Saturday 7 October 2017

Bug Jam 31 - Bonus Review

Firstly apologies for posting this weeks blog later than usual, I normally post first thing on a Saturday morning, but I had a very early start today as I ventured down to the Brighton Breeze VW Show with the Wolfsburg Bus Crew. (blog review of this show coming later in the year) Anyway this weeks blog review is a bonus review as I found some extra photos that I forgot I had and its all about the Bug Jam VW Festival. Bug Jam which is now in it's 31st year, and has as far as I know has always been held at the world famous Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. Bug Jam is a weekend festival for all makes of Volkswagen's and this year was held over the weekend of 21st - 23rd July. There is always plenty to do and see at Bug Jam including: 5 music arenas, drag racing, run what you brung (public track time), show and shine, comedy artists, traders, stunt displays, jet car, auto jumble, fun fair and much more. Bug Jam is billed as 'Europe's biggest and best VW festival, I haven't been to that many European VW festivals so I can't comment if it's the best show or not, but it certainly is big. There must have been tens of thousands of visitors over the weekend, many of who stayed for the whole weekend. Due to family commitments I could only go for the day on the Saturday, but there were literally thousands of Volkswagen's of all descriptions there parked up with their the camps set up for the weekends festivities, and hundreds more vehicles who like myself went for one day only. Whatever type of Volkswagen rocks you boat, I guarantee you'll find it at Bug Jam. As you enter Santa Pod Raceway the service road takes you through the camping area towards the 1/4 mile strip, fun fair, catering vendors and different display arenas. I always wander off the road and wander through the camping area as this is where you get to see plenty of quality Volkswagen's parked up. The review continues as I wander around the festival looking at all the amazing 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.


A lovely 1950's slammed Karmann Ghia and
a 1968 early bay, just two of the stunning vehicles
you'll see if you venture into the camping area.

The imported '68 bay had a slight RAT look to it,
and looked great from being lowered. The BRM
wheels (I think) looked good and suited the bus
perfectly. Retaining the U.S. all red rear light
lenses was a nice touch.

The '50's Karmann looked fantastic in it's white
over light blue paint. This really was a tidy looking
car with its chrome towel rail bumpers and chrome
air vent grilles.

This old KG must have air ride suspension to be
able to sit this low.. I've just noticed that the engine
cover is slightly raised, maybe a give-a-way that
this old KG has a bigger motor, or maybe the
engine has been raised to allow the car to sit lower?

This 1969 beetle looked fantastic with its very
unusual green colour. The body colour with its
matching coloured wheels with white wall tyres
suited the car perfectly and helped to make this
bug stand out. This really was a lovely clean car.

Something not quite so shiny was this old targa
Porsche 912. This car was brought to Bug Jam
by the Hayburner crew who I believe found it in
a scrap yard just a few weeks before Bug Jam.

Apparently Bobby (milk and two!) from the
Hayburner team was after the car for years, so
when he got the car he decided to do one of their
infamous 'Bug Jam builds'. They put the old tatty
body on a slammed beetle floor pan. Those lovely
wheels Bobby purchased before he even got the
old Porsche, but they suit the car perfectly.  

It'll take more than a polishing mop to make this
look good.. but it was able to drive around the
site under its own power. (Big thanks to Sam for
the information on this cool Porsche.)

Looking into just a small part of the camping and
auto jumble area of Bug Jam from the top of the
banking alongside the 1/4 mile track. This event
is huge, and seems to get bigger every year.

Visitors on both days were treated to seeing the
jet cars run down the strip. Here 'Reign of Thunder'
is just preparing to run down the strip. This car,
a GBC mini pro funny car is powered by a Rolls
Royce Gnome engine and runs the quarter mile
in about 11 seconds.

Moving on the big boys in their jet dragster, here
is 'Split Second'. This car is powered has an 8000
BHP Rolls Royce Viper 500 series engine which
creates a serious flame show on the start line.

From a standing start, Split Second can run the
1/4 mile drag strip in just 6.7 seconds with a top
speed of 233 MPH.

Fire Force, is always a favourite at Santa Pod.
This jet car has a Pratt and Witney J60 engine
that produces 10,000 BHP.

During the staging this car is loud, if you haven't
seen it run down the strip, but you are going to,
wear ear protection or at least put your fingers in
your ears.! 

Again from a standing start, Fire Force can run
the 1/4 mile is just 5.8 seconds with a top speed
of 268 MPH.

It had rained in the days / weeks before Bug Jam
and as a consequence the tracks around the
campsite were slightly muddy, but this is Santa
Pod, and regular attendees will know this is
about normal, although not ideal.

This lovely slammed 1969 beetle grabbed my
attention. I did like the overall look of this old bug.
The slammed stance, the hand painted decals
and the big fat rear wheels / tyres all helped to
make the '69 stand out.

I did like the twin racks on this car. You can get
a better look at the large rear wheels from this
angle. 

Just a pair of Beetles parked up at Bug Jam.
There were hundreds of beetles at Bug Jam and
these two show the diversity in styles.

Talking of diversity, this trio of buses again shows
how very similar buses can look so different.

This lovely 1970 Adventure Wagon looked great.
I do like these buses with their cool high tops,
especially when they are lowered and looking this
 good.

This old '70 had a slight RAT look going on, and
it looked great. The original all red rear light
lenses looked good. This really was a cool bus.

Another col bus was this beige early bay, that I
think belonged to a foreign visitor. This original
looking bay looked great having been slightly
lowered and running on Empi 5 spoke wheels.

This looked to be a good solid bus. I did like the
3/4 length roof rack and the window arrangement
of 2 x quarter light windows in both the rear glass.

It's all about the little things and this early bay
had 'Woody' just hanging around.

This immaculate 1967 beetle looked amazing.
This slammed bug was so clean and straight
as you can see from this photo.

The banded and painted steel wheels looked
so nice against the contrasting blue body colour.

Another clean and straight vehicle was this lovely
light grey over orange 1965 split screen bus. The
two tone colours on this bus made it look so crisp
and clean. 

This 1967 white and blue beetle caught my eye
due to its slammed stance. This old bugs running
boards virtually sat on the grass. The tired looking
paint looked cool and could well have been the
original paint.

The narrowed front beam with the painted steel
wheels added to the overall look of this bug. I
did like that rear rack and the all red light lenses.

Just a couple of bays parked up in the camping
area at Santa Pod.

This 1954 Chevrolet 3100 pick up truck wasn't
a Volkswagen, but that didn't matter as it looked
so cool. The truck has been lowered about as
much as it can be, and with the original faded
paint it looked fantastic.

This really was a lovely old truck. I do like the
old step side pick ups and this one was no
different.

This is such a lovely looking truck. I did like those
tail lights, which look like Model A tail lights, and
the faded paint.

This 1960 split screen panel van had a serious
case of patina overload. This slammed bus has
a narrowed front beam and with the rust covered
body looked great.

The Friday night must have been a good night, as
this was all that was left of someones tent. I'm
not sure if the occupants were still inside or not! 

This beige Viking conversion ( I think) late bay
looked like a good solid bus. It looked to be
pretty much stock apart from the steel mesh visor,
the clear front indicator lenses, and the single
yellow spotlight.

On last weeks blog, the feature car was a light
green beetle with orange sides, and as I was
walking out of the show I spotted the gorgeous
black bug with orange side panels. The lowered
stance, the painted steel wheels with white wall
tyres and that lovely two tone paint all helped make
this old bug stand out and grab my attention.

As I was heading out of Santa Pod, I noticed this
pair of similar green coloured air-cooled VW's.
Both these were nice clean vehicles.

I followed this light blue 1972 beetle for a few
miles on the way home. It is so nice to see an
old air-cooled VW on the streets, mixing it with
all the modern vehicles.

So that was my four part review on the Bug Jam
show for 2017. Although I posted 4 blogs about
this massive show, my photos are only a handful
of vehicles that attended this show. There were
literally thousands of VW's of all makes and models.
Next week's blog review is another four part review
all about my favourite show of the year, BeachBuggin.
This is a fantastic show held on the south coast of
England, so be sure to come back next Saturday.

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