RE: By the Worthersee: PH Blog

RE: By the Worthersee: PH Blog

Tuesday 30th May 2017

By the Worthersee: PH Blog

One full day, warts and all, at that VW festival in Austria...



For fans of the VW brand, the Worthersee meet is the event you must attend. It's Ibiza for ravers, Edinburgh for comedy, that level of obsession and significance.

Recently as well Worthersee has taken on a fresh importance with the unveiling of new VW products as well, with the Up GTI taking centre stage this year; the fan meet has become so big it's now a brand motor show as well!

To give you some idea of what day at Worthersee is like, here's a day diary from the Thursday. From Golf to Gallardo, you'll see there's plenty to chat about. Enjoy!



Worthersee Treffen, Thursday 25 May 2017
0900h
- There's quite a contrast between Worthersee's surrounding perimeter of sleepy Austrian villages and the bursts of uproarious acceleration - sort of like if the Isle of Wight Festival moved to the Cotswolds.


1000h - Arrival - and you can feel the party atmosphere. This is hallowed ground for VW fans.

1100h - Where to begin? The streets are lined with VW Group cars and fans alike. Compiling any sort of 'best of' is going to take patience and determination.

1200h - The Up GTI has just been revealed. It's not quite the visual dynamo the Lupo GTI was, but VW says that's not the point; it's supposed to hark back to the first Golf GTI. Time to be a journalist and interview VW boss Herbert Diess.

1245h - The GTI brand is three models only - Golf, Polo and Up. It's the R badge which the performance SUVs will wear, among other models. Diess says GTE's got scope for expansion, too.


1300h - Don't like house? Learn to like it if you're coming to the GTI Treffen. It's the only thing audible over the revving of various VW Group engines.

1330h - That is, if you don't stand in the main thoroughfare. There, owners' speakers blend into one roar of different house tunes.

1400h - A taste of the type of car here: a rev-off between a Lamborghini Gallardo and (on the exterior, at least) a bone-stock Volkswagen Golf Mk2. The Golf won.

1430h - There are families here but the music and some of the modifications are decidedly adult. It takes all sorts...

1500h - It's taken a Mk5 GTI an hour to travel from one end of town to the other. I walked it in 10 minutes. He's been stopped numerous times by passers-by to talk about his car, though.


1530h - The rev-off continues. It seems showing off is king here, no matter what the cost; there's very little air going into these furiously revving, 25-year-old engines.

1545h - And there it goes. I wasn't there to witness it, but word travels fast - a SEAT Leon's engine has just catastrophically and spectacularly failed. Kaboom.

1600h - I've seen my first beach buggy. Weird how uncommon they are, especially here.

1615h - Lamborghini Gallardos and Audi R8s are two of the most popular here. After Golfs (obviously) Polos, and Beetles.

1635h - There's a large amount of smoke, revving and burnt rubber smell coming from a live action arena. Time to go and check it out.

1640h - Of course it's Daihatsu Hijet doing donuts, a motorcycle show and a quadbike stunt driver. From what I can see, anyway.


1700h - The police have arrived, at the end of the main route into town. It might not seem in the spirit of the occasion, but they're catching those who've taken off their number plates to give them a stern telling off.

1705h - Now they've pulled over a Caddy van which, with the exception of the front seats, is 100 per cent speaker. To be fair, the Dutch driver was playing Gabber so loud that he could be heard from the other end of the strip, with his doors open, but he was only going at 5mph. Six of one, half a dozen of the other in my mind.

1720h - I've been passed by the 'leather car'. It's evaded me so far today, to the point where I'd begun to think that it's a Worthersee urban legend. There it is though, in all its leathery glory.

1740h - You'd think that as the evening sets in things would be slowing down, but nope. Drinks are still flowing, cars are still arriving and looking for somewhere to park, and there's still a cacophony of house.


1800h - They've put Herbie on the giant GTI screen. It's been overdubbed in German, of course. Not sure the Lindsay Lohan Herbie is a patch on the original, but the now rather alcohol-weary meet-goers seem to be enjoying it as background noise.

1830h - The arrival of 'Alcohol Patrollers' signals the beginning of the end. They're not quite as reviled as they would be in the UK, but they're a noticeable presence.

1900h - The cars are gradually stopping arriving, and like the turning tide, are leaving, albeit less en masse than they arrived.

1915h - Sun cream doesn't appear to have sold particularly well in around here. Lucky that alcohol has a similar SPF, right? Right?

1930h - It's officially winding down, as the food trucks run out of food and begin to pack up. There are still crowds around the more outlandish show cars, but the mood of the show has taken up a palpable "Until next year, then" vibe.


2000h - There are pole dancers in a tent. Is this the gritty underbelly of Worthersee which is as yet unreported?

2005h - Nope, that's about as seedy as it gets here. There's a Blue Man Group-like posse here now. They've taken over the live action arena, and have commanded an eight-strong crowd. Their effort deserves more.

2030h - Cars are rolling out of town as quick as they arrived, now. The chocolate-covered-banana stand is still doing strong business, though.

2100h - By nine, the atmosphere has changed to that of Kavos around twilight; sunburnt holidaymakers are clinging on to the fast fading light, while others are returning to wherever they came from, if they're not talking in ever-smaller groups dotted around the town. Show's over, folks.


2105h - Time to head home.

2130h - That went rather quickly. Thinking about coming back next year and seeing what's new. Trying to recall all the different things I've seen.

Southampton, Sunday 28 May 2017
1420h -
I've just bought a Volkswagen Lupo.

[Words: Jimi Beckwith]

Author
Discussion

gforceg

Original Poster:

3,524 posts

178 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
quotequote all
As someone who has owned a few unmodified GTIs in the past and still has a standard Corrado, that sounds like feckin' purgatory.

big dub

4,038 posts

216 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
quotequote all
The week or two before the main show are a lot better, more chilled, and that's when the best cars go.

pppppppppppppppp

169 posts

121 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
quotequote all
I always thought it was Wörthersee, with an umlaut. Like Motörhead.

bimbeano

96 posts

161 months

Tuesday 30th May 2017
quotequote all
Johnny-fest ....

PistonBroker

2,406 posts

225 months

Wednesday 31st May 2017
quotequote all
pppppppppppppppp said:
I always thought it was Wörthersee, with an umlaut.
It is. ;-)