Slough Swapmeet 2016 (part 3 of 3)

This weeks blog review is a 3 part review all about the Slough Swapmeet 2016, which last year was held on Sunday 6th November at the Montem Leisure Centre, Montem Lane in Slough in Buckinghamshire. SL1 2QG. This annual event is organised by Vince and Robin, and it's a great place to pick up some air-cooled bargains. The Slough Swapmeet is held inside the sports hall and is a table top sale / autojumble that caters for primarily the air cooled Volkswagen's, although water cooled VW's are more than welcome as is anything German including old Porsche's. Being one of the last events of the season it's a great place to socialise with old friends, and even make new friends. The Slough Swapmeet has been going for at least 10 years and I have been attending this event for the past 6 years. The organisers present trophies for the 'King of the car park', which is for the best vehicles parked up in the leisure centre car park. The venue for the swapmeet is only 51 miles from my hometown so it was a great chance to get out in my early bay one last time as this is the last show / event of the VW calendar for the year. Even though the weather forecast was for dry sunny weather, don't let the photos fool you, it was still bitterly cold, after all it is November in the U.K.! The blog continues as I brave the extreme cold weather and wander around the car park looking at all the amazing Volkswagen's.
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.

There is always a great selection of colourful
air-cooled V-dubs at the Slough Swapmeet.
Here, 3 generations of the humble VW bus
were all parked up together.

Buses of all descriptions, from the RAT look to
show winning standard, from standard height
to lowered and everything in between can be
seen at the Swapmeet.

It really was great to walk around the leisure
centre car park and see not only classic
air-cooled VW's but also plenty of water cooled
vehicles.

This early bug looked fantastic with it's lowered
stance. It looks as though it has a narrowed
front beam as those wheels sit nicely under the
front wings. The roofrack with all it's accessories
looked cool. 

A RAT looking bug parked next to a gorgeous
show winning standard bus makes for a great
display in the winter sunshine.

The low winter sunshine made taking good
photos quite tricky but it did provide great
reflections on this pastel yellow Karmann Ghia
from windows on a bus parked nearby. 

A better photo of this gorgeous pastel yellow
Karmann. This car has been seriously lowered
and those Fuchs style wheels looked the right
choice to compliment the overall look of this KG.

Even though all the photos have a clear blue
sky and the sun is shining the temperature
didn't get much above freezing. This guy was
warming his hands from the cooker on his cool
looking split screen. 

New(ish) and old parked up together. Whatever
is your favourite VW bus, you'll be sure to see
it, and many more at the Slough Swapmeet. 

A great diversity of Volkswagen's makes for an
interesting stroll around the car park. 

It seems that red / orange are the 'in colours'
at the moment... It was good to see a great
selection of air cooled vehicles, and the best bit
is that no 2 vehicles were the same.

Row upon row of classic air cooled ( and water
cooled) Volkswagen's of all years, condition
and style made for an enjoyable couple of
hours wandering around in the sunshine.

This gorgeous early bug oozed coolness. I did
like the patina paint and the air conditioning
unit attached to the door. The roof rack was
another cool accessory that suited this bug.

The super low stance with those polished
wheels looked great as did that big chrome
exhaust.

A nice photo showing some of the bay window
buses at the show. Just as I took this I heard
a bus approaching and thought it would look
good to get whatever it was in the photo too.

The same shot but with a two tone green split
screen just cruising past.

This gorgeous cherry red Karmann Ghia is
owned by a guy called Andrew who is a member
of 'The Wolfsburg Weed Huggers' VW club.

This really is a lovely clean and straight KG as
the photo shows. These are such a good looking
cars with a timeless shape that still looks good
today. These will never go out of fashion.

OK, I know this isn't a VW and I'm not even sure
if they were at the leisure centre for the swap
meet or not but I just had to take some photos
of this Mini Scamp. The Scamp is a kit car
based on the classic British Mini and using
most of the components of the Mini.

The first Scamp kits were available from 1969
and I believe they are still trading today. They
were available in several formats including:
a van, pick up, estate and either long or short
wheelbase.

As I mentioned several times in this 3 part blog
review, it was November and freezing cold so
the guys that came down in this door and
windowless kit deserve some sort of medal,
or a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate!

Nice and shiny or patina'd, however you like
your ride you'll be sure to find it in the leisure
centre car park.

This super low 1970 early bay virtually sat on
the tarmac it was that low! This is one cool
imported bus that looked even better with it's
patina'd original paint.

Inside the leisure centre the place was packed
with stalls selling OEM new/old stock and new
stock. There were also many guys selling parts
from their garages that they no longer required.
This is a great place to find those hard to find
 bits needed for your winter project in the garage.

The place does get very crowded as these
photos from 2015 show and if you look hard
you can find some real bargains.

On my way to the swapmeet I passed a lay-by
with a pile of chopped logs that someone had
cut down to make way through the woods. I
thought that would make a good photo with
my 1969 microbus parked in front of it, so on
 the way home I stopped off.

I like these photos in front of the pile of logs
 as it's something a bit different. 

This photo is supposed to be 'arty'. Not sure
if it worked or not, but I like this picture.

So that was my 3 part blog review of the Slough
Swapmeet 2016. If you missed parts 1 & 2 you
can find them in 'My Blog Achive' at the top left
of this page. Overall the swapmeet was another
fantastic day out. There were hundreds of people
that attended, most of them in a VW of some
description. The hall was packed with stalls and
there was some good bargains to be found. If you
live in the south of England I suggest you visit this
one day show as you won't be disappointed. 
This was the last blog review for the 2016
season, next weeks blog review is all about the
 'Campermart' show which will be the first VW
show for 2017 that I attend, so be sure to come 
back next Saturday to read all about it.

Slough Swapmeet 2016 (part 2 of 3)

This weeks blog review is part 2 of 3 all about the Slough Swapmeet 2016, which last year was held on Sunday 6th November at the Montem Leisure Centre, Montem Lane in Slough in Buckinghamshire. SL1 2QG. This annual event is organised by Vince and Robin, and it's a great place to pick up some air-cooled bargains. The Slough Swapmeet is held inside the sports hall and is a table top sale / autojumble that caters for primarily the air cooled Volkswagen's, although water cooled VW's are more than welcome as is anything German including old Porsche's. Being one of the last events of the season it's a great place to socialise with old friends, and even make new friends. The Slough Swapmeet has been going for at least 10 years and I have been attending this event for the past 6 years. The organisers present trophies for the 'King of the car park', which is for the best vehicles parked up in the leisure centre car park. The venue for the swapmeet is only 51 miles from my hometown so it was a great chance to get out in my early bay one last time as this is the last show / event of the VW calendar for the year. Even though the weather forecast was for dry sunny weather, don't let the photos fool you, it was still bitterly cold, after all it is November in the U.K.! The review continues as I wander around the leisure centre car park admiring all the quality vehicles.
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.

This stunning Type 14A Hebmuller cabriolet was
totally immaculate. To be honest I haven't seen
enough of these cars to tell if it was an original
Heb or not, but I have no reason to believe it
wasn't, It certainly looked original. The Hebmuller
was produced from 1949 - 1953. 

The Hebmuller was originally designed as a 2
seater sports car for Charles Radcliffye, a colonel
 in the British army who was running Volkswagen 
after the second world war ended.

The Type 14A , was mechanically the same as
 the Beetle saloon. The front of the Heb looks
virtually the same as a beetle, however..

The Heb differed to the beetle by having the
deck lid and trunk lid of similar size and shape.
This really is a beautiful looking car. After only 4
years, production ended due to a fire in the factory's
paint department. A total of only 696 Hebmullers 
were made including 3 prototypes. 

Not a very good photo of the interior and dash
board but it certainly looks original to me. This
had to be the rarest car in the Slough Swapmeet
car park?

This army green coloured 1971 early bay double
cab pick up looked cool. I did like the roof rack
that fitted over the double cab and the steel sun
visor. The colour coded bumpers gave this bay
the authentic military look.

I did like the pick up bed cover which I think
suits a pick up so well. This really was a nice
 solid looking pick up. 

On the tail gate of the double cab I spotted this
cool badge, 'Tankspotter'. I don't know if it's an
original item or whether someone has made it,
but it did suit the overall look of the vehicle.

This lovely old split oval window bug looked great
with it's real patina paint. This very stock looking
beetle certainly received plenty of admiring looks
for everyone who saw it.

There is always a fantastic assortment of air-
cooled vehicles that attend the Slough Swapmeet.

A gorgeous early split screen parked next to
a lovely old Karmann Ghia. The quality of the
vehicles in the car park was amazing, it was
just like a show and shine display.

Talking of quality, how about the double cab
split screen. Finished in some hue of beige with
a white roof this old pick up looked stunning.

This pick ups looks are enhanced by it being
lowered and possibly by having a narrow front 
beam. This old crew cab really was in immaculate 
condition.

This 1989 T25 was another vehicle painted in
army green and looked cool. I did like the decal
across the front which says 'Zombie virus response
unit', you never know when you may need this bus!

This super straight 1967 Karmann Ghia looked
amazing with it's flawless gloss black paint. The
chrome towel rail bumpers and the white painted
steel wheels add just enough contrast to the black
paint to help this old KG stand out.

This immaculate 1966 beetle looked amazing
with it's dark green paint over super straight
body panels. You can see just how straight this
old bug is by the reflection in the rear quarter
panel and door.

This really is a gorgeous looking car. The paint
is so shiny it looks as though it's still wet. The
chrome bumpers compliment the green colour
perfectly.

A close up of the wheels on this gorgeous bug,
The spun alloy centre pieces were as work of
art and those lovely Firestone Wide Oval tyres
filled the rear arches perfectly.

A trio of Porsche 356's parked up at the Slough
Swapmeet. I'm not sure if these guy's arrived
together or not, but one minute they weren't
there then all of a sudden all 3 were parked up!

A silver early Karmann Ghia and a 1971 pastel
yellow beetle parked up at the leisure centre.

A better photo of the trio of Porsche 356's parked
 up at the Slough Swapmeet. These gorgeous cars
were produced from 1948 - 1965 and were
available in a 2 door coupe, 2 door convertible or
a 2 door roadster.

A beautiful 1970 beetle finished in a gorgeous
blue colour with contrasting wing piping. The all
red rear tail light lenses and those Radar wheels
helped to make this old bug stand out.

This lovely grey 1964 beetle has featured on my
blog several times before as I normally see it
at The Ace Cafe, London and it's easy to see
why I keep taking pictures of it, this really is a
lovely looking beetle.

A very colourful display of spilt screen and
bay window buses at the Slough Swapmeet.

A lovely blue sky on a Sunday morning with a
car park full of classic Volkswagen's of all years
and varieties, what could be better?

So that was part 2 of 3 on the Slough Swapmeet.
Next weeks blog is the 3rd and final installment
where you can see more bugs and buses and a
couple of Karmann Ghia's so make sure you
come back next Saturday.