(you may need to copy and paste) This Xmas open day event, now in its 3rd year promised to be a friendly fun family day to enable them to thank all their customers in person and to wish us all a Happy Christmas. They said on their facebook page that there will be hot chocolate with whipped cream and marsh mellows, hot dogs, mince pies, and a host of activities to keep the children occupied. There is also going to be Santa's post box, Santa's camper photo booth and a decorated VW competition and of course lots of discounted lines from their huge inventory of stock. As Odiham is about 65 / 70 miles from my hometown, I decided to shoot down there in the new T4, as opposed to taking my 1969 microbus as it would be much quicker and cheaper. I attended the Just Kampers open day back in June, and that was a great day out, so I was hoping for a similar sort of day at their Christmas open day. You can check that blog entry here:
http://my1969vwmicrobus.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/just-kampers-open-day-2015.html (again you may need to copy and paste the address)
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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| Approaching the Just Kampers head quarters I followed this lovely white over orange 1973 T2 Westfalia. This really was a nice looking bus. There are more photos later in the blog review of this lovely bay window. |
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| The Xmas event was due to officially open at 10.00am and I arrived at about 09.35 and after a long drive down I headed inside to find the toilet. The Just Kampers crew were still setting up the refreshment stall, which was to be my next stop. |
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| The event reception area looked festive with the decorated tree and hanging decorations. The long table had loads of things to keep the kids entertained including colouring books and decorate your own Reindeer. |
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| Another view of the reception area, all prepped and ready for a Xmas get together. As I said earlier, I arrived before the opening time which is why it's empty but within an hour.... |
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| ...The place was packed. The weather forecast was for heavy rain, but that didn't put off the hardy Just Kampers customers. (I pinched this photo off of the Just Kampers facebook page, sorry guy's) |
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| In the Just Kampers toilet they had some cool VW pictures. I did like this Beetle one. |
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| This cool poster I have seen before but it still looked good framed and hanging up. |
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| My 1999 2.5 TDI T4 parked up at the Just Kampers headquarters. I have put the winter wheels on to save the Audi alloy's from the salt they put on the roads during the winter months and I have to say that I think it drives better with the original steel wheels on. |
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| I washed the '99 the day before, and I thought because of the damp conditions on the drive down it would be a lot dirtier than it was. |
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| This gorgeous stock looking 1970 Westfalia was simply stunning. I loved everything about this bus, from the stock ride height down to the white painted steel wheels with whitewall tyres. |
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| This U.S. import looked fantastic from every angle. This early bay proves that keeping a bus just as Volkswagen had designed it is far better than lowering it and adding some fancy wheels. |
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| A nice touch was that the bus still had the U.S. vehicle inspection stickers on the engine lid. Judging by these stickers, the lovely bus came from Hawaii, which could be why it is such a lovely rust free condition. |
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| This is the lovely 1973 late bay that I followed into the Just Kampers headquarters. This bus was amazing, and had a proper surf bus theme. The steel mesh sun visor looked great as did the chrome headlight eyebrows. |
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| This lowered '73 Westy looked great in it's white over bright orange paint. I did like the 3 bow roof rack, and the fact this bus still has the original steel wheels which suited this bus perfectly. |
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| I did like the illuminated 'Stop' sign on the rear bumper and the huge 'Surfers Paradise' sign attached to the roofrack. This really was a nice clean and straight bus. |
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| Just a small selection of the surfing themed stickers that this bus had. This bus would be perfectly at home on a beach in Cornwall. |
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| This 1990 T25 crew cab pick up looked great parked up by the entrance to the Just Kampers warehouse. I do like these T25 pick ups as they are so versatile, yet still look so cool. |
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| The T25 crew cab is a true work horse and also a cool ride. This one was a very clean example with a lovely coat of green paint and very straight body panels. |
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| This lovely looking 1976 late bay I think belongs to Just Kampers which today they had turned into a Christmas photo booth. As you would expect with a vehicle being owned by JK, the bus was immaculate, straight and very solid. |
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| You can see just how straight this late bay is, the immaculate coat of paint gives off an almost perfect reflection. The standard ride height also helps to make this bus stand out. |
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| The interior of the camper photo booth was just like new. This is how I like to see buses, all complete and original looking. |
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| Wow, just a lovely original looking interior. This bus really was stunning. I do like that green check fabric on the seats. |
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| A better look inside this gorgeous bus. The time, effort and not to mention money it must have needed to get this late bay to this standard must be huge, but it was well worth it in the end. |
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| As my 1969 microbus is a tin top, I'm always fascinated by how much room there actually is in a pop top bay window, regardless of whether it's a rear, front or side hinged roof. |
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| Mark and kerry own this lovely 1967 Karmann convertible beetle. Wilhelm Karmann produced the convertible Beetle from 1949 - 1980 and it had many features that the standard Beetle didn't have. These extra's included, duel rear ashtrays, twin map pockets and a vanity mirror in the sun visor. |
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| Other extra's included the lovely stone guards on the bottom of the rear wings. The body also had many strengthening modifications to compensate for the lose in removing the roof. |
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| The hood itself had 1in of insulation and also an inner lining to hide the mechanism and cross bars. The rear window was tempered safety glass. When the hood was down Karmann noted that you couldn't see over folded hood, so the rear view mirror was mounted on an offset pivot. By simply twisting the mirror 180 degress, it raised the mirror by 2 inches which was enough to see over the hood. |
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| This really was a lovely example of this classic cabriolet. These Karmann beetles really are a timeless classic that will always be in demand. |
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| There are many convertible Beetle's out there, but if it doesn't have the Karmann badge, it really isn't a real Karmann cabriolet. |
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| This 1970 stunning panel van is the promotional vehicle for Just Kampers and as you would expect it is immaculate. I have seen this van on numerous occasions at various shows and it looks this good every time I see it. I do like a nice panel van and this has to be one of the best panel vans in the U.K. at the moment. |
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| The 'Preservation parts' logo on the sides is a line of accessories that Just Kampers sell. This van really does look good from every angle, and if this ever came up for sale, I would definitely put in a serious offer. |
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| I mentioned in an earlier blog that no VW show or event is complete without a Fire bus, and the Just Kampers Open Day was no different. This 1986 T25 Fire bus looked great parked up in front of the JK warehouse. It belonged to a JK employee who I had a good chat to, but I have fotgotten his name. I mentioned that I had left my 1969 microbus at home and drove down in the T4 as it was quicker and cheaper, he said that he left his 1960's split screen at home for the same reasons and came along in the Fire Bus. |
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| This really was a nice bus. I did like the amber lights mounted on the roof. The German word Freuerwehr actually means Fire Defence. |
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| This bronze 1987 T25, and the next three buses all belonged to JK employees. They really are a dedicated bunch down there! |
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| I do like these T25's, they have all the usual camping benefits with a more powerful water cooled engine. These really are versatile buses and when they are this clean, what's not to like?. |
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| This 2002 T4 looked good, I did like that rust effect chequered bonnet. I'm not sure how the owner produced the effect, but it did look really unusual and therefore very cool. |
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| OK, the rubbish weather here in the U.K. has made this bus all dirty but under all that road muck is a lovely shade of dark blue. I did like the Volkswagen script on the bottom of the tail- gate, which again looked cool. |
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| Another of the JK employee's vehicles was this gorgeous white T5. These new T5's really do have all the mod cons and they have evolved so much from the original concept of a camper van. |
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| They may not be everyone's taste, especially all the die hard air-cooled owners, but you do have to appreciate them for what they are. Oh, I just noticed my '99 is in the background of this photo! |
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| This 2015 T5 in a sort or graphite grey colour looked really nice. The aftermarket wheels also made this lovely bus stand out. |
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| These really are nice campers, and if I had the money I would certainly have one... maybe one day ! |
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| In the Just Kampers reception area they had one of their front end set ups on show. I'm not sure if this set up is for a bus or a beetle but it did looks very impressive. |
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| Just a few of the Just Kampers employee vehicles parked up outside the JK HQ. It really is reassuring to know that the people you buy your parts and accessories from do actually know what they are talking about, because they own and drive vehicles just like yours. So that was part one of the Just Kampers Xmas open day. Part two will be on Saturday 2nd January, as next Saturday is Boxing Day. But it will be worth the wait because you can see lots more of the customer vehicles, including bays, T4's, T25's and beetles and much more. I hope all my readers both old and new have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. |
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