Words & Photos by Henry Phull
Continuing on from Part 1, I arrived again at Sandown Park in Esher for ‘day two’ of The VolksWorld Show and it was as I had feared, the good weather I experienced back on the Friday evening had completely disappeared. It was back to the standard British dreariness then, oh well… I was still looking forward to seeing the stands all set up and ready to check out more cars that had arrived on the Saturday, which I missed. As a photographer I adore shooting air-cooled cars, because of all the small details and mostly the natural patina which thankfully still look in place during a rainstorm.
I’ll start off with the Rothfink stand, which had a very cool variation of cars on display, take ‘Macy’, Matt Rudd’s ’63 Beetle which always grabs my attention with a 6″ narrowed beam, plus those smoothies and white walls certainly do justice to the black paintwork.
How can I forget the ‘Rothink Razor’, Craig Johnston-White’s ’63 Type 32 Razor Edge, still rocking the original paint, narrowed and lowered to a respectable ride height on a set of Cosmic’s.
If you want to be scared to death, take a ride in Pipey’s Mk1 Golf, which sits on a Beetle pan and is powered by a race-built 13b Rotary engine with 250bhp, oh and it’s still on the standard Beetle drum brakes!
Originally a Norwegian ambulance, Jason Cooper’s 1963 High Top Splitscreen looks nuts, even in these dreary conditions it’s a real head turner for the Rothink brand.
These two are certainly different, with loads of awesome patina, Marc Kyle’s Lowlight Karmann Ghia and Dan Jacobs’ 1963 Ragtop Beetle which is sitting on 17″ Randar wheels.
I’ll continue the out-of-the-ordinary theme with Andy Rudd’s jaw dropping T25 Transporter pick up, to most people’s amazement it’s completely static on Borbet A wheels.
The guys from DTA put on a stunning display as usual, with Si Medlicott’s ’66 Porsche 912 which was recently imported from the US, a beautiful example and colour.
Parked up alongside was John Keymer’s ’63 Beetle in Turkis Green on Gas Burner wheels.
I loved Matty Armstrong’s splitscreen bus, that patina!
But one bus that seemed to get a great deal of attention throughout the weekend was Mark Barrow’s incredible early bay ‘Adventure wagen’ slammed by Evil Ben’s on air and featuring a beautiful retrim by Waboo Automotive. This is one seriously cool bus.
RSVP’s stand really took my breath away, their cars are always on that next level, and this year was no different. Pete’s Oval on BTR Racing wheels being a highlight.
I can’t forget James Murtough’s insane ’49 Standard on Fumagalli’s.
Paul Pace’s ’59 Beetle was also sitting extremely well, narrowed of course and on a set of RDW wheels.
As far as patina goes, David Hall’s splitty has some of the nicest I’ve seen. A set of Sprintstars finishes this split off nicely.
I loved the colour of Matt Dudley’s Notchback, and the Erco’s suit it flawlessly.
Stefan Rossi has quite a collection of cool cars, but this time he had the ‘Vert out, which is now rocking a new heart; a 240hp 2276cc engine with 12.3:1 compression, Superflo heads, Jaycee 51.5 IDA’s, vac pump, Pauter 1.5’s, an Autocraft oil system and even nitrous to top things off!
One of my favourite Karmann Ghia’s, Terry Settle’s 1957 bagged Lowlight featuring BRM wheels which tuck to perfection.
Now this is our sort of BBQ, an awesome concept from the guys at Smoking Beetle!
Further into Sandown Park, I went to check out the German Folks line up. Just like last year, their cars were pretty mind blowing.
Adam Townley’s Rometsch Lawrence is always a show stopper, being a coachbuilt car you’ll be pushed to see anything like this.
Foxy’s 1965 Beetle looked absolutely mint. I’ll let the photos do the talking…
There’s just something original paint! This is Gavin Jones’ ’58 RHD Standard on contrasting Fuchs.
Probably the flagship car for German Folks UK, Dean Bradley’s awesome 1950 split on chromed Fuchs.
Back to shiney paint though, with Vic Polkinghorne’s Bahama Blue ’65 with a 4″ narrowed beam and another set of polished Fuchs.
Heading outside the venue whilst leaving, I loved this splitscreen high top with complimenting smoothies.
…and this early bay single cab with a similar colour scheme.
Naturally at a show like this there are always a few gems to be found in the car park.
That concludes our VolksWorld 2015 show coverage. I love this show, there’s something for everyone in the air-cooled community, from fully restored ‘mint’ cars to slammed ratty examples, from stock height to tarmac-scraping low – plus everything in between of course. The VolksWorld Show has it all. You’re bound to see something you’ll fall in love with, even if you’ve never been into air-cooled Volkswagens before. I can’t wait for more events and meets like this later on in the year… If you want us at your event, leave details in the comments below. Our diverse coverage continues in the next write up, so check back soon for our Wheels Day report.