'Simply VW' show, Beaulieu Motor Museum. (part 1 of 2)

For this weeks blog I travelled down to the world famous Beaulieu National Motor Museum, which is located deep in the beautiful surroundings of the New Forest in Hampshire for their first ever 'Simply VW' day. It was a day where Volkswagen owners were invited to bring their Volkswagen's along to Beaulieu and park within the museum complex for what promised to be an unforgettable day. I saw this event advertised on facebook and they stated; "Whether you are an owner or an enthusiast there will be something for everyone; from modern marvels such as the Golf GTI and Scirocco to classics such as the Campervan or the Original Beetle, all models are welcome. It is an opportunity to admire some superb examples of these cult vehicles and to connect with fellow enthusiasts at an iconic location". Beaulieu is a place I have wanted to visit for many years, but for one reason or another I never actually got around to going but after seeing that they were holding a VW day, with access to the museum I made a conscious effort to ensure I went. The event was on Sunday 28th June, with weekend camping available in the grounds of the Beaulieu estate. I put a post on facebook to see if anyone I knew fancied a drive down, but I think the 220 (ish) mile return journey may have put a few people off, so Fiona and I set off on our own. 

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Fiona, My 1969 microbus parked up in the 
grounds of Beaulieu, as the long queue of VW's
 entered the Beaulieu site we were directed to 
park on grass areas either side of the road, in 
the direct sunlight, as I approached the steward 
he asked me to reverse under the tree,  which 
I did gladly as it was going to be a scorcher of 
a day, and this meant I had plenty of shade.

Another photo of my early bay under the tree
which I shared with a lovely white 1970 early
bay.

Here is a better photo of the all white '70 early
bay. This gorgeous bus looked original and
looked so nice. I do like the stock ride height
and the white wall tyres.

If you like your buses with the patina look, how
about this 1970 white over blue early bay. This
really was a RAT looking bay, and doesn't it
look good. I did like the two roof racks and the
roof ladder.

Sign written buses always catch my eye and this
lovely 1970 bay was no different. It had this old
looking sign writing on the cab doors and side
panels, which give the bus a unique look.

This U.S. import looked like a nice solid bus,
and it looked as though it may have had a
narrowed front beam.

A pair of bright orange late bay's, one has been
lowered, and one is at the stock ride height,
so which one would you have?

This gorgeous two tone green pre 1963 split
screen looked great parked up in the 'Simply
VW' line up. The 'old' looking colours really
suited this early split screen.

This really was a nice looking bus, which was
accentuated by the colour choice and by the
small details like the colour coded bumpers.

A cool sticker in the rear window, how many
vehicles still use semaphore turn signals?...
This lovely split screen does.

This white over blue 1971 deluxe early bay was
so straight and solid looking and with an almost
perfect reflection on the rear panels.

This cool pop top deluxe early bay looked great
parked up. I did like the twin yellow spot lights
on the bumper and the 3 bow roof rack. The
reflection on those side panels is amazing.

A lovely 1970 early bay with the front hinging
pop top. This super clean bus had aftermarket
door mirrors fitted, they give so much more
vision compared to the original items, so it has 
to worth thinking about changing the mirrors.

This 1972 British racing green Beetle had some
seriously cool custom wheels which made this
bug stand out.

The green bug also had a neat comic book
design on the bonnet featuring the incredible hulk. 

This stunning 1966 single cab split screen pick
up was totally immaculate, and super straight.
I did like the awning attached to the pick up 
bed cover, and the roof rack, and the sign
written doors, and .... 

This really was a cool ride, the painted white
bumpers and wheels added a nice contrast to
the dove blue ( I think) body colour.

Another cool ride was this white over bronze
1965 split screen. Again the paint work was
immaculate over super straight panels. I did
like the twin roof racks and the Porsche style
headlight grilles.

This totally original split screen bus looked as
though it had just been driven out of the factory.
It was totally immaculate and everything was as
it should be.

The ride height and the overall look of this bus
is something I could look at for hours on end
and had to be one of my favourites at the show.

A nice variety and a very colourful display of
just a few of the buses on show at the
Simply VW show at Beaulieu.

This gorgeous turquoise 1957 oval beetle was
stunning. The combination of the colour choice
along with with those white wall tyre's looked 
fantastic.

This 1950's beetle cabriolet looked amazing
in it's super shiny gloss black paint. This is
another car that looked totally original.

 Another 1950's beetle, this time it's a lovely
1953 oval window. Again it's another totally
original looking car, they do look so much better
in all original specification.

No, this guy isn't about to steal this lovely
1974 Jurgens Autovilla, he is the owner of
this rare sought after South African import.

I had a quick chat to the owner who said the
worst bit about owning such a rare vehicle is
trying to get parts and accessories for this
coach built beauty.

Anybody call for a taxi? This bright yellow 1975
beetle looked great with it's taxi sign on the roof
and sun visor which both helped to make this
super shiny bug stand out.

This gorgeous 1967 sky blue beetle looked 
fantastic with it's contrasting cream coloured 
steel wheels. This was another car that looked
just as Volkswagen had intended it to look.

This late 1950's beetle looked stunning with it's
flawless deep red paint, perfectly straight body
panels and super shiny chrome trim.

You can see from this angle just how perfectly
straight the body is and how good that paint job
is. I did like the colour coded painted wheels. 

Another pair of 1950's / early 1960's beetles
in almost original condition. The standard of
vehicles at the Simply VW day was amazing.

Adrian, Natalie and the girls were at the
Simply VW day at Beaulieu selling all their VW
related goodies as normal. Adrian is a friend
and also a member of the Outcast VW Club.
If you see Adrian's stand at one of the many
VW show's he attends, have a wander over and
have a look, they have some really cool stuff.

Adrian's 1977 Fire bus in which carries all their
VW stock to different shows. Adrian also owns
 a 1970 beetle that he uses as a daily driver.

This lovely 1971 pastel yellow RHD type 182
trekker stood out amongst the other VW's that
were parked next to it mainly because it was
a Trekker, and because of the unusual colour 
but also because of... 

The two grass parasol's and the hammock at
the back of the car. I'm not sure why they were
there, but it did look good and suited the car
perfectly, the only thing missing was the beach.

It seems to be all quality Beetle's so far on this 
part of the blog review, but there were many 
other quality vehicles at the show. This 1966 
white bug that looked good and stood out. 
I did like the overall look with the U.S. 
chrome towel rail bumpers.

This super clean cabriolet looked fantastic in
it's black and red colour scheme. The polished
Porsche wheels and chrome trim finished off
this car's great looks.

This really was a show standard vehicle. The
attention to detail was amazing.

This gorgeous turquoise 1961 Karmann Ghia
looked fantastic parked up. This lowered KG
looked like a U.S. import, and had a narrowed
front beam with BRM wheels.

On route to the show, I joined the M271 and saw
this lovely pre 63 split window beetle just ahead
of me, so I sped up to try and catch him up, but
I was doing 60 mph and this little beetle was just
pulling away from me like I was standing still.!

This great little show really did have something
for everyone, a lovely yellow 1972 fastback, a
blue 1967 squareback, and a notchback all
lined up together.

This 1977 late bay stood out with it's super
bright green paint and Fuchs wheels. This really
was a nice clean bus that had several cool  
accessories such as the 3 bow roof rack, the 
chrome headlight peaks, but most of all because
of...

The use of a scooter, well the back half anyway
for use as a buddy seat. It was painted in the 
same bright green as the bus, this really was a 
cool looking interior. 

This stunning black and white 1967 split screen
belongs to a wedding hire company. It would
certainly create a good impression for the bride
 to arrive at the church in this beautiful bus.

This 1986 Karmann Gypsy was another rare 
and sought after vehicle. The Gypsy was only
produced from 1986 - 1989 and a total of only 
741 were produced on the type 3 (T25) chassis. 

We have all heard of the 'barn find' buses that
end up being show winners, well this is one of
those barn finds. This 1966 split screen was
found in a barn in the U.S. and shipped to the
U.K for the restoration to start.

This is the result of many years hard work and
dedication. This really is a rags to riches story.

The interior, is as you would expect of the same
high quality. I don't think there was a single
square inch of the bus that was not worked on
during the transformation, which is probably why
this bus won 2nd place in the peoples choice.

This 1968 deluxe microbus had some serious
patina going on, which is normally a sign of the
bus spending a long time in direct sunlight or
other forms of extreme weather, but doesn't it
look great.

I'm guessing, but as this looks like a U.S. import
I'd imagine it'll be the hot east coast sun that
has caused this cool looking patina.

Open safari screens on a split screen just look 
so right, as this 1967 deluxe bus proves. This
baby blue and white bus had painted steel
wheels with whitewall tyre's that also looked
just about perfect.

The unusual colour choice on this pre 63 split
screen actually works really well. It's sort of an
olive colour with black over the top. It's also
unusual to have the darker colour on top.

A nice diversity of buses around every corner
at the Simply VW day at Beaulieu.

This 1978 South African panel van looked great
in it's bright orange paint. This van really was
immaculate and has obviously had an easy life
compared to most of these utility vehicles.

A lovely white over black 1963 split screen. The
BRM wheels looked great and complimented
the paint scheme. 

This gorgeous 1964 type 34 Karmann Ghia
looked fantastic in it's bright red paint with a 
black roof. The type 34 was introduced in 1961
and in 1962 it was only the 2nd car in the world
 to offer an electrically operated steel sun roof.

These are commonly know as the 'Razoredge'
but in Germany they were called 'Der Grobe
Karmann' (the big Karmann) and 'European
Ghia' in the U.S.

Just a random photo of the Simply VW day at
Beaulieu Motor Museum, taken looking between
a lovely 1970 beige and white early bay and a
bright orange T25. The monorail track which
goes around the perimeter of the grounds can
be clearly seen at the top of the photo.

So that was part one of the 'Simply VW' day
at Beaulieu. Be sure to check out the second
part of this review next Saturday where you 
can see more top quality Beetles, Beach Buggies,
Buses, Karmann Ghia's and a brief look inside
the famous Motor Museum. There are also a
few photo's of the 'Top Gear World' display
featuring some of the TV programmes most
memorable vehicles.