GTI SPRING FESTIVAL
11th April 2010
Santa Pod Raceway, Wellingborough, Northants. NN29 7XA
01234 782828
www.vwaction.co.uk

Words and pics by Chris ‘Funkmaster Red’ Redford.

Although the name suggests this is a show with a niche audience, that presumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Each April Santa Pod Raceway near Northampton is swarmed with VWs of all shapes and sizes all coming to enjoy the show and either take part in or just to watch the drag racing action on the world famous strip.

It’s actually a show that welcomes all the current and past vehicles that come under the V.A.G marque. From classic Beetles to Golfs and the latest Audis, Seats and Skoda’s, everything that is related to Volkswagen is invited to take part.

Although only a one day affair, the show attracts a huge amount of interest and marks the first opportunity of the year for V.A.G fans to take part in drag racing exclusively amongst their peers.

I’ve been for several years in a row now and the show just keeps on getting bigger and better. This year was helped by a fantastic weather forecast and as soon as the gates opened at 8am, the cars started to pour in.

The show and shine filled up very quickly and by 11am there were around 200 cars lined up and being shined to death by their owners. The show operates a ‘Top 20’ award system which is the fairest way to ensure the most deserving cars walk away with trophies for their efforts.

The club area was also bursting and was filled to capacity with a huge variation of cars representing their various clubs.

Meanwhile, on the strip, rubber was being burnt all day long with the V.A.G only ‘Run What Ya Brung’. Trophies were awarded to the fastest cars in each of the classes and so people were doing their best to get in as many runs as possible especially because it was a lovely warm day and there was a helpful tailwind. The ‘fire up’ lane was packed all day.

The famous ‘Fireforce Jet Car’ wowed visitors with two sub-6 second passes during the afternoon and with a large number of traders plying their wares, there was plenty for the punters to see and do.

At the end of the afternoon, the trophies were handed out for the show and shine and the drag strip competition and they went to some very deserving participants. The number and quality of the cars on show meant the judges had a very tough job.

Janet Edwardson took top honours in the show and shine for her Lamborghini inspired Mk4 Golf and the main talking point of the day was Andy Waite running three sub-10 second quarter miles. The best was 9.8 seconds at 148 mph! The really crazy thing is that it’s a fully street legal car.

At the end of the afternoon, everyone who attended went home happy and looking forward to VAGfest on July 11th.

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VOLKSWORLD SHOW

Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey

March 27th & 28th 2010

volksworld.com

Words and pics by Chris ‘Funkmaster Red’ Redford.

The annual convergence on Sandown Park in Surrey by many thousands of VW fans marks the true start of the show season. Now in its 16th year, it is no surprise that it is so well attended as the show attracts some of the very best show cars from all over Europe and sometimes even further afield.

This year was no exception and over the weekend of the 27th-28th of March, the venue once again filled to capacity with some very delectable German metal and many eager punters who came to look and drool.

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The show has it all, from show cars that are examples of perfection to club stands, traders, a swapmeet and various displays, activities and demonstrations taking place throughout the weekend. There really is so much to take in that you can spend the whole weekend there and still not have seen it all.

As soon as you entered the main doors you were greeted by an original ‘Herbie’. Next to that, the newly revamped Volksworld Fridolin was on display and people could make a donation to charity to sit inside it and have their photo taken and then made into a replica front cover of the magazine. VW Heritage were also on hand to convert the giveaway Beetle into an Empi GTV replica over the course of the weekend. To one side was an artist creating paintings by dipping the tyres of remote control cars into paint and then driving them around on canvas.

When you left the entrance hall, you were immediately faced with the show cars. They were spread over 2 floors and this year, the variation and quality was breathtaking. There were too many to mention them all but the ones that stood out in my mind were the ‘Baja’d’ Brazilia, The Hammered Inc., roof chopped, split window Beetle, A Split powered by a mid mounted V8, a replica of a Tamiya Sand Scorcher, an insane New Beetle funny car, a ‘Steampunk’ inspired Split window Beetle and there was also a Hebmuller sat next to a custom hard top version. All of the above drove away with Top 20 awards for their efforts.

Outside, the SSVC put on their usual, excellent display and were joined by the Early Bay club and the T2D stand. The Type 2 Detectives had 3 of their best creations on display. The notorious ‘TV Bus’ was joined by their slammed Brazillia and the recently finished and stunning Mk 3 Golf which uses a Type 3 chassis and a Type 1 air-cooled engine to get it moving. This also won a well deserved Top 20 award, which is the first time a Golf had ever taken a prize at the show.

Outside, the club area was equally as busy with some excellent vehicles and inventive stands. ‘New Waves’ and ‘’The Panzer Paint Scrapers’ duelled it out once again with excellent displays and this year the former was the victor having supplied their own sound system to keep people entertained. The cars on display ranged from Bugs to Busses, Trekkers to 356’s and even some of the rarest VWs in the U.K namely an Australian Country Buggy and an Iltis.

After the show closed on the Sunday, the majority of people left with an exhausted smile on their faces. There were of course the usual online gripes over the following days concerning expensive food, a packed swapmeet and difficulty in parking but these are all a testament to how successful the show is. The Volksworld show is up there among the very best VW shows in the world and I’m already looking forward to 2011.

VOLKSWORLD 2010 WINNERS

Top 20

Stephane Dandeville – 1957 Cabriolet, Iris Blue, Belgium
Steve Collins – Orange Metalflake Buggy, Mark Dryden
Gregory Van Hillenbosch – Brown Squareback, Belgium
Shaun Knight – Champagne Edition Bus
Eric Roja – 1967 Cal Look
Ben Coates – 1969 Resto Cal Ghia
Christian Grundmann – 1949 Hebmuller, Germany
Barry Livel – Brown single cab, Holland
Bob Burrows – 13 window bus
Xavier Adam – Orange raised Brasilia, Belgium
Matt Balls – Aircooled Mk3 Golf
Rudy Olivencia & Eric Thon – New Beetle, France
Dave Harries – Rover V8 mid engined split bus
Tero Vilta – RestoCal cab, Finland
Walter Jellinek – Sand Scorcher Beetle, Bavaria
Richard Clark – Resto Split
Shrek – Das Oval, Beligium
Aurelio Papi – Made in Italy gasser, Rome
Matt Keene – Drag Beetle
The Williams Brothers – 1950 split Beetle custom

Visitors Choice
Tom Varkala – Marathon Beetle

Prosign Choice
Tom Varkala – Marathon Beetle

Kinky Mick’s Crown
Thomas Koch, Hammered Inc roof chopped Beetle

Footman James Best Club Stand
New Waves Club

Best of Show
Thomas Koch, Hammered Inc. Roof Chopped Beetle

By Chris ‘Funkmaster Red’ Redford.

My how time flies. This time last year I had just finished rusting up the bonnet on my New Beetle just in time for Dubfreeze. It seems I never learn as this year I spent the week before the show rushing my way towards completing another project in time to debut at the show.

For those who have never been, Dubfreeze is a huge event held in February each year. The Staffordshire showground is host to the event which has become a very popular show for people to dust off the winter cobwebs and get back into the swing of things and more importantly find those elusive parts needed for the projects that must be completed by the Spring.

It is more of a trade show than a car show but that does not stop stunning vehicles arriving in droves. There is a huge indoor hall on 2 levels which is filled up with Volkswagen related traders. From stickers to mugs to vehicle parts and accessories, everything is available. Add to that a small but well formed show and shine and a huge car park full of delectable metal, there is lots to see, do and buy.

The show and shine, although limited in size, covers both air and water-cooled VWs both in custom and stock form.

This year I decided to enter my Gurgel into the competition and so in December I booked one of the 36 places available. As I was organising The Koolest Krooze I had nearly forgotten that I had a lot to do to the Gurgel to make it show worthy and so with only a week until the event, I started working my way through a mammoth list of repairs. This included lots of minor jobs but also a re-trim of the rear seat and restoring a set of wheels.
Long story cut short, by Saturday evening the seats were re-trimmed, the wheels were blasted, painted, tyres fitted and bolted to the vehicle. I sat down in front of the television to check the weather report and saw that heavy snow was forecast for the West Midlands area the next morning.

I left Eastbourne at 3am. Within 100 meters of my house I found that my as yet untested new wheels were troublesome to say the least. The 10 inch banded steel wheels with monster off road tyres were rubbing on the arches as I went around a roundabout! I pulled over as soon as it was safe to do so and set to jacking up the car and changing back to the original wheels with just the light from my trusty Zippo to guide what I was doing.

Back on the road I soon realised why the event was called Dubfreeze as my windscreen was literally freezing over as I drove up the M23. By the time I was halfway up the M40 towards Birmingham I encountered the forecast snow. Of all the times for the forecaster to be correct! With no side windows or roof, the snow was coming at me from all angles. The motorways 3 lanes disappeared to one slush covered ‘track’. It was at this point that my windscreen wipers decided to pack in!

By the time I arrived at the venue I was stupidly cold. The fact that the Gurgel has no heating whatsoever was not a bonus.

Anyway, I changed the wheels back to the wide boys, washed the car down and set off to see if there were any bargains to be had. Luckily I met up with ‘Butty’ from Dubnuts and VZi who advised me on the best way to fix my wipers and so I then set to getting them back in working order for the journey home with a lot of help from other VZi members.

From Eastbourne it is 220 miles each way and in the cold, the 5 hour drive seems to take forever, it definitely seemed a much quicker journey in the New Beetle last year. However it was definitely worth it as a good chance to catch up with friends that you may not have seen since the shows finished last year. Add to that the cars to see and the chance to buy bits that you need (and lots more that you don’t) and it all stacks up as a very good day out.

Have I learnt my lesson about driving an unsuitable vehicle in the cold? No. I shall probably be taking the Gurgel over to Ninove in Belgium on the 14th March. Some people say I’m brave. I just think I’m stupid.

Words by Chris ‘Funkmaster Red’ Redford.

After the success of last years event I put myself forward to organise it again this year. The aim is to put on a show with a difference. The difference is that instead of a static show, there is a scavenger hunt which takes in some of the local scenery and poses questions about places you encounter on the way  round. The best part is that every penny raised goes to the Brads Cancer Foundation charity, a very deserving cause.

With the January snowfall, the event was postponed to the 7th February. The event opened for registration at 9am and slowly the car park filled up with participants who all paid a donation to the charity to take part. They were issued with a goody bag, a map, a programme and a quiz sheet. At 10.30am, they were allowed to leave and had 3 hours to find as many answers as they could. There was also a list of 50 items for them to find while out and about.

At 1pm the Hailsham Community Hall opened up for people to come back, hand in their quiz sheets for marking and have something to eat and drink and defrost. The cars were all arranged in the car park for the show and shine element to the show. With over 60 vehicles, there was a very good turnout and with over 20 trophies up for grabs in many different classes, the chances of winning one were good. People had travelled from as far away as Essex and Hampshire but had also come from all over the South East.

There was also a raffle and a charity auction with items generously donated by people from Volkszone, local VW clubs and local businesses. Golf+ and Camper and Commercial magazine both supplied subscriptions. The ’proper’ trophies were very kindly donated by Ivor Baker Awards and the rest were handmade by your truly.

At the end of the event everyone went away with a smile on their faces and the show had raised an impressive £1114 for Brads. Hopefully we shall see you there next year.