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| Upon entering the venue for the Volksworld show you passed this amazing display of a 'cut away' split oval beetle. The body and various other components have been cut in half so you could see how different components would work. |
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| My photo's do not show just how good this display really was, it was so interesting to see inside all the internal parts. |
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| The engine had also had some components cut away. The edges of each cut away component was painted in red to make it visually easier to see what is what, and how things worked. |
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| As you walked into the first show hall, the quality of the vehicles on display was immediately apparent. These are the top show cars from all over Europe and the standard is getting higher and higher each and every year. |
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| This simply stunning bright red Karmann Ghia was one of the European entries at the show. It was produced sometime between 1960 - 1969 but I bet it didn't look this nice coming off the production line some 55 years ago. The narrowed front beam with the polished 5 spoke wheels and the very low stance of this car help set this Ghia aside from all the other Karmann Ghia's. |
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| The body was perfectly straight and the finish on the paint was amazing. The chrome bumpers shone like new as did the chrome 5 spoke wheels. This stunning Karmann won a very well deserved 'top 20' trophy at the show. |
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| This 1956 oval rag top beetle is the infamous Mende Speedwell Oval, the body sits on a 1973 floor pan and is fitted with the complete full front and rear Mendeola suspension. |
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| This car was built in 2009 by Kevin Zagar at Mendeola Signature Motors in San Diego. |
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| This one off unique interior looks fantastic. I did like the seat bases made from polished alloy, and the matching door handles. This gorgeous bug also won a 'top 20' trophy. |
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| This 1961 beetle was simply stunning. It was, as you can see absolutely immaculate and the almost perfect reflection in that gorgeous dark blue paint is incredible. |
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| The rear of this gorgeous bug is as you would expect equally as clean and straight as the rest of this car. It is no surprise that this bug won not only a 'top 20' trophy and also won the 'Prosign choice' award. Another well deserved placing. |
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| The supercharged engine is more like a piece of art than a mechanical component. Beautiful detailing inside the whole of the engine bay to match the rest of this fantastic vehicle. |
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| It is no surprise that the interior was as new. Every switch, button and lever looked brand new. The door cards were finished in dark blue vinyl and a biscuit coloured material as were the seats. |
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| Karosserie Rometsch produced this stunning upmarket Sport Cabriolet in the 1950's for the discerning German clients that wanted more luxury than the popular Volkswagen Beetle it shared many of it's components with. The body was designed by Johannes Beeskow and produced in aluminium at Karosserie Rometsch in factory Berlin, Germany. |
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| The stunning Rometsch Convertible also became known as the 'Beeskow Hollywood Car' because they were very popular in the U.S.A. They were only produced from 1951 - 1956. |
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| Underneath the bespoke body is Volkswagen Beetle running gear. Some of the cars were upgraded with a dual-port Okrasa motor that could produce 70 bhp. Estimates have been made that around 170 of these cars were produced with about 30 cars remaining. This beautiful car also won a 'top 20' trophy. |
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| This beautiful plum coloured early beetle was stunning. The unusual colour choice works so well and compliments the chrome Porsche wheels and chrome body trim. Again, the perfectly straight body provides an almost perfect reflection, but then these are the best Volkswagen's show cars in Europe. I seem to have photographed all the winners at the show because this not only won a 'top 20' award but also the 'Cool Flo' choice award. |
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| This Beetle camper is as rare as chickens teeth. Back in the 1970's Popular mechanic's magazine built a beetle camper called "lil bugger" and from that they offered the plans as a kit so you could build your own camper bug. The adverts said that "apart from a small loss in top end speed and slightly more fuel consumption it was like driving a regular beetle"...! |
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| Inside this has all the facilities of a standard camper. A butane stove (that could swing outside), stainless steel sink, a 50lb cool box and 2 double beds (one folds down from the over cab space.) |
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| The only downside to this camper is the limited rear visibility, hence the plans suggest using larger rear view mirrors. The cost of this bug camper was about $2000 back in the 1970's and the plans are still available today should you wish to build your own "lil bugger". |
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| A beautiful early bay that looks better now than when it was new. The time and effort and not to mention money something as clean as this takes to produce is colossal, but it's certainly worth all that effort to end up having something as nice a this. |
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| The interior of this early bay was amazing, I did like the LED lighting which accentuates the lovely floor and units, and the whole interior of this bus so it was no wonder that this early bay won a 'top 20' trophy for that hard work. |
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| This pre 1959 Karmann Ghia finished in a brilliant white looked stunning under the coloured spot lights. This car looked 100% original and was a stunning example of this classic vehicle. |
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| The classic flowing body lines of a Karmann Ghia. The body has a timeless shape that still looks just as nice, if not better than many modern cars of today. This was another of the stunning European entries at the show. |
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| One of the numerous traders at the Volksworld show was selling this super great looking cool box in the shape of a split screen for £499.00 ($740) |
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| This 1967 beetle was a favourite of mine. It belongs to a guy called John who is a member of 'Oxdubz' VW Club, a local club that I visited a few times. I did like the green body colour and the contrasting cream coloured material of the Webasto sunroof. I also liked the rear window blind, the chrome towel rail bumpers and most of all I liked that big red rear spot light. This really was a nice looking beetle. |
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| The Volksworld show is massive with entrants from all across Europe attending and it attracts thousands of visitors a day over the 3 day weekend. This gorgeous silver Karmann Ghia was just one of the incredibly beautiful vehicles on display. |
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| A stunning red and black type 34 Karmann Ghia, (or more commonly known as a 'razor edge') and and beautiful orange beetle with a Paris sun roof were just two of the diverse Volkswagen's on display at the Volksworld show. |
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| The variety and standard of the cars in all the halls at the show was immense. Attention to detail is what gets these cars into the show as this early 1960's beetle and the early 1960's cabriolet show. |
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| This gorgeous 1967 rag top beetle looked great with it's stunning red paintwork and magnesium BRM wheels. A 1776cc motor powered this bug along while the CSP front brakes and Porsche 356 drums on the rear helped it stop. |
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| This lovely oval window beetle another stunning classic bug. The mid grey paint looked gorgeous on the super straight body. Look at the reflection of the chequered floor on the under side on the deck lid, how shiny is that paint. |
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| Another oval window beetle and no surprise it's another incredibly straight and clean vehicle. Again just look at the reflection of the floor in the door. These oval rear window beetle's were only produced from 1953 - 1957. |
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| This drag racing beetle has a 2332cc engine with twin 48 carbs and an Engle FK87 cam amongst other engine mods. It has fibreglass doors and wings and has an aluminium floor pan and the whole car only weighs 640kg. |
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| It features a 4 into 1 header and a racing flow- master muffler. Wheels are 3.5 x 15, 6 x 15 centerlines with 145/15 front, and 6-26-15 Phoenix rear tyres. The car also has a home made roll cage and using the original brakes. |
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| The reflection of the chequered floor in the door of this 1960's beetle was amazing. This bug was incredibly straight as the gloss black paint shows. |
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| The 'early bay' line up at Sandown Park. I think I'm right in saying that this line up was organised by the http://forum.earlybay.com/ they are at the show every year with a very impressive and varied display of early bay buses from 1968 - 1972. |
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| I do like early bay panel vans and this one caught my eye, it looks like a 1968 model in white with bag fulls of patina. It has been lowered and what looks like a narrowed front beam. |
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| This imported 1969 looked fantastic with it's yellow headlight lenses and the twin yellow spot lights. It had also been slightly lowered which always suits an early bay. |
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| Another 1969 model, this time with what looks like a Devon Moonraker pop top (although I could be wrong) This stock looking bus was gorgeous and again mostly original. |
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| A lovely 1970 deluxe model in white over blue. This imported bus looked great having been lowered slightly and with the Empi 5 spoke wheels. Other nice touches are the clear front indicator lenses and the full length roof rack. |
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| This 1969 early bay looked unusual with it's black roof and black bumpers, but it's works so well especially with the black wheels. Most buses have a white or a lighter colour roof but this bus proves that a darker colour roof can, and does work. |
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| This T25 crew cab Syncro caught my eye with it's satin finish grey paint. Sitting on those huge tyres this bus looked like it could go anywhere. |
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| The hydraulic tipper bed was a neat feature as was the roll bar that went up the front and across the roof. |
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| These syncro's, whether they are a crew cab or a single cab pick up or even the bus version are really cool and starting to get popular in the U.K. |
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| This Porsche 356A 1600 super in silver with metallic grey stripes was up for sale, I didn't see the price but then I suppose as the saying goes 'if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.' The 356A replaced the 356 pre A, and was produced from 1955 -1959. In 1959 Porsche introduced the 356B. |
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| This really is a nice car. I'm guessing this was an original 356, if it wasn't it was a extremely good copy. |
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| I was once told that the easiest way to get a good idea if a 356 is original or not is to look at the transmission tunnel. Original Porsche's have a rounded tunnel while kit cars using a Beetle floor pan will have a squarer tunnel. Unfortunately I didn't have a look at the show, and I can't really tell from this photo. |
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| This beautiful 1966 beetle looked so cool in it's monotone paint with chrome trim. The unusual painted white wheel choice suit the car perfectly. |
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| I do like '66 bugs, and this one was no exception. The stance, the colour and the wheel choice all help to make this beetle make an impression. |
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| A trio of split screen buses parked up in the outdoor arena at Volksworld. Different years, different styles and different ride heights but all equally as nice as each other. That really is a nice reflection in that red paint. |
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| Someone once said, "If you're going to paint a vehicle black it needs to be straight, as it'll show every imperfection" well whoever said that need not have worried as this 1967 split screen shows, the body panels were perfectly straight and without any imperfections what-so-ever. |
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| The immaculate paint, the twin roof racks, and the matching front thermal screen all helped to make this bus something special. |
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| Claude was at the show with his partner Jean, in his 1960 split screen kombi. Claude and Jean are both fellow members of the Outcast VW Club based in Aylesbury. |
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| This 1966 split screen was immaculate in it's chocolate brown and white colour scheme. The deluxe bumper trim and headlight grills help to make the lovely bus stand out. |
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| This really is a nice straight bus, those perfectly straight panels are accentuated by the choice of contrasting body colours. |
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| This bus does not have a VW logo on the right hand side of the rear hatch, that is in fact a reflection from the the bus behind. Now that is what you call a deep shine.! |
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| This gorgeous early beetle cabriolet looked great with it's pastel yellow paint. The super low ride height along with polished 5 spoke wheels made this rag top bug something really special. |
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| This Rometsch was one of my favourites at the Volksworld Show. Rometsch Lawrence made these from 1957 - 1961 and it's basically a VW Beetle with a new body. The body had a design similar to the American cars of the time and featured tail fins and panoramic front and rear windscreens and two tone paint scheme. |
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| The vehicle was available as a coupe and as a convertible. The aluminium bodywork was made by hand, and it had a very luxurious interior, all of which affected the vehicle price. In 1959 the cost of a new car was 8000 DM, which was a lot more than the newly released Karmann Ghia. |
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| In 1961 the production of Lawrence was terminated since the sales had stagnated, not least due to the competition of the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Since the beginning of production 1957 and the end of 1961 about 85 vehicles were manufactured. A restored copy of a 1959 'Lawrence' is in the Wolfsburg museum in Germany. So that was part 1 of my review of the Volksworld show 2015. Regular readers will know that I like to publish my blog entries on a Saturday morning (U.K. time) so due to the review of our club meet, next Saturday, part 2 of the Volksworld show will be in a fortnight but it will be worth the wait as it features the vehicle that won the 'Best in show' there is aslo the lowest high top bay I've seen, plenty more bays / splits / beetle's / karmann ghia's / a lovely black and green trekker, a few more 356 Porsche's and of course you get to see the gorgeous VW Heritage girls. |
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