DTA, VW and Porsche Club End of Season Show, part 2 of 3.

Welcome to part two of my blog review on the DTA VW and Porsche club's end of season meet, which was held on Sunday 19th October at The Old James Cond Printing Works, in the centre of Birmingham. This was the DTA clubs 4th annual end of season meet and the last in it's present location. My review continues as I walk around the old printing works, which has now been converted into a single storey car park. If you missed part one, you can find it, and all my other VW related blog entries in 'My Blog Archive' to the left of this page. Simply click on the arrow next to a particular year, then click on the arrow by a particular month to reveal a drop down menu of all the blog entries for that month.

 

 

An absolutely stunning early Beetle in show
winning condition, from the perfect paint work
to all the polished and chromed metal work
this Bug was amazing.

This Beetle had been seriously lowered and
the colour and wheel choice suit the stance
of this car perfectly.

There is nothing I like more than a sign written
panel van, and the split screen van grabbed
my attention big time. Finished in a light grey
colour with red painted steel wheels with
whitewall tyres and of course the retro sign
writing this van looked absolutely gorgeous.

A lovely imported early bay that looked so
RAT in its white over blue paint, and lowered
almost to the ground with a narrowed front
beam. I do like shiny buses but I like the RAT
looking buses even more, especially this one.

This lovely line up of Beetles looked really
stunning. Various years, various styles and of
course various colours.

This early bug was very low and had a super
narrowed front beam and super bright flawless
red paint.

The DTA end of season meet had plenty of
seriously cool VW's, most of which I hadn't
seen before, including oval window Bugs, and
early split screens all parked up together in an
ideal dry location.

A lovely pre 1957 Beetle parked alongside a
row of early split screens.

Now this 1960 Karmann Ghia was for me, the
best of show. It belongs to a guy called Chris
and he bought this gorgeous mango green
KG for his wife Sam, after seeing it advertised
on 'thesamba.com'. The advert was for 2
Karmann's this 1960 and a 1968 model that
had been rolled, but it was still good for parts.
 

The '68 although it had been rolled still had
many good panels and parts on it so Chris
used many of these panels, and some of the
running gear for the 'body off' restoration on
the 1960. During this rebuild Chris says (in
the Autumn edition of the 'Hayburner'
magazine) that he has replaced every piece
of rubber on the car as every single piece was 
brittle just like bakelite. (well Chris, that's the
price you have to pay to have some seriously
nice sun burnt patina)



Basically everything under the floor pan is like
brand new with brakes, bearings and seals all
being replaced. The body has had two good
coats of clear matt lacquer to keep it from the
great British weather. Chris has a fantastic
looking car, and what did Chris pay for both
the Karmann's, including delivery from the
U.S to his front door? (I hope your sitting
down..) a little under 3.5k, yes, I did say 
under 3 and a half thousand pounds. For
the regular readers outside the U.K. that is
the price of a 10 year old family saloon car 
over here, so you can see what a great deal
Chris got. Right then, I'm off to check out
'thesamba.com'... to find me a bargain.

 A lovely photo showing the diversity of the
quality vehicles at the DTA meet. Beetles,
Split Sceen's and even an NSU.!

The variety of vehicles at the DTA meet was
so vast, from this early Beetle with superb red
paint on a super straight body to a very RAT
looking early split screen panel van. Each
vehicle, regardless of looks or finish was
fantastic in it's own right.

Another red Bug that looked awesome with it's
very low ride height and those lovely early
painted steel wheels. The shine and finish
on the paint was truly amazing.

This 1966 1300 Beetle really was a nice clean
and tidy car. Apart from the lowering and the
narrow front beam, this Bug was pretty much
standard, but oh, so clean.

Looking along one of the lines of seriously
cool VW's parked up in the old printing works.

A 1969 bright orange Beetle, parked next to
a red Porsche 911 and a red square back. No
matter what you were into, this meet had some
thing for everyone.

A lovely clean '67/68 Beetle with some gold
'Empi Beetle' style decals.

A lovely pair of bay window's. A late bay in
white over blue and an all white early bay, and
both were finished to a very high standard.

Friends of mine Anthony and his partner Tania
went along to the meet in Tony's '69 notchback.
Tony is a member of Oxdubz, a  VW club based
in Oxford, which is fairly local to me.

Tony's notch is a really nice looking car and
has always got new accessories on and in it.
Tony and Tania get to many shows in this
notch, and even venture over to Europe to
some European VW shows.

A couple of early bays, a white '69 with a pop
top and gorgeous yellow headlight lenses and
twin yellow spot's and a 1971 tin top belonging
to more friends of mine, Matthew and Julie.
(sorry I didn't get a better photo of your lovely
bus Matt.!)

In my eye's this early oval window Beetle was
a close second for the best of show. I just love
this Bug's patina, it's stance and of course those
yellow head light lenses.

This really is a gorgeous looking car that looks
just about perfect from every angle.

A slightly blurred photo showing this bug's
patina on the roof and wing tops, this Bug must
have spent most of it's life somewhere hot, with
the sun beating down onto the paint day after
day to create such a nice patina effect.

This late '50's, early 1960's Porsche 356B
looked great in it's race themed paint scheme.
The 356B was produced from 1959 - 1963. 

This really is a nice looking car from every
angle. You can tell it's a 356B by the twin engine
lid grills and the oval rear lights.

This lovely single cab split screen pick up
looked so nice with the slightly RAT look
bodywork and the sign written cab doors. The
cover over the back looked as though it was
made for this bus, and the cab roof rack was
a nice accessory.

OK, it may need some body work, but if you
start welding in new panels you lose the original
look, which is what makes this bus stand out.

Just a few of the split screen buses at the DTA
end of season meet. Various years, various
styles and various finishes. This meet really
did have all the variety you could want.

The converted covered car park was an ideal
location for a club meet. All the vehicles have
all the space they need, and it allows the visitors
to walk round each vehicle and get a good look. 

Another Porsche 356 but this time a 356A
circa1955 finished in a lovely bright red. This
car must be worth an absolute fortune, in fact
I dread to think how much money all the
vehicles inside the old printing works were
worth all together.
 

A gorgeous pair of Porsche's, The 356 is a
1950's design (with a single engine lid grill)
and the 912 behind it was a design from
the early 1960's. Both vehicles were stunning.

A stunning pair of Beetle's. An early model in
the foreground with the U.S. style all red tail
light lenses, and a slightly later model in
black behind.

This 1963 split screen looked great with it's
green patina paint and front panel covered in
surface rust. This is how to do the RAT look.

This late bay hearse was apparently made like
this at the factory. The two large side tinted
windows and the reworked tail gate make this
bus different. The body trim in between the
side window and the wheel arches was also
a custom feature.

OK it needs a bit of work, but it's all there and
should not take too much effort to get this
unusual hearse back to how it was meant to be.

This 1965 Notchback finished in a stunning coat
of white paint was immaculate. This notch has
been lowered and running on polished Empi
5 spoke wheels. This car was so straight and
clean, it was beautiful.

An early split screen panel van with the Fire Bus
livery. This was an authentic looking Fire bus,
with the additional modern accessories such as,
Roof rack, truck mirrors and a mesh sun visor.

This late split screen caught my eye, maybe it
was the matt red oxide primered body, but what
ever it was, I did like how this bus looked.

A lovely imported single cab early bay in what
looked like OG paint. The 'Roo' bars on the
front were a nice accessory. Details such as
matching painted steel wheels and clear front
indicator lenses made this bus something special.

A photo looking across one of the halls in the
converted car park. Wall to wall classic VW's.
This is how every car park should look.

A lovely pair of early split screen buses and
both in what looks like dove blue (?) Both
buses are a bit RAT looking but both look
absolutely gorgeous.

OK the one on the right is a panel van, but
from the front they are so similar. What a
difference having a white roof and matching
white bumpers compared to an all blue bus
makes. They look totally different.

An early bay riding at what looks like standard
height, and a late split screen bus having being
lowered. Both buses were immaculate and looked
great parked up together.

The 1969 / 1970 early bay, and the 1966
split screen just show the diversity of lovely
air-cooled Volkswagen's that attended this
annual event.

This photo shows yet more variety of vehicles
at the DTA club meet. This meet really did have
something for everyone.

This lovely 1964 Beetle looked stunning in
it's silver paint, with those neat polished wheels.
The Porsche head light grills blended in the
paint perfectly, as did the chrome nerf bars.

How's this for a rear end..? That BIG exhaust
looked trick, I didn't find out what motor this
Bug was running so maybe it was needed.
The all red U.S. tail light lenses were just
enough to add a splash of colour to this
silver beauty.

Split screen buses and Beetle's parked up
together making the venue very interesting to
walk around. I think this is a good idea as
it wouldn't have been so interesting if all the
vehicle's were parked up in groups or by
classification.

So that was part two of my blog review on the
DTA end of season meet. The 3rd and final
 instalment of this show will be next week.
So come back soon and don't forget to check
out 'my blog archive' for more VW reviews.