RTR - VW Drive-In Movie Night. (part 2 of 3)

Welcome to part 2 of 3 about the RTR at the movies. Back on the 25th September 2016 I took part in the first 'Run the Ring' VW charity cruise, around the M25 London Orbital motorway to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer trust. The aim of the event was to have the longest convoy of Volkswagen's ever seen on the M25 and in the process to raise some much needed money for this worthwhile charity. The whole event was organised primarily by John Emberton (along with a fantastic few others) and was to say the least a huge success with hundreds upon hundreds of Volkswagen's of all descriptions attending the cruise and rising in excess of £10,000 in the process. Following on from this huge success John then organised another charity event, 'Run the Ring at the movies' to help raise money for the charity 'Scotty's Little Soldiers' that helps to raise money for bereaved British Armed Forces Children. (You can check out their website here: http://scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/ ) John somehow acquired a huge empty warehouse very near Heathrow which can hold in excess of 60 vehicles in which to hold a drive in movie night for all the 'Ringers' that attended the charity M25 cruise. John and his team quickly arranged a massive screen to watch the movie on, top chefs who normally cater for executive airlines, a raffle, a tuck shop, RTR merchandise, tombola and of course donations on the night. The RTR team also arranged a special guest appearance from a Hollywood movie star and had even arranged a fly by from a British Airways 747 jumbo jet.... (The fact that the venue was less than 1 mile from Heathrow airport and in a direct line with the runway and the take off flight path was a pure coincidence.!) The film for the night was kept a secret, but there could only be one film to watch at a Volkswagen drive in movie night, right?, I had arranged to meet my friends Dave and Angela at the venue, who along with their daughter Louise were also looking forward to a fun packed afternoon / evening. The event ran from 12.00pm - 9.00pm and due to everyones generosity from buying raffle tickets, buying things from the tuck shop, and the RTR merchandise the event raised £2500 for Scotty's Little Soldiers. A huge well done to John and the team (Amanda and Ben to name just two) for arranging the event and a special well done to everyone who attended on the day and who gave so generously for such a worthwhile cause. The review continues as I wander around the warehouse looking at the vehicles and chatting to the owners.
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.

I first saw this stunning 1958 Swiss army radio
communication bus, that has now been converted
into a top quality camper, at the 'Run the Ring' VW
charity cruise back in September last year. I took
some photos of it then but was pleased to see it
again at the RTR movie night so i could get some
 more photos as this really is a gorgeous bus. It
belongs to James and his partner Andrea who I 
met for the first time at this event and they were 
both so friendly and just loved talking about the 
old '58 who they have named 'The Duke'

That gorgeous shiny Ducati Red paint is the result
of a bare metal respray some 4 years ago, but it
is that good it could have been painted last week.
At the same time the Duke had a new 1776cc
engine (built by Luke of Terry's Beetles, who own
the Porsche engined original Herbie in last weeks
 blog review) the bus also has an electronic ignition, 
external oil filter, with a deep sump and fitted with
 twin Webber 45 IDF's carburetors.

To handle the larger engine the Duke needs
to be able to stop so he has been fitted with 
Porsche 944 disc brakes at each corner.  James
 recently overhauled the brakes which included 
new pads, discs, seals and rear brake lines.
Just look at that reflection on the back of the Duke.

The Duke is rolling on replica gas burner wheels
and new shocks and has an IRS. The Duke still
has the original working semaphore direction
indicators. James has a few plans for the bus
which include safari screens and adjustable
spring plates to lower the rear end a little to 
match the height of the front and maybe some 
new wheels in the near future. I do like the
reflection of David's blue and white split screen
(who was parked 3 rows back) in the side panel. 

The interior has a bespoke camping interior with
a rock and roll bed, plenty of cupboard storage,
and a childs ISO point behind the drivers seat.
(from this photo it looks a bit messy inside but 
James and Andrea were both busy cleaning 
the outside of the Duke as I was taking these 
photos!)

Not a very good photo of the Duke's cab, but I
can tell you he has a full width leather bench seat
with a 4 point childs harness as Jame's son
rides shotgun when he goes out in the bus. The 
Duke still has some of its original features from it 
army service days that include, internal signage,
 grenade bars, map table and map pocket. 

A close up of the Duke's flawless red paint that
looks as fresh today as it did when it was painted 
4 years ago. 

You can see on the corner panels just how nice
and shiny the bright red paint is on the Duke.
This cool photo shows the contrast between
the bright red and the deep blue paint of the T5. 

A close up of the Duke's door decals. If you 
attend any Volkswagen show's this season and
see the Duke, I strongly recommend you go take
a long close look, as you won't be disappointed.

This is how the Duke looked before it's amazing
transformation into the show winning standard
bus it is today. The old adage about the ugly 
ducklings turning into beautiful swans comes 
to mind !

Mid afternoon in the huge warehouse that John
acquired for the movie night. It does look from
this photo that the place looks half empty, but this
was a BIG warehouse! Everyone was very chilled 
and relaxed either cleaning their ride or just sitting 
around chatting. I have to say I was pleasantly 
surprised how friendly all the 'ringers'
were, it was just like one big family.

This gorgeous 1963 split screen looked fantastic
in the winter sunshine. The white over sealing
wax red ( I think) paint with the white painted 
steel wheels helped to make this lovely bus 
stand out. 

This lovely old split belongs to Fiona who has
had the bus for 4 years and uses it everyday
as her daily driver, which for comfort is why the
bus still rides at the standard height and hasn't
as yet been lowered.

Fiona has christened her bus 'Yucky Doo Dah'
and despite the name, Fiona insists the bus is
male, it's just that (in her words) " he's just in
 touch with his feminine side".

This handsome bus originally came over the
pond from Oregon, U.S.A. and has a 1914cc
all steel turbo engine, although the turbo isn't
fitted as yet as the bus still has the original drum
brakes! Fiona quite happily cruises at 60 MPH
in her bus but admitted that once whilst she
was engrossed in some dance music on the
radio she let the bus creep up to 75 MPH.

Inside 'Yucky Doo Dah' there is a new soild oak
interior and all the upholstry has been retrimmed
by Bromsgrove Auto Trimmers so you just know
it's going to be well done. This really is a nice
solid and straight bus that Fiona loves to the
point that no-one else is allowed to drive it, ever!

My names sake Davyd Clark, came along to the 
movie night in his 1991 twin slider T25. This 
awesome bus sits this low thanks to a having
a Rayvern hydraulic suspension set up, although
Davyd still wants the bus to sit lower!

The power comes from a 2.5l Subaru motor
so you know it's not going to hang around. The
bus was painted about a year ago in that lovely
grey colour for use at Davyd's brothers wedding
who used it as a wedding car.. at least he got
to the church in style and on time.! Davyd has a 
few trips over to Europe planned for this year 
including Le Bug Show and of course taking
part in the RTR 2 charity cruise around the M25. 

Davyd is a member of the Wolfsburg Bus Crew
club on facebook and proudly displays his gold
coloured sticker in the window.

I did publish a photo of this lovely green and
white single cab in part 1 of this review, but
as it's such a nice bus here is another photo.
This gorgeous bus is owned by Simon Carey
who not only owns this gorgeous split but also
the building the event was held in, and owns the
catering company that provided all the mouth
 watering food available to the the RTR 'ringers'.

Looking down one of the rows of Volkswagens
parked up at the RTR at the movies. I think there
must have been about 60 / 70 vehicles inside
the warehouse and more parked up outside.

The life size decals of Vincent and Jules from
the cult movie 'Pulp Fiction' on the back of this
super bright white T4 caught my eye as it's one
of my favourite films.

A better look at this bus. This really was a lovely
clean bus and those custom wheels with just a
hint of colour helped to make this bus stand out.

This super straight 1972 Devon (?) looked great
with it's white over jet black paint. The sides of
this lovely bus were perfectly straight as you can
see from the almost perfect reflections. The custom
 chrome nerf bars at the front looked trick. 

The chrome bumper, tinted windows and after-
market wheels all helped to make this old bus
stand out.

Meet 'Ruby' a 1971 high top white over red bay
window. This lovely old bus looked pretty much
standard apart from the chrome headlight peaks
and the twin spot lights. 

This was a very nice clean bus and these high
top buses are getting quite sought after as they
provide so much more room than tin tops buses.
I do like to see a bay riding at stock height. The
owners have come prepared with their blow up
sofa to watch the movie on in comfort !

The venue for the drive-in movie night was only
about 1 mile from Heathrow Airport and directly
in line with the take off flight path. Surprisingly
the aircraft noise wasn't a problem, and the
bonus was that we got to see some low flying
aircraft as they took off for their destination.

This is the huge empty warehouse that Simon
owns, and who allowed John to use it for the 
RTR movie night. It was just perfect for the job.  

I pleased to see this lovely white over blue
Westfalia Continental arrive at the venue as it
meant I would finally get to meet one of my
Volkswagen facebook friends. This bus which
although is a '72 was actually registered in '74
 and belongs to a pleasant guy called Rich Coxhill
who runs the Wolfsburg Bus Crew Facebook page.
You can check out the WBC Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/684035321730942/
(you may need to copy and paste the link)

This lovely bus has only had 2 owners since
new and has only done 62,000 miles on the
original 1600cc engine. The bus still has the
complete original Continental interior with a
few modern twists that Rich has added. The
very distinctive spare wheel cover was a present
from Rich's mum who crocheted the item after
seeing photos of hot rods in Singapore. (apparently
the trend out there is to crochet covers for the
bumpers of their hot rods!) 

Rich has christened his bus 'Margo' who sits
at stock height, which in my humble opinion
always looks best. Rich makes regular trips to
Devon in Margo so she's reliable too.

The official Wolfsburg Bus Crew sticker in the
rear side window of Margo. Why not check out
their Facebook page and maybe join the club.?


So that was the 2nd part of this review all about the 
RTR at the movies. Next Saturday you can see the 
third and final instalment where you can see a
 gorgeous Brazilian split screen as well as many other 
VW's, a pimped up Scania truck and a hollywood star!
So be sure to come back next week.
Finally a big thanks to Rich Coxhill from the Wolfsburg
Bus Crew for his help and contributions in this review.

RTR - VW Drive-In Movie Night. 1 of 3

Back on the 25th September 2016 I took part in the first 'Run the Ring' VW charity cruise, around the M25 London Orbital motorway to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer trust. The aim of the event was to have the longest convoy of Volkswagen's ever seen on the M25 and in the process to raise some much needed money for this worthwhile charity. The whole event was organised primarily by John Emberton (along with a fantastic few others) and was to say the least a huge success with hundreds upon hundreds of Volkswagen's of all descriptions attending the cruise and rising in excess of £10,000 in the process. Following on from this huge success John then organised another charity event, 'Run the Ring at the movies' to help raise money for the charity 'Scotty's Little Soldiers' that helps to raise money for bereaved British Armed Forces Children. You can check out their website here:
http://scottyslittlesoldiers.co.uk/  John somehow acquired a huge empty warehouse very near to Heathrow Airport which that hold in excess of 60 vehicles in which to hold a drive in movie night for all the 'Ringers' that attended the charity M25 cruise. John and his team quickly arranged a massive screen to watch the movie on, top chefs who normally cater for executive airlines, a raffle, a tuck shop, RTR merchandise, tombola and of course donations on the night. The RTR team also arranged not only a special guest appearance from a big Hollywood movie star but had even arranged a fly by from a British Airways 747 jumbo jet.... (The fact that the venue was less than 1 mile from Heathrow airport and in a direct line with the take off flight path was a pure coincidence.!) The film for the night was kept a secret, but there could only be one film to watch at a Volkswagen drive in movie night, right?, I had arranged to meet my friends Dave and Angela at the venue, who along with their daughter Louise were also looking forward to a fun packed afternoon / evening. The event ran from 12.00pm - 9.00pm and due to everyone's generosity from buying raffle tickets, buying things from the tuck shop, and the RTR merchandise the event raised £2500 for Scotty's Little Soldiers. A huge well done to John and the team (Amanda and Ben to name just two) for arranging the event and a special well done to everyone who attended on the day and who donated so generously for such a worthwhile cause. 
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.

I arrived at the venue about 12.30 and found
that David and Angela were already there and 
parked up inside. This is David's super cool 
1966 white over blue split screen which David 
has owned for 10 years. In David's own words 
about his bus he says 'it's used and enjoyed, 
and it's definitely not a trailer queen', and this 
is true as both David and Angela have had
 many trips over to Europe in the bus.

Those nice BRM wheels were refurbished and
painted by David, and suit the bus perfectly.
It has a 'Red 9' front and rear suspension with
disc brakes all round. This bus also has a larger
than normal fuel tank for long range driving and
Porsche 944 front seats for as David says 'they
 are there for comfort over distance'. The bus
also has a full Zig 240v split charging system.

Power comes from a 1995cc engine with a long
ratio gearbox for motorway cruising, (which would
explain how we got home in double quick time
after the event!) and a hydrologic clutch. 

My 1999 camouflaged T4 parked up at the
movies next to David's '66 split screen. It was
early afternoon and the place was still filling
up with vehicles. To keep us occupied they
displayed photo's of all the vehicles that took
part in the 'RTR' around the M25. You can just
make out the image in the centre of the back
wall.

A better photo of my T4. I would have liked to
taken my 1969 bay, but as I needed to get back
home quickly after the event I decided to take
the T4. I followed David and Angela on the way
home and David didn't hang about in his old '66,
and we often went speeds that stretched the
 legs of my 2.5tdi T4.!

Looking down the side of my T4 towards the
big screen. The screen was high enough to
see when either sitting on camping chairs next
to your vehicle or if you sat inside your vehicle.
I had the brown high top T25 in front of me, but
it didn't obstruct my view at all.

This 'original' Herbie belongs to 'Terry's Beetles'
and is the real deal. The car was built by Empi
Racing of Riverside, California for the 1969 Walt
Disney film, 'The Love Bug'. This bug still has
the 'H2' sticker in the glovebox which denotes
it was a Porsche engined race car. Each Herbie
built for the films had a different 'H' number to
identify what the car was built for. I.E drunk effect
car (H6) , rear driver car (H7), split front and
 rear car (H5) 2 cars, etc.

This Herbie is actually a 1953 ragtop from the
windscreen backwards but has a 1960 front
end. Herbie even has his own facebook page: 
https://www.facebook.com/TheRealHerbieH2

As this Herbie was a 'H2' car built for the race
scenes, it is equipped with Porsche finned
brakes, Koni shocks, superior rear control arms
and an uprated anti roll bar.

This two tone cherry red and white T5 looked
immaculate. The two tone paint gives this bus
a clean sleek look and those aftermarket wheels
look great and compliment the paint perfectly.

This bus was one of many vehicles that attended
the movie night that still had the original RTR
sticker on it. I have both mine on my workshop
windows.

These guy's got to the venue early and got
front row seats, although it didn't really matter
as the layout was so good you could see the
screen wherever you were parked. There were
some really nice vehicles that attended and this
is just a few of them.

Another sleek looking T5 was this white one
with contrasting grey trim. This lovely bus belongs
to PDubz, (http://www.pdubz.co.uk/) The black 
of the side windows looks great against the 
bright white paint. I did like the gloss black wheels 
with the big chunky tyres, this really was a nice 
bus.

A neat interior featured a slide out cooking
unit, storage units for gas and water and those
lovely blue roof light panels. This gorgeous bus 
is now up for sale for offers close to £20,000
($25,000) I wonder if they will do a straight 
swap for my camouflaged T4.. no,probably not!

This bright orange T5 caught my eye as it really
stood out against the white walls of the unit.
The contrasting black of the bonnet bra and the
glass side / rear windows really made this orange
paint look super bright.

You can see just how much this bus stands
out. The black detailing really helps to make
this bus look something special.

From one extreme to another was this matte
green T4 with rust effect paint. This cool looking
bus looks as though it had been lowered which
with the paint effect helped it to stand out.

I did like this RAT looking bus. The paint effect
had been very well carried out and looked very
authentic. This really was a cool looking bus.

This lovely old 1987 blue and white high top
T25 looked like a nice solid bus. I do like the
T25 and when they have the high top, well
that's even better. Judging by the vents in the
side I'm guessing this has the full camping
interior. 

A few years ago these T25's were seen as
un-cool, but today they are just a cool as any 
split screen or bay window, and I'd certainly 
have one like this tomorrow if I could.

Another pair of lovely looking buses. I did like
the dark blue colour on the T4.

This gorgeous  T5 belongs to Simon Carey who 
owns the building that was used to host the event. 
This really is one of those buses where 'no 
expense has been spared' and which has too 
many features and accessories to list, so I'll 
just let you take a good long look...

This dashboard and door cards were finished
in a lovely light tan suede type material that
looked and felt luxurious. (don't worry Simon
I didn't leave any finger marks!) The custom
 trimmed seats in matching colours also 
looked very classy and comfortable.

In the back the rock and roll bed had also been
trimmed in the custom colour matched material.
The units looked very well made and fitted with
with everything you could need to go camping.

The rear of Simon's T5 was to the same high
standard. The clear rear light lenses give the
rear of this bus a clean fresh look. 

This gorgeous sliver T5 caught my eye, it wasn't
flash or fancy but just a clean and straight looking
bus. The silver and black work so well together
and the slight hint of the colour red on the
wheels is just enough to make this bus stand out.

Another very clean and straight bus was this
all white T5. Again nothing flash or fancy just
a lovely looking bus.

This High top 1978 late bay looked great in
its ivory over dark green colour scheme, which
gave the bus an older than it is look. This really
was a nice straight bus as you can see from the
reflection down the side of the bus.

I liked the small details on this bus, like the
chrome headlight peaks and the colour coded
 spare wheel cover and bumper trim.

This very shiny red T4 looked good with it's
alloy wheels and low profile tyres. This was a
really nice solid looking bus that looked so much
better for being lowered. 

The organisers had also booked a mobile DJ,
who used the front end of a beetle as a deck.
This was a really cool set up, especially for a
venue full of Volkswagens.

The DJ went under the name of 'Bug Beats'
and provided us with a good variety of music
for most of the day, and he even got all the
children involved with dancing and generally
 having fun.

There was a mobile bar at the venue, in the form
of a lovely single cab split screen pick up, that 
proved very popular with the older generation! 

This bright green and white cross over bay
belongs to Steve who has christened the
bus 'Tallulah'. I think Steve uses this as a
daily driver. I did like the twin amber spot
lights with what looked like 356 grilles.

The pink interior lighting matched the pink
flowers on the bodywork which gave the bus
a very cozy feel.

With all those appliances one thing is for sure,
Steve won't be going hungry or thirsty! This
really was a very well equipped bus.

This is a really solid and straight looking bus.
Tallulah also has a pair of red spot lights with
 the 356 grilles on the rear bumper which again
are very cool looking accessories.

Just a random photo looking along one of the
rows of Volkswagens parked up at the RTR
movie night. 

This gorgeous pearl white 1969 Westfalia was
stunning. This bus still had the original factory
fitted Westfalia campmobile interior although the
present owner has carefully removed the fridge /
sink unit to create more room for the family. It
has a Riveria pop top roof installed by a previous
owner which looked great. 

The bus was imported from Texas back in 2012
and before that the bus lived in Colorado. The
present owner is only the 3rd owner! The engine
is a 1641cc single port motor with twin Webber
34 ICT carburetors and a vintage speed exhaust.

Just a decal that should be compulsory on the
majority of bay window buses, definitely on the
back of my 1969 microbus!.

The mystery machine also attended the movie
night in the form of this cool looking T5. We
even had Scooby Doo walking round having
his photo taken with the younger participants.

Another working single cab split screen at the
venue was this gorgeous white over green
beauty. This was used to display all the mouth
watering desserts that were available.

The caterers were of a high class and used to
providing food for executive airlines so a bunch
of children and a bigger bunch of young at heart
adults must have been quite a culture shock
for them! The variety of hot food was good and
catered for most tastes and well received by all.

Just a random photo looking along a line of
Volkswagens at the Run the Ring Drive-In
movies. If you look closely you might just 
be able to make out my camouflaged T4 
at the back.!

This 1983 T25 was parked up in front of me,
and looked like a nice honest bus. This bus
had a very retro colour scheme that suits this
old bus.

This was a nice straight solid looking bus. I do
like these T25's and the more I see of them at
shows the more I think I'd like one.

This stunning arrow straight beige Jetta had
been seriously lowered and had the illusion
of being even lower to be due to those low 
profile tyres.

You can see the stance this lovely old Jetta
had from this side profile photo. This car was
so clean I was scared to get too close to it!

I didn't manage to have a chat to the owner,
but hopefully I'll see it again at another show
sometime and manage to get some more
information about this gorgeous car.

So that was part 1 of the RTR drive-in movie
night. Next Saturday is the 2nd instalment
where you can see a lovely 1958 Swiss Army
radio bus, named 'The Duke' and many more
quality Volkswagens that attended this amazing
event, so be sure to come back next Saturday.