Some of the JK Team headed over to Käfernation at Buckland Park Lake in Reigate, Surrey, at the weekend, and had an awesome time at the show. Caz kindly wrote us up a show report, and sent us a load of photos, so if you missed out on the show, you can get a feel for it and look forward to the 2024 event!
Caz wrote:
The sun shone, the paddle boarders were paddling, the cars turned up en masse, peppering the tranquillity with a welcome air-cooled roar and the scene felt alive and well.
Vibe: Old school, back to basics chill.
Cars: Plenty. Mix of stunners and runners. All about the love.
Organisers: the next gen’, young, friendly, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and genuine.
Attendees: Young to “Life experienced”, ‘scene’ old timers to fresh faced newbies.
Location: Buckland Park Lake - Stunning!
Käfernation 2023 was special, not just because it was our first show in Dotty (our ’55 Oval), but more because it had such a nice vibe
It’s clearly a show organised, and run, by a group of people who genuinely care about representing and celebrating the community as a whole.
Honestly it was pretty refreshing. The drive to get bigger, be better, have more and do more has pushed many grassroots shows to evolve away from what they once were. That’s not a judgement - they all have their place and devotees. And they are all as important in keeping the community alive and therefore supporting the vehicles being on the road.
Maybe it’s more a reflection of me. Over the years I’ve worked many a show. Been to even more as an owner. The ‘good old days’ of one day in a field, owner maintained and run cars who attended for nothing other than the love, and a community - that I intrinsically felt a part of, had changed over the years – it kind of fell away. The specialist nature and the intimacy less apparent.
Käfernation, as with other shows that have started to appear over the past couple of years, feels like the antidote to an illness we weren’t even aware we were suffering from. A new drive towards the type of shows that we’ve all been yearning for. Somehow (for those of old enough to remember the nostalgia of what once was) it’s the perfect pairing of old school values and fresh-faced enthusiasm.
Are the organisers largely young enough to be one of my kids - depressingly, yes! - but do they have old souls like the VW’s we all treasure, and a genuine and pure appreciation of them. In spades.
We’ll definitely be back next year. Thanks to the Käfernation team for such a great event and all the hard work.
Oh, and thanks to Chet for being prepared to drive at a maximum 45mph on the way there in convoy. Seeing as though Chet definitely has some of our horses, we appreciate that must have been painful!
