Tuesday 24 June 2014

30,000 views of my blog.

My blog has reached 30,000 views, which is a truly amazing number. I never thought for a moment I would get this many hits on a blog about my microbus, the places I go and the things I see. A massive thank you to each and everyone of you who has visited my blog over the past few years, I hoped you like what you saw and I hope you return again sometime very soon.
Thank you.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Wolfsburg Weed Huggers Lazy Day Show 2014.

The Wolfsburg Weed Huggers Volkswagen Club are an air cooled club based in Penn Street, Nr. Amersham in South Bucks. They have a monthly meet on the last Wednesday of each month at the Squirrel Pub, in Penn Street and they also hold an annual 'Lazy Day' which includes a display of both air cooled and water cooled VW's, a traders section, auto jumble, a licensed bar and BBQ, a display of old skool BMX bikes, a VW quiz, and a kids zone. This years Lazy Day show, on Sunday 15th June was their 3rd annual event and promised to be bigger and better than last year. (If you missed my 2 part blog review of last years show check out my 'blog archive 2013' on the left of this page). This year I attended the show as a trader, as I decided to try and sell some of my VW related signs. The forecast looked very promising, and the interest the event was generating on facebook was even more promising, so all being well it should be a good day.
 

As I mentioned I attended the show as a trader
this year, this is my stall with my hand drawn
signs. To be honest it didn't go that well so
the less I talk about it, the better.!

Anyway onto the vehicles. There are numerous
body styles for the beach buggy but I think
this one is a Renegade 11, body in a lovely
cherry red colour with a matching soft top.
There were plenty of buggies at the show but
this one caught my eye.

A lovely 1969 Karmann Ghia in white over
blue. A very nice, clean example of the KG.

This 1975, 182 RHD Trekker looked stunning
in it's gloss grey paint. These were originally
designed for military use by the West German
Army and they were in production from 1968 -
1983. They are a 2 wheel drive, 4 door, off
road convertible vehicle.

You can see the military influence on the shape
of the body work. These were sold to the public
from 1971, as opposed to only the military and
I suppose the modern equivalent is the 'Hummer'

Just some of the quality Karmann Ghia's at
the WWH Lazy Day 2014 show. The 1969
blue / grey one nearest the camera won
best in it's class and is owned by Carl
Streatfield. Well done Carl.

A better look at the class 3 winner. This
stunning KG is the result of a 3 year restoration.
The attention to detail was amazing and
those refurbished ATS Classic wheels with
the home made centre caps look just about
perfect and are a great compliment to the single
colour paint work. 


The attention to detail didn't stop on the outside,
the engine bay and engine on Carls' KG were
just as clean as the body work.


 

W.W.H. member Peter Reilly owns this super
low 1968 Karmann. This is another gorgeous
car and the burgundy paint is flawless. I do like
those US style rear light lenses and the towel
rail bumpers and of course the BIG exhaust.


This gorgeous 1980 Mk1 golf, not surprisingly
won the class 4 category, best water cooled.
This lowered MK1 with its deep red paint, and
wide wheels make it look so sleek and smooth.
I did like the stark contrast of the yellow head
light lenses against the red paint and black grille.

Under the bonnet it was just as clean with more
attention to detail.

You can see how sleek this early Golf is and
looking along the bodywork you can see how
straight the body is. Not only did this MK1,
owned by Brian, win the 'Best in Class',
but it also won the 'Best in Show' award.
A well deserved win.

From one extreme to another, this MK1 Golf
convertible was definitely RAT, and I loved it.
As Dolly Parton once said, "it cost's a lot of
money to look this cheap"

Don't you just love it.. VW shows are not all
about shiny split screens. They are about what
the average person drives, and how they like
their VW to look.

The RAT Golf mixing it with a Porsche.

Three early bay windows, 3 different styles and
each equally as nice as the next. Regular
readers of my blog will recognise the red oxide
bus with the painted chequered front as being
owned by Stuart Munro of the 'Oil Droppers'
repair workshop.

Fellow Outcast Club members Claude and
Jean came along in Claude's 1960 split screen
kombi.

This really is a nice looking kombi. The low
stance and the narrowed front beam just add
to the overall look.

Parked up next to Claude was the 1966 split
screen which was sign written. I do like a
sign written bus, I think the side of a bus
was made to be sign written on, and this one
was really well done.

Claude's split screen and others from the front,
again the styles were varied, but who's to say
what is best. It is purely down to each individual
owner. 

A pair of late split screens, a white over blue
1966 model and a lilac and cream pick up.
I have featured this pick up numerous times
on my blog, and I see it several times during
the VW season at various shows and events
and it looks just as good every time I see it.

This late split screen looked stunning with its
unusual paint scheme, unusual because it
has the darker colour on the top. Normally
the darker colour is on the bottom. The gloss
black and white paint was faultless and the
hot rod style red steel wheels with white wall
tyres suited the look perfectly. With a split
screen looking this good it's no wonder it won
the class 2 category' a very well deserved win.

Mark Pindar owns this beauty and the good
looks carry on throughout the interior. Gorgeous
red tuck and roll vinyl seats with matching door
cards make this bus almost too nice to use.

Another 1966 split screen, this time a lovely
panel van. I do like panel vans, either split
screens or bays..maybe one day. I didn't
get to look in detail at this panel, but it had
a race theme with the red perspex windows,
bucket seats with full harness and a big
tacho mounted on the dash.

This two tone blue 1965 split screen was so
nice. Just enough patina on the bumpers to get
your fix, safari windows and a pillar mounted
spot light. I liked how the Aeriel was shaped to
allow the safari window to open.

Some of the Beetle's on show at the Lazy Day.
various years and numerous styles, there was
something for everyone.

I recently featured this Ford 100E on my review
of the Stonor Park show. It has a heavily
modified beetle chassis onto which the 100E
body sits. How cool driving a classic British
car with an air cooled VW engine.

Mark Pateman owns this super looking 1954
oval beetle. This really is a nice looking bug
with its low stance, those lovely chrome wheels
and the accessories including Porsche head
light grilles, pillar mounted spot light and that
custom roof rack really do make it stand out.

Not a very good photo due to the reflection, but
you can just make out how neat and well
presented the interior is. Those seats look
brand new, I'd be scared to sit on them in case
it left a crease.

Such lovely lines on the early beetles and
with it being this nice its no surprise it won
'Best ' in the class 1 category for Beetles and
Trekkers

Jonny Marriage owns this 1971 beetle. I don't
know much about Jonny's bug, but I know I
did like it.


Julian Roberts owns this lovely early bug in
alpine rally guise. I have seen this car many
times and it seems to get better every time
I see it. Both Jonny and Julian are members
of the W.W.H. VW Club.

Kez Crayons, a fellow 'Outcast VW Club'
member attended the show in her lovely
1979 twin sunroof late bay window. This
really is a nice looking bus and although its
had its fair share of teething problems it
finally looks as though the bus is getting
reliable.

A nice clean and tidy rear end on Kez's bus,
the cleanliness of the under side of the engine
hatch puts a lot of other buses to shame,
 including mine.

The satin black and gloss red paint on this
1967 beetle looking striking. Such a big contrast
in colours will always work and make a vehicle
stand out.

The red painted steel wheels just added to the
overall look, as did the satin black bumpers.

This 1970 beetle belongs to Stuart Munro, we
saw his red oxide bay earlier. Stuart has only
had this beetle for a few months and after
sorting a few minor jobs it's now on the road
and being used daily.

This is a nice looking bug with a nice stance.
 

No VW show would be complete without a
'Herbie' look-a-like, and this one was a really
nice looking car. I bet this is fun to drive.

If you like early oval beetles, then this one is
for you. Finished in stunning gloss black paint
that looked a mile deep, and a Paris sun roof
this early oval stood out amongst the other
bugs.

How straight is that body, the black paint was
flawless, as was the rest of the car.

There are 2 things I like, a RAT looking vehicle
and period accessories and here we have both.
As I said before, there is more to a VW show
than just shiny split screens.

A random photo of the show taken from my
trade stand. Never having had a trade stand
before, I didn't realise just how much of the
show you actually miss due to having to be
at your stand. It wasn't something I liked as I
like to wander round looking at all the vehicles,
meeting all my old friends and meeting new
ones.

As well as trade stands and an auto jumble
there was a good display of 'old skool' BMX
cycles.

Water cooled and air cooled are all welcome
at the Lazy Day, as Simon's T4 proves.
Simon is an 'Outcast VW Club' member and
owns this nice looking T4.

Simon and his partner, Amanda run
Cushty 'n Retro, a company selling all things
retro. From Cycles to furniture and most things
in between, so why not check them out?.

Simon does like to pose... I do like the T4, and
if I didn't have my bay window I would probably
have one.

A good mate of mine, Mark Winter came over
to the show in his very distinctive 1972 bay.
Mark is a member of 'The House of Dub' VW
Club.

Mark's bay has so many accessories, stickers
and other bits and bobs on it, you really could
look at this bus for hours.

I wonder if there is a prize for the first person
to read all the stickers on Marks bay...

Regular readers will know about my liking for
early bay panel vans, and this one was parked
opposite my trade stand. The more I looked at
it, the more I liked it. The pastel blue roof over
a white body looked gorgeous.
 
So that was the Wolfsburg Weed Huggers Lazy
Day show of 2014. Overall an excellent day, with
over 135 show vehicles from 15 local VW clubs
attending the show, and over 132 cars in the
public car park. The W.W.H. Lazy Day show
has rapidly become the biggest little show for
miles around, and in such a short time. This
is due to all the hard work and dedication from
the W.W.H. members and all the other helpers
from other various VW clubs. I realised that
when you attend a show as a trader or helper
you don't actually enjoy the show half as much
as you would as if you were just there a member
of the public. A big thank you to everyone who
helped to organise this event, and well done to all
of you, and here's to next year.