Circuit de Chimay is a scenic highway course nestled within the Southern Belgian countryside, just some 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 homeowners and followers a playground to discover their ardour for these iconic automobiles. The European Bug-In has change into certainly one of my favourite occasions, and on the finish of final month, I headed to Belgium for its tenth working.
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 automotive golf equipment throughout america 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 automotive present as we all know them immediately. It was a vibrant occasion the place competitors and camaraderie took heart 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 finest Volkswagens over a number of classes together with Classic and Customized. There was even a tongue-in-cheek ‘Worst of Present’ award offered.
For 15 consecutive years, these exhibits befell twice yearly – as soon as in spring and as soon as in fall – culminating within the thirty first and remaining 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 deliver this idea to Europe. To stay as much as the Bug-In legacy, they wanted a venue with ample area and potential, which they discovered at Circuit de Chimay. This 4.5km (2.8mi) road 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 america.
The entrance straight now serves because the occasion’s entrance, that includes the enduring crimson Chimay bridge and a paddock for drag vehicles. The infield contains a big swap meet the place lovers and distributors provide new and used elements. 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 finest ETs, the drag racing continues to be an important spectacle that includes every thing from street-legal, souped-up 1.6L Beetles to fully-built drag vehicles 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 automotive.
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 offered a shocking array of VWs, showcasing numerous types and eras. Awards got in classes together with Previous Velocity, Customized, Classic, and Coolest Exhaust.
A trademark of those air-cooled exhibits is the sprawling campsites filled with 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 usually missed in different automotive sub-cultures.
If in case you have any curiosity in air-cooled VWs, be sure to mark European Bug-In #11 in your 2025 calendar. Simply make sure you 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 a center floor.
Collin Tiemens
Instagram: collinclicksphotos
