http://scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/ John somehow acquired a huge empty warehouse very near to Heathrow Airport which that hold in excess of 60 vehicles in which to hold a drive in movie night for all the 'Ringers' that attended the charity M25 cruise. John and his team quickly arranged a massive screen to watch the movie on, top chefs who normally cater for executive airlines, a raffle, a tuck shop, RTR merchandise, tombola and of course donations on the night. The RTR team also arranged not only a special guest appearance from a big Hollywood movie star but had even arranged a fly by from a British Airways 747 jumbo jet.... (The fact that the venue was less than 1 mile from Heathrow airport and in a direct line with the take off flight path was a pure coincidence.!) The film for the night was kept a secret, but there could only be one film to watch at a Volkswagen drive in movie night, right?, I had arranged to meet my friends Dave and Angela at the venue, who along with their daughter Louise were also looking forward to a fun packed afternoon / evening. The event ran from 12.00pm - 9.00pm and due to everyone's generosity from buying raffle tickets, buying things from the tuck shop, and the RTR merchandise the event raised £2500 for Scotty's Little Soldiers. A huge well done to John and the team (Amanda and Ben to name just two) for arranging the event and a special well done to everyone who attended on the day and who donated so generously for such a worthwhile cause.
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| I arrived at the venue about 12.30 and found that David and Angela were already there and parked up inside. This is David's super cool 1966 white over blue split screen which David has owned for 10 years. In David's own words about his bus he says 'it's used and enjoyed, and it's definitely not a trailer queen', and this is true as both David and Angela have had many trips over to Europe in the bus. |
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| Those nice BRM wheels were refurbished and painted by David, and suit the bus perfectly. It has a 'Red 9' front and rear suspension with disc brakes all round. This bus also has a larger than normal fuel tank for long range driving and Porsche 944 front seats for as David says 'they are there for comfort over distance'. The bus also has a full Zig 240v split charging system. |
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| Power comes from a 1995cc engine with a long ratio gearbox for motorway cruising, (which would explain how we got home in double quick time after the event!) and a hydrologic clutch. |
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| My 1999 camouflaged T4 parked up at the movies next to David's '66 split screen. It was early afternoon and the place was still filling up with vehicles. To keep us occupied they displayed photo's of all the vehicles that took part in the 'RTR' around the M25. You can just make out the image in the centre of the back wall. |
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| A better photo of my T4. I would have liked to taken my 1969 bay, but as I needed to get back home quickly after the event I decided to take the T4. I followed David and Angela on the way home and David didn't hang about in his old '66, and we often went speeds that stretched the legs of my 2.5tdi T4.! |
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| Looking down the side of my T4 towards the big screen. The screen was high enough to see when either sitting on camping chairs next to your vehicle or if you sat inside your vehicle. I had the brown high top T25 in front of me, but it didn't obstruct my view at all. |
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| This 'original' Herbie belongs to 'Terry's Beetles' and is the real deal. The car was built by Empi Racing of Riverside, California for the 1969 Walt Disney film, 'The Love Bug'. This bug still has the 'H2' sticker in the glovebox which denotes it was a Porsche engined race car. Each Herbie built for the films had a different 'H' number to identify what the car was built for. I.E drunk effect car (H6) , rear driver car (H7), split front and rear car (H5) 2 cars, etc. |
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| This Herbie is actually a 1953 ragtop from the windscreen backwards but has a 1960 front end. Herbie even has his own facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealHerbieH2 |
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| As this Herbie was a 'H2' car built for the race scenes, it is equipped with Porsche finned brakes, Koni shocks, superior rear control arms and an uprated anti roll bar. |
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| This two tone cherry red and white T5 looked immaculate. The two tone paint gives this bus a clean sleek look and those aftermarket wheels look great and compliment the paint perfectly. |
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| This bus was one of many vehicles that attended the movie night that still had the original RTR sticker on it. I have both mine on my workshop windows. |
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| These guy's got to the venue early and got front row seats, although it didn't really matter as the layout was so good you could see the screen wherever you were parked. There were some really nice vehicles that attended and this is just a few of them. |
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| Another sleek looking T5 was this white one with contrasting grey trim. This lovely bus belongs to PDubz, (http://www.pdubz.co.uk/) The black of the side windows looks great against the bright white paint. I did like the gloss black wheels with the big chunky tyres, this really was a nice bus. |
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| A neat interior featured a slide out cooking unit, storage units for gas and water and those lovely blue roof light panels. This gorgeous bus is now up for sale for offers close to £20,000 ($25,000) I wonder if they will do a straight swap for my camouflaged T4.. no,probably not! |
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| This bright orange T5 caught my eye as it really stood out against the white walls of the unit. The contrasting black of the bonnet bra and the glass side / rear windows really made this orange paint look super bright. |
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| You can see just how much this bus stands out. The black detailing really helps to make this bus look something special. |
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| From one extreme to another was this matte green T4 with rust effect paint. This cool looking bus looks as though it had been lowered which with the paint effect helped it to stand out. |
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| I did like this RAT looking bus. The paint effect had been very well carried out and looked very authentic. This really was a cool looking bus. |
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| This lovely old 1987 blue and white high top T25 looked like a nice solid bus. I do like the T25 and when they have the high top, well that's even better. Judging by the vents in the side I'm guessing this has the full camping interior. |
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| A few years ago these T25's were seen as un-cool, but today they are just a cool as any split screen or bay window, and I'd certainly have one like this tomorrow if I could. |
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| Another pair of lovely looking buses. I did like the dark blue colour on the T4. |
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| This gorgeous T5 belongs to Simon Carey who owns the building that was used to host the event. This really is one of those buses where 'no expense has been spared' and which has too many features and accessories to list, so I'll just let you take a good long look... |
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| This dashboard and door cards were finished in a lovely light tan suede type material that looked and felt luxurious. (don't worry Simon I didn't leave any finger marks!) The custom trimmed seats in matching colours also looked very classy and comfortable. |
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| In the back the rock and roll bed had also been trimmed in the custom colour matched material. The units looked very well made and fitted with with everything you could need to go camping. |
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| The rear of Simon's T5 was to the same high standard. The clear rear light lenses give the rear of this bus a clean fresh look. |
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| This gorgeous sliver T5 caught my eye, it wasn't flash or fancy but just a clean and straight looking bus. The silver and black work so well together and the slight hint of the colour red on the wheels is just enough to make this bus stand out. |
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| Another very clean and straight bus was this all white T5. Again nothing flash or fancy just a lovely looking bus. |
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| This High top 1978 late bay looked great in its ivory over dark green colour scheme, which gave the bus an older than it is look. This really was a nice straight bus as you can see from the reflection down the side of the bus. |
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| I liked the small details on this bus, like the chrome headlight peaks and the colour coded spare wheel cover and bumper trim. |
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| This very shiny red T4 looked good with it's alloy wheels and low profile tyres. This was a really nice solid looking bus that looked so much better for being lowered. |
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| The organisers had also booked a mobile DJ, who used the front end of a beetle as a deck. This was a really cool set up, especially for a venue full of Volkswagens. |
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| The DJ went under the name of 'Bug Beats' and provided us with a good variety of music for most of the day, and he even got all the children involved with dancing and generally having fun. |
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| There was a mobile bar at the venue, in the form of a lovely single cab split screen pick up, that proved very popular with the older generation! |
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| This bright green and white cross over bay belongs to Steve who has christened the bus 'Tallulah'. I think Steve uses this as a daily driver. I did like the twin amber spot lights with what looked like 356 grilles. |
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| The pink interior lighting matched the pink flowers on the bodywork which gave the bus a very cozy feel. |
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| With all those appliances one thing is for sure, Steve won't be going hungry or thirsty! This really was a very well equipped bus. |
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| This is a really solid and straight looking bus. Tallulah also has a pair of red spot lights with the 356 grilles on the rear bumper which again are very cool looking accessories. |
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| Just a random photo looking along one of the rows of Volkswagens parked up at the RTR movie night. |
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| This gorgeous pearl white 1969 Westfalia was stunning. This bus still had the original factory fitted Westfalia campmobile interior although the present owner has carefully removed the fridge / sink unit to create more room for the family. It has a Riveria pop top roof installed by a previous owner which looked great. |
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| The bus was imported from Texas back in 2012 and before that the bus lived in Colorado. The present owner is only the 3rd owner! The engine is a 1641cc single port motor with twin Webber 34 ICT carburetors and a vintage speed exhaust. |
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| Just a decal that should be compulsory on the majority of bay window buses, definitely on the back of my 1969 microbus!. |
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| The mystery machine also attended the movie night in the form of this cool looking T5. We even had Scooby Doo walking round having his photo taken with the younger participants. |
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| Another working single cab split screen at the venue was this gorgeous white over green beauty. This was used to display all the mouth watering desserts that were available. |
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| The caterers were of a high class and used to providing food for executive airlines so a bunch of children and a bigger bunch of young at heart adults must have been quite a culture shock for them! The variety of hot food was good and catered for most tastes and well received by all. |
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| Just a random photo looking along a line of Volkswagens at the Run the Ring Drive-In movies. If you look closely you might just be able to make out my camouflaged T4 at the back.! |
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| This 1983 T25 was parked up in front of me, and looked like a nice honest bus. This bus had a very retro colour scheme that suits this old bus. |
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| This was a nice straight solid looking bus. I do like these T25's and the more I see of them at shows the more I think I'd like one. |
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| This stunning arrow straight beige Jetta had been seriously lowered and had the illusion of being even lower to be due to those low profile tyres. |
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| You can see the stance this lovely old Jetta had from this side profile photo. This car was so clean I was scared to get too close to it! |
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| I didn't manage to have a chat to the owner, but hopefully I'll see it again at another show sometime and manage to get some more information about this gorgeous car. So that was part 1 of the RTR drive-in movie night. Next Saturday is the 2nd instalment where you can see a lovely 1958 Swiss Army radio bus, named 'The Duke' and many more quality Volkswagens that attended this amazing event, so be sure to come back next Saturday. |
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