have beed signs for the show on my route to work and I pass the show site every day. Out of the 1000 or so vintage vehicles there were only a hand full of VWs on display. The Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally is organised by The Game Club to raise money for local good causes. The Rally is a well established annual event which enables the owners of classic and vintage vehicles to gather together in the Buckinghamshire countryside. Just for a change I took along my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens instead of my Canon 24-70 2.8L lens which is attached to my 60d most of the time. I think you’ll agree the pictures look a little different from the ones I normally take a t shows and post on here. Let me know what you think.