BeachBuggin show 2016. (part 3 of 3)

This weeks blog review is the third and final instalment about the 'BeachBuggin' VW show 2016 which was held on Sunday 7th August, and is the ultimate VDUB show by the beach due to the amazing location on Southsea Common in the heart of the Portsmouth seafront, on the South coast of England. You can walk on and off the site all day and make the most of all the local attractions including the beach, (which is only about 100 feet from the show ground) amusement arcades and of course the award winning pier. This show always attract plenty of enthusiasts, clubs, and general public, and of course plenty of quality Volkswagen's of all descriptions. The show is unique as it's free to the walk on public who come on mass attracted by the amazing displays. The show originated with a group of beach buggy owners displaying their vehicles way back in 1998 and is run with 3/4 of all the money generated from the show going to nominated charities. This show since 1998 has so far raised well over £64.000 ($99,936)  and although the show is called BeachBuggin, you get an incredibly diverse display of Volkswagen's as well as Hot Rods and American cars / trucks, bikes and scooters. This is one of my favourite shows of the year mainly due to it's location but also for the sheer diversity of quality VW's.  This fantastic show always has a impressive turn out with about 2,500 / 3000 vehicles that all ascend onto Southsea common for a show that has to be one of the best one day shows on the VW calendar. The review continues as I wander around the show admiring all the cool 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.

Late bays and early bays galore, each one is
different in style and colour. You could look at
100's of bay window buses and not see two that
are the same.

The show is very well laid out with plenty of
room to wander around looking at all the great
vehicles.

This stunning bright orange 1975 late bay crew
cab pick up was immaculate. This bus looked
great with it's super straight body and lovely
paint. I did like the ride height and the white 
painted wheels to match the bumpers. It was
nice to see the owner hadn't put a window in
the crew cab, but left in the original body panel.

This lovely green 1977 Westfalia late bay looked
incredibly clean. I did like the contrasting grey
pop top canvas and the lovely high ride height
this bus had. I keep thinking about raising my 
Microbus up a little, just to see what its like. 

After wandering around the show for a few hours
I spotted the Chessil 356 Speedster replica.
This gorgeous car was first built by Chessil Motor
Company based in Dorset back in 1973, and had
a ground up restoration back in 2013. The
Jaguar topaz coloured body sits on a shortened
beetle chassis.

This stunning 356 replica certainly drew the
crowds and plenty of compliments, and even this
dog wanted to look inside to see the gorgeous
interior.

Opposite the 356 was a burger van, so in order
to get a photo of this car in the line up without
anyone in the photo, I got a cup of tea, sat down
and waited... and waited. Eventually I did get a
photo of the car without anyone around the car
 but it did take a very long time..

The interior was simply stunning. Having more
that a resemblance to the Porsche 356 of the
1950's the body is reputedly moulded from the
last 356 off the production line.

This very distinctive 1963 split screen bus is
owned by a Facebook friend of mine, Nick. The
bus is painted in the 'Marmite' colours and is
very well known around the VW scene. 

This really is a nice looking bus that certainly
gets noticed everywhere it goes. It was nice to
finally meet Nick in person rather than just on
Facebook. Nick has recently got married, so
best wishes to both Nick and his wife Kate.

The interior of Nick's bus carries on the Marmite
theme with cushions and stickers with the
logo on. Everywhere Nick and his bus go, so
do his lovely, and very well behaved dogs.

Row upon row of cool unique Volkswagen's
both air cooled and water cooled. The weather
was good to us this year with blue skies and
sunshine for most of the day which helped to
increase spectator and participant numbers.

Here are just a handful of Beetle's that attended
the show. Each bug was different from the last
in some way. This is a great place to pick up
idea's for your own vehicles, and the majority
of owners just love talking about the vehicles
so you can pick their brains on how they did
something. 

One beetle that caught my eye was this lovely
light grey 1969 bug. This was the car that we
followed in the show (from part 1 of this review)
It had been lowered and the front beam had been 
narrowed. The satin finish paint with the lack of
 trim / badges gave the super low bug a sleek look. 

I did like the banded steel wheels that were
painted in contrasting black paint. You can see
just how narrow the front beam is in this photo.

Split screen buses as far as the eye can see.
Again, every one was different in some way.
You could have 2 vehicles of the same year,
and even the same colour but it's all the small
details that make each bus individual.

As you walk round the BeachBuggin show
the diversity, not to mention all the colours of
the buses is incredible.

What a perfect way to spend a sunny summer
Sunday, down at the beach with thousands of
Volkswagen's all gathered together to raise
money for charity.

The owners of this turquoise early split screen
bus had the right idea, bring a picnic and just
relax and chill out in the sunshine. 

Looking into the centre of the show where the
beach buggies were all gathered. They were
surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of
quality Volkswagen's.

This bright red 1967 beetle looked at first like
a nice old bug, but looking closer it had a few
trick body mods. The early style indicators to 
the side of the headlights looked good.

As did the split rear screen that had been
grafted into the roof. This bug also had early
style rear lights which also looked cool.

The split oval window has been grafted into the
roof really well and looked great. 

Karmann Gipsy's, bays, splits, beetles and so
many other Volkswagen's all in one location
right by the beach, do shows get any better
than this?

After a few hours of wandering around this huge
show I decided to head back to my bus and have
a cup of tea. This is just a random photo looking
out of my rear side window.

A lovely 1972 peppermint green beetle and a
white over red 1977 late bay parked up at the
BeachBuggin show. I do like the fact that all
the vehicles are mixed up in the show, rather
than separated into vehicle types / models.

This stunning gloss black 1969 beetle caught
my eye with its super low stance, and the red
and white painted steel wheels. The reflection
in that jet black paint is amazing.

The rear of this bug also looked good with its
red and white chequered light housing and the
deep dish rear wheels.

A neat touch was more of the red and white
chequer detailing inside the headlights.

The lovely pastel blue and white split screen
blended into the summer sky perfectly. This
years show had exceptional weather, considering
its location right on the beach and English Channel.

A lovely 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pick up truck. 
The Chevy pick up was introduced back in
 the 1940's and they are still made today! The 
1956 model was the  last year for the 'egg crate'
style grille.

This truck was lovely and straight and finished
in a lovely coat of white with some awesome
pinstripe detailing.

Here is a close up of the quality pinstriping on
this lovely old pick up truck. I had a good long
look at the pinstriping and was blown away with
the quality of the work.

A lovely 1952 Ford Crestline Crown Victoria. 
The Crown Victoria is easily identifiable by the 
centre bullet in the grill and the twin jet intakes 
on the corners. That is about the only interesting
fact I know about these gorgeous cars.

I may not know many facts about this car, but
I knew one other fact..  the fact that I liked it.
The shape is timeless and the finish on the gloss
 black paint was amazing, just look at the reflection
on the boot.

This early 1960's Mercury Monterey in pastel
pink looked fantastic. A real blast from the past.

This gorgeous bronze coloured 1972 Ford
 Ranchero looked great in the sunshine. I'm
 not sure if this is the GT model or not, but
then it doesn't really matter it was still stunning.

The new body styling on the 70's Ranchero's
looks good and is more streamlined than the
earlier models. I did like those American
Racing Mag wheels which always make any
car look tough.

Here is the 1929 Model A delivery van that I
saw entering the show as I queued up. I'm
pretty sure this is a glass fibre body but that's
OK because it is just awesome van. I did like
the drilled sun visor and the chrome surround 
of the radiator (a lot of people have these painted)

These '29 delivery vans are such a lovely
shape. This one site just about right and the
choice of wheels, painted steels with white
wall tyres were the perfect choice to compliment
the body style.

Another 1928/29  Model A but this time it is a
pick up truck which has had the body channelled
over the chassis body which helps to make the
whole car sit really low. I liked the fact the
engine is exposed and that it didn't have any
running boards / fenders.

Big and little wheels with white wall cross ply
tyres, that is pure hot rod. The gorgeous black
paint helped to accentuate this lovely trucks
body lines.

A lovely old white 1964 split screen parked up
next to a late bay. Both equally as nice as each
other in their own right. As I've mentioned before
it is good this show mixes up the vehicles so 
you never really know what your going to see
next.

1972 was a good year as this photo shows,
a lovely white over bright green pop top late 
bay and a cool looking pastel yellow bug. I
liked the fact that they were both riding at
standard height.

And finally an ariel view of the BeachBuggin
show. You can wander on and off the site all
day and visit the amenities along the sea front
including the passenger Ferris wheel where you
can get a awesome view of the show and the
beach.

So that was a brief ( 3 part ) review of the
BeachBuggin VW Show 2016. Overall another
excellent show in an excellent location. The
show vehicles seems to get more and more each
year, which can only be good. My blog reviews
only show a very small percentage of the
vehicles that attended. There were literally
hundreds upon hundreds other vehicles I didn't
photograph. I strongly suggest you attend this
show if you haven't already, I can almost 
guarantee you will not be disappointed.

BeachBuggin show 2016. (part 2 of 3)

This weeks blog review is the second instalment of the 'BeachBuggin' VW show which was held on Sunday 7th August and is the ultimate VDUB show by the beach due to the amazing location on Southsea Common in the heart of the Portsmouth seafront, on the South coast of England. You can walk on and off the site all day and make the most of all the local attractions including the beach, (which is only about 100 feet from the show ground) amusement arcades and of course the award winning pier. This show always attract plenty of enthusiasts, clubs, and general public, and of course plenty of quality Volkswagen's of all descriptions. The show is unique as it's free to the walk on public who come on mass attracted by the amazing displays. The show originated with a group of beach buggy owners displaying their vehicles way back in 1998 and is run with 3/4 of all the money generated from the show going to nominated charities. This show since 1998 has so far raised well over £64.000 ($99,936)  and although the show is called BeachBuggin, you get an incredibly diverse display of Volkswagen's as well as Hot Rods and American cars / trucks, bikes and scooters. This is one of my favourite shows of the year mainly due to it's location but also for the sheer diversity of quality VW's.  This fantastic show always has a impressive turn out with about 2,500 / 3000 vehicles that all ascend onto Southsea common for a show that has to be one of the best one day shows on the VW calendar. The review continues as I wander around this great show.
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 1967 type 3 variant was stunning. It was
finished in a lovely coat of bright white paint
that  really suited the body lines. This car was
super straight and looked as solid as the day
it came off the production line.

I do like these variants, or more commonly
known as the squareback. The blinds in the
rear windows and the super shiny chrome 
work helped to make this lovely car stand out.

This lovely 1965 split screen bus was painted
in an unusual two tone colour combination, but
it worked really well. The bronze bottom half
with the brilliant white top looked amazing.

You can see just how straight this old splitty is
by the reflection down the side of the bus. The
twin roof racks and the chrome Empi 5 spoke
wheels were both nice additions. 

Amongst all the shiny buses and bugs I spotted
this matt green high riding 1988 T25 panel van
and I just had to have a closer look. I loved the
look of this van with it's 'off road adventurer'
look. The twin spot lights, the big off road tyres
and the roof rack looked great and purposeful.

I do like the T25's, and this one appealed to
me no end. I could easily have something
like this to run around in. 

This blog is primarily an air cooled themed blog.
I do have a water cooled T4 myself, but I try 
where possible to keep the blog true to it's roots
 and feature mainly air cooled vehicles. However
this 2001 white T4 just had to be included as I
 liked it so much. The colour scheme, the wheels,
the ride height and cool windscreen visor all
pushed the right buttons for me.

Lovely painted steel wheels with huge off road
tyres looked fantastic.

The overall look of this bus was just about
perfect in my eyes. This really was a nice bus.

This lovely pastel yellow and white split screen
looked great in it's unusual colour scheme. This
early sixties bus really did look solid and apart
from the colours looked pretty much original. 

It was nice to see a 181 Trekker painted in the
colours it was designed to be in. These 181's
were designed to be used by the German
Army and this one even had the hood which
you don't see very often.

Kevin's lovely twin slider long wheel base T4
and my trusty old 1969 microbus parked up
enjoying the sunshine on the South coast at
the BeachBugging show.

This gorgeous 1968 mercury cougar looked 
an immaculate example of this American 
muscle car. The '68 was the first generation
of the Cougar and either had the 289 cubic inch
or the 390 cubic inch V8 motor.

In 1968 the Cougar featured the front and
rear side marker lights. This car really was
immaculate and just like new. 

The dark green body was perfectly straight and
the paint finish was amazing. It is always nice
to American classics at a VW show, especially
when they are as nice as this Cougar.

I spotted this gorgeous pair of early beetle's
parked up in between some later T4's. Both
these bugs although the were different styles
were both stunning and typical of the quality
of vehicle's you get to see that this show.

There were many traders at the show selling
everything you could imagine and a few of them
even arrived in their cool Volkswagen's.

A lovely dove blue crew cab pick up with the
Fuchs style wheels looked great. I was so
busy looking at the bus I didn't notice what
they were selling!.

If you have a roof rack on your beloved VW,
the trend is to have a retro suitcase strapped
onto it. This seller had just a few suitcases for
sale.

I spotted this awesome toy on one of the
stands, it's a toy 1957 Pro Street Chevrolet
car. I was tempted to buy it, but managed to
control myself as I have enough 'impulse
buys' at the moment.

I've seen this 1971 Volksrod at a few shows
this year and it still looks great. I love the look
of a Volksrod and the paint scheme on this 
one helps to make it stand out from the crowd.

The big and little wheels, roof chop, colour
scheme and those gorgeous Fuchs style wheels
all add to the overall look.

Many years ago BeachBuggin was all about
 the beach buggies and even today there is
always a fantastic selection to browse.

There were too many to photograph them all,
but this one caught my eye. I have to admit I
don't know what body this is, but I did like it.
The roof with the roof rack looked great as did
the small orange perspex windscreen. 

The styling and colour scheme took me back
to my childhood when you could get the 'Hot
Wheels' cars that were always had over the top
styling and outrageous paint jobs.

Another vehicle I have seen before is this
gun metal grey sandrail. It's styling makes it
look as though it has just come from the Mad 
Max movie and it looks great. 

Being different helps to make your vehicle,
regardless of what it is, stand out and this really
does stand out.

Beach buggies with many different body
styles / shapes and colours all gathered in
one area for the show. They certainly did draw
the crowds in.

A perfect reflection in the chrome hubcap on
the deep dish wheel of another beach buggy.

The red buggy looked good with it's unusual
body style, and it's white roof with the red flame
design. I did like the external spun ally fuel tank
sitting on the back. 

Beach buggies galore. It was great to look at
all the different styles and modifications each
owner has made to make their buggy unique.

This lovely 182 safari was totally immaculate.
This vehicle really was is a 'as new' condition.

These trekkers have a very basic interior but
then you don't buy a trekker for comfort, you
buy it for style, for passion and the history.

A stunning paint job on a stunning looking
car. This silver and black Karmann Ghia was
beautiful. I thought I got more photos of this
lovely car, but obviously not. Doh!

From the beautiful Karmann (above) to this
fantastic RAT looking single cab split screen
pick up. This really was a ratty bus that looked
brilliant. This old pick up was a lovey looking
bus.

The yellow is an unusual colour for a single
cab, but it works so well. I really did like this.

Another RAT looking split screen, but this time
it's a lovely lowered red panel van. The RAT 
look is very popular in the U.K. at the moment 
and it's easy to see why looking at this splitty. 

This is another car I have seen on several
occasions before, and like the others I've seen
before it still looks just as good as it did the
first time I saw it. 

This lovely Volksrod has too many accessories
to list here, suffice to say you could spend ages
just looking around this bug. I'm not sure if you
can see in this photo, but the rear quarter trim
is actually a saw blade.

The interior has also had an accessory overload.
I did like the 1970's chain link steering wheel
and the super tall gear lever and the leopard
print seat covers, and the door cards.

This pastel blue and white splitty was just one
of the hundreds of split screens that attended
the show. They ranged from show winning
standard to the RAT look, and I think this bus
is somewhere in between. It looked like a good
honest and solid bus.

Just a handful of the beetle's in the line up at
BeachBuggin. There were bugs from almost
every year and every conceivable style.

Here is another Volksrod that was at the show,
it's an Army green 1971 bug that has been
seriously lowered and had a roof chop. 

These Volksrods do look good without front
and rear wings, they remind me of the old
fenderless hot rods.. maybe that's why I like
these Volkrods so much. 

The interior was quite mild compared to the
previous Volksrod (above). The view looking
out of that chopped screen must be great while
driving this car around the streets.

This stunning all white 1971 single cab early
bay looked gorgeous. This pick up really was
immaculate and riding at what looked like stock
height. I did like the small front lights just above
the indicators, which I assume are side lights?

You can see just how straight and clean this
old '71 really is. This lovely truck was in a just
like new condition.

From one extreme to another was this very
patina'd 1969 Westy. The faded paint really
did look good as did the white painted steel
wheels with white wall tyres.

Patina buses are in fashion over here at the
moment and it's easy to see why looking at
this lovely bus. I did like the opening rear
screen and the roof ladder on this imported bus.

Just because your bus has patina, that doesn't
 mean you can't have lovely painted wheels with
chrome hubcaps that give off a near perfect
reflection of the pick up parked up next to you.

So that was the second instalment about the
BeachBuggin show. If you missed the first
instalment simply click on 'My blog archive'
at the top left of this page. The third and
final instalment will be next Saturday where
you can see a gorgeous 356 Speedster, a
few American classic cars, more lovely old
bugs and buses the the infamous 'Marmite'
split screen so be sure to come back next
Saturday.