A World of Volkswagens

The start of the show season for me may have been at the crack of dawn on New Years Day, but for the rest of my Volkswagening friends it began at the end of March at Sandown Race Course at the Volksworld Show. Organised by the magazine it’s the ideal antidote to the snow and rain we’ve had recently and the perfect place to catch up with some mates and see all the new rides. For the last few years I’ve volunteered for the club stand, it’s a chance to promote LTV and show off the Camper, a last minute drop out meant there was a Leonard sized gap to fill so after a 6am alarm call I clambered into the drivers seat to cruise over to the show, joining up with Stu and having George in the co-pilots chair we rolled up to the back of the queue at 8am, squeezing into a very cramped club stand (thanks VW….NOT!) the rest of the guys displaying set about the gazebo and flyers while I snuck away.



The plus point to waking up early is the chance to look round the whole show for an hour before the public are let loose, grabbing the camera I made for the main hall, lined on all sides by traders with some stunning show cars in the middle. First up this insane pumped up Brasilia.



Very low but with a full interior, very practical Split.



Having read about it online and in a magazine this was my most anticipated car of the day and its didn’t disappoint. A 1:1 scale Tamiya Sand Scorcher.





Decklids up!



Heavily modified, with a roof chop and much widened wings



This cabriolet was stunning, so clean and simple.



The next area to get to before the thousands of members of the public swamp the place is the lower hall, home to more Beetles and Campers.



Drag New Beetle was stripped bare last year, with the body panels back on you can clearly see its parentage



I’m looking forward to seeing this up close and outside later in the season, the artwork was immense.



With a mixture of rain and sunshine, this is the best place for a buggy!



Having got round with out the crowds it was time for breakfast as the public surged in, bacon rolls and campers go together do well.



Fed and watered we set off to the traders and the others cars on show, out the back by the arena the Early Bay & SSVC lineups were set out.







Back on the club stand it was time to catch up with old friends, some of who we hadn’t seen since the end of the last season.





On a nearby stand the organisers tried to better their record for the number of people in or on a Beetle, “Bugstuff” excelled itself this year with 94 hangers on.





The last area to look around was the club stands, rammed in the terrace behind the main halls it was brimming with more cars. (Type)Three is the magic number.



Well used Oval with a body lift kit fitted.



Some clubs made a real effort with the display, previous attempts have included a used car lot and a farm yard!



Uber rare doesn’t stop it being hacked about, this Country Buggy was lower than low.



We followed this in down the A3 in the morning, very tasty.



With all the displays walked round the rest of the day was spent nattering and spending money on goodies, unlike last year where I spent far too much on a set of rims for the Camper, I spent the grand total of £13 on a couple of posters and a Hotwheels Scirocco. Fay bought a “hat”/



PopBangColour is a mad bloke who makes fantastic art work using loads of paint and a selection of radio controlled cars and tyres.



As the day drew to a close the rain and wind lashed us before the sun shone through revealing a breathtaking rainbow.



All packed up we headed home, the season is go, lets hope the rainbow is the last one we see this summer!

The rest of the photos can be found here, thanks for reading.

Steve.

Mmmm doughnuts.

Forgoing the usual Sunday morning breakfast of bacon roll and orange juice we headed out early today to nab a sweet snack instead. The Krispy Kreme Cruise is a new meet to us, on the third Sunday of the month a number of Hotrods and American muscle cars gather in the carpark and surrounding roads of the Doughnut shop off the A3 at New Malden.



Parking up in a side street it was a short walk to the lineups, past some cars that didn’t really fit in with outer London!





The carpark was truly rammed, with dozens of V8s and other classics, including a few bikes.











Taking the weight off our feet for a while we grabbed a booth inside and bought breakfast!





Refreshed and full up we headed outside again, cars were still arriving and squeezing in where they could.







In the road more cars were scattered around.







By midday the owners began to drift away and where there are V8s there are burnouts a plenty.







Leaving a couple of chaps changing the tyre on their rod pickup we made for home, a perfect start to a Sunday in the sun!



The rest of the photos can be found here. The event is advertised on Facebook, just search for “Krispy Kreme Cruise Surrey” Thanks for looking.

Steve.

Chilly Bracknell

Another month, another meet of the London & Thames Valley VW Club at South Hill Park. Despite the blue skies and sunshine it was a few degrees above zero so we left the Beetle (the heaters toasty, but the engines running roughly at the moment) in the garage and the Camper (running sweet but heaterless!) on the drive and took the climate controlled daily instead. Campers were the order of the day.



With only a lone Beetle to keep the big guys company.



Even the Ford chaps couldn’t muster more than a handful of blue oval cars.



Late afternoon and the peace and quiet was shattered by my brother with his roller skate, Alan leapt (well gently eased really!) at the chance for a blat and came back with a huge grin on his face.







The final numbers were bolstered by another flat four engined mount, when Roy arrived in his newly bought Scooby, he’d only gone out to by an old BMW as a daily drive and came away with a grey import Impreza.





With the weather slowly improving lets hope we can build on the numbers turning up each month!

Steve.