After a nice smooth trip through the EuroTunnel, a bite to eat at the services as the various vintage cars and buses gathered, we all set off for our initial destination, the Witkip Brewery Slaghmuylder in Ninove! The beautiful old cobbled courtyard of the brewery was a fantastic setting for the initial gathering of over a 100 plus various vintage Volkswagens, Porsches and even a Bedford Commer camper that had made it there!
The lovely people at the brewery had produced some great commemorative glasses for us so it seemed rude not to try a small sample of one of their classic Belgian beers whilst we were there!
We also got a chance to look around the mini museum of the breweries history and vintage memorabilia which was pretty cool. However, talking of cool, this was a great chance to see some of the great rides that had made it to Ninove as part of the cruise ready for the main Freddy Flies show in the town centre the following day.
There were some great examples of some original paint survivor bugs and buses, some running stock, some with more high performance upgraded engines and running gear like this beautiful Oval Beetle which had apparently just completed the engine build and fitted the engine 20 minutes ago!
There was also a great selection of restored busses and bugs which had been done to a very high standard. I loved the subtle choice of colours used on this beautiful 13 window deluxe bus, period looking colours with a modern subtle twist!
Along with the vintage Volkswagens, there were also some very nice examples of classic Porsche 912’s and 911’s to add some family related variety to the automotive gathering.
Often it is the simplicity or detailing of classic cars that I love, such as the cool rear light cluster on this sharp-looking Type 34 Karmann ‘Razor Edge’ Ghia styled by Italian engineer Sergio Sartorelli – how cool is that?
So Porsche Fuchs are played out in the VW scene? Still looking pretty spot on to me!
Then of course there were some great early bay window buses and campers as well, particularly loved this original paint example with its contrasting yellow headlight lenses and tough looking mesh grills, loving that look! Mental note: I think that would look great on my split screen camper as well…
If all of this however, was just the hors d’oeuvre, the main show in Ninove town centre tomorrow should be pretty special! So after a few hours of chatting and looking at the various vehicles on display in the courtyard of the brewery, it was time to head off into the town centre to park up and set-up camp in the streets before heading off for a meal and a few drinks, remembering that it was an early start for the main show in the town centre tomorrow morning…
