Saturday 6 February 2016

Campermart 2016

For this weeks blog I checked out the 'Campermart 2016' show. Campermart is the first VW event of the season and was held inside the Telford International Centre, in Shropshire on Sunday 31st January 2016. It promised to be a good event with lots of things planned by the organisers which included: A market area where traders would be selling everything VW related, (and some things that were not VW related !), There was also a BMX display, a roller derby, and a Ukulele workshop. The bus doctors were in attendance as usual, this is where you could get free advise on any problems you may have with your bus from very experienced people. As well as all this there were numerous vehicles on display. This is my first time at Campermart and I think it's orientated more towards the water cooled  T4 / T5 buses, rather than air-cooled VW's, although as my blog shows there were plenty of air-cooled vehicles at the show. As the owner of both an early bay and a T4, this was fine by me. The Telford  International centre is about 115 miles from my hometown of Aylesbury so it was quite an early start to get there for the opening time of 10.00am. 
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.

I hadn't been to the Telford International Centre
before and wasn't sure what to expect, but I
certainly didn't expect a traffic queue that went
on for about a mile. Here are just 2 of the buses
that I slowly followed towards the show in my T4.

Once inside the international centre there was a
small display of vehicles including this lovely early
barn door split screen bus. The unusual colour
scheme stood out as it was so different.

This bus had some lovely faded Coca Cola
signwriting on it, and along with the patina
paint it looked awesome. I did those Radar
wheels which add just enough bling.

This RAT look bus really was nice. Even though
the red and yellow paint was faded the bus still
stood out and made an excellent choice of
vehicle to greet visitors as they entered the show.

This gorgeous 1970 early bay looked great with
what looks like Neptune Blue coloured patina
paint. The chrome bumpers add just enough
bright work which compliments the deluxe trim
perfectly. 

This U.S. import looked great from every angle.
I do like roof racks on an early bay, not only do
they suit the bus but they are also so handy. I
did like the choice of polished alloy wheels,
which remind my of the old wolfrace slot mags
 that used to be around when I was a kid.

There were plenty of T4's and T5's on show but
this satin blue T4 caught my eye. This lowered
bus with it's satin blue paint with the retro white
scallops looked awesome. It also has some
really cool airbrushed murals.

This bus really did stand out from the others in
the hall. I loved this bus and could have looked
at it for hours.

The interior was just as nice as the exterior. The
blue and white theme carried on inside so looked
so nice. It certainly makes my grey T4 cab interior 

look very drab and boring.

This lovely 1967 Westfalia SO42 split screen
stood out. It has been lowered by 6" and has a
Creative Engineering rack and pinion steering
upgrade with CSP brakes.

The Westfalia interior is all original and looks
stunning, it really does have a nice 1960's

feel to this this bus.

The period food packaging looks great in the
door storage rack.

The rear end of this Westy rides on independent
suspension and has Beetle drum brakes. That

velvet green paint does look nice, which is why
I've decided to have my 1969 microbus painted
in the same colour. 

The motor is pretty much stock apart from the
twin Empi carbs, and the electronic ignition and
it is amazingly clean.

This 1966 frosted white over light grey split
screen looked fantastic. Apparently this bus was
bought from new by a farmer in California who
ran it around for a few years, then he blew the
engine and it became a storage / play shed on
the same farm for 35 years!

It was purchased by a friend of the present
owner, a local county sheriff for $100 and was
then shipped to the U.K. It has had a complete 

nut and bolt restoration and the present owners 
used it for their wedding day in 2015.

The new 1776 has twin weber carbs, adjustable
fuel pressure, electronic fuel pump and electronic
ignition. I liked the LED light fixed up in the engine

bay, it would certainly make working on the bus
during the evening / night so much easier.

This 1969 microbus in savanna beige and cloud
white caught my eye. It has been lowered and has
a 4" narrowed beam.

This lovely bus was originally from Michigan in
the U.S where it had some minor restoration
work carried out.

The bus underwent further restoration once
it was in the U.K. The gorgeous interior is 
hand made by the present owner and is loosely
 based on the Devon conversion model.

This early bay sat just right, with a slight rack
towards the front. This really is a straight bus

that is so clean.

The painted Porsche 356 wheels look great with
the VW logo hub caps. I have 356 steels on my
early bay and I think they look far better than any

 alloy wheel, but that is just my opinion.!

This cool retro looking T5 made me stop in my
tracks. It has what looks like a cross between
an old airstream trailer and a caravan on the
back. The rear body was made from aluminium
(just like the airstream trailers) but in a sort of
caravan shape. The sides of this fantastic creation
are made from one sheet of alloy which must have
been a nightmare to create. 

This really is such an unusual creation, but I love
it. This would certainly stand out at a VW show.
The interior was amazing, I did have a quick look
inside, but due to the crowds I couldn't get a

decent photo.

Regular readers will know I have an unhealthy
 liking for panel vans and this cream over baby
 blue panel van looked gorgeous. It had a nice 
high stance, with white painted steel wheels 
and white wall tyres. The body of this old bay 
was so straight and so clean.

The interior of the panel van was stunning. It
had everything you could want and made to
such a incredibly high standard.

How comfortable does this interior look? The
standard of workmanship on this interior was
amazing. The LED lights in the roof panel 

illuminate the interior perfectly.

So that was a very brief review Campermart
2016. This review is shorter than my normal blog
reviews, not because there wasn't anything to 
photograph, but because the sheer number of people 
that attended this event made taking good photos 
of the show vehicles very difficult. Overall this 
show is a good start to the VW season with
plenty to do and see and well worth a look
 whether you're into your air cooled or water 
cooled Volkswagen's. 

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