To see all my other blog entries, go to ‘My Blog Archive’ to the left of this page. Simply click on an arrow for a particular year, then click on an arrow for a particular month, this will then give you a drop down menu for all the blog entries for that month.
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| Having seen photo's on facebook on the Friday and Saturday of how bad the weather was at the show, I was glad I wasn't camping. Even on the Sunday morning it was raining quite heavy but by around 09.00, as I drove up to the show on the M40 motorway the skies started to brighten up and I may have even seen the sun!. |
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| Having paid my £10 entrance fee I was directed into the show and shine line up. You can see how dark the sky is, luckily the storm was going away from the racecourse and the show. |
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| A lovely un-restored 1971 type 3 fastback with original paint and panels. The fastback was produced from 1965 - 1973. |
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| One of my favourite's at the show was this lovely early split screen. I remember seeing this bus at the Volksworld show way back in March and it still looks as nice now as it did then. |
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| When you look at a vehicle you sometimes think, if that was mine I'd do this or that, but all that goes out of the window when I look at this bus, there is not a single thing I would change. |
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| From every angle this bus looks great. I did like the patina which was on virtually every panel. I also really liked the high stance this bus had, I also liked those chunky tyre's. |
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| Going from one extreme to another is this 1972 early bay finished in a lovely coat of grey gloss paint with a cool looking red pinstripe and a nice chequered design on the roof. This was a nice clean and straight bay window. |
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| This gorgeous cherry red 1969 beetle must have been riding on air suspension to sit that low. The immaculate paint and super straight body panels make this bug stand out. |
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| You can see by how far the rear wheel arch sits over the rear wheel, just how low this bug sits. I did like the rear luggage rack on the deck lid. |
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| Another super clean beetle was this blue 1972 example. This bug had a lovely, slightly lowered stance which always suits a beetle. |
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| The single colour and the bright chrome work help to make this bug look something special. |
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| A stunning 1966 split screen finished in the most gorgeous white over aqua colour. This bus really stood out in the line up, the chrome Empi 5 spoke wheels with the chrome deluxe bumper trim gave this bus some bling that contrasted that lovely green colour perfectly. |
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| The clean sharp lines of the bus continued around to the rear. The white painted bumpers contrast with the green painted body and it looks fantastic. |
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| This early split screen in what looks like mango and white colours (although I could be wrong) looked great. This colour scheme really suits an old split screen bus. |
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| I do like sign written buses and this on had a neat looking design. I'm not sure what it says or means but it looked good. I keep thinking about sign writing my bus... |
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| From every angle this bus looks 'just right'. I did like the custom made stay for the engine lid, it adds character. |
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| This lovey 1955 oval beetle looked fantastic in it's deep red gloss paint. The perfectly straight body had been lowered and was running on those classic BRM wheels. |
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| The classic shape of the oval beetle. The super bright chrome work and the contrasting white wing piping added to the overall look of this bug. |
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| Another immaculate split screen, this time it's an early pre '63 model in the classic white over green paint. The safari screen's were a nice touch and added so much to the overall look. |
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| The interior was as you would expect, also immaculate. The custom unit and colour matched upholstery finish off the classy look. |
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| A pair of classic early 1960's Beetle's parked up in the show and shine. The variety of air - cooled VW's at the show was immense. |
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| This strange, but ultra cool looking vehicle is a Sakbayan. The Sakbayan was originally designed for use in Australia's rough outback. Originally it would have had much more ground clearance, but this one has been seriously lowered and the front beam has been narrowed. |
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| The Australasia branch of Volkswagen only made these for 2 years, from 1967 -1969 due to reliability problems. A lot of people believe that the type 181 (Trekker) actually evolved from the humble type 197 you see here, and you can certainly see the resemblance. |
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| This gorgeous late 1950's beetle looked great in it's single light green colour with chrome trim and by being severely lowered. This cool bug is running on BRM wheels. |
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| The old front beam has been replaced with a new narrowed item and means the front wheels are almost hidden under the front wheel arches. |
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| This 1967 fastback looked great with it's patina paint and the contrasting bright chrome on the wheels and trim. |
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| This really was a nice looking car, I did like the all red rear light lenses and the overall look. |
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| I'm not sure if you would class this as a buggy or a sandrail, but whatever it was, I liked it. It did look a bit 'homemade' but that was what made it so good. I bet this is fun to drive. |
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| No air-cooled show would be complete without some beach buggies, and there was a very good selection at the Aircooled 15 show. |
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| Unfortunately I'm no buggy expert so I will not try to name all the different bodies on these buggies, suffice to say they all looked great parked up, and considering the weather it was a very good turn out. |
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| This cool looking buggy I'm sure I saw earlier in the year at the Dub Freeze show. It looks as if it has had a vinyl wrap and the colour is amazing. |
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| This British Racing green buggy was another cool looking ride. There are so many companies who produce the buggy bodies, and each one is different from the next. |
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| This yellow buggy looks so different from the others with it's bright yellow paint, white seats and chrome wheels. |
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| An unusual body style on the deep purple buggy, but it's equally as nice as the others. I did like the removable roof which being in the U.K I think you'd need quite often, even during the summer. |
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| Now, I think this super bright lime green buggy is a MK1 GP body, (although I could be wrong) but whether I'm right or wrong, it was still a lovely looking buggy. |
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| Just a random photo of the show. You can see the clouds are still threatening to produce some rain, luckily though it didn't rain all afternoon. |
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| Which do you prefer? On the left a stock height 1974 late bay and on the right a lowered pre '63 split screen. |
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| A lovely white over red 1960's split screen. This bus looked great with it's patina paint and that narrowed front beam. |
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| The 3 bow roof rack was a nice accessory with the picnic basket and cool box on. |
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| This 1976 bright orange late bay looked great parked up, and when the sun shone, this bus almost had an orange glow. The super straight body panels give an almost perfect reflection. |
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| Another late bay, this time a white over baby blue 1974 model with a pop top. This bus was riding at stock height, and with the lovely colour choice it really stood out. |
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| This bus proves you don't necessarily need to have mega expensive chrome wheels to make your bus look something special. This bus is running on the original rims that have just been painted in the same colour as the upper body. |
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| My 1969 VW microbus parked up in the show and shine line up (!) She's never going to win any prizes, but I love how she looks and that's all that matters. |
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| My microbus from the back / side. This will be my home from home for about a week when I take part in the 'Route67' charity cruise from John O'Groats to Land's End in July. ( the full length of the U.K, from top to bottom) |
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| A gorgeous mid 1960's split screen crew cab pick up in what looks like a lovely patina'd Dove Blue colour. This lowered crew cab did look good. |
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| The patina paint continues across the whole of the bus. This did have an unusual wheel choice, not the normal chrome wheels that most people choose. |
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| Looking into the engine bay you see a 2.5 litre, 425bhp Subaru Impreza engine. This incredible conversion was carried out by the guys at 'Fellows Speed Shop' and is getting quite a common conversion over here in the U.K. |
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| This stunning white over green 1970 early bay was gorgeous. This bay had a narrowed front beam and numerous accessories including a mesh visor, chrome peaks for the headlights and clear lenses on the indicators. |
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| I'm guessing this is a U.S. import, the same as mine, as the sliding door is on the correct side and it has the all red rear tail lights. |
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| The interior is just as nice as the exterior, the amount of time and effort that must have gone into creating the lovely space must be huge. |
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| This super low 1967 Karmann Ghia looked great with it's patina'd red paint and of course being so low. The narrowed front beam adds to the overall look of this Karmann. |
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| You can see just how low this KG really is by how far up into the wheel arches the wheels sit. |
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| Friends of mine, Matthew & Julie and their two daughters spent the weekend camping at the show with their lovely 1972 early bay. |
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| I think I'm right in saying that Matthew's bay has a 1641cc engine with a 110 cam and duel Webber carbs, and Matt says it pulls like a train. Matt's bus has been featured in several VW magazines including VW Vibe. (I think?) |
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| The interior of Matthew's bus is really nice and homely and is a testament to Matthew and Julie's dedication in keeping it this way. |
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| This 1970 early bay finished in a single coat of white paint had just the right amount of patina to help this bay stand out. The Fuchs style wheels also helped the overall look. |
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| This really was one solid and straight looking bay window. The all red rear light lenses, and side markers indicate that this could be a U.S. import, it certainly looked solid enough to be one. |
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| This GT Beetle was in an absolutely immaculate condition and it only had 41,000 genuine miles on the clock, which works out less than 1000 miles a year for this 43 year old car. |
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| OK, this little 1972 beetle had a couple of new wings in the past and a touch up of paint here and there but apart from that it's all original. |
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| A couple more orange beetles in the line up. Firstly this 1971 in what looked like original condition apart from the neat yellow spot light mounted on top of the bumper. |
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| And secondly this fenderless 1972 orange bug. Being different is the name of the game and this orange bug was certainly that.! A nice touch was painting the inner arches black rather than the body colour as it gives the car some shape. |
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| This does look good from this angle, I did like that exhaust and the way it came straight out. |
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| The profile of an early bay that has not been lowered. This pop top EB was gorgeous and the Fuchs style wheels added to the overall look. |
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| This 1965 (I think) split screen bus was really nice, it was so straight and clean. I did like the twin yellow spot lights on the towel rail bumper. |
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| From any angle this splitty stands out as a nice bus. The single colour, as opposed to the usual two colours normally used on a bus, works well. |
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| One of the old skool stickers I noticed on the split screen. 'Street Machine Timing Association', only old hot rodders of a certain age will be able to remember this sticker, I think I still have mine on a sheet with some others that were issued by Street Machine magazine many years ago, and they are unused, maybe I'll put them on my bus. |
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| This white 1965 beetle was another original looking bug that looked great, I do like those Porsche style headlight grilles, I think they suit the sloping beetle headlights perfectly. |
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| It was a real shame about the nearside rear fender, it looks as though it has had quite a bad scrape, but even with this damage this was still a lovely old super lowered bug. |
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| This imported 1967 split screen had some nice patina going on with it's white over dark blue paint scheme. I do like those opening safari screen's that some buses have. |
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| It looks as though this bus may have a slightly narrowed front beam, judging by the way the front wheels are tucked right under the body. |
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| Remember that cherry red '69 bug from the top of this blog review, well I saw this reflection in it's lovely domed hubcaps and just has to take a photo. |
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| I noticed this lovely looking mustard 1971 cross over bay in the camping area of the show. This U.S. import looked like a good honest bus with it's original paint. |
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| This really was a nice pop top camper in what looked like stock condition, apart from the BRM wheels. |
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| This 1966 split screen looked great in it's satin finish blue paint. The missing rear bumper gave this bus a unique look. I also liked the stance this split had, nice and high just how Volkswagen had designed it. |
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| This lovely blue 1970 early bay looked so clean and straight. The colour coded steel wheels with the whitewalls looked good as did the new pop top material in a chequered design. |
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| Just a random photo of just a few of the vehicles at the show. There really was a good variety of air-cooled vehicles on display. |
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| On the way out of the racecourse, I spotted this photo opportunity. The racecourse has a general camping area for the public, and in this area was this huge motor home that also had extending sides to create even more space. I just had to park my bay next to it and get a photo. How small does my little early bay look alongside this massive beast of a motor home. So that was the Aircooled 15 show, like I said earlier, it is only their second year and lets hope there is a third as it does have some potential to be a great little show. I enjoyed myself for the day, and some friends of mine enjoyed them- selves for the weekend, so well done to every- one who helped to organise the event. |
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