Stanford Hall, 2014, part 1

The Stanford Hall VW show is an annual one day event organised by the Leicestershire and Warkickshire VW owners club and held at Stanford Hall, at Lutterworth in Leicestershire, LE17 6DH. As Stanford Hall is only about 60 miles from my hometown, and as the weather forecast was promising I decided to drive up. Fellow Outcast club members Matthew and Caroline also came along so we drove up together. I have been to this show over the past few years and there is always a good collection of VW's of all varieties with plenty of trade stands and an auto jumble and set in the beautiful grounds of Stanford Hall. 
 

I arranged to meet Matthew and Caroline in
Aylesbury so we could cruise up to Stanford
Hall together. We had not pre-booked so we
had to park in the public car park, which was
opposite the show site.

The field for the public parking was massive
and must have been close to a quarter of a
mile long. The number of quality VW's parked
in the field was amazing and almost as
interesting as walking around the show.

Just inside the Stanford Hall grounds, heading
towards the show I spotted this split screen
single cab pick up which looked awesome.

This split must be riding on air, to be that
low. I love that narrowed from beam and the
wheel choice.

If like me, you like the RAT look with patina,
how about this split screen. It looks just about
right to me.

Yes, it'll do nicely...

Or maybe a patina'd early bay with sign
written doors. Continuing the RAT theme the
trailer behind was towed by this early bay
and made from what looked like scrap wood
and corrugated tin sheeting on a caravan
chassis.

From one extreme to another, this immaculate
deep blue spilt screen was totally to show
standard. It had plenty of period accessories
including the chromed air conditioning unit,
and Porsche 356 headlight grills and
chrome bumpers.
 

Inside this split panel van was to the same
standard, OK not to everyone taste, but you
can't fault the quality and workman ship.

The cab area continued along the same lines
with everything painted or polished.

As you would expect the engine bay and rear
end were just as clean.

Another very clean and straight split screen
panel van.

This engineering company were showing off
their VW engine and accessories, it looked
very nice, but where is the oil leek? every
VW has an oil leek, right?

OK we have all seen VW furniture before but
the Beetle front end sofa was different. With
a price tag of £995 GBP it had better be
comfortable and those light better work.

This beach buggy caught my eye, nothing flash
or fancy just an honest fun early buggy which
was up for sale.

More patina on this split screen. The rusty
bumper is almost as good as mine.!

I never realised how much room there was in
an early bay until I saw this one. I love
the swivel front seats and the amount of leg
room there is without any wardrobe, cooker
or sink units and of course a bulkhead.

This Mk1 caddy looked great sitting so low
and with that faultless deep cherry red paint
job it certainly made it stand out from the
crowd.

No VW show would be complete without a
Porsche or two and this 1967 912 looked
at home amid the other air cooled vehicles.

This lovely 1965 sky blue and white split
screen was so straight and clean.

One of the traders had this early split screen
panel van to haul all his parts around. Very
RAT looking and very cool.

One of the traders at the show was 'Seaside
Neil', who as you can see creates these truly
amazing creations with pin striping and
lettering.

Seaside Neil sign writes on old saw's, oil cans,
pushbikes and almost anything else. The
standard of his work is fantastic.

Another trader, Alan Schofield had this single
cab split screen pick up.

Also parked up in the traders section was this
1967 early beetle finished in a faultless red
paint job with chromed style US bumpers and
sitting down in the weeds.

The photo doesn't show the true deep colour
but is does show how straight the body was
with the reflection in the door.

The interior on this split screen isn't to every
ones taste, but the quality and workman ship
are.

Just in front of Stanford Hall was the historic
beetle display. The display includes all
Beetles built prior to the introduction of the
34 bhp engine in August 1960. This green
split oval beetle was gorgeous.

How about this for a totally original engine. It
is just how it came out of the factory.

A split oval beetle finished in grey with salmon
painted wheels and pin striping.

The quality of cars in the historic beetle line
up was incredible, they are probably cleaner
than when they left the factory.

Gorgeous cars with the lovely backdrop of
Stanford Hall.

The simplicity and classic lines of these early
beetles is why they are still sought after all
the years later.

This army themed early bug is a regular at
Stanford Hall, and it always looks immaculate.

Iconic shape that changed very little through
out it's production.

I did like the hub caps and rear fender skirt
on this gloss black beetle. Just look at that
reflection on the door and rear quarter panel,
how straight is that.

This split oval is pretty close to perfection.

This beetle was faultless, the amount of time
and money these cars must take to maintain
must be huge. I did like the semaphore
direction indicators.

Classic beetles don't get much better than this.
 

Another vehicle with the army theme was this
Trekker.

Interior is very sparse, but functional.

I did like the headlight covers with the small
slit to allow minimal light out so as not to get
seen by the enemy.



A very appropriate number plate on this Bug.

The split screen panel van of Baron Von
Kronken must mean I have reached the split
screen line up. This really is a nice clean and
straight van.


So that was part 1 of my Stanford Hall 2014
review. Part 2 to follow shortly where I continue
with the split screen line up.