Stony Stratford Classic Car Festival 2012

On Sunday 3rd June I popped along to the Stony Stratford Classic Car Festival. It was my first visit to this show even though I’ve lived just five minutes drive from the town for the last 10 years. I now live about half an hour away so even though it was raining, I decided it was worth a visit.

I’ve read that the show has grown steadily year on year but I guess Sunday’s show must have been the exception due to the appalling weather. Quite a few cars did brave our British weather and quite a high percentage were from the local VW club – which was very handy!

Hopefully the weather will be a bit better for next years show and it will get back on track.

Counting down to June 23rd…

It all started back in 2005 after driving back to the UK from the vintage VW show in Hessisch Oldendorf, Germany. “Why don’t we have a Vintage Volkswagen show like that in England?” Well, now we do!

Lavenham is regarded as being the finest surviving example in England of a mediaeval town, with superb ancient buildings – over 300 of them listed as being of architectural and historical interest.

I was one of the organisers of the first Lavenham Vintage Volkswagen Show in 2008 which was a great success, with over 100 Vintage VWs arriving in Lavenham for the weekend from all over Europe. For our second show this year, things have had to get a little bigger to accommodate the 170 vehicle that have registered. The Market Square will be home to pre-1957 vehicles. Lavenham Press has the Big-window beetles while you will find Karmann Ghias, Type 3s and over sixty splitscreen type 2 campers in the meadow along with the trade stands.

On the Sunday we have organised a cruise around the narrow Suffolk lanes through some of the regions most beautiful villages. With over 110 VWs taking part in the cruise it should be quite a spectacle!

So if you’re in the UK and looking for something to do on Saturday 23rd June, why not come along and spend a day in Lavenham – It’s free to visit but don’t forget your camera!

http://www.pre67vw.com/lavenham

Show Buzz: Bug-a-Palüza 14

Reblogged from The VolksFool:

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Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines lollapalooza as “one that is extraordinarily impressive” or “an outstanding example.” To most of us younger than, say, forty-five, the word might be more likely to conjure memories of a certain series of outdoor music festivals. I still have an unused ticket for the first Lollapalooza concert, in 1991, which at the last minute I decided not to attend because then — as now — I had an aversion to crowds, events, hooplas, or any sort of organized mayhem.

Read more… 4,019 more words

Nice show report Bruce. Love the photos and great writing as usual.

The VolksWorld Show 2012

Last Sunday I drove down to Sandown Park in Esher for this years VolksWorld Show. Advertised as Europe’s premier Indoor and outdoor VW show it occupies all three floors of Sandown Park race course along with a huge car park and outdoor areas for club displays.

As in previous years the weather was great, the show usually seems to mark the start of spring with lots of sunshine, which is always handy for an indoor show! I spent a while looking around the car park before going in as there were still queues of people waiting at the doors. There were a few interesting vehicles in the for sale area including a white ’52 split window beetle on a trailer. Plenty of incorrect parts and a price tag of £25,000!

I ventured inside and straight out into the paddock area which was ringed by vans, beetles and a few trade stands. Some nice busses here including a pale blue pickup which was for sale. This is a great show for custom VWs, particularly Rat-Look busses which are always plentiful. Never too much in the way of stock Vintage VWs at this show but, there was the Grundmann’s fantastic VW38 Prototype Beetle which was on display by the VolksWold magazine stand. It was nice to see it on display but It looked a bit out of place in these surroundings!

DubFreeze

I went along to DubFreeze on Sunday afternoon at the Stafordshire showground and, even though I was only there for a couple of hours and as it was the first UK VW show of 2012 I thought it only right to use the opportunity to take a few Photographs.

It was very busy even at 1.30 when we got there. We passed lots of people heading back to their cars carrying bags of goodies and many with large roles of carpet over their shoulders. The indoor show and shine is always a mixed bag of around 30 VWs including watercooled, rat-look, resto-cal and a few stock VWs too. There were still some nice VWs still parked outside when we left at 3pm as well.

Vintage Stony 2012

As it was a nice day, and the sun was threatening to make an appearance, I decided to pay a visit the the new-years day classic car show ‘Vintage Stony 2012′.

I’d been thinking of dragging my beetle out of hibernation early for this one but as I was a little late getting up, it remained in the garage.

I think this may be the third year that the new years day show in Stony Stratford has been held, and the first time I’ve made it along. I was surprised how busy it was, both car parks were already full and there were lots of people walking around by eleven o’clock when I got there.

Not too may Volkswagens around though. A few nice split screen vans and some Porsches, also a Tatra which was nice to see out and about. I’ve posted some pictures of the VWs and Porsches plus there are more pictures of other marques on Flickr.

Slough Swap Meet 2011

An early start for the hour-ish drive down the M40 got me to the Montem Sports Centre in Slough just after the 9am opening time.

There was still a huge queue winding it’s way around the building so I parked up, met up with Jay from Wales, emptied my boot of wing and wheel which he’d bought from me and took a wander around the car park, camera at at the ready.

It was a bright, sunny day which must have tempted many to bring out their VWs for the swap meet. Plenty of lowered vehicles as usual and the normal hand full of stock VWs. I think I found them all but sorry if I missed anyone! I was fortunate to be able to talk to Avtar, the owner of a loverly unrestored ’56 Horizon Blue Swedish Oval, more to follow on that one…

I then ventured inside for a couple of laps of the stalls. It never seems to be a busy as it used to be. Perhaps it’s the recession or, maybe it’s due to everyone trading parts on the internet? Still, I always look forward to heading to Slough to catch up with everyone and search out any bargains, few and far between this year. I guess I should have joined the queue instead of taking photos in the car park!

The 2nd Ivan Hirst Memorial Vintage VW Show – 2011

Sunday the 25th of September saw myself, and the other UK vintage Volkswagen fans, heading to the REME museum in Arborfield, near Reading for the second Ivan Hirst memorial VW show.

The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and Volkswagen have a long history together, from the end of the Second World War and the intervention of the young British Army officer whose actions changed the future of the fledgling giant of European motoring.