Saturday, 5 September 2015

BeachBuggin 2015, The Ultimate VW Show By The Beach. Part 1 of 2.

This weeks blog review is about the 'BeachBuggin' VW show which is the ultimate VDUB show by the beach due to the amazing location on Southsea Common in the heart of the Portsmouth seafront, on the South coast of England. You can walk on and off the site all day and make the most of all the local attractions including the beach, (which is only about 100 feet from the show ground) amusement arcades and of course the pier. This show always attract plenty of enthusiasts, clubs, and general public, and of course plenty of quality Volkswagen's of all descriptions. The show is unique as it's free to the walk on public who come on mass attracted by the amazing displays. The show originated with a group of beach buggy owners displaying their vehicles way back in 1998 and is run with 3/4 of all the money generated from the show going to nominated charities. This show since 1998 has so far raised over £64.000 ($99,936)  and although the show is called BeachBuggin, you get an incredibly diverse display of Volkswagen's as well as Hot Rods and American cars / trucks, bikes and scooters. This is one of my favourite shows of the year mainly due to it's location but also for the sheer diversity of quality VW's. Allyson O'Connor, who is one of the organisers posted on the BeachBuggin' facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/?q=#!/groups/beachbugginfans/  that at the last show in 2013 (the show was cancelled in 2014 due to bad weather) the show attracted 1600 vehicle's, but at this years show the attendance was almost 3000! A fantastic turn out to a show that has to be one of the best shows on the VW calendar.
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.

The venue for BeachBuggin in Southsea is
about 107 miles from my hometown, and I take
the same route every year. I like to stop about
two thirds of the way down at Liphook services
on the A3 to have a comfort break and let the
bus cool down for 15 minutes or so. I know I'm
getting near to the services when I approach the
Hindhead tunnel which goes straight through the
hillside of the town of Hindhead. 
 
My 1969 microbus taking a breather in the
summer sunshine at Liphook services. 

Once in Southsea the approach to the common
was queued up with traffic, but not your normal
traffic, this queue was packed of Volkswagen's
heading for the BeachBuggin show. It was quite
an awesome sight.

As I got nearer the entrance I could see all the
Volkswagen's entering the show, I think it's going
to be a good day.

My microbus parked up at BeachBuggin 2015.
I arrived at the show around 10.00am and it
already getting warm, but there was a nice
cool breeze coming off the sea which is about
100 feet from the show arena.

Sunshine, a blue sky with fluffy white clouds and
plenty of parking space on a well kept common
and thousands of Volkswagen's is what the
BeachBuggin show is all about.

As the show is called 'BeachBuggin' there are
bound to be plenty of beach buggies at the show
and I think there must have been around 30 or
so, the making of a great display.

I do think that the old skool metal flake paint on
a buggy looks fantastic as this stunning blue
buggy shows. I know it's a bit 1970's, but it
doesn't matter, as it looks so cool.

The variety of different body styles the buggies
had was amazing. I can't name all the different
body styles but suffice to say they looked great.

This nice pair of sandrail's were parked up with
the buggies as I suppose they are technically
buggies, just a different body shape.
 


A few years ago there were a few scooters that
attended the show, this year there must have
 been about 60. It really was an awesome sight.

Another blue metal flake beach buggy. This one
had polished 'centreline' wheels which stood out
against the dark blue paint. I did like the surf-
board strapped to the roll cage.  

At the BeachBuggin show there is always a
fantastic array of Volkswagen's to suit the

taste of everyone.

This light blue Beetle pick up looked cool parked
up at the show. It looked as though it had had a
subtle roof chop.
 



The pick up bed looked as though it had some
early bay panels grafted in which was really
well done. The early bay tail lights suited the
look and I did like that small rear window. The
owner has put a lot of work into this, and the
result was an awesome pick up.

Another radical looking Beetle was this 1971
fenderless satin black Bug with hot rod style
red painted steel wheels. Again it looks as 
though it may have had a roof chop. I did like
the headlights mounted on top of the suspension
struts, again another hot rod themed look.

Karmann Ghia's are beautiful looking cars, but
when they are lowered, with a nice set of chrome
5 spoke wheels and finished in a lovely coat of
all white paint they just look absolutely stunning.

There were several 'original' Porsche 356's at
the show. These are the real deal, not copies
and this cream coloured one was gorgeous.

From one extreme to another but still as
gorgeous in it's own right was this early split
screen RAT looking crew cab  pick up. The
faded paint with patina and the cyclopes light
along with the roof rack made this bus stand out.

Hundreds upon hundreds of split screen buses
parked up in lines just across from the beach.
Each spitty was different from the next, whatever
your tastes, you'll find it at BeachBuggin.

This 1974 Jurgens drew plenty of attention from
the thousands of visitors to the show. These have
to be the ultimate VW camper, but getting hold
of one is not that easy, they are very sought after.

Early bays and late bays were plentiful at the
show and again each one was different from the
last. Each one expresses the owners own

personal interpretation of how a bus should look.

Two split screen buses of similar years parked
up next to each other, but so different in so
many ways.
 


The BeachBuggin show has a very chilled out
and relaxed feel about it. So when the sun is
shining, put the sun canopy over the doors and
relax and enjoy the day.

More chilled out owners enjoying the sunshine
in their lovely split screen with a turret pop top
which does look good on a split screen bus.

This split screen had a very distinctive paint
scheme in bronze / blue. 

I'm not sure how this paint scheme was created
but it looked great. It reminded me of 'rag rolling'
a paint effect often applied to furniture to create
a sort of marble effect.

This gorgeous army green early Beetle looked
lovely in the sunshine. The narrowed front beam
helped this Beetle stand out.

A gorgeous red 1967 Beetle parked up next to
a gorgeous turquoise Beetle. Again two different
styles but both equally as nice. I did like the 
polished Empi 5 spokes wheels on this cherry
red Bug.

This gorgeous lowered turquoise Beetle with
the off white painted steel wheels looked great.
I did like the roof rack with the period accessories
and also the camber of those rear wheels!

I remember seeing this gorgeous electric blue
beetle at the last BeachBuggin show back in
2013. This car is simply stunning. From the
amazing colour and those chrome 5 spoke
wheels.

The interior of this bug was just as gorgeous as
the exterior. The smoothed over dash looked
great in that blue colour and the white vinyl bench
seat and door cards complimented the
overall look of this interior.

As you would expect the attention to detail didn't
end with the interior, the engine and engine bay
also had the same high class finish.

I did like this 1970 bright purple baja with it's
full open sunroof. Those chrome wheels just
look great against the body colour.

Another beetle this time with a low cal look about
it. The chrome Porsche head light grilles, chrome
bumpers and wheels all suit the car perfectly. The
'swamp cooler' air conditioning unit looked just
right as did the roof rack with the matching red
cool box.

This 1965 turquoise Beetle looked fantastic
in the bright sunshine. The narrowed front
beam with those polished Fuchs wheels look
stunning.

As with any Volkswagen show you expect to
see a 'Herbie' replica, but this one had a nice
twist. Yes it had the '53' decals but instead of
being finished in white the body was painted
in a dark beige / sand colour, which I really liked
and which suited the car.

This stock looking early Beetle looked just
about right. Apart from the chrome head light
peaks this looked as though it had just come
out of the factory. I did like the small twin spot
lights mounted to the bumper.

I have seen this lovely early oval Beetle at a few
shows now and it looks just as nice every time
I see it. The narrowed front beam with the silver
painted steel wheels are a perfect compliment
to the army green colour.

The Telefunken decals looked great (although
I have no idea what Telefunken is!) as did
the door / side panel decals.

This lovely 1964 grey Beetle was one of the
vehicles for sale at the show. It has an 1194cc 
engine and has a genuine 64,000 miles on the 
clock. The asking price for this classic was
 £9000 ($14,000 approx)

OK it's not a Volkswagen but it is a German
 car. This BMW 300 Isetta was produced from
1956 - 1962 and had a mind blowing 300cc
single cylinder 4 stroke engine that produced
a top speed of 53mph and with an average
fuel consumption of 93mpg.!

A perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday. The
sun was shining, it was warm and with the sound
of the sea in the background and of course with
plenty of quality Volkswagen's all lined up.

A lovely 1972 181 Trekker in bright yellow. I
did like the choice of wheels which I think are
Radar's, but I could be wrong!

Observant readers will recognise this 1971
early bay pick up. This is one of the vehicles I
took a photo of entering the show as I queued
up to get in. This really was a solid looking 
pick up.

Another pair of late split screen buses parked
up side by side The black 1965 bus is about
the same age as the bronze and white one but
 they look so different.

As usual at the BeachBuggin show there were
a couple of custom trikes powered by the
Volkswagen air-cooled engine. This gorgeous
looking bright purple metal flake trike looked
awesome...

...as did this bright yellow trike. The attention to
detail on these trikes is amazing.

I do like a black 'n flamed paint job and this
1967 Beetle ticked all the right boxes. The 
flames looked fantastic against the flawless
gloss black paint.

The BeachBuggin show always attracts the
American car owners, which is great news for
all the people attending the show. This green
1956 Chevy 2 door coupe with a white roof
looked in fantastic condition as did the white
1966 mustang parked next to it.

This 1969 Chevrolet C10 pick up looked mean
with it's roof chop and finished in matt black 
paint.

This gorgeous ruby red 1932, 2 door sedan
looked great. I do like the '32 especially when
they are fenderless (although this one has
cycle fenders) and running on white wall tyres.

The sedan has such a lovely body shape which
looks even better when the fenders and running
boards are removed.


A lovey 1974 crew cab pick up in what looks
like a dove blue colour. I do like these crew
cabs and could quite easily have one.

This 1967 split screen panel van looked great
painted in a single colour of light brown. It's
unusual to paint the roof the same colour as
the body on a bus / van but this colour choice
works extremely well. The white painted bumpers
and wheels are a nice touch which contrast 
the smooth brown perfectly.

From one extreme to another is the very RAT
looking 1967 split screen bus. There is nothing
hidden on the bus and what you see is what 
you get. I loved it.

A good photo showing the diversity of vehicles
at BeachBuggin. Volkswagen's as far as the eye
can see, rows upon rows of various Volkswagen's.

This early 1960's Beetle was fantastic. Every
detail looked right, from the chrome towel rail
bumpers to the painted steel wheels.

This very sought after 1979 karmann mobil 
safari drew a lot of attention from both the
public and other participants. These really
are so nice and I think most VW owners
would have one, given the chance.

OK, it was a bit tatty here and there but that
didn't detract from the fact that this is still overall
a very nice desirable vehicle. 

I don't take too many photo's of T4 / T5's but
this light blue T4 grabbed my attention. I did
like the bonnet cover with the Union flag on
it and the blue thermal windscreen cover. The
contrasting white wheel arches were a nice
touch that matched the wheels.

I do like this photo of 2 very colourful Beetle's
parked up side by side in the glorious summer
sunshine. The turquoise bug is a 1970 and
the bright purple one is a 1971.


I'm not really sure how to describe this but I'll
try... it's an off road late bay people carrier.
It looks as though they could carry people
across rough terrain as this bay had a flat bed
with seats and full roll cage. It was also very
high, I'm not sure if it's a syncro or not but it
could have been. It did look fantastic and
looked as though it could go anywhere.

This moss / algae covered Beetle is one of
my favourites. I have seen this at numerous
shows across the country and it always looks
good. It looks as though it has never been
washed and I'm only assuming that is some
sort of algae growing on the front panels.

This lovely pre 63 split screen caught my eye
with it's unusual paint colour and the 'Roo' 
bars on the front. I loved the overall look of this
early split. The owners dog is trying to get some
shade from the scorching sunshine by lying
under the bus.

After walking around the show for a few hours
I decided to head back to my bus for a cup of
tea and something to eat. This is the view out
of my sliding door. I was in very good company.

This multi coloured bay looked fantastic with
it's different colour body panels. This is similar
to the Polo paint scheme I have seen.
 
This 1972 type 3 fastback looked like a nice 
straight and solid car. The gorgeous blue paint
suited the car's body shape.

This bright orange T4 looked great in the sun,
the paint was so bright it gave off an orange
glow. I do like these T4's especially when they
are this nice.

This 181 Trekker was in full military colours and
looked authentic. These were originally designed
for use by the military so it's only natural to have

it in the military colours.

Apart from the vase and flower, it did look
authentic. The interiors on these Trekkers is
sparse, but when you remember what they
were designed for, it's understandable.



This 181 even had an ammunition box and
a radio which also looked authentic.

So that was part 1 of 2 on the BeachBuggin
VW Show. This is one show to be added to
your show calendar for next year, I can guarantee
you will not be disappointed. The location, the
variety and the sheer numbers of Volkswagen's
that attend this event is amazing. The weather
plays a big part in any VW event in the U.K. so
lets hope the weather next year is as good as
it was this year. Regular readers will know that

part 2 of this review about the BeachBuggin show 
should be next Saturday 12th, but I will be in
hospital recovering from an operation so I will post
 part 2 of the review once I get home, suffice to
say it will definitely be worth the wait as there are
plenty more quiality air-cooled Volkswagen's
of all descriptions to be seen.
 

 

 

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