Saturday 26 March 2016

Dub Aid 5, Charity VW Show 2016 (part 1 of 2)

This weeks blog review is a 2 part review about the annual 'Dub Aid VW Show'. This show was held over the weekend of 18th - 20th March at Towester Racecourse in Northamptonshire, which if the weather is good is an ideal location for a VW show. However the forecast for the weekend was 'changable' and as the racecourse is in such an exposed location that wasn't good news. This charity show is now in it's 5th year and the previous 4 shows have raised over £22,500 ($32,000 approx) and that's even with all the costs of putting on the show each year, with the money going to the well known and very beneficial 'Great Ormond Street' Hospital for children. Unfortunately I couldn't attend for the whole weekend unlike numerous friends of mine, so I decided to drive over for just the day on the Saturday morning. Dub Aid is a local show for me as it's only 32 miles from my hometown of Aylesbury, Bucks. I decided to leave early and get there as soon as the gates were opened at 09.00am just to make the most of the day. I would have liked to have taken my freshly painted 1969 microbus to the show but I have a couple of minor problems at the moment (perished fuel lines and no brake lights) and I didn't feel it was safe to drive so I took my 1999 camouflaged T4 instead.
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 first vehicle to catch my eye was this early
bay, which had huge amounts of real patina.
This 1969 panel van looked fantastic and I think
it had recently been imported from Long Beach,
California.

This old van looked just right, from the standard
ride height, to the original steel wheels with
whitewall tyres and even the new 3 bow roof
rack looked just right. 

This stock looking early bay really did look nice.
I'm not sure what it is that makes me like this
bus so much, but whatever it is, it's working. 

Kevin and John who are fellow Outcast VW
club members arrived shortly after me in Kevin's
cool looking T25 crew cab. (had I know they
were coming, we could have driven up together!)
Kevin bought this crew cab from a guy who 
imported it from Lithuania, but Kevin soon found 
out it had a few problems which he quickly
sorted out. This bus now has a 1900TDI engine 
which pulls like a steam train.

This has been a trusty workhorse for Kevin,
that has taken him to France and back 4 times
with each journey being over 1000 miles and
the old bus has never missed a beat. But
the time has come for Kevin to reluctantly sell it 

to fund another project. Kevin is asking a mere
£3,500 o.n.o. ($5,000 approx) which I think is
very reasonable and I wouldn't be surprised if 
it sells quickly at that price. If you fancy owning
this awesome, reliable crew cab give Kevin
a call on 07402 444420 or you can view it 
at the Volksworld show next weekend.

This bright green 1985 T25 Syncro looked great
parked up at the show. I do like these T25 
Syncro's as they just look tough and as they 
could go anywhere.

This really is a tough looking T25, and the
unusual green colour suits the look of this bus.
I did like where and how the spare wheel was
mounted.

A friend of mine Mark (AKA Bod) camped for
 the weekend in his luxurious 4 berth Navigator 
VW motorhome. This is how to camp out at 
a VW show on a cold and sometimes wet 
weekend in March. When I caught up with Mark 
he was just doing the washing up after cooking 
his speciality, a curry. Now that beats burgers 
and sausages which is the normal staple diet 
for us dubbers at a weekend show!

Another mate Darren also camped at the show 
in his 1972 bay window. Darren is a member of 
the Volkswagen Owners of Welwyn Garden City 
Club (VWOWGC) Darren and Robert (below)
can be found camping most weekends at some
VW show or other throughout the VW season.

Robert (AKA Bert) is also a member of the
VWOWGC club and camped out in his 1983

T25. Both Robert and Darren must cover
hundreds of miles each year just travelling to
and from VW shows.

This gorgeous 1965 split screen looked lovely
parked up. The two tone colour's on this bus
with matching bumpers worked really well.  

This really was a nice straight bus and the
paint accentuates the straight body panels. I
did like the 3 bow roof rack which is a nice
looking accessory that no doubt comes in
handy for weekends away.

This light blue late bay had a floral paint scheme
with what looked like hand painted flowers on
the body. 

The floral theme continued down to the
custom wheels.

This stunning 1972 Sierra yellow late bay looked
amazing, The body was so straight and solid
and the matching pop top canvas helped make
this bus stand out.

This looks like it could be a Devon Moonraker
conversion judging the style of that pop top,
although I could be wrong! Whatever conversion
it is, I did like it.

Yet another friend who camped out all weekend
was Kevin, who is a member of Oxdubz, amongst
other VW clubs. Kevin took his lovely long wheel
base twin slider T4. Kevin's 2002 bus looks so 
pretty in it's green and cream two tone colour
scheme which he has named 'The Grinch'

Kevin's gorgeous T4 parked up with Matthew
and Chris who are fellow members of Oxdubz
VW Club.

This solid looking 1968 early bay looked like a
nice honest bus. This looks as though it still had
the original paint, which is always nice to see.

Even though this lovely old stock looking bay 
was starting to show it's age, it still looked 
amazing and was still very desirable.

At first glance this unassuming blue T4 looked
like just another T4 parked up, but as I got closer
I noticed a few details that made this particular
T4 stand out.

The lovely metallic paint was finished to a very
high standard, and the old skool pin striping on
the tail gate looked awesome.

And those huge deep dish banded steel wheels
looked great in brilliant white.

The guy's from 'Voodoo VW' were trading at
Dub Aid and they brought along their yellow 
1986 T25 panel van.

OK it's not a VW, it's a gorgeous Airsteam
trailer. I do like the Airstream which was first
built in 1920 by Wally Byam. His first attempt
was a tent contraption that he built on a model
T chassis. The name Airstream was Wally's
idea as he wanted to build a trailer that would
be easy to move and tow like a stream of air.

This 1977 late bay in what looks like Dove blue
or a very similar colour looked really nice and
straight as you can from the reflection along the
bodywork.

This immaculate 1972 late bay looked great in
it's white over blue paint. The chrome bumpers
and the tinted blue rear window make this bay
stand out. 

This really was a nice clean and straight bus,
and with more tinted glass on the side this really
did look something special.Those polished
 Fuchs style wheels complimented the chrome
bumpers, headlight rings and fresh air grille.

This T25 4 x 4 syncro Westaflia sunroof multivan
caught my eye with it's immaculate white body-
work and those super bright orange wheels with
the orange 'syncro' decal on the side. I do like
the syncro, regardless of which VW model it is. 

I do like the thought of going over any terrain
 in a old Volkswagen.

This stunning Syncro had German licence plates
so I'm not sure if it's a German visitor to the show
or whether it has just been imported. The twin
roof racks no doubt come in handy to carry all
the extras and spares when going off road. 

Another vehicle to have German plates was 
this lovely looking white over orange late bay.
This, as was the syncro above very clean and
tidy.

There was plenty of variety at the Dub Aid 5
show. This photo was taken in the weekend
camping area.

'Just Kampers' attended the show in their lovely
1970 Preservation parts early bay panel van.
I have seen this van on numerous occasions
and it looks better every time I see it.

In the day visitor car park I spotted this really
immaculate 1970 white beetle. This little bug
was so clean and so straight I just had to take
a photo. The twin spot lights mounted on the
bumper was a nice touch that suited the car.

Perfectly straight body panels along with domed
hubcaps on the original black painted steel
wheels helped make this '70 bug stand out.


So that was part 1 of 2 about the Dub Aid 5 VW
Show. Part 2 will follow next Saturday where you
can see more buses including early and late bay's, 
split screens, T25's, T4's, and there's also a cool 
beach buggy so be sure to come back next week.

Saturday 12 March 2016

The Outcast VW Club monthly meet.

As the Volkswagen show season still hasn't really started yet here in the U.K. there isn't a show review to write about so this weeks blog review is all about the monthly meet of the Outcast VW Club. The Outcast VW club was started back in 2012 with just 3 members and the club members has grown steadily since then and we regularly have 15 / 20 Volkswagen's turn up for the club meets in the summer months. The Outcast VW Club is based in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire and they hold monthly meets on the first Thursday of each month throughout the year at the Charter Pub, on the A41 Bicester Road in Aylesbury from 7pm. This is a chance for club members to catch up with each other and ask technical questions on both air cooled and water cooled matters, arrange outings and convoys to VW shows or just have a chat about general things. The atmosphere is always friendly and we always welcome new members. So how do you become a member? It's simple, you just turn up in your Volkswagen (whether air or water cooled) on a club night have a chat to all the other members, and have a good evening and that's it.
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. 


Stuart and his son Tim came along in his 1970
green beetle. This is Stuart's daily driver but he
also owns a 1971 early bay. Working on both
the bus and the bug is a bit of a "busmans
holiday" as Stuart owns a Volkswagen repair
shop, yet he never seems to get to work on his
own vehicles as he's always too busy.

A slightly blurred photo of Stu's bug. The cool
looking period roof rack is a nice accessory.

Amanda and her partner Simon popped down
to the club meet in Amanda's new style beetle.
Amanda was saying she has big plans for this
unassuming 2004 bug, which included a hot
rod look paint job.

I hope Amanda sticks to her plans for this car
as the idea she had would look wicked. Both
Amanda and Simon are true VW fans, as they
both have 2 VW's. Amanda has this bug and a
mk3/4 golf, while Simon has a T4 and a LT35 

(the one that has the heavy duty suspension,
 apparently!?) that he uses a daily work vehicle.

John was early to arrive at the club meet in his
1960 mango and white split screen. This bus
really is an immaculate bus and no expense
has been spared in getting this bus to a show
standard finish.

John's bus has perfectly straight body panels
and the paint is flawless. The twin yellow spot
lights mounted on the colour coded towel rail
bumper look great. 

The lights in the car park make John's bus look
more lime green rather than the gorgeous
mango colour it really is, but even so it still
looks great. You can just see how straight the
 sides of this old splitty really are in this photo.

I do like this photo of the trio of buses parked
up in the Charter pub car park.

My freshly painted 1969 microbus. I haven't
got used to looking at my bus and seeing a
nice shiny bus, as she was very RAT looking
for many years.

The new colour choice velvet green, the belt trim
 and painted bumpers all help to make my bus
 very different (and so much better) from how
she used to look. 

My 1969 microbus parked alongside Colin's
red 1970 early bay. Both buses are U.S.
 imports and both looked stunning parked up.

Colin's bay is his daily driver, come rain or
shine throughout they year.This is a testament
on the reliability of his bus. The newly painted
chequered painted roof looks so cool as do
the truck style mirrors which provide so much
better vision from the original standard items.

Colin and his family use the bus as much as
possible and seem to go everywhere in it.
Colin's bus also has the belt trim which I think
just finishes off an early bay. Colin's trim is
original and mine is a reproduction item, but
they still look the same from a distance as the 

original belt trim seems to fit so much better.

Colin's '70 and my '69 parked up at the Charter
pub in Aylesbury. This photo looks as though
it was a nice evening for a club meet, but as
it's early March it was very cold and still gets
very dark early in the evening.

Sam and his partner Amy came along to the
club meet in his awesome looking Baja. This
very distinctive baja gets noticed every where
it goes, and always gets positive comments
from both the public and other VW owners.

The cool LED rear lights are a nice touch which
suit the cars look, as do those huge rear tyre's
which should provide plenty of traction when
this baja goes 'off road'

In typical baja style the engine is exposed and
gives the car a tough look. Those bobbed rear

wings not only provide plenty of ground clearance
but also help in the looks department.

As you would expect the baja sits high to give
plenty of ground clearance, The professionally
painted bodywork looks awesome and makes
this little baja really stand out from the others.

(just a shame about the parking Sam!!) 

A close up of the blue sparkling paint with
matching blue pinstripes around the main
blue sections. This really is a cool looking
 car.

Sam has the baja up for sale, it needs
a small amount of TLC, (but then again what
air-cooled VW doesn't !) If you fancy owning
this fantastic looking baja give Sam a call on
the above number and make him an offer and

tell him you saw the advert on the 
 'my1969vwmicrobus' blog.

We had a new visitor arrive this month, I think
his name was Andy and he had this very clean
T5 in white with tinted windows.

I didn't really have time to find out much about
him or his T5, but he was invited down by
another club member. I do like these T5's.

Looking along a line of buses at the Outcast VW
clubs monthly meet. Colin's red early bay in the
foreground, my velvet green bay in the middle
and John's 1960 mango split screen.

And now from the other end of the line.! The
camera flash makes the mango paint look 
much lighter than it really is on John's gorgeous
1960 split screen.

My 1969 VW microbus all painted and shiny at
the Outcast VW club monthly meet.

Colin's early bay and Sam's very distinctive '75
baja. Even though the attendance was low this
month we still had a good diversity of VW's.

It was a small turnout this month, but I think
that's because it was cold and dark. I'm sure
the attendance will pick up once the clocks go
forward an hour and we start having lighter and
warmer evenings.


So that was the March Outcast VW Club monthly
meet. Not the best attendance we have had at
a club meet, but still very enjoyable with some
good friends. The VW season kicks off in earnest
in a few weeks with Dub Aid over the weekend of
18th - 20 March and then the real season opener
for me, the Volksworld show over the weekend of
1st - 3rd April. I can't wait for the show season to 
start again as it seems like it's been a long cold 
Volkswagen-less winter.