26th blog – date: February, 6th 2026
The year 2023 began quite interestingly. My friend Martin from Slovakia asked me if I’d like to join him in picking up a T1 pickup truck from Germany. So, on January 1st, in the middle of the night, and only shortly after the New Year’s fireworks, we set off towards Augsburg in thick fog.
What’s special about this classic car: the cargo bed of this VW T1 pickup is a rare wide-bed. This was only available by special order (M-code „M 200“). If I remember correctly, the car was a 1962 model and still had its original dove-blue paint.
Within a single day, the three of us covered about 2,000 km and brought the car back safely. Incidentally, this vehicle now has a new owner in California.
3rd Barndoor Gathering – May 2023 in Enschede, the Netherlands
In May 2023, a friend and I attended my first „Barndoor Gathering.“ This is a VW meet for the oldest VW T1 buses (1950-March 1955) – which are called „Barndoors“ because of their large engine hatch at the rear, which is often compared to a barn door. A total of 89 of these vintage buses traveled from all over Europe to attend.
About the event:
Name:
3rd European Barndoor Gathering & Vintage VW Show //
Ben Pon Show 2023
Date:
May 20-21, 2023
Location:
Enschede, Netherlands
Further information:
Official website
This meet (also known as the Ben Pon Show) generally only takes place every four years and is organized by Airmighty. Ben Pon was a Dutch VW importer from Amersfoort who, in the mid-1940s, saw the „Plattenwagen“ (flatbed truck) at the VW factory and immediately recognized its potential. The Plattenwagen was simply a vehicle based on the Beetle chassis, used to facilitate transport within the Volkswagen plant. Essentially, it consisted of a loading platform at the front and a driver’s seat and steering column at the rear. After seeing this truck, Ben Pon was so inspired that he sketched out the design for the VW Bus in his notebook – and the rest is history.
One such Plattenwagen, built in 1946, was also present:
The location for this gathering was a former airfield in Enschede, Netherlands. On the airstrip between the hangars, the Barndoor buses were lined up in ascending order of their year of manufacture. Naturally, very early T1 buses from the very first year of production, 1950, were also present.
„Younger“ T1 buses were also there, as well as other classic Volkswagen models – such as Beetles, T2s, T3s, and so on – which could be found all over the event grounds, including the camping area. We met up with some friends again and had a fantastic time!
For example, we had the great honor of riding in a 1954 Coca-Cola bus in a „slow race,“ where the goal is to cover a certain distance as slowly as possible without the engine stalling – whoever crosses the finish line first loses! This exact Coca-Cola bus – originally an Austrian vehicle – was salvaged many years ago from a scrapyard in Wels by our friend Andreas and later sold to England. Together with Andreas and the English owner Martin, we had a lot of fun during the event.
It was also incredible to see about 10 Barndoor Sambas lined up side by side. Everywhere you looked, only sealing-wax red and chestnut-brown deluxe buses – a truly rare sight!
A few more photos I took on location:
This time I also made some purchases from the parts dealers. On the one hand, I bought this beautiful „Austria“ emblem at the Kieft & Klok stand – and on the other hand, I bought this section of an Ovali rear window from Ricardo Tosi from Italy. He had cut it out of a wreck in the woods himself several decades ago, and it had served as decoration on his workshop wall for many years.
Luckily, Andreas was there and brought the newly acquired Ovali window back to Vienna for me – for which I am still extremely grateful! The window section is now hanging in my living room and looks very good, I think. 🙂
The next edition, the 4th Barndoor Gathering, won’t take place until 2028 due to scheduling conflicts with other large international events! To whet your appetite even more, here’s a cool video I found on YouTube:
Finally, here are two more photos that I also found in my photo album. They show our T1 in September 2023 with some sunflowers.
