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

Hot Ghia

Photo of the week #26 – Shot at The London Volksfest 2003, a flamed orange Karmann Ghia sits side by side with a stock, restored 21 window Samba. Something for everyone at this show, including some August sunshine!

David Hall

David Hall is a photographer based in Birmingham, England. He loves photography and will shoot everyone and everything, from beautiful summer weddings, thrash metal bands, sportscars, families and a little bit of pretty much everything in-between. He works up and down the country and when he’s lucky, occasionally further afield.

David writes “I’m passionate about old Volkswagens. The love affair started when I was really little, my older cousin passed his test and his first car was a 70’s beetle. Having been taken for a spin in it I was hooked. Lots of drooling and fantasizing over old Volkswagen’s later, I am now the proud owner of the bus you see below. She is a 1961 23 window samba imported from New York approx 9 years ago as a complete wreck. Rust on top of rust, holes everywhere and in need of some serious TLC. Roll on a few years and Matt at Smiths of Cornwall waved his magic restoration wand and Jemima as we affectionately call her was re-born.”

Visit David’s website…

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!

Tinplate gold mine

I recently spotted this fantastic Tinplate Karmann Ghia listed on ebay with a starting bid of just 99 US cents!

Manufactured by the Japanese company Bandai in the mid 1950s, This ‘Automobiles of the world’ series tin toy Vintage Volkswagen looks to be in mint condition and includes the original box and printed product list of the other cars available in the series. I think this was quite a rare toy when it was produced especially in this great colour combination so that would make it extremely rare now I guess. I did contemplate bidding for it but it soon got way out of my league.

The winning bid, $2,369.20

Jam yesterday…

Bug Jam at Santapod Raceway in the UK  began as a one-day only event on a sunny Sunday afternoon in July 1987. Around 3,500 people made it to the first Bug Jam although considerably more than that claim to have been there. I was there and I have the photos to prove it! These are some of my favourite photographs taken at the first shows. I should really get around to scanning the rest – some day…

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.

Auto Craft Engineering UK

Auto Craft Engineering UK Ltd specialise in manufacturing classic Volkswagen panels and accessories in their fully equipped workshop.

With years of engineering experience behind them they formed their own company and began producing high quality hand made and pressed repair panels.

Their product range is forever growing and as they expand they hope to add many new parts to their range in the future.

“We work to the highest standard to ensure that our panels are 100% correct, and we are always happy to receive feedback from our customers and give advice when needed.”

Visit auto craft engineering…