Scirocco Register 2015 National Meet

There’s one event in the year I cannot miss and this year it was essential I attend partly due to the fact I now I help run the Scirocco Register so I had a hand in arranging and promoting it!!!!! In fact it’s been part of my life, as with the others behind the scenes, for the last six months or so, with constant forum and social media updates to keep the momentum going.

Puma GTC / GTI

Well one very rare car from Brazil showed up on Hemmings this week for sale (credit for the pictures below, more available through the link) in the US. Never heard of it? well that’s because it was only built in Brazil due to the limitations on importing cars into the country until the mid 90’s.

Retro Show, Santa Pod

After getting up early on the Saturday morning and replacing the radiator and thermostat seal on my own retro machine since they failed the night before, I headed off for the 160 mile drive to join the rest of the Retrobeutes at the home of British drag racing Santa Pod for the Retro Show.

Car Show: Alltypes, Bodelwyddan Castle

An overcast Sunday in north Wales walking round a Volkswagen show what could be better and the Alltypes show has something for everyone from Aircooled to retro and 90’s to modern. Throw into the mix rat-look, air-ride and lots of vans what more could you want.

Ultimate Dubs 2015

An early start to a Sunday saw me heading down to the Telford Convention Centre for what’s deemed the opener for the Volkswagen show season, where the cars built over the winter months first see the light of day. Now this isn’t a show I’d been to before so I didn’t really know what to expect when I arrived at the already full car park at 8am!!!!

Interview: Marshall Foulds Bieber 1977 Scirocco Convertible GTI

Well we’ve been away for a few weeks over the holidays and are now back refreshed and ready for more rare cars. And what a way to start an ultra-rare Bieber Convertible Volkswagen Scirocco Mark 1 GTI no less. With my input on the Scirocco Register I got to interview the owner Marshall Foulds last year about the car and how he found it and what was needed to get it to the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show. 

Scirocco National Meet, RAF Cosford, Telford

Well after getting up at 6:30am and looking out of the window at the deluge of rain I honestly thought that the National Meet would quiet literally be a washout. How wrong was I, the members of the Scirocco Register (a club now help run) came out in force despite the weather.

Scirocco Register National Meet

One event that I never miss and I'll be there in my Mk2 Scirocco on Saturday. If you're at a loose end then I would recommend you head over as they'll be upwards of 60 cars there-

Alltypes, Bodelwyddan Castle

With guaranteed good weather clubs and show cars descended on Bodelwyddan Castle for one of the best VW shows in the north, if not the UK. I was there representing the Scirocco Register with my trusty Mk2 so an early start was needed for a full day at the show.

Volkswagen ARVW

I first spotted this in a recent copy of Top Gear magazine in the “Concept Cars that Time Forgot”, I hadn’t seen anything like it before and had to find out more. The “Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen” was conceived in the late 1970’s to develop the correlation between body shape and fuel consumption. This though wasn’t powered by some new-fangled petrol engine, far from it, sat in the back was a tweaked 2.4ltr, 6 cylinder, 175bhp diesel engine from a lorry. This was then covered in a streamlined aluminium and composite body with a drag coefficient that would make any modern racer jealous.

Ledl AS

Taking on the same styling cues as the Nova and Avante as well as being VW Beetle based this was a kit car offered by Gunter Ledl from Austria. Production started in 1981 with the car offered with a 4 cylinder Ford engine under the rear of that fibreglass wedge body, producing about 100bhp. They were sold all over the world but strangely due to the laws in Austria registering them there was very difficult. In fact only 17 were sold to domestic customers out of the 249 manufactured up to 1987.

Dacon 828

Thanks to Jalopnik posting this up in their recent “Theses are 10 unbelievable cars you never knew existed” article, along with a few others that will end upon here, its appeared on a few Facebook pages, but it was the same picture the one of the rear I wanted to see and know more.

Zingers

Back in the early 70’s you could buy these supped up monster engined model cars. What self-respecting young developing petrolhead could resist them with those huge wheels and crazy styling? Well to go along with the promotion of these models the manufacturer built some scaled up versions, well the engine was full size that the cars shrank around it. Who knows if they actually ran or where you could sit, or how that would handle they just look damn cool to me. Just imagine seeing them all lined up at car and drag racing shows, just awesome.

Lancaster Insurance Classic Car Show, NEC, Birmingham

Thanks to Lancaster Insurance I headed down to what is probably the largest indoor car show in Europe last Friday, the first time I’ve attended since 2008 and how it’s grown. Over those years it’s gone from filling three of the NEC’s massive halls to now spanning five. The quality and abundance of metal now on show has also improved from “just a classic car show that’s in doors” to showcasing the best of the best as well as club projects, rare gems and concept cars. Enough to make walking round this colossal show take six hours, and some of that was at some pace!!!!

Porsche 916

Could this be the car that all Porsche enthusiast really wanted the 914 to be, after all the 914, to some anyway, was not really a Porsche as its heart was a Volkswagen flat four. This was despite it also being offered with a Porsche derived flat six. It was always on the edge of both marques not really fitting in to either. Personally I love it, its 70’s styling, mid engined layout and removable top meant it was a true sports car of the age. Porsche though realised the buying public wanted a little more, the result was the 916 program.

Random Picture: VW SP2 Parts

The ultra rare VW SP2, well over on the Europe side of the pond

Manchester Classic Car, Eventcity

Although there had been indoor classic car shows staged at Eventcity in Manchester, Passion and Power was earlier this year, this was the first outing for the “Manchester Classic Car Show”. Looking at the adverts for it in the local press and on the web it looked like it was going to be a good inaugural event. Ran over the weekend I dropped in on the Saturday morning and I knew I was in for a treat when in a fenced off area six or so classic rally cars came driving past the entrance, including a shot wheel based Audi Quattro!!!!

VW Corrado Magnum Kombi

No not a version for a European version of the 80’s moustache wearing PI, but a “shooting brake” estate version of the VW Coupe. Only two prototypes were built by Marold Automobil GmbH in 1989 for VW so they could assess them for possible limited production of 200. The concept was…..erm…..well…whom I kidding who would want an estate version of a GT car when it’s parked next to a Golf with the same engine in the showroom. Thankfully VW didn’t go ahead with this version, probably due to the same reason above.

2013 Scirocco Register National Meet

This day followed the same format as the 4 previous ones I’ve been to (2012, 2011 etc). That means an early start to meet up for the 100 mile convoy down from Manchester via Lymm Services and Stafford Services picking up cars on the way before the main rally point at Telford Services. After meeting up with 30 or so other Scirocco enthusiasts it was time to make the last 5 mile run to RAF Cosford the location of the meet.

VWNW 2013

It’s the first weekend in August which in the northwest of England means its Volkswagen Northwest and the early start to a Sunday morning. I was there for the day as I had arranged the Scirocco Register’s club stand so had plenty of time to take it all in. Well if the rain that was forecast held off.

Like previous years (2012, 2011, etc) there were club areas, concours area, auto jumble, for sale area and general sales for anything from tools and parts to plants and cupcakes.