Saturday 27 May 2017

Big Bang VW festival 2017 (part 4 of 4)

This weeks blog review is the fourth and final review about the annual Big Bang VW camper and bus show which was held at the world famous Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire over the weekend of 21st - 23rd April 2016. This huge Volkswagen festival at the home of the FIA European drag racing championships seems to get bigger and better every year and is billed as the friendliest VW show on the U.K calendar, despite the high octane drag racing and two live music arenas. This festival is a laid back affair and very family friendly. The big bang weekend consists of 3 days of non stop action on the drag strip, including (RWYB) Run What You Brung, music and various types of entertainment every day / night, show and shine, fun fair, monster truck display, jet car, and plenty more to keep both adults and the younger children occupied all weekend. The Big Bang VW festival is a local show for me, being only 40 miles away from my hometown of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire so it was nice leisurely drive over to Northamptonshire on the Saturday morning. The blog continues as I wander around Santa Pod admiring all the quality Volkswagens.
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.


To start this weeks blog we have this lovely old
single cab split screen pick up with the coolest
makeshift camping unit on the back.

I don't know the origins of the covered unit or how 
they managed to squeeze it onto the bed of the
 pick up, but it did look good. I loved the O.G. paint 
and the real patina on this old bus.

A close up of the back of the unit with the louvred
windows. It looks like the whole back of the unit
opens up for access as you can make out the
hinges on the left and the period ivory coloured 

door handle on the right.

I just love those old chunky tyres.The bodywork
has seen better days but it just adds character.

From one split screen pick up to another only this
time it's a slammed crew cab with a very narrow
front beam that keep the front wheels tucked under
the cab.

This low bus really did look cool with it's faded
matte Dove blue (I think) paint. I also liked the
canvas over the rear frame hoops.

As this bus had the safari screens open it would
have been rude of me not to take a photo of the
inside. This does look like a very nice place to sit
and cruise away the miles.

A similar coloured early 1960's split screen panel
van was the next vehicle that caught my eye. I do
like panel vans, and this one that had been lowered
and sporting a narrowed front beam was no exception.

The interior was unexpected... it was finished to
look like a wild west saloon.

A better look inside. The effect was really good
and made a nice change to see the owner had
used their imagination to create something from
the normal camping interiors.

You can see just how straight and clean this old
panel van was from this photo. You can also see
how deep those banded rear wheels are!

This down in the weeds 11 window split screen
in what looks like Sea blue and white caught my
eye due to it's low stance and that very narrow
front beam with the polished Fuchs style wheels.

This really was a nice clean and straight bus. I
do like that blue colour that seems to suit a split
screen bus.

This very low and very patina'd oval window bug
stood out from the crowd with it's rough and ready
look.

The whole top half of this old bug had lots of
real patina, not just the odd patch here and there
but patina that covered all the roof, bonnet, tops
of the wings and deck lid.

The interior looked to be pretty much stock, even
the door cards.. or whats left of them.

You can see just how much patina this old bug
had, but that wasn't the main body feature on this
old oval. This bug was riddled with....

... bullet holes! possibly from a shot gun judging
by the cluster of holes. These may look like the
fake bullet hole decals you can buy, but just to prove
these are real bullet holes...

...On the opposite side of the car was the very
prominent indentations of where the bullets almost
came through the other side.

This slammed sky blue early 1960's beetle was
a cool looking dub. This bug had been lowered
so much the floor pan was almost sat on the floor.
The opening rear windows, fox tail handing from
the antenna and swan neck mirrors were all neat
looking accessories that suited the car so well.

The early tail lights with all red lenses and the old
period deck rack, complete with old suitcase 

added to the cars cool look.

The only thing better that a panel van is a sign
written panel van, and this 1958 panel proves
my point. I've seen this van at many shows and it
still looks as good today as it did when I first saw it.

The 'Roo' bars of the front and that massive
wrapped exhaust sticking out the back helped to
make this cool van stand out.

This is 'crack bus charlie', she's a 1970 U.S import 
form Jackson, Mississippi. The original owner
 had the bus for many years before handing it to 
his son who had a serious crack problem. The
bus was then traded for some drugs to some 
dealers who were going to customise it and take
 it apart. 

Thankfully the bus was saved and imported to the 
U.K. around 6 years ago where the present owners 
saw it advertised on e-bay. I just love those old
retro stripes down the side.

This gorgeous split screen panel van caught my
eye mainly due to it's patina and of course the
low stance and the narrowed front beam amongst
everything else.

The real sun burnt patina covered almost all of
the roof and looked great. 

This awesome split screen caravan creation
stood out from the other buses as it was just so
different. I'm not sure how the owner mated a
caravan onto a split screen chassis, but I'm glad
they did as it looks fantastic.

From the back you'd never imagine that it's a split
screen bus. The ultra low stance adds to this
campers appeal as do those massive banded
steel wheels.

A close up of the banded rear wheels to show
just how deep they really are!

The cab of the split caravan could be described
as 'work in progress'... I just hope the owner
doesn't change it too much as it looks good
as it is.

As I was heading back to my bus to go home
this gorgeous gloss black oval window bug
cruised towards me. I had to get a photo of this
lovely clean bug, the low stance with the cream
coloured steel wheels looked great against the
jet black bodywork.

So that was my 4 part review of this years Big
Bang VW Festival. Overall it was yet another
fantastic event and well worth attending, either
for the day or the whole weekend. Next weeks
review is all about the Stanford Hall show so

be sure to come back next Saturday.

Saturday 20 May 2017

Big Bang VW festival 2017 (part 3 of 4)

This weeks blog review is part three of four reviews all about the annual Big Bang VW camper and bus show which was held at the world famous Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire over the weekend of 21st - 23rd April 2016. This huge Volkswagen festival at the home of the FIA European drag racing championships seems to get bigger and better every year and is billed as the friendliest VW show on the U.K calendar, despite the high octane drag racing and two live music arenas. This festival is a laid back affair and very family friendly. The big bang weekend consists of 3 days of non stop action on the drag strip, including (RWYB) Run What You Brung, music and various types of entertainment every day / night, show and shine, fun fair, monster truck display, jet car, and plenty more to keep both adults and the younger children occupied all weekend. The Big Bang VW festival is a local show for me, being only 40 miles away from my hometown of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire so it was nice leisurely drive over to Northamptonshire on the Saturday morning. The blog continues as I wander around Santa Pod admiring all the quality Volkswagens.
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.


To start this weeks blog we have one of the nicest
split screen buses on the VW scene at the moment, 
(that I've seen anyway!) This is a 1958 LHD Swiss 
Army radio communication bus. The gorgeous bright
red paint may look fresh but the bus underwent a
bare metal respray over 4 years ago. It's not only me
who think this bus is nice, as it's already been featured 
in the S.S.V.C. (Split Screen Van Club) club magazine
and also in VW Camper and Commercial magazine.

This bus not only looks gorgeous, it's also very 
solid and has never been welded!. The engine
is a very respectable 1776cc unit with Porsche 944 
disc brakes on all four corners to help stop the bus.
The wheels are Gas Burner replicas although the
owner James, says these are soon to be changed.

Talking of nice split screen buses this 1967 all
white example looked gorgeous. I did like the fact
that it looked original with it's high ride height and
those lovely painted steel wheels with white wall
tyres.

This imported bus really was so clean and tidy
and the turret top with twin roof racks finished
off the look perfectly. The check curtains also had
a period look about them.

Another 1967 vehicle I spotted was this stunning
dark blue bug. This slammed bug looked lovely
with it's Fuchs style wheels and being so low. How
perfectly straight is that reflection in the drivers 
door?

You can see just how low this bug is from this
angle, the narrowed front beam add to this cars
cool look.

One of my Facebook friends Paul, attended the 
show in his black and flamed 1998 T4, that he 
has christened 'Betty the Bitch' as Paul has a
liking for Betty Boop! The van has an old skool 
hot rod theme with the flame paint job and
 the red painted steel wheels.

Betty the Bitch is so recognisable and often gets
complimentary comments/ Paul painted the bus
himself including the flames.

At these shows you do see some weird and
 wonderful creations and this low rider push bike 
caught my eye. I watched as the owner rode past 
and I have to say it did look hard work peddling 
that bike!

This early 1960's RAT look splitty looked cool
with it's patina paint and having been lowered
so much. The narrow front beam ensure the
front wheels are tucked right under the cab.

This really was cool looking bus that looked just
about right from every angle.

Parked alongside the above split screen was
another RAT look splitty of similar vintage. The
RAT look is still massive over here in the U.K.
and it's easy to see why.

This bus has also been slammed and also has
a narrowed front beam. I did like that very retro
full length roof rack which suited the bus perfectly.

The British RAT look in all it's glory. A pair of
lovely RAT look splits at Big Bang VW show.

As I walked along the row of display vehicles I
noticed another pair of RAT look buses, this time
an early single cab pick up and a late bay.

I do like the single cab split screen especially
when they look this nice. This early SC oozed
patina and looked so much nicer for the fact
that it was riding at what looks like stock height.

I did like the look of this bus and the fact that it
had the hoops and canvas over the bed, which
is quite rare to see. This lovely bus had just the
right amount of patina paint over the Dove blue
(or similar colour) original paint.

The second of the RAT look buses was this 1972
late bay. I did like the patchwork paint and the
painted Maltese cross on the door. The narrowed
 front beam add to this buses low slammed look.

This really was a nice bus, the opening rear screen
looked cool. Although this bus had a ratty look,
it was actually quite solid.

No comment from me needed as the decal on
the rear wheel arch says it all!

This old skool gasser style caddie looked great
with it's black and flamed paint job. This really
did look like an out and out racer.

Looking up into the engine bay, I couldn't see
what motor the caddy had, but suffice to say it
was a V8 of some description.

High riding front end with big and little wheels,
this really looked good and so old skool.

From the side you can see the caddy in all it's
gasser glory. I would have liked to have seen this
run down the 1/4 mile, but if it did run, I missed it.

This stunning all white 1960's Karmann Ghia
looked fantastic in the sunshine. The KG has
been lowered and has what looks like a narrow
front beam.

This really was a lovely straight and clean car,
and the chrome sparkled in the sunshine.

The last vehicle in this weeks blog is this lovely
slammed 1969 early bay crew cab pick up. This
bus really has been slammed and the super narrow
front beam adds to the overall look.

This old bus had what looked like the original
paint which was just starting to show it's age, and
it looked great. The canvas cover over the pick up
bed was a neat sought after accessory.

Next weeks blog will be the fourth and final instalment
on the Big Bang VW show 2017, and you will be
able to see plenty more bugs and buses including
a lovely patina'd beetle with a very unusual feature!
so be sure to come back next Saturday.