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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| To start this weeks blog we have this lovely old single cab split screen pick up with the coolest makeshift camping unit on the back. |
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| I don't know the origins of the covered unit or how they managed to squeeze it onto the bed of the pick up, but it did look good. I loved the O.G. paint and the real patina on this old bus. |
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| A close up of the back of the unit with the louvred windows. It looks like the whole back of the unit opens up for access as you can make out the hinges on the left and the period ivory coloured door handle on the right. |
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| I just love those old chunky tyres.The bodywork has seen better days but it just adds character. |
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| From one split screen pick up to another only this time it's a slammed crew cab with a very narrow front beam that keep the front wheels tucked under the cab. |
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| This low bus really did look cool with it's faded matte Dove blue (I think) paint. I also liked the canvas over the rear frame hoops. |
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| As this bus had the safari screens open it would have been rude of me not to take a photo of the inside. This does look like a very nice place to sit and cruise away the miles. |
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| A similar coloured early 1960's split screen panel van was the next vehicle that caught my eye. I do like panel vans, and this one that had been lowered and sporting a narrowed front beam was no exception. |
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| The interior was unexpected... it was finished to look like a wild west saloon. |
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| A better look inside. The effect was really good and made a nice change to see the owner had used their imagination to create something from the normal camping interiors. |
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| You can see just how straight and clean this old panel van was from this photo. You can also see how deep those banded rear wheels are! |
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| This down in the weeds 11 window split screen in what looks like Sea blue and white caught my eye due to it's low stance and that very narrow front beam with the polished Fuchs style wheels. |
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| This really was a nice clean and straight bus. I do like that blue colour that seems to suit a split screen bus. |
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| This very low and very patina'd oval window bug stood out from the crowd with it's rough and ready look. |
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| The whole top half of this old bug had lots of real patina, not just the odd patch here and there but patina that covered all the roof, bonnet, tops of the wings and deck lid. |
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| The interior looked to be pretty much stock, even the door cards.. or whats left of them. |
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| You can see just how much patina this old bug had, but that wasn't the main body feature on this old oval. This bug was riddled with.... |
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| ... bullet holes! possibly from a shot gun judging by the cluster of holes. These may look like the fake bullet hole decals you can buy, but just to prove these are real bullet holes... |
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| ...On the opposite side of the car was the very prominent indentations of where the bullets almost came through the other side. |
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| This slammed sky blue early 1960's beetle was a cool looking dub. This bug had been lowered so much the floor pan was almost sat on the floor. The opening rear windows, fox tail handing from the antenna and swan neck mirrors were all neat looking accessories that suited the car so well. |
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| The early tail lights with all red lenses and the old period deck rack, complete with old suitcase added to the cars cool look. |
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| The only thing better that a panel van is a sign written panel van, and this 1958 panel proves my point. I've seen this van at many shows and it still looks as good today as it did when I first saw it. |
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| The 'Roo' bars of the front and that massive wrapped exhaust sticking out the back helped to make this cool van stand out. |
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Thankfully the bus was saved and imported to the
U.K. around 6 years ago where the present owners
saw it advertised on e-bay. I just love those old
retro stripes down the side.
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| This gorgeous split screen panel van caught my eye mainly due to it's patina and of course the low stance and the narrowed front beam amongst everything else. |
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| The real sun burnt patina covered almost all of the roof and looked great. |
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| This awesome split screen caravan creation stood out from the other buses as it was just so different. I'm not sure how the owner mated a caravan onto a split screen chassis, but I'm glad they did as it looks fantastic. |
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| From the back you'd never imagine that it's a split screen bus. The ultra low stance adds to this campers appeal as do those massive banded steel wheels. |
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| A close up of the banded rear wheels to show just how deep they really are! |
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| The cab of the split caravan could be described as 'work in progress'... I just hope the owner doesn't change it too much as it looks good as it is. |
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| As I was heading back to my bus to go home this gorgeous gloss black oval window bug cruised towards me. I had to get a photo of this lovely clean bug, the low stance with the cream coloured steel wheels looked great against the jet black bodywork. So that was my 4 part review of this years Big Bang VW Festival. Overall it was yet another fantastic event and well worth attending, either for the day or the whole weekend. Next weeks review is all about the Stanford Hall show so be sure to come back next Saturday. |
