The VolksWorld Show 2015 – Part 1
Words & Photos by Henry Phull
At Slam Sanctuary, we try and feature as many different car shows as we can physically get to. A couple of weekends ago saw the return of the infamous VolksWorld Show at Sandown Park in Esher. This is one of the big ones for the air-cooled community, much like Ultimate Dubs was for the usual sort of shows we attend. Anyway, I had planned to just go up to the show on the Sunday, but my mate Pipey asked me if I wanted a lift up with him on the Friday afternoon, as he had to drop off his car to put on the Rothfink stand. Why not, right? Plus, taking a Rotary powered Mk1 bodied Beetle panned vehicle, we were bound to be in for some odd looks here and there, given that VolksWorld is known to be a somewhat purist air-cooled show. A fun afternoon was on the cards…
We arrived at Sandown Park to some pretty incredible weather. Naturally, I had to get the camera out and start shooting everything immediately, once we’d unloaded the car of course.
The neat thing about arriving whilst everyone is still setting up, is that you get to witness a lot of the show cars actually driving around, which you just don’t see during the static show. Take a 1950’s Oval for example.. casual.
What’s better than a bit of patina in the evening sunset. Marc Kyle’s Karmann Ghia Lowlight was seriously cool.
Two Beetle’s caught my eye from the guys at The Lower Class, firstly Joe Riley’s late model sitting well on Cosmics.
But one of my favourite Beetle’s of the show had to be Niall Wright’s skirted and narrowed 1963 bug.
I loved the ob1 Karmann Ghia, narrowed and on BRM wheels. The patina on this car is to die for.
Surprisingly, another late bug grabbed my attention.. this one was ready for the RSVP stand, sitting proper low on another set of Cosmics.
I know this is only the first part of the VolksWorld coverage, but I’ve decided that this was my car of the show. Sure, Porsche 912’s have fast become a common sight in the air-cooled scene, and there are a lot tidier examples about, but this slightly rough example completely blew me away.
We’ve seen a few mouth watering splitty’s already, but Morgan Hall’s 1968 Westy was also looking pretty damn awesome, with banded rear wheels, narrowed front beam and air ride.
The DTA line up was starting to take shape with Si Medlicott’s latest purchase, a 1966 Porsche 912, along with John Keymer’s 1963 Turkis Green Beetle on Gas Burner’s.
Although tucked away a bit out of sight, once I spotted it I was drawn in by Simon Meakin’s absolutely stunning 1966 Beetle on Empi wheels.
As everyone was still setting up, it gave me the chance to shoot a few cars indoors. To those that have been to VolksWorld before, you’ll understand that taking photographs during the show is near enough impossible because of the crowds and barriers that are put up around the exhibiting cars.
This was a thing of pure beauty and something you do not see often, a coachbuilt Rometsch Cabriolet. Designed by Johannes Beeskow, these were built from 1951 to 1956 and nicknamed the ‘tin banana’.
This Beetle had a well deserved place on the turntable, the car has been built to near perfection. From the pan, interior retrim, chrome accessories, the engine and supercharger build, the paint job and the classic Fuch wheels to compliment it. The list goes on.. Clearly an incredible amount of time has gone into this. I recommend checking out @stevegee on Instagram to see more on the build. The final outcome is pure awesome.
I saw Jake Hilling’s 1965 Beetle a couple of times last year, but it was great to get a closer look at it this time around. He completely built and restored this car with his dad. It’s finished off nicely with a set of Ultra’s and Air Lift V2.
So that about wraps up the first part of our VolksWorld Show coverage, before the doors officially opened. Join us again very soon to check out the rest of the show when the weather unfortunately decides to turn worse. We’ve got some air-cooled porn from DTA, Rothink, German Folks, RSVP and more coming up.