Volksworld Show 2014 final instalment

The 3rd and final instalment review of this year's Volksworld show continues in the show halls where the best vehicles are on show. The variety of vehicles on show was immense and the standard, as you would expect was incredible.

 

This pair of Karmann Ghia's were the first
display on show as you entered the 'Surrey'
hall, they set the standard of show cars and 
a good sign of things to follow.

The interior of the grey Karmann was totally
immaculate and just as it came out the factory.

I didn't find out much about this super clean
beetle, but it had some race pedigree as the
roll cage and false front lights show. I did like
those wheels.

Talking of super clean beetles, how about this
for a clean and tidy piece of work. This late
bug was just as immaculate under the bonnet as
it was on the outside.

A lovely early split oval bug with patina to die
for and...

and a very early supercharged engine.

Another split oval beetle with a similar
supercharged motor.

Quite an impressive stand with plenty of
period accessories.

I just loved this alpine rally spec beetle.

Talking of beetle's, how about the interior of
this bug. How nice is this? the shine on the
paint work isn't bad either.

On display in the main entrance there were
2 beetles on display. This one was a barn
find or a 'work in progress' bug.
The motor and wheels were totally to show
standard, however the body needed some work.

Well OK, the body needs quite a lot of work.

What amazed me was, how did they move it
into the reception with it looking that fragile?

The 2nd beetle was this gorgeous oval bug
with a lovely patina look and sexy yellow head
light lenses.

The patina continued all over the roof and
across the tops of the wings. I love those
huge tyres that fill the arches so well.

It's almost a tradition now, but every
year I have to get the Volksworld
girls photo. This pair of beauties
were willing to pose for me.

Another early beetle of show standard and
very low. I do like the safari front screen and
pop out rear windows.

This super wide, bright orange beach buggy
was on show. Look how wide those rear tyres
are, and the size of the whale tail spoiler.

From the front you could see the buggy
resemblance.. just. It did have a very nice
flame paint job though.

It is the 50th anniversary of the beach buggy
and to celebrate the anniversary Bruce Meyers,
the original designer of the Meyers Manx beach
buggy was invited over to the show. Bruce
designed the prototype buggy way back in 1964
and production started in full in 1965.

The design hasn't changed much over the
years, they still feature a fibreglass uni body
on a shortened beetle floor pan.

The interior of this split screen was amazing,
it's almost too nice to be practicable but I
suppose if you have an interior you don't think
about practicability.

This sliver blue early beetle was gorgeous,
sitting low and those Porsche 356 headlight
grills compliment the paint work perfectly.

It's amazing what you can do with a vehicle
originally designed for military use. This 181
Trekker looked awesome in metallic green
and gloss black.

The interior, although still sparse was finished
to a very high standard, not sure how comfy
those seats would be though.

How about this for a power plant. It's a super
charged Essex V6 in the back of a beetle.

Another Tempo Matador, this time in gleaming
white with dark green wings.

German manufacturer Tempo built the Matador
from 1949-1952. Tempo made 1362 of these
lovely looking vehicles using a 1100cc, 25hp
Volkswagen engine, unfortunately once the
type 2 was produced volkswagen stopped
supplying their engines and production of the
Matador ceased.

How about this for an un-usual split screen.
The lower half of the body is stock width but
the top half has been narrowed then both halfs
have been welded together. With the roof chop
as well it is very different and I like it.

You can see just how narrow the body is from
these next couple of interior pictures.

Just enough room for a single seat in the cab.
The amount of work that must have gone into
this creation must have ben huge.

From the rear once again you can see just how
much work has gone into this bus. I love how
the rear wings now look like bolt on fenders.

The US import early bay was so nice. I do like
green and white buses and this one also had
a pop top.

A nice shiny painted late bay with plenty of
period accessories. This bay was immaculate
inside and out.

There is something about the simplicity and
clean lines of an early split screen that is
so appealing. This mint green and white one
was gorgeous and flawless.

I'm not normally keen of painted shiny bay's,
which is just as well considering the state of
my bay, however this green and white one
looked fantastic. It was totally immaculate.

A random photo early in the day showing the
vehicles on display in one of the halls.

A Karmann Ghia overdose outside around
the winners enclosure. This may well have
been part of the 'Cool Flo' display.

This split screen caught my eye, a very RAT
looking bus sitting very low with a narrowed
front beam. I did like the side windows, not
sure if they were meant to be opening windows
or whether they just weren't fixed in.? but
whatever, they did look good.

This split oval came over from Europe and it
looked awesome. I love the RAT look and this
bug had it in abundance.

Sitting low with plenty of patina and a few
dented panels it looked great. I don't know
what wheels they are but they are very nice.

I did like the WW2 headlight covers.

Walking back to my bus after the show, I
noticed this late bay in the 'Matchbox' livery.
With a slight rack to the front and Empi wheels
this is one cool looking panel van.

So that was the 2014 Volksworld Show, which
kick starts another VW season here in the UK.
It is a great show which I throughly recommend
and if you get the chance to go, I strongly urge
you to do so, you will not be disappointed.

Volksworld show 2014 part 2

The Volksworld Show 2014 review continues inside Sandown Park racecourse with the show vehicles. There are several halls with show cars and numerous traders, and on the top floor the auto jumble where you could find almost anything. Outside around the winners enclosure there were more vehicles and more traders and this is where we headed first.

The first car I saw in the winners enclosure
was this olive green Karmann that was totally
immaculate, as you can see in the photos.

Interior was just as clean and all original from
what I could see. It takes serious dedication
not only to get a car this clean but also to
keep it this clean.

Sitting very low with a narrowed front beam
I don't think this Ghia could look any better.

Opposite the olive green Karmann was this
blue and white one, which was equally as
nice. Also sitting low with a narrowed front
end, it's nice to see some original wheels
rather than Fuchs wheels.

Early beetle rag top, in a slight RAT condition,
I love it.

The 'Cool Flo' crew were at the show as
normal, as as normal they brought (amongst
other vehicles) this, the Cool Flo Cooler. 

A low slung crew cab split screen pick up,
Yes please...!



This early bay was featured in the Volksworld
magazine a while back. It's very low and has
a very narrow front beam and being very
RAT looking, so it ticks all the right boxes.
 

What to do if you have a fire in your engine
bay...? you simply lacquer the the bodywork
and make a feature of the damage.
It looked awesome. How narrow is that front
beam..?

Claude is a good mate from Aylesbury and
a fellow 'Outcast VW Club' member who went
to the show for the weekend in his 1960 split
screen kombi. We never caught up with him,
such is the size of the show.

More members of the SSVC displaying their
spilt screens around the winners enclosure.

A lovely split screen single cab pick in what
looks like dove blue (?) I do like a nice straight
pick up. 

Sometimes less is more and this red and
white split screen panel van was the proof.
No flash wheels just a solid paint job on top
of a straight body is sometimes all you need
to make your vehicle stand out.

How low can you go, this early beetle is about
on the limit. I like the colour and the matching
colour coded wheels on the super narrow
front beam.

From this angle you can the camber on the
rear wheels and just how narrow that front is.

You would expect to see 'Herbie' at a VW
event, but this one had a different take on the
normal replica's. Painted to look old and rusty,
I kind of like it.

 

A good variety of splitty's, and a vast array of
style's to suit every taste.

What was I saying about less is more a while
back, well the brown and off white splitty is the
same. Riding at stock height and looking
pretty much as it is supposed to be.

A novel way to sell beverages, this split screen
has had some serious body mods to create
a unique mobile catering vehicle.

The Early Bay line up. There didn't seem as
many as previous years, maybe I just missed
them. I should have gone and got my bay to
make the numbers up.!

I follow the Early bay guy's at 'earlybay.com'
and they are a really friendly bunch with a
wealth of knowledge between them.

Another of the early bay crew. I do like a
nice panel van. This one is riding low with a
narrowed beam.

Inside the venue in one of the halls I saw this
gorgeous Karmann Ghia. Absolutely stunning.

This following trio of split oval beetles was the
display from Oldspeed Edition and featured
the Oldspeed replica pit boxes.

Lovely Oldspeed split oval, looked fantastic
in it's period guise.

Complete with all the accessories you would
expect to find in a race pit box.

After about an hour of getting there, it was time
to get some food, there's nothing quite like
having a cheeseburger or a hot dog for breakfast.
Stuart,Tim and Matthew tucking in. Later in the
day, these steps were crammed with people.
 

This Red Nose Day beetle belongs to Dave
and Angela who travelled down with Stuart.
This bug is a regular feature car at the show
and has been on display at the show since
the year dot.

Outside I saw this jet black Karmann, just look
how straight the body is and the deepness
of the paint. Amazing.

From this angle you can see just how straight
the body really is, oh and that shine..

A few cars away was this bug, which was the
total opposite of the black Karmann, it was
definitely RAT, covered in dirt and dust, but
boy did it look good. I lust love the look of this
oval bug.

The bonnet was covered in moss and dirt, but
it just added to the appearance. I like the
roof rack with the yellow spots and the single
spot light on the US style towel rail bumper.

Which one is best, an impossible question to
answer.

Another very low and super straight early
beetle finished in gloss black with Fuchs rims.

A late split screen kombi with a narrowed front
beam and a 3 bow roof rack and those yellow
headlight covers really transform the front end.

The Volksworld show attracts so many models
and styles of Volkswagen's, there is something
for everyone, no matter what your preference
is. A red early beetle, a black 181 Trekker and
an orange Karmann Ghia.

Bright lime green Trekker looked cool.

An immaculate razor edge in the foreground
with 2 early beetles nesting behind, one in
show car condition and the other totally
RAT.

A closer look at the RAT bug, this is such a
nice car.

These next 2 beetles must have been from
the 'Low and Slow' VW Club

Awesome looking bugs. Look at the camber of
the rear wheels on the brown bug in the
background.

This wonderful looking car is a 1959 Rometsch
Lawerence coupe, with a hand built
aluminium body, over a steel and
wooden frame which would have taken
approximately 1000 man hours to create.

Apparently the Berlin based workshop only
created about 250 of these coupe's, and to buy
one new would have cost 8000 Deutchmarks,
which was twice the price of it's rival at the time,
the Karmann Ghia. This Rometsch in this
condition is probably now worth well over
US $40,000.

It was designed by Bert Lawerence, and the
body sits on modified beetle chassis, the
radical design won the Golden Rose Award
of Geneva in 1957, and im my eyes it is
even better looking than the Karmann Ghia.

A lovely clean and straight square back, it's
been lowered and with what looks like banded
steels wheels with white wall tyres.

Another friend of mine and a member of the
Oxdubz VW Club is Anthony who was at
Volksworld with his RAT looking notch. Anthony
has recently spent a fortune having restoration
works carried out.

How cool is this, no cramped camping in the
back of a bay with this beauty. This has to be
the best of both worlds, a proper caravan rear
with a bay window front.

More very clean square backs, same cars but
oh so different in looks and style.

Talking of square backs, this was my favourite.
It is very RAT looking with plenty of period
accessories. The bonnet had been left to rust
and then lacquered and I love the thickness
of that length of rope around the front bumper.
 

But the best 2 accessories were the air vent
scoops and the surfboard on the roof rack.

So that was my 2nd instalment of this years
Volksworld show review. The 3rd and final
instalment to follow in about a week, so keep
checking back to make sure you don't miss it.