Essex Vee Dubbers VW Club

volksworld vw showS 2008

Show report by club members Chris and Peta Allwood…

The build up to what is the first show of the year in our household was unbearable. So much so I think Pepper, our newly acquired 67 Splittie, couldn’t take the strain and blew her clutch. So with less than a week to go I dragged her off to a newly found VW mechanic and left her to his capable hands. The day before the show I’m off to collect her. The excitement soon turned to gloom however when she died on me one mile up the road! Back to the garage and one ‘fuel pipe found to have been pinched’ later I was off again driving with a smile on my face. Four miles up the road the clutch went again! This time the bearing-retaining cage had sheared under the pressure of the new clutch. Sadly no magic reprieve this time and I left the van at the garage and made my way home feeling very despondent.

So it was with some sadness we got up early Saturday morning and packed our gear into Princess, our 2000 New Beetle with handmade traditional roof rack. I felt a pang of guilt when Penelope, our 72 Beetle, caught my eye sitting on the drive, but she is going through a restoration at present and the interior is spartan to say the least. So it was into the newbie and away. After a few miles of comfort, aircon and six speakers of pure sound (well Radio 2!) all was forgotten. We were at Sandown before we knew it and parked up in the main car park no problem.

Once parked it was a quick dash up the road to Costa Coffee where a window seat and a hot chocolate were obtained. I then sat back and watched the best show on earth… hundreds of VW’s making their way down the High Street to the Sandown car park. There were all types and every style you could imagine. After an hour or so it was show time so we made our way back to queue (pre-bought tickets are a must if you don’t want to wait around for ever).

Once inside the layout was all too familiar with buses downstairs, bugs etc on the middle floor and the swap meet on the top floor. Add to this the trade stalls and the thousands of people who attend then this show is not for the faint hearted or recluse amongst us. It soon became almost impossible to take photos of the show cars, and equally difficult to get to the trade stalls to peruse their wares. However, as my bank manager and my wife will testify, I did manage to spend some of my hard earned on the VW’s in my life.

After several hours, in which I must admit I saw some great vehicles, we decided to call it a day. Armed with a newly acquired Westy roof rack for Pepper I began the almost impossible task of leaving the show hall. The skies had opened and every show goer descended on the halls to escape the torrential downpour. On my way out I saw an all too familiar face – our club’s very own Brian, (and yes he was in his shorts!). With him was his daughter and they were armed with flyers for the club promoting our Battlesbridge show. It was great to see someone we knew in the mass of people so we chatted, but it seemed wherever we stood we were in someone’s way so we eventually went our separate ways. This time we too were armed with flyers so we could do our bit at the Stansted Mountfitchet VW Show.

Highlights of the show for me (apart from Brian’s legs of course!) were the shortened Bay Window Van and a yellow Type 3 Fastback made to look like an American taxicab.

Chris and Peta Allwood.

Essex Vee Dubbers VW Club

volksworld vw showS 2008

2008 events

Volksworld VW Show

VW's @ Stansted

Manningtree Classic Vehicle Show

Battlesbridge Classic Vehicle Show

Battlesbridge Volkswagen Show

Enfield Pageant of Motoring

Plymouth Volksfest

Stonor VW Show

Weald County Show

Camper Jam '08

VW Expo 08

Peppercorn VW Show

London Volksfest

Bug Jam 22

West Bergholt Classic Car Show

Jaguar Show

Sussex VW Festival

VW Festival

Cornwall VW Jamboree

Knebworth Classic Vehicle Show

VW Action

Bishop Stortford Classic Car Show

Battlesbridge Grand Mobilia Day