Beetlemania hits Blenheim

Volkswagens of all ages and stages, with their owners in tow, gathered in Marlborough for the brand’s annual National weekend.

Saturday saw Lansdowne Park host the Volkswagen Show and Shine with over 120 cars and the public voting for their favourite, while Sunday saw a group convoy to St Arnaud. Boomtown Dubbers’ Peter Morey and Aaryn Nicholson were over-the-moon with the turnout of vehicles and guests for the celebration weekend.

“We had a plan to set up before the gates open, but we had a bit of a mad scramble of parking as the public was wanting to come in early,” says Aaryn.

“I wasn’t quite expecting this many people, if I’m honest with you, and think the weather odds were in our favour,” adds Peter.

“Coming in the door we had 119 registered and another dozen or so come in the gate this morning with a huge variety of VW vehicles. There’s such dedication behind many of these cars – there’s one Beetle with a full Altezza engine and floor pan swap where they cut the whole car in half to make it wide enough.

“The amount of time and effort that’s gone that into many of these vehicles is absolutely unbelievable”.

Volkswagen national sales manager Scott Duggan says that events like the Nationals “shows the passion of Volkswagen people, their love for their cars, and their love for their history.

“Every year Nationals just keeps getting better and better, but this feels like the biggest one yet, and everyone we’ve spoken to is just happy to be here”.