VolksWorld’s 30th show took place at Sandown Park in Esher for the weekend of March 15-17, bringing together air-cooled Volkswagen fans from across the UK and Europe

Billed as ‘the UK’s biggest and best VW show’, Volksworld filled the halls of Sandown Park with over 100 of the highest quality Volkswagen show cars, several restored or completed for the 2024 show.

Feature highlights included the ‘Back To ‘89’ display, showcasing cars modified in period with the unique styles of the era, as well as the Buyer’s Guide Live by show sponsor, Heritage Parts Centre, where attendees could get buying advice and knowledge from the experts. This year’s show expanded to include sections curated by sister magazines VWt and Classic Porsche, the former showcasing some of the best T5 and T6 show vans, the latter filling the lower hall of Sandown Park with a selection of air-cooled Porsches.

Particular highlights in the Stuttgart-built sports car showcase included a barn find 356a Speedster, a fully-restored 356 Coupe that has previously featured at the Salon Privé, several custom-built ‘outlaw’ 356s and 911s built in an American style, and what is billed as “the lightest Porsche 911 in the world” – built by Richard King, the 1968 car boasts a stripped interior, bare-bones bodywork and hundreds of holes drilled and stamped into numerous panels and mechanical components to reduce overall weight to 627kg.

VolksWorld primarily features VWs, however, with air-cooled cars the focus of Saturday, before water-cooled icons – such as Golf GTIs and Sciroccos – took centre stage on Sunday. Judging of the best show cars by VolksWorld Editor, Paul Knight and his team ultimately saw Paul Warmann’s Karmann Ghia awarded Best in Show, while London Dub Club took the Best Club award and Best International Car was awarded to Joao Leite’s lowrider-style Type 3, which boasted stunning ‘lace pattern’ paintwork and had been driven to the show from Switzerland.

Kelsey Media COO, Phil Weeden said: “We were delighted with the 2024 VolksWorld Show. Despite all the scaremongering around the closure of the M25 between junctions 10 and 11, traffic getting in was actually very smooth, most people made it in without any worries. The quality of the cars was the best it’s ever been, while the additional water-cooled VWs on display were of an equally high standard.”

VolksWorld Show has already been confirmed for return in 2025, and we at Classics World can’t wait.