I hadn't been into dubs for that long when I went to the Volksworld show in 2009, didn’t really know what to expect to be honest, all I knew was I’d be seeing some amazing cars, probably way out of my reach... it didn’t disappoint.
When it came round to this years show I’d already seen some of the cars in the Volksworld magazine, but I didn’t know they were going to be there. More drooling over cars, you marvel at thinking “How the hell did they come up with that idea”? At what lengths some people go to to find the correct year wings, clocks and NOS is amazing, a lot of people look at the cars don’t really know what’s gone into it, the sweat, the pain and the final feeling when your car’s finished and ready to be shown to the VW world.
I’d spoken to Chris about going this year and he’d kindly offered to sort out some press passes if I could do a write up and take some shots for the Torque website, what a great opportunity for me, I’m no writer, but I love taking pictures, so I thought I’d give it a go and see what happens.
One of the first cars I saw was the Hammered Inc semi-matt grey 1954 beetle owned by Thomas Koch. The car was featured in November’s Volksworld, it looked amazing in the mag. It looked about 20 times better in the flesh. The inside is plain and simple, smooth dash, no headlining or door cards, the seats are minimalist to say the least with no back seats either. All this with a 2.5” roof chop at the front and 2 at the rear with a grafted in split window. It’s slammed as well. Narrowed and adjustable beam up front with seriously tucked in 356 steels. The rear is dropped 3 outer splines to finish off the look. The ‘54 got some great response at the show, every time I walked past, it had a crowd round it.
It was hard to walk round and not be in complete awe of the cars on show around the main floor. There was everything from an orange split bus with a mid-mounted V8, an immaculate standard grey 1952 beetle to Matt Keene’s 1956 Oval Outlaw drag strip ripper. The one that stood out for me though was Christian Grundmann’s 1949 Hebmuller Cab. Everything about this beetle was outstanding, the paint, the interior, the whole nine yards.
The ground floor was half type 2’s and half drag strip beetles which was nice to see as I’ve just bought a Cal Look drag 1959, so I was in my element down here. Plenty of gleaming engines were on show along with some great looking splitty interiors. A pale blue splitty stood out for me in the type 2 section, it was a 1965 with an original paintjob that was outstanding, the interior was amazing as well, freshly refurbished by Interior Motive.
Taking a walk past the drag beetles was a nice change to see so many in one place, you can see why the strip is becoming more popular every year with cars like this on show. There was even a 2009 newbie with a 990 bhp lump, I’m not a big fan of newbies, but this plain rocked and I hope I get to see how fast this thing can go!
Club stands were outside so for me this is where the real cars are as pretty much all of them aren’t stuck away in a garage all year waiting for the show season to start. The first few cars to get my attention where a few rat looks. The first being a beetle, a lovely 181 and the one I fell in love with, a 356 Porsche on chrome Fuchs. This thing was an instant hit... one day I will have one of these and if it’s anything like this, I’ll be a very happy bloke.
Walking around I spotted another Volksworld feature car, a standard Jupiter Grey 1957 cal look with a hot 2275cc in the rear. It’s Cal Look down to the core. Standard interior which was very clean, three spoke steering wheel, colour coded bumpers and overriders, blackout headlamp covers, all finished off and seated on a set of black anodised Ercos, THE drag strip choice.
Next on the list was the paddock area, where everything was Type 2 heaven. Splits, bays, single cabs, crew cabs, you name it, it was there. There was a big crowd round an orange and black crew cab and you knew why as soon as you walked outside. This thing had a Porsche engine strapped into it and it sounded amazing.
I got talking to the owner and it had been a real labour of love getting it finished, but I think he’d had enough of it all and was trying to sell it. It was a shame really, you could tell he’d put a hell of a lot of work into getting it finished, but if you’ve had enough that’s it I guess. I asked him if he had another project to start and he just laughed at me.
Somehow I don’t think he’ll be doing it again! Another one getting a lot of admiring looks was a ratty grey single cab split on black Porsche rims. There was something about it that was totally different to everything else there, and I think that’s why it was my favourite one outside. Unpretencious, a bit crappy looking, but so cool. I had a big want face while looking at it.
There were some great cars at the show this year and I’m glad they move things around each year to keep it fresh, the cars last year were nice, but this year they seemed to pull out all the stops. No-doubt next year will be the same mix of cars, the concourse cars that won’t get to see anything but a garage, the dailies that are made to be driven and the damn right outrageous drag cars that do the quarter mile in 10 seconds.
