The last time I was at the Old James Cond Printer Works in Birmingham city centre was back in 2014 when DTA held the previous End of Season meet. If you were there, I’m sure that day will be imprinted in your memory just like it is mine. It was quite possibly the best car ‘meet’, or ‘gathering’, that I’ve ever attended, and that’s saying something, considering I am an avid BMW fanatic, not air-cooled! But if you’re a regular Slam Sanctuary reader, you’ll know we’re into all sorts here – oh, and the air-cooled scene do ‘slammed’ rather well! The DTA End of Season Meet brings together the best of the UK’s air-cooled scene, as well as a few heroes that made the trip over from Europe. It’s got to be the chilled vibe and incredible choice of venue that makes DTA different to everything else, with the run-down look of the ex-printer works suiting the sheer amount of patina’d cars, whilst equally complimenting those glossy restored ones, too! This also made it one of the most fun events to photograph, so I’ll let the images do the rest of the talking, enjoy…
Martin Hobé’s VW SP2
Mark Barrow’s Type2 early bay
Bobby Wilcox’s Oval
Adam Berry’s Karmann Ghia
Dave Pennell’s ’66 Beetle
Daniel Mandat’s Audi 100GL
Ryan Noon’s ’71 Beetle
’58 Type2 Mango bus
Steve Lawrie’s ’68 Beetle ‘vert
Jon Hancock’s Porsche 356 Outlaw
Andy Finch’s Karmann Ghia
Ned Faux’s VW Brasilia
ob1brand’s Karmann Ghia
Sam Trigg’s ’57 Oval
Even though there were still awards to be won, the overall vibe of this meet was different…. Everyone seemed to have a respectful view on the whole shindig, which makes a change from the snobbish few that you can sometimes get at the usual car shows, and those only in it for the trophies. It was clear to me that everyone at DTA was truly obsessed with the cars. With no traders or market stalls (only coffee and food to keep everyone going!), it was like a back-to-basics car meet and a perfect opportunity for friends to catch-up for a few hours. As before, there’s no decision whether the End of Season Meet will come back, but I sure hope it does. Understandably, it takes a hell of a lot of effort, planning, and funding to put on something like this… and to make it free entry. Cheers to Si Medlicott and the rest of DTA, you all smashed it again.
BONUS GALLERY
