SWDubs Summer-ish Meet

So my prediction of a rubbish summer this year became truer than I ever expected. Typical. Maybe if I predict a scorching September that will come true too! I can dream right?

This weekend saw the annual SWDubs Summer meet take place, bringing together all of the members and cars from across the South West. Luckily despite the woeful attempt at summer this year, the day started off bright and sunny and the cars started to roll into Exeter services right on time, slowly filling up the top end of the car park much to the dismay of the bank holiday tourists stopping off for their toilet breaks and coffee refills.

The meet offered a chance for friends to catch up, see 'that car from that build thread' and meet some new faces in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. That's the great thing about the SWDubs community. Everyone is always willing to chat about their car, your car or any other car for that matter. It really is a great way to make friends with like-minded people.

Chris Godfrey's Lhasa green Mk1 was looking summer fresh sat on a polished set of RSs, and the R32 below had exceptional attention to detail as shown by its immaculate engine bay.

Although the forum is ultimately based around VAG ownership, members who have gone on to different projects are always more than welcome, showing how car enthusiasts from all areas can come together and appreciate each other's pride and joy.

Unfortunately numbers seemed a bit down on this years summer meet. Probably due to scares of rain being forecast which would naturally put off the members that had to travel further. Nevertheless, there was a strong turnout and after a little bit of time at the services, everyone headed off to Exmouth to continue the meet in a much bigger area coupled with a seaside view.

The cloud came over pretty quickly as soon as everyone got to Exmouth, and I think a number of cars were lost on the way so numbers dwindled even more so, but there was still a good variety of cars when we arrived.

Lewis Hall's static Vento sat ridiculously well on a set of 16" Borbet T's and showcased his full DIY respray in white, while Tom Spoor's A3 showed everyone why air suspension is becoming increasingly popular in the VAG scene.

As the afternoon went on and people began to head their separate ways, a pretty unique contraption turned up that grabbed the attention of everyone..

The owner had completely fabricated this buggy himself out of a variety of VAG parts, opting for rear wheel drive Audi powered setup. It was definitely something very rare and refreshing to see and the owner ended up giving his own lecture on it due to the amount of questions that were fired his way!

A great meet, with great people and a large Big Mac meal to finish it off. Perfect way to spend an August sunday I reckon.

Keep your eyes peeled for my report on the January SWDubs annual winter meet!