Bug Jam 29, VW Festival 2015. Part 1 of 2

Firstly apologies for not posting a blog review last Saturday but I was taking part in the 'Route67', the charity convoy from John O' Groats to Lands End to raise money for the homeless charity 'Crisis' and I didn't really find the time. I will post the review of the 'Route67' in a two weeks time, anyway for this weeks blog review I headed over to Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire which was the venue of the very first Bug Jam festival way back in 1987. The one day event 28 years ago was held on a Sunday and attracted some 3,500 visitors. Today the festival is not only still going strong at the original location but it gets bigger and better every year, and is now one of the U.K's biggest VW shows. The show is now a 3 day event that attracts tens of thousands of visitors not only from the U.K. but also from all across Europe. There is so much to do at Bug Jam, and too much to list here, but if you want to know more about this massive Volkswagen festival check out the official Bug Jam website here: http://www.bugjam.co.uk/index.php  Holding the event at a drag racing venue means you can even run your beloved Volkswagen down the 1/4 mile strip. A few of my friends always attend this show for the whole weekend, and they always say to me what a great weekend they have had, but due to family commitments I could only attend the show for one day. 
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 entrance to Santa Pod Raceway, home
of Bug Jam has a steady flow of vehicles
entering the venue all day long. This event
attracts thousands of visitors each day.

Having paid my £25 (!) for a day visitor I saw
this pair of Beetles parked up, and I knew just
then that it was going to be a good day.

A lovely Karmann Mobil or Gipsy as it's more
commonly called. These are quite rare over 
here in the U.K. and very expensive, but they 
are just so nice looking.

These are the ultimate VW camper for a lot of
people and it's easy to see why. They provide
so much more room than a normal split or bay,
whilst still looking just as cool.

This gorgeous white over yellow 21 window
1965 split screen looked fantastic in the
summer sunshine. I did like the chrome 356
wheels (same as mine) and the standard ride
height of this lovely bus.

This lovely late bay looked good in it's green
paint with a white pop top. I think buses
that ride at stock height, whether split screens
or bay's look just a s good as lowered buses.

This pre 1963 Beetle looked great in it's mid
grey paint, I did like the chrome Empi 5 spoke 
wheels and chrome nerf bars.

This stunning 1965 split screen had a lovely
two tone turquoise paint scheme which made
this bus stand out in the camping area.

Turquoise would not have been my first choice
for a colour, but what an excellent choice it was.
This bus really does stand out in the crowd.

Another turquoise bus but this with a white
upper body. This 1966 split had a lovely turret
top pop top, which I think suits a split screen.

When you go to a VW show / event, there is
a good chance you'll see a 'Herbie' replica,
well this Herbie looked as though he'd been
down the gym, it looked all pumped up and
muscular.

I don't know what motor this bug was running
but I'm guessing it was big. The rear spoiler
and over size wheels are a good indication.

This lovely 1967 split screen looked different,
but in a good way, in it's black over green paint
scheme. The matching black wheels were a
nice contrasting feature on this deluxe bus. 

One of my facebook friends, Natasha was at
Bug Jam with her partner in their gorgeous
1965 RAT looking split screen. This is one
of my favourite split screens in the country
at the moment.

Walking through the camping area (where a
lot of quality VW's are parked up all weekend)
I saw this lovely pair of split screens. I did like
the Radar wheels and the sun visor on the
white over red split.

Yellow is my favourite colour so of course I
was going to be drawn to this very RAT
looking split screen, with sign written panels.

I did like the old look of this paint and of course
the sign writing. This really was a nice looking
bus that I could look at for hours.

This stunning super low 1967 Karmann Ghia
looked fantastic with it's narrowed front end
and sitting so low. This really was a super
straight car.

Low is the way to go this season as this 1966
satin black beetle proves. Those custom
wheels finish off the cool look of this bug.

This really was a nice looking car, I did like
the luggage rack over the deck lid and the all 
red U.S. style rear light lenses.

This notch back was one of the race cars at
Santa Pod, I did like the play on words for
the cars name.

This lovely 1968 deluxe early bay looked so
clean and solid. I did like the opening rear
window which must provide some much needed
breeze on these humid nights spent in the bus.
I noticed the rear over riders and don't think
I've seen them this tall before..?

WOW, how low..? This 1958 bright red beetle
was virtually sat on the grass. It must have
been riding on air suspension...

The super low bug had two of my favourite
things, yellow head light lenses and some
neat old skool pinstriping.

I did say that Natasha's 1965 splitty was one
of my favourite's, so here it is again, parked
up at Santa Pod in the sunshine.

This super clean all white fastback cruised
past me so I just had to get a photo. This
really was a nice clean example of this car.

After walking around the camping area I found
myself in the 'For Sale' area and I saw this
1970 beach buggy for sale, it had a 1600cc
engine with twin carbs, the colour is a TVR
colour called Prism. The price of this cool
buggy was £4,750 ($7,500 approx)

This green 1965 single cab split screen pick
up, was imported from the U.S. A. in 2002, it
has a 1600cc with twin Dellorto 36's. The
body was super straight and clean and the
asking price was £15,000 ($23,500 approx) 

The body panels on the 50 year old pick up
immaculate and so straight. This really was a
lot of pick up for the money.

Another pick up for sale was this blue 1976
late bay pick up. Again another clean and
straight work horse, and the price for this one
was a mere £5,995 ($9,300 approx)

It does go to show that there are still bargains
to be had, you just have to look hard enough.

 This bright red 1966 beetle was parked up
and the gap between the running board and
the floor cannot have been more than 1 inch.
 Another vehicle on air ride suspension?

This gorgeous black oval beetle looked pretty
much original and belonged to one of the
many overseas visitors to the show.

This was one of the straightest vehicles I saw
at Bug Jam. Look at the reflection in the door
and side panel and on the roof corner, pretty
much perfection in my eyes.

This 1969 deluxe early bay was up for sale,
it has a super straight and solid body with a
1641cc engine with twin carbs, it also had a
full 12 months M.O.T. you can have all this
bus for a mere £12,500 ($19,500 approx)

I do like panel vans, and this white over bright 
yellow caught my eye. It's a 1966 split screen 
with super straight body panels and running 
on Empi 5 spoke wheels.

This 1970 early bay caught my eye, it didn't
have a flashy paint job, it wasn't running on
aftermarket chrome wheels and it wasn't so
low that it became impracticable but simply
because it was a lovely looking bus, just as
Volkswagen had designed it.

For a similar reason this bug caught my eye.
This 1971 was not scraping the ground as it
drove along, but was sitting high and proud.
I did like those wheels with the huge tyres
that fill the wheel arches perfectly.

This 1975 late bay looked seriously cool with
its retro chocolate brown decal over the
mustard colour body. A matching pop top
cover finished off the look on this cool bus.

This extremely clean early bay belonged to
one of the many German visitors that came
along to Bug Jam. This really was a lovely
looking bus.

This stunning 1963 split screen looked great
in it's white over teal colour paint. I did like
the colour matched wheels that suited the
overall look of this bus.

This really was a straight bus. I did like the 3 
bow roof rack and the white painted bumpers.

This 1950's black oval window looked fantastic
in it's near original condition. The black gloss
paint was so smooth and shiny it looked as
though it was still wet.!

Fantastically smooth body panels with a near
perfect coat of paint provide exceptional
reflections of the summer clouds in the paint.

 This pre 63 Ivory over brown split screen
looked great in the sunshine at Santa Pod.
This bus proves you don't have to have a 
radical paint scheme and flashy wheels to
have a very desirable bus.

This oval window beetle must be another VW
riding on air suspension as it sat on the grass
whilst parked up.

This stunning pre 63 grey over beige split
screen looked so nice, the super shiny Radar
wheels were a nice addition that suited the
bus perfectly.

I spotted this 1967 beetle parked up in the 
camping area, I don't know what motor this
bug was running but judging by those trick
exhausts coming out of the rear wings could
suggest it's bigger than the standard  50hp.

It doesn't matter what condition your trusty
VW is in just  as long as you get to Bug Jam. 
This 1972 type 3 Variant or square back as 
it's more commonly known looked great in 
it's RAT condition.

So that was part one of the 'Bug Jam 29' review,
this show really is massive and there is so much
to do I doubt you could do everything in a week-
end. Part two of Bug Jam 29 will be posted
next Saturday.

'Simply VW' show, Beaulieu Motor Museum. (part 2 of 2)

This weeks blog review is the second and final instalment about the 'Simply VW' day, organised by and held in the grounds of the world famous Beaulieu Motor Museum. This one day event was held on Sunday 28th June, with overnight camping available on the Saturday night within the grounds. This inaugural event was open to both air-cooled and water cooled Volkswagen's and promised to be a great day, judging by all the interest the event was causing on facebook. My review of the show continues as I wander around the grounds of Beaulieu looking at all the Volkswagen's in the glorious sunshine.
To see part one of this shows review and 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 variety of Volkswagen's that attended this
Volkswagen show was hugely diverse, from
show standard to RAT looking and everything
in between.

A gorgeous mid '60's Karmann Ghia finished
in sliver with a black roof. This Karmann was 
super clean and perfectly straight. I did like 
the Fuchs style wheels and the overall look.

This lowered Karmann Ghia looks so good.
The chrome bumpers compliment the silver
paint. The shape of the tail lights denotes
that this Karmann Ghia was produced some-
time between 1960 - 1969.

This 1968 split screen had a very subtle two
tone blue paint scheme and with the safari 
screens and the double doors open, it looked
great. I did like the awning / cover going over
the double doors. 

Inside this two tone beauty was a lush looking
white vinyl seating arrangement which looked
so comfortable. Contrasting blue check curtains 
and cushions finished off the interior.

Another Karmann Ghia, this 1969 model looked
fantastic with it's lowered stance and the perfect
grey gloss paint.

After walking around the show for a few hour's
I headed back to my bus to have a cup of tea
and a bite to eat, this was the view looking out 
of my sliding door. It was a similar view which 
ever window I looked out of, Volkswagen's
of all descriptions everywhere!

The venue started to allow vehicles into grounds
at 10.00 am, and even at midday there was still
a steady flow of VW's coming into the show.

This 1963 white over grey split screen looked 
great as it drove into the show venue, I'll have
to make a note to go have a better look at this
one.

Beetle's and buses parked up around every
corner. The number of Volkswagen's, both air
cooled and water cooled that came along to
 this inaugural Simply VW day was amazing.

I think this is a MK1 GP buggy, although I could
be wrong but whatever it was, it was gorgeous.
I loved the aqua blue metal flake paint and the
 white interior, it reminded me of a toy car I had 
many, many years ago.

The super wide banded white wheels were the
perfect choice for this style of buggy. This was
one of those vehicles you see every so often
where everything was just right.

Fiona, my green early bay and the white early 
bay under the tree we shared for some shade.

I recognise this late bay crew cab pick up, I saw
this at the Just Kampers open day a few weeks
back. (check out my blog archive to see that
review) This really is a nice looking bus in what
looks like a dove blue colour.

Here is another bus I saw at the JK open day,
it's a gorgeous 1988 light green and white
T25 with a pop top. 

There were hundreds of water cooled VW's at
the show, Golf's, Polo's, Scirocco's, T4 / T5's
etc, but this MK1 Caddy caught my eye. I liked
the lowered stance, the wheels, the sign written
doors... well everything really.

And the icing on the cake for this cool caddy,
was the chopper style cycle on the bed. This
really was a cool combination.

The variety of air cooled vehicles at the 'Simply 
VW' show was immense. This lovely cherry red
1970 Beetle was parked up next to a very clean 
looking white T25.

This 1966 split screen panel van was painted
in a German fire truck paint scheme. This bus 
did look good, and I liked that huge spotlight on 
the roof, not the usual cyclopes light but it still
suited the vehicle perfectly.

A lovely pre '63 split screen panel van in a lovely
RAT condition. I did like the painted decal on the 
sides. 

The RAT look and buses with patina are the 'in
thing' at the moment, and it's easy to see why
when you see something as nice as this van.

The unusual colour choice of cream and orange
on this 1977 late bay worked really well and
it looked fantastic.

The interior of this bus was also unique, and so
nice looking. I did like the green check pattern
on the brown vinyl seats.

This line up must be for the blue and orange
bays only. The amazing thing was, each bay 
was different from the next as each one was
an expression of it's owner.

This white over signal red early bay found a nice
patch of grass to park on. This lovely pop top bay
had numerous accessories including twin roof
racks, (with a fire pit) a cool looking sun visor,
and chrome headlight peaks and Fuchs wheels.

I'm sure I saw a T25 around here somewhere...
I just love this photo, every so often I surprise
myself with how well a photo comes out.

This 1963 white over grey split screen looked 

great with it's stock ride height and the 'old' 

looking two tone colour scheme. I did like those 

windows in the double doors.

This old split screen looked just about perfect  
from every angle. This really was a nice bus.

Mid way through the afternoon we had a short
rain shower, which was forecast so I headed
indoors as entry into the VW show gave you
access to the motor museum and the 'Top Gear'
world vehicle display. This is the electric car
that Jeremy, James and Richard made, which 
if I remember correctly they named: Eagle i-Thrust

This is what is left of the Toyota Hi-Lux that they
tried to destroy by submersing it in the sea,
crashing it into a tree, placing it on top of a high
rise building and then demolishing the building,
setting fire to it, hitting it with a wrecking ball,
but all to no avail, as the truck still started
(without any new parts) and still drove.

Who remembers the boat's the Top Gear team
made out of cars? James' Triumph Herald yacht,
Jeremy's Toyota Hi Lux, and Richard's T25
Camper van barge. If I remember correctly the
boys actually crossed the Channel on Jeremy's
Toyota in the end as the other two sank.

There is also a section for 'Cars on screen' a
selection of the famous cars we used see every
week on our favourite TV programme's. Here
is Del Boy's Reliant, from 'Only Fools and 
Horse's,  with Mr. Beans yellow Mini in the
 background.

Moving inside the main motor museum, which
has a collection of over 250 automobiles and
motorcycles telling the story of motoring on the
roads of Britain from the dawn of motoring to
the present day, suffice to say too many to take
photo's of. Having said that here is a few that
caught my eye. These two F1 cars are the
Rothmans of Damon Hill, and the Lotus of
Romain Grosjean.

Looking down onto a row of classic sports cars.
The green torpedo shaped car at the bottom of
the photo is the land speed record holder for
steam powered cars, aptly named 'The biggest
kettle in the world'. It reached an average speed
of 139.843mph at the Edwards Air Force Base
in California.

Throughout the museum there where these great
little displays of workshops / garages and shops
from yesteryear. The attention to detail was
simply incredible.

Another display of an old shop, the shelves were
crammed full of boxes of the products that were
available back in days gone by. 

On leaving the museum I noticed the monorail
and thought I could get some good ariel photo's
of the show from there, but unfortunately the show
looks half empty from my photo's, but trust me
it wasn't.

Another ariel photo, and again the show looks
empty... the monorail went around the perimeter
of the show area so I'm guessing that's why it
looks as though it's half empty.

So that was part 2 of my blog review on the 'Simply
VW' day at Beaulieu. If you missed part one check
out 'my blog archive' to the top left of this page.
This was the first VW show to be held at Beaulieu, 
and I would say it was a total success. The were
hundreds of VW's both air cooled and water 
cooled all descriptions. The atmosphere was
chilled and relaxed, and the setting along with
the weather were both fantastic. This is definitely
one show on my calendar for 2016.