Stanford Hall 2014, part 2 of 2

Part 2 of my 2014 Stanford Hall VW show review continues in the show field with a lovely trio of Karmann Ghia's.

 

The first of the trio is this gorgeous 1957
convertible, in green with a white hood and
whitewall tyres. The convertible KG was
produced from 1957 - 1974.

You can tell this is an early KG as it has the
finned front grilles.

Interior was in mint condition, it even has plastic
covers over the seats.

The second KG was this later model, circa
early 1970's and features different style front
grillesand bigger wrap round indicators.
This one was finished in a lovely brown colour
with a deep red hood.

The engine bay wasn't as it left the factory,
but is was extremely clean, and looked
very impressive with the twin carbs.

The third Karmann in this late 1960's model
finished in super bright red and lowered. Three
different years of Karmann Ghia's but each
equally as nice as each other.

I do like a panel van, either a split or a bay,
and this late split screen panel van looked
lovely. Finished in the single colour green
with matching roof.

A nice red and white split screen, but what
caught my eye about this bus was the almost
perfect reflection along the length of the bus.

It's always nice when someone gets away
from the run of the mill paint jobs, and this
splitty looked great with it's old skool flame
paint job with orange flames over a yellow
base.

Single cab split screen in army livery looked
pretty cool.

This gorgeous white over orange deluxe
split screen was all for show. I did like the
matching cover for over the doors.

Back to extremes again, this single cab split
screen pick up looked awesome, it had bucket
fulls of patina a narrow front end, a Cyclopes
light and a lovely old looking cover for the bed.

A crew cab split screen pick up in what looks
like red oxide primer. The bodywork looked it's
age which just added to it's charm.

I did like this early crew cab, a good honest
bus in 'what you see is what you get' condition.

Being different is the name of the game, no
matter what vehicle you drive and this green
over white splitty looked refreshing. Most paint
schemes have the dark colour on the bottom
and a white top, this was reversed and it
looked good.

Two late split screens, both deluxe models and
both with the same colour scheme, but oh how
the styles differ.

A lovely mid 1960's notch back in what looks
like original condition.

Lovely and clean, nice and straight and just
how Volkswagen had intended it to look.

A really cool retro paint job on the buggy.

A regular on my blog, as it attends a lot of
shows is this very RAT 'Canada Dry' split
screen panel van.

In the public car park I spotted this pair. A
yellow '73 Karmann Ghia and a mid 1960's
bright red notchback.

A lovely slammed early bay with just the right
amount of patina. This US deluxe model looked
just about perfect with it's low stance.

A narrow front beam enhances the overall
look.

There is a name for this, but I can't for the life
of me remember what it is... anyway it's a
late bay front end, split screen double doors,
side windows and tail gate with late bay tail-
lights. I like it... a lot.

This lovely yellow type 181 caught my eye.

Very clean and straight. I believe these Trekkers
use the Karmann Ghia floor pan and the rear
swing axle suspension from the split screen.

Interior was purely functional, due to the military
links this vehicle has.

A lovely slammed beetle in a sort of olive green
colour, this bug was immaculate and so straight.

Beautiful lines of the early beetle, enhanced
by the colour choice.

An early bay, and a late split screen tyring to
get some shade whilst parked up under a tree
in the public car park.

This heavily patina'd US import bay looks
very similar to one recently imported and sold
by some old friends at The House of Dub. It
may well be the same one...

Have you ever wondered why the majority of
a bus has patina, all apart from the rear side
panel and rear quarter? It's probably due to
fact that the bus has sat somewhere hot with
the sun beating down and the sliding door has
been left open so the sun cannot bleach the
paint.

A nice pair of beetles in the public car park,
same car but looking so different.

After we had walked round the show a few
times, Matt, Caroline and I decided to head
home. Before we headed off, Matt offered to
make a cuppa for all of us, well how could
we refuse...

While the kettle was boiling I had a quick walk
round the public car park and parked in the row
 in front of us I saw this T4. This belongs to
another mate, Kevin who lives just a few miles
outside Aylesbury.

This really is a nice looking bus in a gorgeous
colour scheme. Last time I saw Kev, he said
that was getting some work done on the rear
doors as they looked a bit rough... they look
fine to me Kevin.

Then would you believe it, two rows in front
of us was another mate, Claude who went
to Stanford hall with his partner Jean in his
Golf. You can see my green bay in the
background. Because the show is so big,
I never bumped into Kevin and his family or
Claude and Jean at the show, but I have
the photographic evidence they were there.!

So that was my review of the Stanford Hall
VW show, it was just a shame I missed the
'early bay' line up, but overall it was an
excellent show that gets bigger every year,
and set in the beautiful grounds of Stanford
Hall. Entry this year was £8 which is very
good for a great day out with so much
to see, however a word of caution, the food
and drink prices are high, for example 2 hot
dogs and 2 cups of tea was £12, so pack a
lunch or take some bacon and some rolls and
cook in your bus.
 

Stanford Hall, 2014, part 1

The Stanford Hall VW show is an annual one day event organised by the Leicestershire and Warkickshire VW owners club and held at Stanford Hall, at Lutterworth in Leicestershire, LE17 6DH. As Stanford Hall is only about 60 miles from my hometown, and as the weather forecast was promising I decided to drive up. Fellow Outcast club members Matthew and Caroline also came along so we drove up together. I have been to this show over the past few years and there is always a good collection of VW's of all varieties with plenty of trade stands and an auto jumble and set in the beautiful grounds of Stanford Hall. 
 

I arranged to meet Matthew and Caroline in
Aylesbury so we could cruise up to Stanford
Hall together. We had not pre-booked so we
had to park in the public car park, which was
opposite the show site.

The field for the public parking was massive
and must have been close to a quarter of a
mile long. The number of quality VW's parked
in the field was amazing and almost as
interesting as walking around the show.

Just inside the Stanford Hall grounds, heading
towards the show I spotted this split screen
single cab pick up which looked awesome.

This split must be riding on air, to be that
low. I love that narrowed from beam and the
wheel choice.

If like me, you like the RAT look with patina,
how about this split screen. It looks just about
right to me.

Yes, it'll do nicely...

Or maybe a patina'd early bay with sign
written doors. Continuing the RAT theme the
trailer behind was towed by this early bay
and made from what looked like scrap wood
and corrugated tin sheeting on a caravan
chassis.

From one extreme to another, this immaculate
deep blue spilt screen was totally to show
standard. It had plenty of period accessories
including the chromed air conditioning unit,
and Porsche 356 headlight grills and
chrome bumpers.
 

Inside this split panel van was to the same
standard, OK not to everyone taste, but you
can't fault the quality and workman ship.

The cab area continued along the same lines
with everything painted or polished.

As you would expect the engine bay and rear
end were just as clean.

Another very clean and straight split screen
panel van.

This engineering company were showing off
their VW engine and accessories, it looked
very nice, but where is the oil leek? every
VW has an oil leek, right?

OK we have all seen VW furniture before but
the Beetle front end sofa was different. With
a price tag of £995 GBP it had better be
comfortable and those light better work.

This beach buggy caught my eye, nothing flash
or fancy just an honest fun early buggy which
was up for sale.

More patina on this split screen. The rusty
bumper is almost as good as mine.!

I never realised how much room there was in
an early bay until I saw this one. I love
the swivel front seats and the amount of leg
room there is without any wardrobe, cooker
or sink units and of course a bulkhead.

This Mk1 caddy looked great sitting so low
and with that faultless deep cherry red paint
job it certainly made it stand out from the
crowd.

No VW show would be complete without a
Porsche or two and this 1967 912 looked
at home amid the other air cooled vehicles.

This lovely 1965 sky blue and white split
screen was so straight and clean.

One of the traders had this early split screen
panel van to haul all his parts around. Very
RAT looking and very cool.

One of the traders at the show was 'Seaside
Neil', who as you can see creates these truly
amazing creations with pin striping and
lettering.

Seaside Neil sign writes on old saw's, oil cans,
pushbikes and almost anything else. The
standard of his work is fantastic.

Another trader, Alan Schofield had this single
cab split screen pick up.

Also parked up in the traders section was this
1967 early beetle finished in a faultless red
paint job with chromed style US bumpers and
sitting down in the weeds.

The photo doesn't show the true deep colour
but is does show how straight the body was
with the reflection in the door.

The interior on this split screen isn't to every
ones taste, but the quality and workman ship
are.

Just in front of Stanford Hall was the historic
beetle display. The display includes all
Beetles built prior to the introduction of the
34 bhp engine in August 1960. This green
split oval beetle was gorgeous.

How about this for a totally original engine. It
is just how it came out of the factory.

A split oval beetle finished in grey with salmon
painted wheels and pin striping.

The quality of cars in the historic beetle line
up was incredible, they are probably cleaner
than when they left the factory.

Gorgeous cars with the lovely backdrop of
Stanford Hall.

The simplicity and classic lines of these early
beetles is why they are still sought after all
the years later.

This army themed early bug is a regular at
Stanford Hall, and it always looks immaculate.

Iconic shape that changed very little through
out it's production.

I did like the hub caps and rear fender skirt
on this gloss black beetle. Just look at that
reflection on the door and rear quarter panel,
how straight is that.

This split oval is pretty close to perfection.

This beetle was faultless, the amount of time
and money these cars must take to maintain
must be huge. I did like the semaphore
direction indicators.

Classic beetles don't get much better than this.
 

Another vehicle with the army theme was this
Trekker.

Interior is very sparse, but functional.

I did like the headlight covers with the small
slit to allow minimal light out so as not to get
seen by the enemy.



A very appropriate number plate on this Bug.

The split screen panel van of Baron Von
Kronken must mean I have reached the split
screen line up. This really is a nice clean and
straight van.


So that was part 1 of my Stanford Hall 2014
review. Part 2 to follow shortly where I continue
with the split screen line up.