THE VOLKSWORLD SHOW 2017

October 23, 2024

Date: 25/26 March 2017

Location: Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, Surrey

Words & Photos by Henry Phull

Although ‘show season’ began a couple of weeks ago for us (did you check out our Ultimate Dubs coverage?), the air-cooled enthusiasts had to wait a bit longer for their first UK event – The VolksWorld Show, held at the delightful Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher. Traditionally, this is the the most anticipated show of the year and people travel from all ends of the United Kingdom, and even Europe, to make it to this one. Any projects that have taken place over Winter period usually aim to make their special debut at VolksWorld. Held over a weekend, we always like to go up on Sunday (the last day) to have a mooch around. As usual, we were graced with all sorts of builds from the extensive corners of the air-cooled world.. from showroom-finish restorations, to the patina’d and ratty, there was something for everyone at Sandown Park. The sheer amount of similar Volkswagen models in one place can get overwhelming, but we managed to refine our coverage down to the best slammed examples, check them out below…

Steve Lawrie’s ’68 Beetle ‘vert

@s.loz

Rich Legg’s ’51 Beetle ragtop split

@rich.legg

James Self’s ’58 Beetle

@selfy217

James Munro’s Porsche 356 Speedster on Air Lift suspension

@tosh_carrera

HR Autoworks’ ’52 Zwitter on Fumigalli’s

@hrautoworks

Ben Rye’s ’57 Volkswagen Oval Beetle on Air Lift suspension & custom 3pc smoothies

@oldrag57

(Click here to check out our feature on Ben’s Beetle)

Jake Hilling’s Beetle-panned ’78 Brasilia on Air Lift suspension

@littlejakebmx

Sonny Harverson’s ’64 Beetle on Air Lift suspension

@sonnyharverson

James Murtough / David Hall’s ’51 Beetle split

@rsvpdrluftschule / @xkilgorex

Colin Pace’s ’56 Beetle oval on Erco’s

@pacenotes

Steve Parsons’ ’61 Type2 Kombi on SA Sprints

@ste_parsons

Simon Fox’s ’65 Beetle

@simonfox3

Lloyd Jackson’s ’50 Beetle split

@deluxerestoshop

Max Edwards’ ’78 Beetle on Air Lift suspension & BBS RS’

@maxisadogsname

Just Kampers’ ’68 Fridolin

@justkampers

Limebug’s bagged ’51 Tempo Matador RHD on custom split Smoothies

@limebugvw

Josh Gresswell’s ’74 1303 Super Beetle

@joshwaa___

Niall Wright’s ’63 Beetle

@skirted63

Evil Bens’ ’71 Type2 Bay window

@evilbens

Jason Such’s ’67 Beetle on Air Lift suspension

@smilaaa221

Morgan Hall’s ’68 Type2 Westfalia

@fnl_morgan

Ratty Pete’s ’73 Type2 Panel van

@fnl_rattypete

Callum Hobbs’ ’71 Beetle

@vw_cal

Joe Riley’s ’72 Beetle

@joe_bo_riley

Just Kampers’ ’72 1600 Variant

@justkampers

Bryan Butler’s Beetle-panned Austin Allegro

@tuckshopbmx

As always, we were overwhelmed by the volume and variety of stunning classic Volkswagens on display. Luckily, the weather held out for us, too, which makes it even better… seeing as most of our favourite cars tend to be situated outside! However, sharing the same date as Mothers Day, the Sunday was particularly quiet in comparison to previous years. On arrival we were also rather shocked to be told that the day ticket prices had been increased to a whopping £18 per person… yep, for one day. This could’ve quite easily put people off, too. We’ve discovered that VolksWorld Magazine was recently acquired by a new publisher (Kelsey Media), and they’ve clearly been making a few changes in regards to budget and re-pricing… It’s natural for costs to increase annually, but £18 still seems excessive. Perhaps the venue also increased their hire prices too, who knows… Regardless, the show remains one of the top events for the air-cooled lover and we’d never miss it.