This year is all about the European car shows here at Slam Sanctuary. I’d heard numerous good things about VW Days, which is organised every year by ‘Club Golf Ile de France’ and held in a quiet town just outside of Saint Quentin. This is nice for us Brits as the venue is less than a two-hour drive from the Calais terminal, and essentially one stress-free smooth toll road. Being a two day event, we set off on the Saturday morning from the Eurotunnel and decided to stay overnight in a hotel just ten minutes away, although for a majority of the show goers, it’s all about the camping experience. This year though, the weather on Saturday was horrendous – so I’m glad I had a hotel room! The rain put a few people off on day one making it a washout, but come Sunday the sun was out and the show transformed into something epic. I even came home with some sunburn! Much like when we were in Belgium, it was a nice change to see what the Europeans are building. To adhere to the name VW Days, the event is very VAG-orientated, understandably, with a few exceptions that you’ll find throughout the article. All in all, I was blown away by the variety of builds and the sheer size of the show. Here are the cars that stood out from the crowd…
Marcel Klok’s Audi R8 on HP Drivetech/AccuAir suspension & BBS LM’s
Adam King’s Mercedes-Benz W220 on AccuAir suspension & Rotiform TMB’s
Carl Shakespeare’s supercharged Mk3 Golf VR6 on OZ Ultraleggera’s
George Wilson’s bagged VW Polo 6N2 on Gotti’s
Romain Buffaumene’s Renault 5 GT Turbo on OZ Futura’s
Charly Lannoy’s Audi TT on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform BRU’s
Lorenzo Magnani’s Mk1 Scirocco on BBS RM’s
Alexis Hue’s custom Beetle
Guillaume Michaud’s static Mk1 Golf Swallowtail on BBS E52’s
Nick de Rond’s bagged Mk3 Golf on face-mounted BBS RF’s
Christophe Waterplas’ Audi S5 on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform IND-T’s
Romuald Dubreuil’s bagged Mk2 Golf on Ronal Racing wheels
Jack Dinsdale’s Audi TT on Air Lift suspension & Fifteen52 Tarmac’s
Air Lift Performance’s Mk7 Golf R
Stefan Vandenabeele’s Mk1 Golf on KEAN Suspensions & BBS E50’s
Kristof Heyvaert’s Mk2 Golf G60 on Ronal Racing wheels
BD Clean’s Mk2 Golf VR6 Turbo on BBS RS’
Vladimir Uzelac’s Porsche 964 on stepped-up BBS RS’s
Mercedes-Benz 560SEC
Gary Lux’s Porsche Panamera 4S on HP Drivetech suspension & OZ wheels
Twan Niemeijer’s static Corrado G60 on Ronal Racing wheels
Dylan Caels’ Mk2 Jetta on Speedline wheels
Steven Doe’s BMW E21 on Air Lift / AccuAir suspension & CCW D110′s
(click here to check out our feature on Steven’s E21)
Alex Hurd’s BMW E46 330ci on Air Lift suspension & Fifteen52 Tarmacs
Benoit Couty’s Mk2 Golf on BBS E50’s
Matthieu Salomé’s static Porsche 944 on Tramont Cup wheels
Warwick French’s Audi RS3 on Air Lift suspension & 19″ Fifteen52 Tarmac 348′s
Jamie Mctoldridge’s Mercedes-Benz W123 230CE on Air Lift suspension
Quentin Ghysens’ Audi S3 on Air Lift / AccuAir suspension & Awlest QG.001′s
Haiko Hartmann’s Audi C7 A6 Avant on AccuAir suspension & WatercooledIND LP1’s
Marco Pereira’s Mk5 Golf on AccuAir suspension & stepped-up BBS RF’s
Matt Carter’s Audi A5 on AccuAir suspension & custom Brabus Monoblock 3’s
Marcel Bäumer’s bagged Mercedes-Benz W108 280SE
Klaas van Schaijk’s Mk1 Golf
Alex Wright’s G60-swapped Mk1 Golf on BBS E30 magnesium wheels
Richard Payne’s Porsche 964 on on KW Suspension and Rotiform STR’s
Liam Elmore’s Audi TT on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform OZT’s
Dionisio Silva’s Audi R8 on Rotiform BLQ’s
G’Rèm Verson’s Mk3 Golf on OZ Futura’s
Joe Stubbs’ Mercedes-Benz E350 on HP Drivetech/AccuAir suspension & Rotiform YVR’s
Ivan Manevtsov’s Mk3 Vento on Air Lift suspension & KW Turbo’s
Ilce Ilievski’s Mercedes-Benz W124 on Air Lift suspension & BBS RS’s
Phillipe Serexhe’s Audi B8 A4 Avant on AccuAir suspension & WORK VS’s
Wil LY’s Audi 80 on BBS RS
Fabien Boiselle’s bagged Mk2 Golf on face-mounted OZ Futura’s
Yoan Joaquim’s VW Mk5 Golf on Air Lift suspension & BBS E28′s
Our Audi C5 A6 Avant on Air Lift / Bags by OCD / AccuAir suspension & Rotiform IND-T’s
Brieuc Le Gall’s Mk3 Golf GTI on Air Lift suspension & Speedline Mistral’s
Dani Comd’s Audi Allroad on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform IND-T’s
Maxime Batibat’s Bora on face-mounted Speedline Mistral’s
Steve Fraser’s Audi S3 saloon on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform KPS’s
Rooth Jenkins’ Mk3 Audi TT on Air Lift suspension & Rotiform BLQ’s
Stephan Calles’ bagged Volkswagen B8 Passat estate on BBS RS2
Cris Chile’s Mk3 Golf cabriolet on BBS RF’s
Matt Clifford’s BMW E31 840ci on Air Lift suspension & BBS Bugatti EB110′s
Julian Göttschkes’ Audi 100LS on HP Drivetech/AccuAir suspension
Eddy Chhlang’s Mk2 Golf on BBS RS’s
Florent Arnaud’s Mk5 Golf
Romain Courtant’s Audi A5 on Air Lift suspension & BMW X5 wheels
Steven Foxall’s static BMW M50-turbo’d E30 on Schmidt TH-Line’s
Florian Nicol’s static Mk2 Golf on custom-built BBS RA splits
Kevin’s bagged B3 Passat
Benjamin Dubois’ bagged Mk5 Golf on BBS GT’s
Francois Karikari’s Mk1 Golf TDI on BBS RS’s
Jo Ritchie’s Mk3 Golf cabriolet on BBS RF’s
Juan van Oversteyns’ BMW E28 525i on D2 Racing coilovers & stepped-up BBS RS’s
Matt Woodgate’s Porsche 997 on HP Drivetech/Air Lift suspension & Rotiform LHR’s
What a variation, right? The quality of cars was just phenomenal, and it’s hardly surprising that so many people from the UK make the trip over for VW Days. It’s a petrolhead’s dream short break, whether you camp and enjoy the party onsite, or decide to hotel it and experience the local town that becomes completely taken over by modified cars from all over Europe – similar to a mini-Wörthersee in fact. Many thanks to Club Golf IDF for having us, we’ll certainly be back again! Our next European adventure will take us to M.I.V.W. in August. Until then, see you all at the coming UK events.