Saturday 29 July 2017

Just Kampers Open day 2017 (part 1 of 3)

My favourite parts supplier for my microbus is 'Just Kampers' based in Odiham in Hampshire over here in the U.K. They are my favourite supplier because the prices are very competitive, the customer service is extremely good with very knowledgeable staff and and any parts ordered are normally in stock and always sent out for next day delivery (and normally with a free small packet of sweets!). The website is also a bonus as it's so easy to navigate and find what you want. Every year Just Kampers hold an open day at the distribution centre with weekend camping available. The open day, which this year was held over the weekend of 17th - 18th June, and attracts hundreds of customers / visitors and most arrive in their prized Volkswagen, of all descriptions, there also traders and caterers on site which all help to make this open day, a great day.! I have been to this event several times in the past, although I have never camped over, so once again I decided to have a drive down into deepest Hampshire to the village of Odiham, which is about 60 miles from my hometown of Aylesbury. On the Saturday morning the sun was shining, and the forecast was good so I put some cool tunes on the stereo and Fiona (my 1969 microbus) and I set off for the 60 mile drive down to Odiham. Just Kampers do not only sell parts and accessories for campers and buses but also Beetle parts, and no end of water cooled parts and accessories, camping gear and even motor insurance. You can check out the the very easy to use Just Kampers website here: http://www.justkampers.com/
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.


My 1969 VW Microbus parked up in the day
visitor car ark at Just Kampers. I arrived a little
later than expected due to the slip road on the
M25 being closed and having to take a detour.
I arrived around 10.00am and the sun was shining
and it was already hot. The forecast was for the
temperature to be in the high 20's / low 30's and
it felt close to that already!

It's not often I post photo's of my bus on my blog
so in a moment of self indulgence here is a better
close up picture of my bus.

I parked up next to this lovely 1970 all white bug.
This car was so nice and looked really straight
and solid. I did like the chrome smoothie wheels
with tyres that filled the arches.

You can see just how clean this car is from this
photo. The rear screen blind was a neat accessory
that suited the overall look of this lovely old bug.

I was trying to be artistic by taking a photo of my
bus in the chrome hubcap of the white beetle, I
think it sort of worked...

Another beetle is the day visitor car park was this
cool looking 1971 blue stock looking bug. I do
like to see stock looking VW's and this one was
no exception. 

OK those aftermarket wheels aren't stock but it
still looked good. The roof rack and the Empi
branded rear mud flaps were both neat
aftermarket accessories.

Another stock looking vehicle was this gorgeous
1971 white over blue late bay. This was another
very clean example that looked to be riding at
the stock height.

The owner (who's name I have forgotten) was
telling me all about the plans she has for her bus,
but as we all know, it takes time but hopefully her
plans will become reality.

This white over green 1972 bus looks to have
been slightly lowered. This was another very
clean and straight vehicle that looked good with
the chequered spare wheel cover and the clear
indicator lenses.

This really was a lovely straight bus that was
almost like new. I did like the VW branded mud
flaps that must stop all the muck and dirt from
rusting away the battery trays.

This 1971 crossover bay caught my eye with it's
grey primer paint job. I think the liking of primered

vehicles goes back to my hot rod days when a lot
of hot rods were just primered and not painted.

Okay, it wasn't the prettiest bus at the open day,
but it was a nice honest bus that looked cool. I
did like the Fuchs style wheels that suited the bus.

Oh go on then, one last look at my 1969 VW
microbus before I head into the grounds of Just
Kampers.

Heading towards the show I got distracted by this
lovely 1970 all white bug. This stock looking bug
really was clean and tidy. 

Another clean and tidy vehicle was this 1974
white over baby blue late bay, named Jasper.
This bus was immaculate and that reflection in
 the perfectly straight body panels was amazing.

You can see just how clean and straight this bus
was from this photo. The day visitor car park was
more like an unofficial show and shine display!

This stock height 1970 white over blue bus was
a good honest bus. I'm not sure what type of
conversion this was but it looked good with its
pop top. 

Riding at stock height you will need a step, and
this bus had a very cool step. I'm not sure if this
is original to the bus but it certainly looked the
part.

This really was a nice honest looking bus. The
original steel wheels suited the bus and suit the
overall look of this old stocker.

This gorgeous 1971 Karmann beetle looked
amazing. This original Karmann had been restored
to a very high standard. The gloss black body
panels were all like new and the attention to
detail was amazing.

It's only an original Karmann if it has the Karmann
badge. the Karmann beetles were produced by
Karmann from 1949 - 1980.

These lovely Porsche rims looked so nice on the
old karmann and added just enough (extra) bling.

The Karmann cabriolet is such a pretty car, and
when they are this clean they are simply gorgeous.

I am getting very fond of the T25 and this all white
converted T25 panel van looked great. T25's
look best (in my humble opinion) left at stock
height as this one appears to be. I did like the
small roof rack over the cab which must come
in very handy.

This 1984 converted camper ticked all the right
boxes for me. I could easily have one of these,
especially if it was this clean and tidy. 

Okay, this is the last photo of my bus parked up
at the Just Kampers open day in the glorious hot
sunshine.

I finally made it out the the show and shine, sorry
I mean day visitor car park and as I walked into
the JK headquarters, this is the sight in front of
me. The massive field was crammed full of both
classic air cooled and water cooled VW's who
had camped out the night before. There were
numerous traders and food vendors also on site.

As I entered the show I walked past the 'For sale'
area, so I just had to have a look. This lovely
1963 RHD beetle was an Australian import,
that had never been welded and still had the
original paint!

It is a small window body shell that still has the
original interior and headlining. This old bug has
been converted to 12V and runs a 1776cc Remtec
type one engine that has just been run in.

This stunning 1970 Westfalia campmobile was
gorgeous. The bright Sierra Yellow paint had
been recently applied and looked amazing. This
bus is quite rare as it has early front arches and
'uber' rare rear arches. 

This old Westy has a strong 1600cc single port
motor with late servo assisted brakes. It has the
complete Westfalia interior and it has never been
welded. All this plus so much more all the price of
£18,950 ($24,806 approx)

This lovely 1972 Dormobile was another vehicle
for sale. The side elevating roof and canvas have
been refurbished and replaced respectively. The
paintwork has recently been applied and looked
great.

This bus has many new parts including: window
seals, brake hoses,shoes, lights and the head-
lining to name a few. The bus has a 1600cc
engine and was for sale for £11,950 ($15,600
approx)

This super low all black Volksrod caught my eye
as it was so different. This fenderless bug really
looked good without it's roof and with that chopped
down windscreen.

I did like the clean sleek look of this Volksrod,
the headlights mounted down low added to the
sleek look.

The smoothed out rear end continued the sleek
look. You can see just how smooth and straight
the body is from this photo. 

Just a random photo looking into a small part
of the camping area. The amount of people that
camped out was immense and something I will
have to think about doing next year.

The majority (if not all of them) of JK staff do not
just work at the VW parts supplier, but they are
also owners of some lovely Volkswagens. Here
is one of the 'staff cars'. 

Just to prove this gorgeous split oval bug does
belong to a JK staff member.

This really is a lovely stock looking car. The owner
won't have any trouble getting parts for their ride.
all they have to do is walk into the JK warehouse!

A lovely period accessory was this glass wind
deflector ( I assume?) I haven't seen many of
these on my travels so I also assume these
are quite rare?


So that was the first of three reviews about the
Just Kampers Open Day for 2017. Next week
will be part two where you will be able to see
plenty more classic air cooled Volkswagens
including a 1956 oval window beetle that has
just competed in the famous Millie Miglia, a
race in Italy covering 1000+ miles in 4 days.
So be sure to come back next Saturday to read
all about how the old oval got on.


Saturday 22 July 2017

Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally (part 4 of 4)

This weeks blog entry is the forth and final instalment about the annual Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally which is a one day show for classic and vintage vehicles (including old Volkswagen camper vans) and is organised by the Game Club to help raise money for local charitable causes. The rally is a well established event which allows owners of classic and vintage vehicles to gather together in the glorious Buckinghamshire countryside. This event was actually their 23rd anniversary, and took place on 21st May. The new venue is at Weedon Park, Weedon Hill near Aylesbury HP22 4NN and is a fantastic location for this great one day show which attracts well over 1000 vehicles of all descriptions and the Game Club had also organised: Children's rides / slides, a fun dog show, trade stands, an auto jumble, a beer tent, speciality teas, a pig roast, burgers and ice cream stands. I have attended this event for the last 4 / 5 years and it's one show that I really enjoy due to the huge diversity of the vehicles. Find out more about the Chlitern Hills Rally from their website here: http://www.chilternhillsrally.org.uk/
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.


To start this weeks blog we have this stunning
1967 21 window samba. This lovely bus looked
great in it's cream and white colour scheme. I
liked the fact that is wasn't lowered and still had
the original steel wheels.

The perfectly straight body and immaculate paint
made this old bus stand out. I did like the trim on
the colour coded bumpers.

The samba is actually a 'Devon Caravette' as
you can see from the photo. This really was a
nice bus and the pastel blue and white interior
looked gorgeous.

This 1971 blue and white lowered bug looked
cool with it's aftermarket wheels and headlight
peaks. 

You can see just low this bug really is from this
photo. The aftermarket exhaust now exits from
the rear corner of the car and the stand off's
ensure the engine gets plenty of cooling.

This green 1967 beetle looked to have been
restored to the original specification / condition,
which always looks better that lowered.

This car really was immaculate, the chrome on
the U.S. spec towel rail bumper and hub caps
looked like new and complimented the green
painted bodywork perfectly.

I do like to see a sign written panel van and this
1965 split screen with the Brumos Racing logos
rocked my boat. This old panel van looked great
having been lowered and with those yellow head
light lenses.

The logo on the cab doors states that Brumos
Racing comes form Jacksonville, Florida... I'm
not sure if this is correct or not but it didn't really
matter as it looked so good.

The Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally has many
classifications of vehicles including both British
and American classic cars.

This cool RAT look 1966 Chevrolet C10 pick up
looked great with it's distressed paintwork.  

Looking across the event field, classic cars for
as far as the eye can see. There were classic
vehicles of all descriptions from all over the
world.

I saw this gorgeous cherry red Model 'A' Ford
5 window coupe and just had to go and get some
photo's. To my surprise it belonged to and old
hot rodding mate of mine, Bob who lives just down
the road from me. Bob and I used to knock around
together when I was into hot rods.

The car has a steel body (very rare!) and powered
by a small block Ford engine. The attention to
detail is amazing and it looked just about perfect.
Both Bob and I used to have Ford Popular's with
V8 engines back in the day, He certainly has moved
up the hot rodding ladder.

Talking of Ford Popular's, this 1954 'Pop' is
another car that's local to me, I'm sure how local
but I see it driving around from time to time. This
grey primered pop has 318 cubic inch Chrysler
V8 engine that is mated to 904 torqueflyte gear-
box. The front suspension is custom made and it
has a Jaguar XJ6 rear axle.

The Ford Pop has such a nice looking shape
as you can see. This pop has over sized rear
wings to accommodate the massive rear wheels
on that Jaguar axle.

This stunning bright red Ford Model 'B' 3 window
coupe is radical. This car came down to our last
VW club meet, but I can't remember a lot about
the car, even though I spent most of the night
chatting to the owner!

The body has been chopped and channelled over
the chassis to give the car it's low look. The fenders
have been removed which always suit a Model B.
The motor is a blown big block V8 and as the car
drives along you can hear the whistle of the blower,
and it sounds awesome.

This gorgeous car looks pure hot rod with it's big
and little wheels shod in those white wall tyres.

There were hundreds upon hundreds of classic
motorcycles at the show, this is just a small
selection of them.

Maybe there wasn't as many scooters at the show
as motorcycles but what they lacked in numbers
they made up with quality.

Military vehicles are always present at the show
and always have a great number of entrants. Again,
this is just a small selection of military vehicles
that attended this year.

More classic motorcycles including low riders
and choppers, and even trikes. This show really
does have something for everyone.

This lovely slammed Volkswagen 1600 or Notch-
back as they are more commonly know looked
super cool. The ride height along with the steel
sun visor and the roof rack helped to make this
old type 3 stand out.

I did like the all red U.S. spec rear light lenses.
This super low notchback was really straight and
solid and the chrome trim looked like new. The
type 3 was produced from 1961 - 1973.

Just a random photo of the show as I headed
towards yet more American classics. This show
gets bigger and better every year.

To finish off my blog review we have my good
friends Caroline and Matthew who were just
sat behind our buses, and chilling out in the
sunshine. Thanks for coming guy's.


So that concludes my four part review of the 
Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally for 2017. 
Overall another fantastic day out with some great
company and plenty of great classic vehicles.
Next week's blog review is all about the 'Just
Kampers' open day where hundreds upon
hundreds of both air cooled and water cooled
Volkswagens descended on the Just Kampers
headquarters for their annual open day. So be
sure to come back next Saturday.