Welcome to the 3rd and final instalment of my review of 'The Brighton Breeze 2014', a one day Volkswagen show organised by the Split Screen Van Club (S.S.V.C.). The 'Breeze' is held on Maderia Drive in Brighton, West Sussex on England's south coast on the first weekend of October. This annual show is a well attended event with exhibitors not only attending from all over the U.K. but also from mainland Europe, especially from France, Belgium and Holland. Maderia Drive is about a mile long and is for the sole use of the show. This year the attendance figures of VW's was well over 1000 vehicles, with all types of Volkswagen's, both air-cooled and water cooled attending this event. My blog review continues as I wander along the Drive looking at all the Volkswagen's parked up. If you missed the first 2 instalments on this show you can find them, and all my other blog entries in 'My Blog Archive' to the left of this page. Simply click the arrow next to a year, then click on the arrow for a particular month and this give a drop down list of all my blog entries for that month.
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| This gorgeous early split screen looked great with it's sign written body in a lovely shade of blue. The narrowed front beam and low stance added to the overall look of this bus. |
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| This 1965 Beetle in a nice pastel yellow colour looked like a cool resto with it's low stance and Porsche hub caps. Sometimes, as this Bug proves you don't always need flashy paint and expensive wheels to have a cool looking ride. |
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| This 1967 early bug with a lovely grey patina paint scheme, with a narrowed front beam and sitting so low. I did like the Porsche head light grills and the general overall look of this Beetle. |
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| More patina paint on this 1966 split screen. Patina is definitely in this year and I think it looks great. I did like the VW stamped hub caps on the painted steel wheels on this cool looking bus. |
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| Dave and Angela are from my hometown of Aylesbury, and are fellow Outcast VW Club members. They both went to the Breeze in their very distinctive 'Comic Relief' Beetle. This Bug was commissioned for the 'Red Nose Day' fund raising event |
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| This 1965 Split screen is so over the top, it's brilliant. The black and flames paint scheme reminds me of my Hot Rod past. This bus even has the red painted steel wheels with chrome beauty rings. |
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| A gorgeous 1968 early bay panel van finished a mango colour. The full length roof rack and the super low stance, along with the colour coded bumpers made this bay stand out from the others along the sea front. |
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| More Outcast VW Club members to attend the Breeze were my old mate Stuart and his son Tim. Both are also from Aylesbury who came down at the last minute on the day. This is Stuarts 1970 Beetle. Stuart also owns a 1971 Bay window. |
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| Another very low early Bug with a very RAT looking paint scheme. That narrowed front beam looks good as do the Porsche wheels. This Beetle had a Paris sun roof which added to the lovely look of this car. |
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| OK, it's not all painted and shiny, but as I keep saying, sometimes you don't need the paint job that costs thousands of pounds to look good, and this Bug proves that point. |
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| Having said that sometimes you don't need to spend thousands of pounds on paint, wheels etc, I think it may be a good idea to spend a little bit of cash and get the upholstery sorted as that drivers seat looks so uncomfortable. |
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| Part 3 of my Breeze review seems to be all Beetles, but that's OK. This 1965 Bug looked good with it's unusual body colours. I did like those yellow head lights and the single yellow spot light. |
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| This early Beetle came all the way to Brighton via the English Channel from Belgium, as did many more vehicles. Again, this is nothing flash or fancy, just a nice honest, good looking Bug. |
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| This lovely 1964 Beetle was awesome. Sitting virtually on the ground with it's lovely looking paint scheme and super narrowed front beam, this Bug looked great. I did like the single spot light facing sidewards and the missing horn grill. |
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| From this angle you can see how low this Bug sits and how narrow that front beam really is. I did like this car, it definitely had a certain something that appealed to me. |
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| Kerry and Becky went down to Brighton on the Friday night in Kerry's 1979 super clean late bay and stayed over. Kerry and Becky are both from my hometown and are Outcast VW Club members. I never met the girls down at the show due to the huge number of people that attend this event. Unless you actually 'bump' into someone you will never find them amongst the huge crowds. |
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| This gorgeous looking split screen was painted in a dark purple base with lilac and blue flames. The chrome tail rail bumpers and polished 5 spoke wheels add the necessary bright work. |
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| A 1971 bay window finished in a stunning coat of blue, with colour coded bumpers and matching wheels. I did like the full length Paris sun roof on this bus. This really is a nice, clean and tidy bus. |
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| This late bay was immaculate and looked to be totally original. The Westy interior was in the same condition as it left the factory. The paint and tyres were also just like new, in fact this bay looked so clean it could have come out of an advert for the type 2 camper van. |
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| This lovely looking 1965 split screen belongs Darren, a mate of mine who is from the WGCVW club who are based in Hertfordshire. Darren also owns a bay, and a 181 Trekker, amongst other assorted air cooled VW's. |
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| Another mate of mine, also from the WGCVW club is Robert who went down in his 1983 blue T25. The rain has just started so I think Robert is searching for some wet weather gear. |
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| The Brighton Breeze has numerous traders selling everything from bumpers to baseball capes, from tyres to t-shirts and everything in between. One trader was selling some cool cycles and this 1950's cycle caught my eye. |
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| Made by 'Huffy' this Belair model was great. I love the American 1950's styling regardless of what the item is, maybe I was born too late. I had to keep telling myself 'you have no where to keep it' to stop myself from buying this very cool retro cycle! |
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| This split screen (and the one next to it) had a really cool set up with the fold away tent on the roof. I'm not sure if this roof tent was made by 'Air Camping' or not but it's a very similar set up. This is a really cool sleeping solution that you don't see everyday over here in the U.K. which is a shame as I think they are a great camping accessory. |
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| My 1969 VW microbus parked up on Maderia Drive. This photo was taken about 2.00pm and the rain is getting heavier now, could be time to go and get some shelter somewhere. |
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| Stuart, Tim and I decided to go onto Brighton's Pier to get some cover from the rain. This photo shows how big this show really is. There were 2 lines of VW's from in front of the big wheel right across to the edge of the photo on the right. |
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| Around 3.30pm the rain was persistent so Stuart, Tim and I decided to head for home as it was showing no signs of easing. Stuart was parked at the bottom of this hill, and as we left he promptly ran out of fuel. He blamed the fuel gauge as he said it was still reading a quarter of a tank. (!) Luckily a fellow vdub exhibitor saw what had happened and helped out by giving Stuart some petrol.
 Thanks to Fiona from the Wolfsburg Weed Huggers VW Club for this photo of (L to R) Robert (AKA Bert), Pete and Darren, all members of the Welwyn Garden City VW Club. (WGCVW Club) The boys are proudly showing off their Brighton Breeze Marshall t- shirts... the things these boys will do for a free t-shirt.! |
 This, and the following 7 photo's were kindly submitted by Bert, which he must have taken during his breaks from his marshaling duties. A very artistic photo with the front end of a late splitty, a Jack Russell dog and glorious blue sky. |
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| Another artistic split screen photo. It looks as though Bert was taking photo's for a split screen camper calender. |
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| A lovely type 3 fastback in a stunning bright red. I have to admit I don't remember seeing this car at the show. That's why it's good to get photo's submitted from other people, as they have probably photographed vehicles that I missed or maybe from a better angle. |
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| Chromed domed hub caps are excellent for getting that special photo, as Bert shows here. Just a few of the vehicles that attended the Breeze. |
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| Another vehicle that I cannot remember is this late split screen with the Union Jack paint scheme with the zipper. |
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| I think Bert must have been lying down when he took this photo to show just how low the split screen really was. |
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| I think this is a photo of the campers who got to the breeze on the Friday night and slept on the sea front. The WGCVW Club vehicles include the blue T25, beige T2, and the white split screen. |
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| The far end of the Breeze line up. The pier and big wheel are way off in the distance, and the 2 lines of Volkswagen's start from in front of the pier. The convoy of vehicles entering Maderia Drive are still coming in. So that was my blog review of The Brighton Breeze 2014 organised by the S.S.V.C. To conclude my review I have included a link to a video of the Breeze from 2011, http://vimeo.com/30015716 The video was shot by a guy called Rob Nixon, I don't know this guy, but this is a video I will never get tired of watching as it sums up the atmosphere at the Brighton Breeze perfectly and it even has a cool sound track. Remember if you missed the first 2 instalments of my blog review about the Brighton Breeze, or you just want to read any other of my reviews on shows and events I have attended over the last 3 years simply go to 'My Blog Archive' to the left of this page. Thanks, and I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog reviews. |
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