Circuit de Chimay is a scenic highway course nestled within the Southern Belgian countryside, only a few miles from the French border close to the quaint city of Chimay. Each different 12 months since 2007, this small city, famend for its Trappist Monk Beer Brewery, transforms into the backdrop for the European Bug-In.
The occasion celebrates all air-cooled Volkswagen fashions, providing house owners and followers a playground to discover their ardour for these iconic automobiles. The European Bug-In has turn into one among my favourite occasions, and on the finish of final month, I headed to Belgium for its tenth operating.
The unique Bug-In started within the USA in October 1968, with its inaugural version organized by Vic Wilson on the Orange County Worldwide Raceway in Irvine, California. Targeted on era-popular modified and hot-rodded Beetles and Buggies, the present rapidly discovered success. Volkswagen lovers and automobile golf equipment throughout the USA flocked to the occasion, which quickly gained sponsorship from well-known VW tuning manufacturers together with EMPI, Auto-Haus, and SCAT.
This wasn’t your typical automobile present as we all know them immediately. It was a vibrant occasion the place competitors and camaraderie took middle stage.
Drag Racing was a spotlight, that includes the nation’s quickest Volkswagens over the quarter mile, as was the Slalom course. Then there was the Present ‘n’ Shine, which acknowledged the occasion’s greatest Volkswagens over a number of classes together with Classic and Customized. There was even a tongue-in-cheek ‘Worst of Present’ award introduced.
For 15 consecutive years, these exhibits happened twice yearly – as soon as in spring and as soon as in fall – culminating within the thirty first and closing Bug-In held in October 1983. Following the closure of the Orange County Worldwide Raceway, the Bug-In was resigned to the historical past books.
With the present’s earlier editions serving as their inspiration, Freddy and Mike determined to convey this idea to Europe. To reside as much as the Bug-In legacy, they wanted a venue with ample house and potential, which they discovered at Circuit de Chimay. This 4.5km (2.8mi) avenue course, primarily used for bike races since 1926, hosted the inaugural European Bug-In in 2007, uniting VW lovers from throughout the continent and even the USA.
The entrance straight now serves because the occasion’s entrance, that includes the long-lasting pink Chimay bridge and a paddock for drag automobiles. The infield contains a big swap meet the place lovers and distributors provide new and used components. There’s additionally a disco tent for late-night leisure, a difficult muddy off-road course, and the ever-popular burnout pit.
The circuit’s again straight transforms right into a quarter-mile drag strip. Whereas the observe floor isn’t conducive to private greatest ETs, the drag racing remains to be an amazing spectacle that includes all the pieces from street-legal, souped-up 1.6L Beetles to fully-built drag automobiles boasting wild flat-four engine setups.
A classic twin-engined dragster debuted at this 12 months’s occasion due to a showdown organized by the Belgian Drag Racing Affiliation (BDRA) and Dutch Sizzling Rod Affiliation (DHRA) to find out the occasion’s quickest automobile.
Among the many exhibition highlights was Oklahoma Willy, a jet-engined single-cab break up Bus that blew everybody away (not actually, fortunately) with its sheer energy.
The burnout pit noticed loads of motion, a patina-covered T1 Transporter profitable the viewers over. One other crowd favourite was the well-known orange-and-black Preliminary Cox Beetle, expertly piloted by its French driver and turning tire rubber to smoke at each alternative.
Regardless of heavy rain on Saturday dampening the racing actions, VW off-roaders reveled within the mud.
In the meantime, the Present ‘n’ Shine space introduced a shocking array of VWs, showcasing varied kinds and eras. Awards got in classes together with Outdated Pace, Customized, Classic, and Coolest Exhaust.
A trademark of those air-cooled exhibits is the sprawling campsites full of Buses, Beetles, and Buggies. It’s not nearly showcasing or competing in your Volkswagen; it’s concerning the journey and the camaraderie of fellow lovers, a sentiment typically missed in different automotive sub-cultures.
When you have any curiosity in air-cooled VWs, be sure to mark European Bug-In #11 in your 2025 calendar. Simply remember to pack shorts and a poncho, as a result of, as my expertise from attending six editions has proven, it’s both scorching scorching or pouring rain – there isn’t any center floor.
Collin Tiemens
Instagram:Â collinclicksphotos
