Stonor Park VW Expo 30, 2014

Each year The Association of British VW Clubs organise the Stonor Park expo show. It is held in the grounds of one of England’s oldest manor houses, being built around 1190 and it has been owned by the same family of the same faith for 850 years. The house and grounds are situated in a beautiful setting in rural Henley on Thames in Oxfordshire. The house contains a remarkable collection of Old Master Paintings, European sculptures, stained glass and contemporary ceramics, and for one day a year the grounds contain a remarkable collection of Volkswagen's, both air cooled and water cooled.

This years show had something for everyone including: Trade Stands & Auto jumble / Concours d’Elegance / Club Displays / Air-cooled Avenue / 40 years of the Golf & Scirocco / Miss VW contest and a Children’s Fancy Dress (for the under 12’s). As Stonor Park is only about 24 miles from my hometown, and more importantly, as it's a really good show that I have attended over the past few years with an amazing amount of VW's I just had to attend this year.

I met up with Stuart for the short cruise over
to the show. For once Stuart led the way.

Entering the show this was the view of the
show, this was the trade stands and auto-
jumble area.

Once we had parked up and entered the show,
the first car I recognised was 'Big T's' lovely
squareback.

Simon Parsons from 'Cushty n Retro' was there
trading, more of Simon later.

This late split screen has been around for many
years now but it still looks good. It has been
signed by Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend.

A nice looking early bay, a bit RAT looking, but
it still looks good to me.

It may be RAT looking but it's nice and clean
and very straight

A late split screen in the foreground with
Claude's 1960 kombi in the background.

A better look at Claude's lovely looking kombi.
I believe he bought the bra in the US, it was
certainly the right weather for the safari screens
to be open.

A rare glimpse inside Claude's bus.

Just to prove that I do get all arty from time to
time, how about the shot of Claude's kombi
in the reflection of a hubcap.

Split screens were in abundance at Stonor.

This lovely white over blue deluxe split looked
just about right.

OK, the colour may not be to everybody taste,
but the almost perfect straightness of the body
must surely be.

Nice thermal windscreen cover on this late
split screen. It wasn't particularly flash or
fancy but it still stood out from the rest.

A nice detail was the painted chequered design
on the inside of the headlights. It's all in the
detail.

This lovely patina'd oval beetle with it's very
narrow front beam looked glorious in the
summer sunshine.

The patina and the wheels made this stand
out from the other bugs... oh and the
supercharged engine may have helped.

Another oval bug in silver blue paint over a
super straight body.

I mentioned earlier about it's all in the detail,
well how about this spare wheel cover, the petrol
tank cover and the quilted hood lining.

You want patina? this early bug had it in
abundance. The narrow front beam and the
head light grilles added to the overall look.

I do like the look of this beetle, I can't think of
anything that would improve the look.

From one extreme to another, this pair of
early beetles were immaculate. I did like the
two tone paint of the 1965 model nearest the
camera.

Having said that, this two tone blue was equally
as nice, and it had a Paris sunroof.

Just a small selection of the beetle's in the
 display, every conceivable year and every
conceivable condition.

I do like accessories on a vehicle and this
early beetle had plenty for me to look at,
including the retro cool box on the period
roof rack and the 'air conditioning' unit on the
passenger door.

This very bright yellow 182 trekker was sold in
the US as the  'VW Thing' and was originally
a military vehicle.

Interior is sparse as you would expect from a
military vehicle, no creature comforts here.
I'm not sure about the bullet shaped centre on
the steering wheel though.

This early bug caught my eye by how low it
was sitting. The colour choice was a good call
as it looks lovely and really suits the car.

The interior was just as clean and tidy as the
outside and looked pretty much original.

This Rometsch Lawerence coupe still looked
as nice as it did when I first saw it 2 years ago.

The interior although looking it's age, still looked
good.

Just a small selection of the Karmann Ghia
line up.

The interior of the red one in the foreground of
the previous photo was immaculate.

In fact it's fair to say the whole car was
immaculate.

Early bay's, late bay's, split screens and T25's
all lined up side by side.

I do like a nice clean T25, and this red example
was gorgeous with it's pop top.

A shot of some of the beetle's on show at
Stonor Park.

A ratty early bay was always bound to get
my attention and this red one sat down in
the weeds.

This early bay panel van looked good with it's
full length roof rack and patina.

This stunning gold coloured oval window bug
looked gorgeous. The louvre blind in the rear
window was a nice touch.

Immaculate from every angle. I did like the
direction indicators where the semaphore
indicators used to be.

Colour coded sun visor and super shiny
chrome US style bumpers complimented
the gold bodywork.

Not all as it seems... this pair of Porsche's a 
speedster and a roadster are very good
replica's using many original parts.

A photo looking out from under the shade of
a tree, the Stonor Park expo show is in full
swing.



Looking out across the trade stands, I just
noticed I can see my bay from here! the green
bay in top right hand corner next to Stuarts
red oxide bay with the chequered front.

No VW show would be complete with out a
beach buggy or two and this yellow one
looked great in the sunshine.

The interior is usual for a buggy, not many
comforts, but then again when your racing
over the sand dunes you want something easy
to keep clean.

This Ford 100E made me wonder what it was
doing at a VW show, but when I went to the
rear of the car...

Apparently the owner made this himself in his
garage and the 100e body sits on a heavily
modified beetle chassis. Well done that man.

This early barn door split screen looked
immaculate with it's un-usual paint scheme.
 

The interior was trimmed out to an amazing
standard.

The black gloss on the rear quarter shows how
straight this bus is.

The living area was finished to the same high
standard as the cab area.

A lovely barn door in one of my favourite
colours which was equally as straight and clean
as the previous split screen.

 A lovely trio of US import early bays all with
pop tops.

Each one is slightly different from the next one
but each one is equally as nice as the last one.

This oval window bug's bodywork was so
straight it was amazing. The deep black gloss
complimented the perfectly straight body
panels. 

The reflections given off the paint were almost
like a mirror.

Brilliant white bodywork with matching steel
wheels, a lovely combination.

The only bit of colour on this lovely early beetle
was the US style all red rear light lenses.

A pair of early bay's parked up under the
shade of a tree near the traders stands.

I spotted this Audi 100 in the public car park,
nice and clean, very straight and very low.

I also spotted this short wheel base buggy for
sale, 12 months MOT and road tax all for
£3250.

Another car in the public car park that had
been hit with the lowering stick was this
Citroen Dyane 6. The Dyane body actually
sits on a beetle floor pan with beetle running
gear.

This lovely pastel blue beetle with matching
banded steel wheels looked gorgeous.

Fellow Outcast VW Club members Simon and
Amanda run 'Cushty n retro.co.uk and they
were trading at Stonor Park. They took time
out to pose by their van.

Simon took this awesome looking chopper
cycle along. Simon and Amanda sell vintage
and retro furniture and other goods, for more
information check out their website.
http://www.cushtynretro.co.uk/default.html

So that was a brief glimpse of the Stonor Park
VW Expo Show. There was far too much to show
everything on my blog, but I can say, if you can
make it to the show show next year, go along as
I'm sure you'll enjoy a great day out. I had a great
day meeting lots of people I know from various VW
clubs, looking through the items for sale at the auto
jumble and also in the trade stands. So overall
a great day out in a beautiful setting and in
glorious sunshine.