Run to the Sun 08

This year I scandalised my friends and family by going to the Run To The Sun. This event has such a bad reputation that my sister always arranges to be away for the late May Bank holiday weekend. The town becomes so crowded with drunks toting water pistols she felt that she was a prisoner in her own home and now lives abroad, near Truro.

But Newquay these days is always like that. It’s the stag and hen night capital of the UK. And apparently 2008 was one of the most incident free events for many years. More of us should go.

For me it was a spur of the moment thing. The weather was good, I was down west but everyone else was convinced the weather was bad and wanted to stay home. I didn’t see any of the bands or camp over night, I just went to the Show’n’shine in Tregunnel Hill car park.

Vee Dubs would be Vintage Things were they not so mainstream. What teenage girl has not hankered after a Beetle because they are cool?

Many years ago, it was said that you cannot tune a Beetle but many people have proven otherwise. However, it’s the look that matters with Beetles and campers. And within any sub-culture there are trends that come and go.

I was greatly intrigued by the number of rusty cars and vans. Layers of faded paint were also very much in evidence. Beetles and VW campers lend themselves to all sorts of graphic expression because their shapes are iconic and can be made ironic. The de-chromed Cal look that I’d expected was nowhere to be seen. The artfully applied patina of age is what’s in these days. And the agedness is worn like a badge, a testimony to free-wheeling good times.

My favourite was this low riding, voodoo powered Hawaiian bath tub, complete with surf party shack trailer.

The attention to detail and execution to bring such a radical vision as this to reality were superb.

I would like to change that trailer hitch. It’s just a little bit too prosaic for the sun drenched good times feel - maybe the raffia and bamboo effect of the rest of the trailer would hide it.

Or a really, really old tow hitch - that would work.

This combination was the star of the show me, though.

As might be expected there were loads of vans and campers. When I look at Type 1 vans I can see the same design influences that gave us the Porsche 356. They are both so German. Vans may not give you a high speed ride but they are more a badge of the surf scene than any other vehicle. When they’ve lost their paint through sun, sand and salt, this association turn them into things of beauty, faithful mechanical things to facilitate the good times. thing. And these old vans ooze that kind of integrity from every angle.


On my return to civilisation, I showed my sister my photos. Being a surfer hun herself she likes Beetles. “But what’s wrong with their suspension?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I told her. They’ve just been slammed.”

“They look like they’ve broken down,” she replied. “How do they get over speed ramps?”

I couldn’t answer that. Obviously they must have got over them somehow to have made it into the car park. Sleeping policemen are everywhere these days.

I asked her if she liked this high rise four wheel drive van but she said that looked silly, too.

She didn’t like the shorty van either. The dog went well with this I thought and he looks like he knows it, too.

I knew what she’d like though – this microbus with interior matching the outside paint job.

And she did, too. There's something for everyone at Run To The Sun's show'n'shine. It looked too good to use, though, unlike some of the others.


And that’s the whole point I guess.

It set me thinking.

I wouldn’t deliberately make any vehicle rusty even if it looked good. I like the faded layers of paint but if it went beyond a good base coat of primer I’d get nervous. I would prefer it if the patina of age was down to being stroked by many hands, not from neglect. In most parts of the UK these vehicles would soon become perforated and raggedy.

But it’s still a kind of cheerful neglect that might last in sunny sea side places, as opposed to Cornwall with its horizontal rain and sea and moor mizzles. And if you cunningly mixed up some Hammerite, you could get that rusty brown look in patches in between areas of paint. The look on this final van reminded me strongly of some hats I once tried on at an exhibition at Falmouth School of Art. It makes me want to try something similar but I wouldn’t do it on a VW. That’s already been done. I think a Citroen van would be something new. I say this partly because I have one. I'd need another C15 van, though, to really run riot - not so much German Air Cooled Crew as French Water Cooled Equipe.

There’s definitely something about rusty sheet metal but I wouldn’t really want to be on a car. I’ve spent too long cut it out and welding in sound stuff to adopt this latest style completely.