Beachbuggin 2013 part 2 of 2

Part two of my review of the Beachbuggin 2013 VW show, held in Southsea, Hampshire on Sunday 11th August. On the drive down to the coastal town of Southsea I had my doubts about the weather forecast, they had promised glorious sunshine but as I got over half way down to the show I drove through quite heavy rain for 5 or 6 miles and I began to wonder if driving 100 miles to the beach-side show was such a good idea. But, by the time I arrived in Southsea, the rain had stopped, the clouds were clearing and within an hour or so the sun was shining and the temperature was rising.

This lovely looking square back looked great
with it's mesh sun visor and full length roof
rack, I also liked the blinds in the rear quarter
windows.

This 181 Trekker looked authentic in it's army
green livery, it had European plates so it may
have belonged to one of the many European
visitors that attend the show as it's just a short
hop across the English Channel.

This mini moto motorcycle looks like it was
based on Batman's motorcycle, the Batpod as
seen in the 2008 movie, The Dark Knight
starring Christian Bale and Micheal Caine.

I wasn't sure if it actually worked or not, but
having looked at it for quite some time I could
see no reason why it wouldn't, the design and
engineering was very well thought out.

If you like some bling on your vehicle, take a
look at the engine on this early bug. Everything
is either painted or polished or chromed.

Lovely bright metal flake electric blue paint, a
narrowed front beam, sitting nice and low with
chromed Empi 5 spoke wheels and an amazing
opening screen, simply gorgeous. 

Parked next to the electric blue bug was this
equally nice pastel blue early bug. It also has
a narrowed beam running on painted steel
wheels and although a totally different style
it's equally as nice.

This '69 beetle had been modified with a body
kit, which looked as though it was based on
 a Ferrari Testarossa.

I must admit it's not really my 'cup of tea' but
having said that it was extremely well built
and the finish and detail were excellent.

I was tempted to have a Bratwurst, but after
cooking 2 fried egg rolls for breakfast I resisted
the temptation, although I am partial to a nice
tasty Bratwurst.!

This 1966, SO42 split screen was trailered to
the show. It's a very solid US import from
Las Vagas, and comes with a current UK 
M.O.T and a price tag of £24,000.
 

Beach buggies, as you would expect from a
show called Beachbuggin, were there in force.
There were so many different models from
the the late 60's to modern day and so many
different colours and styles.

The majority of beach buggies are not painted
but the colour is added to the fibreglass whilst
in production and they tend to be bright colours
and a lot have the 70's style metal flake look
which makes them look so cool.

Unlike most beetles and buses, buggy owners
have more ability to customise their buggy to
their own taste so even two buggies with the
same body can be vastly different, in style
and looks which can only be good.

A stones throw from the show venue is
Southsea beach. There is a hovercraft service
from Southsea to Ryde in the Isle of Wight
which is only about 3 miles away.

In my opinion Hovercraft's are very under-
rated, they are very versatile and go almost
anywhere on land or water and they should be
used in disaster areas where flooding or mud
slides occur.

Standing on the beach front looking to the
right at the Beachbuggin show.

And looking left towards Portsmouth city
centre, just to give an impression of how big
the Beachbuggin show really is.

Beautifully clean 1982 MK1 Golf was simply
stunning.The bright red paint was immaculate.

This early bug looked nice and clean but the
size of the exhaust got my attention. A closer
look inside revealed a huge rev counter. I
had to find out more about what motor the
owner was running.

Although it was a normally aspirated engine
and not with a turbo or nitrous it was still
pushing out 200bhp and the rev counter
was there just so the owner could keep an
eye on the engines rev's.

Lovely early bay with pop top in black over
red with clear indicator lenses and twin retro
spotlights on the bumper with bumper trim.
 

This looks like a 1964 Volvo Amazon, OK it's
not a VW but it's always nice to different makes
of vehicles at  a show.

Custom tooth grill and sun visor were neat
touches.

The bright lime green and white paint, made
this late split screen almost glow in the
afternoon sunshine.

Dave and Angela, both from my hometown of
Aylesbury arrived at the show in their 'Red
Nose' beetle. Although we never managed
to meet up we did send a few text messages
to each other. Unfortunately I had to leave
mid afternoon, but hopefully Dave and Angela
enjoyed the show.

Regular readers of my blog will be aware of
 my Hotrod background, and I always like to
see some American muscle cars at VW
shows.This 1957 Pontiac Star Chief was 
stunning and in like new condition.

We had the police from 2 states attend the
show, so whatever was going down it must
have been big.! Here is the N.Y.P.D. squad
car from 42nd precinct, which by my
calculations is the Bronx area. The owner was
even dressed as a New York cop.

Not to be outdone the Californian Highway
Patrol squad car also attended the show.

Awesome paint job on this T5.

In the RAT line up was the sweet looking early
60's beetle complete with patina, roof rack
with accessories and an original 'car cooler'
air conditioner unit.

Lovely looking from every angle, the patina
on the roof and round the windows looks so
cool, as does the cool box, radio flyer and
suitcase on the roof rack.

Also in the RAT line up was this early split
screen, well the sign did say RAT looking!

A little further down the line was this early
crew cab split screen pick up complete with
cyclopes light.

This super bright green Karmann arrived later
in the day. It was super low and super clean.

A glorious way to spend a sunny Sunday
afternoon by the sea at a VW show. Fiona
just poking her nose out in the line up.

This lovely cherry red and white late split
screen was parked behind me, it had the
deluxe trim and safari screens, with chrome
US style 'towel rail' bumpers.

Parked up behind one of the trade stands was
this lovely looking oval window early beetle.
It looked pretty much original, apart from the
roof rack but even that was an early period
accessory. 

This was one of my favourite buggies at the
show, painted in Empi colours with huge
banded wheels and a hard top roof.

Really nice classic 60's shape, I can't think
of more fun than driving a buggy in the
sunshine down on the seafront on a sunny
afternoon.



So that was Beachbuggin 2013, overall a
fantastic show with the weather to match.
OK, it's a 200 mile round trip from my
hometown, but I really can't recommend
this one day show enough. It has everything
you could possibly want, a vast selection of
VW's both water cooled and air cooled, trade
stands, auto jumble, food vendors, the beach,
traditional sea side shops for your candy floss
and rock for to take home and dogs are allowed
at the show.
So, are you going next year?