1967 Beetle 50th Anniversary Show Brussels
Discussion
Well with the advent of Facebook, Instagram etc, I’m not sure if big wordy posts are the thing anymore, so my apologies for what could be a bit wordy.
In January this year a mate dropped me a message asking whether I fancied going to the 50th Anniversay show for 67 beetles in Brussels. Now when I built my beetle I kind of built it for me to have a laugh with and maybe go to a couple of local shows with the family, but this seemed to be a great opportunity to see some great cars and indulge in a few Belgium beers. So after chatting with Richie and then contacting a mate in Holland a plan was hatched, a ferry ride from Newcastle to Amsterdam, a drive to meet Hans and his mates then cruise down to Belgium…..easy money. So the ferry was booked, I fannied about until about a month to go, then decided to have a look at my bug make sure it was ready to go after a winters inactivity. Putting the bug up on axle stands suddenly opened up a few surprises that resulted in me rebuilding the front beam and spraying dinitrol around like a loon. However it was all good to go……wasn’t it?
With two weeks to go the weather had cleared up enough to get out for a few test miles….5 miles later heading into the busiest roundabout in my area, the sweat sound of silence echoed around the car. From roaring 48s to utter silence and an artic truck up my arse suddenly made me pap myself. As it turned out the winter off hadn’t been good to the fuel pump and it had seized. Phone calls to Drop the Hammer and KC Hotrods for some metaphorical hand holding and I solved the problem ordered and swapped the pump and all systems were go.
So 5th May rolled around, I headed to the ferry, which is handily 30 mins from my house, a couple of hours later I was on board and sipping a beer. Next morning the car was where I’d left it despite a little North Sea swell during the night, then it was off the ferry and heading down to meet Hans, this is where having a US 67 was a bonus, and for the first time in 4 years I was driving it on the correct side of the road. During the planning phase (a few messenger messages between myself and Hans) we’d decided on pancakes and windmills before heading too Brussels. So an hours drive down to Hans and I was suddenly remembering that the Dutch are a massive people, particularly when I met JP and Hans again, I was going to be dwarfed for the weekend.
After a quick coffee it was time to head out with both of Hans ‘67s and mine, some great pics were taken of the cars at KinderDijk. Then after a car swap and JP picking up his, it was time for pancakes all round and time to head south and meet up with Rob Hongens, Nicola and the Painter. The drive down was deafening, especially the tunnel runs, I must remember ear plugs for next time. After negotiating a Brussels traffic jam and a car elevator to get into the Hotel car park, it was time for some site seeing, some food and some Belgium beers.
Next morning was an early rise, breakfast, negotiate the hotel car lift and head to meet everyone.
I can’t say enough for the quality of the rest of the day, I really can’t. From the moment we arrived it was such a welcoming atmosphere, meeting people I’ve only ever chatted to on forums, everyone sharing an excitement at each others cars, then the organisation of the event. The initial venue was one the roof of a VW garage attached to the D’Leteren Galley, with a welcome speech, breakfast of croissant and coffee and guided tour of the gallery, and the goodie bags. Not often are you stunned by the quality of the cars outside, then walk inside to find cars like a Lamborghini Muira and Autounion 1930s race cars sitting around.
I'll post the rest later, the weathers far to nice today
In January this year a mate dropped me a message asking whether I fancied going to the 50th Anniversay show for 67 beetles in Brussels. Now when I built my beetle I kind of built it for me to have a laugh with and maybe go to a couple of local shows with the family, but this seemed to be a great opportunity to see some great cars and indulge in a few Belgium beers. So after chatting with Richie and then contacting a mate in Holland a plan was hatched, a ferry ride from Newcastle to Amsterdam, a drive to meet Hans and his mates then cruise down to Belgium…..easy money. So the ferry was booked, I fannied about until about a month to go, then decided to have a look at my bug make sure it was ready to go after a winters inactivity. Putting the bug up on axle stands suddenly opened up a few surprises that resulted in me rebuilding the front beam and spraying dinitrol around like a loon. However it was all good to go……wasn’t it?
With two weeks to go the weather had cleared up enough to get out for a few test miles….5 miles later heading into the busiest roundabout in my area, the sweat sound of silence echoed around the car. From roaring 48s to utter silence and an artic truck up my arse suddenly made me pap myself. As it turned out the winter off hadn’t been good to the fuel pump and it had seized. Phone calls to Drop the Hammer and KC Hotrods for some metaphorical hand holding and I solved the problem ordered and swapped the pump and all systems were go.
So 5th May rolled around, I headed to the ferry, which is handily 30 mins from my house, a couple of hours later I was on board and sipping a beer. Next morning the car was where I’d left it despite a little North Sea swell during the night, then it was off the ferry and heading down to meet Hans, this is where having a US 67 was a bonus, and for the first time in 4 years I was driving it on the correct side of the road. During the planning phase (a few messenger messages between myself and Hans) we’d decided on pancakes and windmills before heading too Brussels. So an hours drive down to Hans and I was suddenly remembering that the Dutch are a massive people, particularly when I met JP and Hans again, I was going to be dwarfed for the weekend.
After a quick coffee it was time to head out with both of Hans ‘67s and mine, some great pics were taken of the cars at KinderDijk. Then after a car swap and JP picking up his, it was time for pancakes all round and time to head south and meet up with Rob Hongens, Nicola and the Painter. The drive down was deafening, especially the tunnel runs, I must remember ear plugs for next time. After negotiating a Brussels traffic jam and a car elevator to get into the Hotel car park, it was time for some site seeing, some food and some Belgium beers.
Next morning was an early rise, breakfast, negotiate the hotel car lift and head to meet everyone.
I can’t say enough for the quality of the rest of the day, I really can’t. From the moment we arrived it was such a welcoming atmosphere, meeting people I’ve only ever chatted to on forums, everyone sharing an excitement at each others cars, then the organisation of the event. The initial venue was one the roof of a VW garage attached to the D’Leteren Galley, with a welcome speech, breakfast of croissant and coffee and guided tour of the gallery, and the goodie bags. Not often are you stunned by the quality of the cars outside, then walk inside to find cars like a Lamborghini Muira and Autounion 1930s race cars sitting around.
I'll post the rest later, the weathers far to nice today
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