WBC Milton Keynes Division Fun Day 2018 (part 2 of 2)

This weeks blog is part two of two all about the Wolfsburg Bus Crew's 'Milton Keynes and surrounding area's' branch meet up at Irchester Country Park, in Northamptonshire on 22nd April 2018. Unless you've been living under a stone for the last couple of years you must have heard of the Wolfsburg Bus Crew. The WBC started by Rich Coxhill as a London based VW club for local Split, bay and T25 owners, but the WBC now has a midland branch and also a Milton Keynes and surrounding area's branch. Milton Keynes WBC members James and Ken organised the whole fun day and I have to say what a fantastic day it was. The last minute change of venue was probably for the best as the country park is an ideal location for a Volkswagen meet. Both Ken and James put a lot of hard work in to organise the event, advertise it, generate interest and find a new location at short notice due to the original location being flooded! Ken and his good wife provided bacon rolls and cups of tea to all WBC members which I can vouch for were both very nice!! I arrived quite early with my two dogs and as the sun was shining the constant flow of cool Volkswagen buses kept arriving with a total of 21 buses arriving in total. The blog continues as I wander around looking at all the cool buses and chatting to the owners.

This gorgeous 1961 single cab belongs to Simon
and has to one of the nicest single cabs I've seen. 
The two tone colours, the low stance and the decals 
are all just about perfect. The air brushed decals
look fantastic and the font is an exact replica of the 
original 7up artwork.

Simon's SC has a narrowed front beam with a
disc brake conversion on the front and  type 3
rear drums and shoes with a remote servo. To
see where he's going this lovely pick up has had
a halogen conversion on the head lights.

The rear lights are LED items which are super
bright which allows Simon to run the all red tail
lights. For safety Simon has a fire extinguisher
linked to a fuel cut off solenoid. This really is a
lovely bus, which ever way you look at it.

This super bright yellow 2.0 litre Westfalia is
owned by Oliver but it used to belong to a
Doctor in it's previous life back in California, but I
doubt it ever looked this good. The new low stance
 is thanks to the accu air ride suspension set up
with air bags on the rear and air shocks on the front.

Other mods on this cool looking bus are; power
steering, LED lights, and a flip out Sat Nav with
parking sensor, other than this Oliver says it's
almost original.... except that he had a rust problem
on the front which was sorted and painted, but the
new paint didn't match the doors so the doors
were painted, but they didn't match the sides, so
the sides were painted but then the sides didn't
match the rear and yep, you've guessed it, the rear
was also painted... apart from that it's all original!

Mark came along in his multi coloured Devon
Moonraker. This bus started life with a standard
white over orange paint scheme, but due to having
had some light restoration work and the occasional
small accident damage it has evolved into this very
distinctive colour scheme.

Mark has owned the bus for around 20 years,
and like most buses, the list of things to do and
repair continues to grow. The engine in this old
Devon is a 2.0 litre unit after the old original 1.8
litre motor blew up. The interior of Mark's bus,
which he calls 'Velma' has an original Devon
Moonraker cooker, sink and cupboard and a lot
of other thing which Mark has fabricated himself.

This immaculate 1979 Devon Moonraker double
top is the pride and joy of Deborah and Brendan
who have owned this lovely bus for about 10 years.
Both Deborah and Brendan call their bus 'Dolly'.

Dolly has a 2.0 litre engine and in the time the
Deborah and Brendan have owned her, she has
taken them all over the U.K. from Scotland down
to Cornwall, and even across Europe from Spain
(Bilbao) up through France to Calais. Deborah and
Brendan also visit many music and scooter festivals
in their lovely (reliable) Dolly.

Out of the 21 buses that were at this fantastic
day, this stunning '69 / 70 early bay panel van is
the only bus that I couldn't find out anything about,
 which is a shame as I really like panel vans and this
one in particular. 

The two tone paint job with the red against that
light grey colour worked perfectly, This really was
a lovely imported ( I think) van and those BRM
wheels looked fantastic.

This gorgeous 1965 Harvest Moon beige Cali 
import was totally stunning. The lucky owner is
 Dean who after getting some inheritance started 
looking for a bus. After looking at lots of buses
Dean went to see 'Lily' and as Dean says, 'It was
love at first sight'.. even though Lily has tested his
love at times by not behaving.

Dean's bus has a 2054cc all singing, all dancing
engine mated to a pro street gearbox. It also has
a 4.5" narrowed front beam with matching trailing
arms and Spax shocks with Porsche 944 turbo
brakes on all four corners. The wheels are rare
16 x 7 Porsche Teledials which look so cool.

The interior of Dean's bus (which I didn't manage
to get a photo of!) features a gorgeous walnut
and ivory leather interior, with LED lighting, a full
sound system and an Eberspacher diesel heater.
The bus has been converted to 12v by Pdubz.

As if all the above wasn't enough Lily also has
some of the coolest pinstriping. As a sign painter
and would be pinstiper, I was very impressed with
the standard of this, which must have been done
back in the U.S.

This beautiful white over red 1966 Canterbury
Pitt belongs to John which believe it or not was a
barn find that needed a total restoration. This bus
was originally a 9 seater RHD microbus that was
finished in green and white.

It has been a passion of John's to own a split
for a long time so when he and his partner,
Amanda saw this which was at the right price,
they just had to have it. Although John says that
Amanda has laid claim to the split and drives it
more than John! John and Amanda organise the
'Run the Ring' the VW charity cruise around the 
M25 motorway to raise money for charity. To find
out more, and to sign up check out their FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/M25VWRunTheRing/

The Wolfsburg Bus Crew, Milton Keynes and
surrounding area's club meet was a great success.
My 1969 microbus was in good company with
Nichola's '72 Danbury on one side and Jai's 
'68 bay on the other.

Just a few of the WBC members buses on show
at Irchester Country Park.

Just a few of the WBC members buses on show
at Irchester Country Park. Simon's gorgeous
single cab in the background with John's (or should
that be Amanda's?) '66 Canterbury Pitt in the centre
of the photo.

This really was a chilled day out with friendly WBC 
members and their gorgeous buses.

Gorgeous buses in a gorgeous location. The WBC
members really done well and turned out in force
which helped make the day a total success.

I took my two dogs to the meet, Susie is keeping
guard by the door, or maybe planning an escape
over to Nichola's bus.. again!! while Boobie dog 
is just chilling out on the buddy seat.

Jai's unique patina'd front end on his '68 bay.

Each WBC member at the event had a voting
form, and they voted for the best bay window
bus at the event. The winners choice was Julie 
and her 1978 Westfalia Berlin which was the
first bus in last weeks review. Here Julie receives
her trophy from one the organisers, Ken. Well
Done Julie, a well deserved win... it must have 
been the new curtains.!!

Just a few of the WBC members buses on show
at Irchester Country Park.

Julie's Westy Berlin  (voted best bay on the day)
next to Dave's '70 single cab and Robin's
lovely panel van.

Just a few of the WBC members buses on show
at Irchester Country Park. My microbus is just
peeking out from behind Nichola's '72 Danbury.

Susie's hub cap on her '67 11 window split gives
an almost perfect reflection of Si's '64 split screen.

So that was my two part review of the Wolfsburg
Bus Crew's, Milton Keynes division's club meet
at Irchester Country Park. Overall a fantastic day
with super friendly members and lots of gorgeous
buses. A huge well done to Ken and James (and
anyone else that helped out I don't know about) for
organising the day, which I'm sure everyone who
attended will agree went perfectly. I for one am 
looking forward to the next meet, wherever it
may be, because I know it'll be a great day out.
Next weeks blog review is all about the Stanford
Hall VW show, this great one day event attracts
some of the best (and oldest) VW for miles around,
so don't forget to come back next Saturday.

WBC Milton Keynes Division Fun Day 2018 (part 1 of 2)

This weeks blog is a two part review all about the Wolfsburg Bus Crew's 'Milton Keynes and surrounding area's' branch meet up at Irchester Country Park, in Northamptonshire on 22nd April 2018. Unless you've been living under a stone for the last couple of years you must have heard of the Wolfsburg Bus Crew. The WBC started by Rich Coxhill as a London based VW club for local Split, bay and T25 owners, but the WBC now has a midland branch and also a Milton Keynes and surrounding area's branch. Milton Keynes WBC members James and Ken organised the whole fun day and I have to say what a fantastic day it was. The last minute change of venue was probably for the best as the country park is an ideal location for a Volkswagen meet. Both Ken and James put a lot of hard work in to organise the event, advertise it, generate interest and find a new location at short notice due to the original location being flooded! Ken and his good wife provided bacon rolls and cups of tea to all WBC members which I can vouch for were both very nice!! I arrived quite early with my two dogs and as the sun was shining the constant flow of cool Volkswagen buses kept arriving with a total of 21 buses arriving in total.

This stunning 1978 Westfalia Berlin is the pride 
and joy of Julie who has owned this gorgeous
bus for about a year or so. This bus really is so 
clean and tidy.

Julie has christened her bus 'Jolene' and it has
a 2.0 type 4 engine with an automatic gearbox.
Julie has recently added those lovely retro curtains
which happen to be the same as mine, and they
suit Jolene perfectly. Julie and her partner use the
bus as much as possible to go camping.

My velvet green 1969 Microbus looking nice and
shiny in the sunshine. The exterior has had a new
coat of paint since coming over from Sacramento
back around 2010. The wheels and the engine are
still the same and I have no plans to change either.

When it came over from the U.S. the green only
went up to the belt line, but I'm glad I decided to
have the green up to the gutters as I think it looks
so much better.

Ken, (who along with James organised this
event) owns this RATTY '64 imported 11 window
bus that was originally used to carry parishioners
to church on a Sunday.

Gone are the rows of seats in Ken's bus, who he's
named 'The Moses Bus' for obvious reasons. Now
there is a bright jazzy interior with cartoon strip
covered panels and a rock and roll bed.

This is the fantastic trophy that was made by
Richard Homewood of 'N2 Engineering' for the 
winner of best vehicle on the day as voted for by 
all the WBC members that attended this great 
day out.

James and his family was there in his stunning
1958 LHD ex-Swiss Army radio communication
bus. This gorgeous bus has been resprayed in
the anniversary Ducati red with hand painted
Ducati decals on the doors, why Ducati red? it's
because all the original radio equipment in the
bus was made by Ducati.

The 'Duke' as it's been christened not only looks
great, it also goes and stops pretty well thanks
to a 1776cc engine with electronic ignition, deep
sump, external oil filter and genuine Webber 44
idf carbs. The Duke also has Porsche 944 disc
brakes all round.

This awesome looking imported '68 looked good
with it's slammed stance and the real patina the
bus got whilst in North Carolina. Jai is the lucky
owner who has just finished a restoration on his
bus, it's nice to see he has left the original patina'd
paint and not re-sprayed it.

Jai's bus has a 1776cc engine which pushes
the bus along nicely. It's low stance is thanks to
the chassis having been notched and has a 2"
narrowed beam from Creative Engineering.
Jai was on on honeymoon last week having just
got married in the bus, which they intend to keep
in the family for many years (and adventures) to
come. Congratulations to both of you.

Nichola and Spencer are the proud owners of
this stunning 1972 Danbury. Both Nichola and
Spencer have always been into the Beetle, but
about a year ago they bought 'Molly Mabel' and
have never looked back.

The interior of Molly Mabel really is very nice, I
do like that fold down buddy seat. 

Molly Mabel has a 1500cc single port engine,
which after driving their 1600cc twin port beetle
seems pretty slow but that doesn't stop either of
the getting the bus out for any occasion, even
it's just to pop to the shops.

This beast of a van belongs to Graham, it may
look like a normal sign written split screen van
but Graham's van has a 3.2 Porsche Carrera
sport engine with a 5 speed gearbox. The rear
beam is also from  Porsche. 

The van also has Porsche 911 disc brakes and
twin 8" remote servo dual circuit brakes. With all
these Porsche goodies the bus is good for around
230 BHP and yes it sounds awesome.

This lovely 1978 Beryl green and white Westfalia 
belongs to Alistair who is relatively new to the bus 
scene, in fact this is his first bus, and what a lovely 
bus it is. 

The bus was imported from the sunny state of
California back in 2015 and since then it has had
a full back to metal respray. Alistair has also
lowered the bus by 2" and added a lovely set of
alloy wheels.

This lovely 1988 T25 belongs to Pete who turned
up with Alistair. This cool bus is a 1.6 turbo diesel
Pete has owned his bus for a number of years
and still has a few changes in mind, one of them
being changing the low profile tyres on the 17"
rims for something with more sidewall for a more
comfortable ride. Pete and Alistair (above) are
heading off to Hockenheim later this year to watch
the German grand prix, have a great time guys.

Robin owns this lovely 'Brumos Racing' split
screen van which was so original when Robin
purchased it still had the original 5 wheels which 
probably still have the original air in them! Robin
bought the bus off the Internet without viewing it
as he wanted a walk through model so badly.

Robin's van has a 1600cc twin port motor with
 a beetle IRS and gearbox. The bus sits this low
thanks to an adjustable front beam, a raised
steering box and shortened column. Robin now
runs Porsche 356 reproduction wheels which
suit the van perfectly.

This gorgeous 69/70 Australian import single
cab is owned by Dave. This SC was brought over
to the U.K in 2017 and is Dave's daily driver,
replacing his T5. Dave bought the SC from a guy
in Cornwall, which meant Dave had over an 18 
hour drive home!!!

Dave has fitted new wheel bearings all round,
rebuilt the carb and fitted a Trafficox shifter which
Dave thinks is awesome and custom window
winders. On the way out of the Stonor Park show
last weekend, two elderly folk in a Saab said to
Dave that the SC is a 'wreck and should be
scrapped'.. there's no accounting for taste eh.!

This gorgeous '67 RHD 11 window sliding door
microbus belongs to not only a WBC member
but also a friend of mine, Susie. Susie's bus
named 'Lulu' was originally shipped from Germany
to Thailand to be a taxi for a hotel, hence the
factory fitted sliding door.

Susie's family found the bus derelict in Thailand
back in 2012, so they imported it and restored
it into what you see here. Lulu is Susie's daily
driver and she uses it regularly for camping trips
and days out.

This immaculate '64 German bus belongs to Si,
it was exported from Germany to California where
it spent the next 45 years of it's life before being
imported to the U.K.

The gorgeous interior has been re trimmed by
Kens Customs who have made an excellent
job in that brown vinyl.

Si's bus has been lowered using a notched
chassis and tubbed out with a narrowed beam
on the front. 

This lovely retro looking '68 bus was imported
from Oklahoma around four years ago, and is
owned by Luke. Those really cool retro stripes
were painted by Luke and look awesome.

This bus has been on the road for about a year
and is mostly original and makes for a great
family vehicle.

This really is such a cool looking bus. OK it's not
perfectly straight but each of the small dents tells
an interesting story and it would be a shame to
get rid of all that history.

So that was the first instalment all about the WBC
M.K. divisions meet. Next week will be the second
instalment where you can see plenty more quality
buses including probably the best looking split 
screen single cab I've seen, so be sure to come
back next Saturday.