Volksworld Show 2018 (part 3 of 4)

Welcome to the third of four reviews all about the 2018 U.K. Volkswagen show season that kicked off in style over the weekend of 24th  - 25th March with the Volksworld Show at Sandown Park Racecourse, in Esher, Surrey KT10 9AJ. This annual show is organised by the Volksworld magazine (www.volksworld.com/) and it attracts entrants and visitors not only from the U.K. but also across the whole of Europe, and the U.S.A. Due to the excellent venue this show boasts two floors of top quality show cars, plus hundreds more quality vehicles on display outside in the show and shine arena and at the club stands, and you will even find plenty of quality Volkswagen's of all descriptions in the public car park. There are numerous traders selling everything Volkswagen, from curtains and cushions to wipers and wheels, and yet a another floor dedicated to an auto jumble, which is a good place to source those hard to find original items. There are numerous catering vendors where you can get some hot food and hot / cold drinks, but beware they are expensive (£5 for a bacon bap !). There is also an provision available for overnight camping for the hard core campers who want to spend all weekend at the show. Visitor numbers at the show each day run into the thousands and the day visitor car park gets full up very quickly so I decided to get an early start to ensure a good parking spot. The traffic on the Sunday based on past experience is far less busy than on the Saturday therefore easier to get into the show ground. It was the first run out this year for my 1969 microbus and a nice 100 mile round trip, and I have to say the bus ran perfectly. I heard on the grapevine that the show this year was organised by a new team.. I have no idea if this is correct or not, but one thing I did notice was that all the show cars inside the venue didn't have the normal A4 sheet of paper on display with the vehicles details / specifications / modifications etc on. This was particularly annoying for me as I use this info to add to the vehicles photos on the blog to create an interesting read (hopefully!), hence the write up on this years show cars will be a little vague.
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.

The 'Early Bay.Com' crew are usual exhibitors at
the show and always put on a great display of
early bay window buses. This blue 69 / 70 bay
caught my eye with it's lowered stance, and those
lovely retro slot mag wheels.

There must have been about a dozen or so buses
in their line up and each one looked cool. I'm a
member of the 'Earlybay.com' and one day, who
knows I might just ask join the line up.

This ratty looking 1970 grey bay looked good with
 it's paint, lowered stance and what looks like
could be a narrowed front beam.

The yellow head light covers, the chequered
design on the bumper mounted spot light cover
and the rusty bumper gave the front end a really
cool look.

I did spend longer than I should have looking at
this line up.. but all the bays were so nice and the
owners so friendly who loved chatting about their
buses.

I do have a liking for panel vans, especially when
they are as nice as this owned by 'Cool Flo'. The
single colour grey looked great and with it's
slammed stance and narrowed front end it really
stood out.

Another Cool Flo panel van, equally as nice as
the grey one... in fact I may even prefer this white
over blue van...

Air cooled vehicles of all descriptions and all ages
are plentiful at the Volksworld show.

Split screens full of patina all lined up together
looked awesome.

This slammed  oval window beetle looked so
cool, the patina over the wing tops and roof with
the patchy blue paint looked great. The super
narrow front beam almost hid the front wheels and
the rear wheels had an awesome camber.

A better view (or maybe not!) of the narrowed
front end and the rear wheel camber. This really
was a cool bug.

Awesome rear ends...

This gorgeous 1970 Type 181 looked fantastic
in it's shiny teal colour. The grey canvas roof
compliments the highly polished wheels perfectly.

That narrowed front is so narrow it looks as though
the front end hasn't got any wheels and that it's
just floating in mid air. This really was a lovely car.

A very clean and green bay window bus, the
display outside the main halls was crammed
with vehicles like this and made for a great
display of Volkswagens.

This stunning 1974 type 2 LWB pick up has had
 the Kemperink conversion into a high top delivery
van, and I loved it. These Kemperink conversions
are quite rare but so desirable.

These Kemperinks would make a fantastic
camper with all the room you would have inside.
There aren't many vehicles that I would willingly
sell my microbus for, but this is one vehicle that
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

This one has been refurbished to include a side
serving hatch as it's used as an artisan gin van.
The owners sell various flavoured gin from their
gorgeous Kemperink.

Here is one of my favourite VW's, a T25 Syncro
panel van. How tough does this lovely beast look?
The bull bar on the strengthened bumper looked
great as did those big truck mirrors.

I loved how high this Syncro sat and those big
chunky tyres. The spare wheel carrier mounted
on the reworked bumper looked functional, as
did that roof rack. I didn't get to look inside, and
that's a shame but maybe I'll see this lovely old
Syncro at another show soon and be able to
get a peek inside.

Another T25 but it's not a Syncro.. instead it is a
heavily personalised bus by the owner. This bus
had more solar panels that I even knew existed.

As well as lots of solar panels this 1985 T25 had
lots of moss, which I think was actually planted
on the roof panels.

If this isn't your idea of a nice bus then that's fine
as it isn't your bus! The owner had decorated his
bus the way he wants, and I admire that after all
it's all about being different, right?

OMG, now we're talking.. the awesome T25 was
with out doubt in my top 5 at the show. It's a 1986
T25 high top Syncro. This bus stood head and
shoulders above the other buses around it, and I
loved it.

The high top roof not only allows more room
inside the bus but also provides an excellent
place to fix the large solar panel. The small roof
ladder allows access to the roof rack. The fixed
awning would provide much needed shade and
protection whilst camping.

I had a long chat to the owner (pictured here) and
what a nice guy... he was telling me all about his
bus and as I listened I was so envious. The log
burner keeps him warm on those cold winter
nights. This bus was kitted out so well, he could
have gone anywhere and camped.

I spotted this slammed Ford Pop in a secluded
corner next to the Just Kampers marquee. I used
to have a rodded Ford Pop many years ago so I
just had to have a closer look.

At a first glance this looked like a normal hot rod
Ford Pop that had been chopped and channelled
but upon closer inspection, not everything was as it
seemed.

Under the bonnet where the normal V8 engine
would be sat I saw what looked like an air tank for
hydraulic suspension and what looked like a VW
beetle petrol tank...So I just had to have a look at
the back of this car..

In the boot, there was an air cooled motor that
fitted really well and was dressed up nicely. I didn't
find out much more about this Pop, but I think it
belongs to a Just Kampers employee.

This Rometsch was one of my favourites at the
Volksworld Show. Rometsch Lawrence made
these from 1957 - 1961 and it's basically a VW
Beetle with a new body. The body had a design
similar to the American cars of the time and
featured tail fins and panoramic front and rear
windscreens and originally would have had a 

two tone paint scheme.

The car was available as a coupe and as a

convertible. The aluminium bodywork was made 

by hand, and it had a very  luxurious interior, all 

of which affected the vehicle price. In 1959 the
cost of a new car was 8000 DM, which was a

lot more than the newly released Karmann Ghia.

In 1961 the production of Lawrence was stopped

 since the sales had stagnated, not least due to the 

competition of the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. 

Since the beginning of production 1957 and the 

end of 1961 about 85 vehicles were manufactured.

A restored copy of the 'Lawrence' is in the

Wolfsburg museum in Germany. 

There were plenty of early bays at the show, so
it's a good place to look at the buses and chat
to the owners to get idea's and also information
on how to do something as most owners are only
to willing to chat about their buses and what they
have done to them.

You really can't get much lower without digging
a trench, I just hope this cool RAT look bay had
hydraulic suspension !

This 1972 all white slammed bug belongs to a
guy called Billy, who has restored this cool bug
by himself. It has a 1641cc engine, not bad for
a guy that's only 19 years old! Billy is friends with
the guys from the cool clothing company (Flat
Four), 464 Clothing hence the decals on the
doors, check them out on their webpage here:
http://www.464clothing.com/

A few friends of mine from the 'Wolfsburg Weed
Huggers' VW club had a great display in the club
section outside the main hall.

This lovely '63 RHD squareback is a ragtop 1600L
model and belongs to Harriet. Harriet's slammed
square has quite a history as it not only used to
belong to Type 3 Detectives but it is also an ex
Volksworld feature car from September '93.
Harriet is a member of the Wolfsburg Weed
Huggers club based in Penn.

This stunning 1971 Audi K70 looked cool with
it's low stance, bright red paint and those yellow
headlight lenses. Here's an interesting fact...
The model K70, the 'K' is short for the German
word 'Kolben (piston) and the '70' denotes the
the engine output power 70PS (51kw, 69hp),
There I told you it was interesting !

The K70 was only produced from 1970 - 1974
but I doubt they ever looked this good. The K70
was front wheel drive and had a water cooled
four cylinder engine mounted over the differential
in the middle of the front wheels.

A few friends of mine attended the show with their
club 'Herts VW Club'. These guys always attend
this show and normally arrive a day or two early
just to camp out!

Darren (who I've just noticed is in the centre of
the photo!) owns the '65 ( I think) all white split
screen bus and Simon owns the grey '79 bay
that started life as a LHD but Simon converted
it to a RHD. Simon and the Herts VW club have
replaced many panels to get it rust free.

Inside Simon's '79, basic but functional, although
I'm sure Simon has got plans on the interior.

Cool photo of just 3 of the many beetles at the
Volksworld show.

The paint finish on this black Karmann Ghia was
amazing, as you can clearly see. I did like the
chromed wheels, and the white wall tyres.

This pair of stock (ish) Karmann's were just two
of many Karmann's at the show.

Talking of Karmann Ghia's, this street / strip KG
looked tough in it's all white paint. The narrowed
front beam tucks those 'Centerline' style wheels
right under the front end.

The larger rear wheel and tyre combination gave
this old KG a nice down stance. The lack of
bumpers and that huge roll cage helped the
aggressive look.

That was the third of four installments all about
the Volksworld Show 2018. If you've missed the
first three Installments you can find the in 'My
Blog Archive' at the top left of this page. Next
week will be the final installment where you can
see plenty more bugs and buses as well as a
lovely patina'd Porsche 356 and so much more
including a few VW's that were up for sale, so
be sure to come back next Saturday.

Volksworld Show 2018 (part 2 of 4)

Welcome to the second of four reviews all about the 2018 U.K. Volkswagen show season that kicked off in style over the weekend of 24th  - 25th March with the Volksworld Show at Sandown Park Racecourse, in Esher, Surrey KT10 9AJ. This annual show is organised by the Volksworld magazine (www.volksworld.com/) and it attracts entrants and visitors not only from the U.K. but also across the whole of Europe, and the U.S.A. Due to the excellent venue this show boasts two floors of top quality show cars, plus hundreds more quality vehicles on display outside in the show and shine arena and at the club stands, and you will even find plenty of quality Volkswagen's of all descriptions in the public car park. There are numerous traders selling everything Volkswagen, from curtains and cushions to wipers and wheels, and yet a another floor dedicated to an auto jumble, which is a good place to source those hard to find original items. There are numerous catering vendors where you can get some hot food and hot / cold drinks, but beware they are expensive (£5 for a bacon bap !). There is also an provision available for overnight camping for the hard core campers who want to spend all weekend at the show. Visitor numbers at the show each day run into the thousands and the day visitor car park gets full up very quickly so I decided to get an early start to ensure a good parking spot. The traffic on the Sunday based on past experience is far less busy than on the Saturday therefore easier to get into the show ground. It was the first run out this year for my 1969 microbus and a nice 100 mile round trip, and I have to say the bus ran perfectly. I heard on the grapevine that the show this year was organised by a new team.. I have no idea if this is correct or not, but one thing I did notice was that all the show cars inside the venue didn't have the normal A4 sheet of paper on display with the vehicles details / specifications / modifications etc on. This was particularly annoying for me as I use this info to add to the vehicles photos on the blog to create an interesting read (hopefully!), hence the write up on this years show cars will be a little vague.
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.

The Wolfsburg Bus Crew attended Volksworld
with a great display of members vehicles. They
had a different display on both days, this is the
Sunday line up as seen from the balcony looking
out onto the winners enclosure.

The first vehicle in the WBC line up was this '57
slammed panel van owned by Dave. The bus is
originally from California where it was being used
as shop van for Marina Porsche.

Dave's panel van proudly displays the WBC sticker.

This lovely ratty 1964 11 window bus is owned
by Ken. The bus used to ferry parishioners to
the local church when it lived back in the U.S.
Ken's bus, named 'Moses' due to it's past life
has a 4" narrowed front beam.

This beautiful 1968 split belongs to Will and his
partner Mandy. This Brazilian bus started life as
an 8 seater Kombi, but in the time Will has had it
he has transformed the bus into a stunning hearse,
yes I said hearse. You can see more of this lovely
bus, including inside the rear in my blog review
about the Stanford Hall show review that will be 
published in a few weeks time.

Another WBC bus that I don't know much about
is this slammed RAT looking white over blue late
bay that belongs to Darren. This really was a cool 
looking bus.

This '68 import is owned by Andrew and has the
most awesome real patina. This awesome bus
has a one off 10" narrowed beam with tubs and
the chassis has been notched both front and rear.
It has a 1776cc engine mated to a Cogbox gear-
box. The bus also has Rayvern hydraulics.

WBC member Jim owns this lovely beige and
white Westfalia. Unfortunately I don't much more
about this bus, which is a shame. I did however
like it's low stance and with what looks like a
narrowed front beam.

This gorgeous '69 early bay belongs to Mark,
who a few weeks ago thought about selling it.
I'm pleased to say, he has now changed his mind.
The '69 has a 1646cc single port engine and has
been tastefully lowered all round. This is one of
the cleanest bay window buses you'll ever see.

Gary was also in the line up with his immaculate
1978 Californian late bay. Gary has owned this
bus since 2011 and has transformed the old '78
into the beautiful bus you see here. The colours
of this bus are Dakota beige and Panama brown
which look great together.

This is the new look of 'Margo' who is owned by
Rich, who runs the Wolfsburg Bus Crew. Margo
is a 1974 RHD Westfalia Continental. Margo has
recently had a respray to freshen her up. Rich and
his family use the bus as much as possible with
many frequent trips from London to Devon.

Rich has kept the original Continental interior
but added some modern twists to keep his
daughter entertained on those long journeys.

Margo does look fresh and clean, I'm not sure
if she had any welding done or not, but the new 
coat of paint does wonders for her appearance.

This gorgeous dark brown T25 Doka belongs to
Simon. It's hard to imagine that this stunning pick
up used to be a workhorse for a roofing company.
Simon has owned the doka for around 15 years
and has totally refurbished the old truck into what
you see today.

This lovely white split screen had been tastefully
restored. I did like the black roof and the small
detail of colour coding the front VW emblem.
The Porsche rims suited the bus perfectly.

The interior was amazing. It looked to be original
and in very good condition, and totally period.

Beetle's, Karmann's and a single cab split screen
pick up, I did like the opening rear window on the
single cab and the subtle two tone paint job.

This stunning 1954 RHD oval window bug really
was nice. This U.K. car has only had 3 previous
owners and was in dry storage from 1972 -
2013. The owner says that the car is in great
condition with only had a sympathetic restoration
and the body has never been split from the chassis.

This green beetle caught my eye, not only for
the amazing colour, or it's low stance, and not
even for those cool looking yellow head lights,
but for the camber on those rear wheels !

You have to love a split screen panel van.

Rows upon rows of quality beetle's, from every
year and the good thing is, every one looked
different from the last.

I spotted this Schwinn 'cruiser six' on a trade
stand, and just had to get a photo... very retro.

A lovely row of early bugs, with a very rusty 356
Porsche just peeking out from behind the white
1965 beetle.

A cool photo of just some of the cool beetle's
at the Volksworld show.

There were plenty more beetle's inside the show
hall. So many bugs from different years and also
many different styles, and they all looked cool.

The thing that caught my eye about this lovely
old split screen wasn't the Sea blue ( I think)
paint, nor was it the amazing condition this old
bus was in, it was that reflection down the side
of the body, how straight is this bus?

I do like to see something different and this lovely
old oval window bug was that. I loved the overall
look of this rally spec bug.

The big tyres and the hand painted number on
the doors looked great, but I'm not sure a rag top
bug is ideal for rallying..?

This must be beetle racing corner, as this light
green beetle was also a race car. Again it was
an early oval and looked so good with it's steel
wheels, I wonder if the semaphore's still worked?

This yellow rally spec beetle is a car I've seen
before and I liked as much then as I do today.
The car is owned by 'Team Colorado' who take
part in historic rallies all over the country. The car
is sponsored by Just Kampers.

If you want to find out more about this car, or Team
Colorado you can find them on Facebook. Their
page is worth a visit if not for anything else but to
see their profile picture!

The last racing bug in this corner of the show hall
was this 1/4 mile racing beetle. The car has a bit
of a Herbie theme going on. I didn't find out much
about this car, but it does look pretty tough.

The Volksworld Show has a fantastic diversity
of air-cooled Volkswagen's on display, so no
matter what you like you'll be sure to find it.

This orange metal flake Manx MK1 GP  beach
buggy looked awesome. I do like the MK1 GP
bodies especially when they are as nice as this.

The unusual body colour worked really well, and
the colour matched cloth bucket seats looked so
nice. The full harness will keep you in the seats
whilst having fun in the dunes.

This 1962 SWB sidewinder buggy in gunmetal
grey metal flake looked fantastic under the bright
show hall lights. The paint sparkled as you walked 
past. This buggy has a 1641cc engine.

To describe this bus as stunning, doesn't seem
good enough for this early split screen bus. This
but really was built to perfection and was totally
immaculate.

The interior was almost to nice, you couldn't head
off to the beach with the kids and the dogs without
ruining that gorgeous interior. This has to be one
of the nicest split screen interiors that I have seen.

This stunning 1967 SO42 Westfalia split screen
was painted in the same colour as my microbus,
Velvet green. The bus has been lowered thanks
to drop spindles on the front, and with a narrowed
front beam. The chromed Eagle 5 spoke wheels
looked fantastic against the green bodywork. The
complete original SO42 interior was amazing.

This gorgeous sealing wax red (I think) and black
split screen is very rare as it's an original 15 window
 barn door deluxe. There are only believed to be
3 other 15 window deluxe buses in existence.
This bus has not been restored as the owner
prefers to preserve it's original condition rather
than restore it. 

Another splitty in similar colours, although this
lovely 1954 23 window microbus bus wasn't quite
as shiny. It did however have the rag top which is
cool.

This almost looking beetle with it's patina across
the roof the top half of the body and wings looked
great. The slammed stance and the Porsche rims
also helped this lovely bug stand out.

This lovely 1971 blue cross over bay looked
great. I did like the single colour and the ride 
height. With it's original wheels it looked so stock
and that'll do me nicely.

I've seen this gold coloured 11 window split screen
a few times, and each time I just have to get a
photo. This bus really does rock my boat!

I'm really getting into these adventure wagon's, 
and this 1972 example was no exception. High 
top buses are becoming popular over here and
buses like the adventure wagon are just going up
in price. I'd love to experience all that room it would
have compared to my tin top.

Split screen buses were everywhere at the show,
yet as with the bays and bugs, each one was
different in some small.. or large way!

So that was part two of four all about the Volksworld
Show 2018. Next week will be the third instalment
were you can see: plenty more bugs and buses and
a gorgeous Kemperink conversion, an air-cooled
Ford Popular and a few syncro's that I fell in love
with so be sure to come back next Saturday.