Yesterday dawned bright and sunny, ideal conditions for the V-Dubs Club’s fifth event since its inception.

The event was due to start with a gathering of forces at Hornworks Ditch in Floriana from 09.00 but, as early as 08.30 the first participants were already eagerly waiting for the event to get under way.

By 09.30, the time the committee had targeted to gather members present for a brief update on what had been done since the previous meeting, a round figure of thirty Volkswagens had made it to the first meeting point.  This included a couple of Golf IIIs, a Polo Classic, a Golf II as well as a Mk 1 Golf and a Mk 2 Passat in addition to a wide variety of Beetles.  All were gleaming but particularly noteworthy were the 1966 pink beetle driven by Sammy Falzon of Al Capone Car Hire, a similar Beetle in metallic blue, as well as the chopped and slammed bug driven by Kevin who will be assisting the fledgling committee in achieving its aims.

Colin, one of the two founder members of the club, then proceeded to brief the members regarding developments.  Principally these include some headway into the insurance dealings albeit much ground is still to be covered if the club is to achieve its targets.  Another achievement is the fleet discount for vehicle recovery which the club obtained.  Colin then announced the intention of the committee to prepare a bi-monthly newsletter as well as other activities which the committee intends to hold every other month, alternating with the issue of the newsletter.  The news was eagerly received as was the announcement that, after a drive to Buskett, members present would be asked to vote for the best car in show. A model of the Millionth Beetle produced, which was donated to the Club by Topmodels of Sta Venera, would be donated to the winner.
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The VWs present then formed into a carcade and drove to the Buskett Forest parking via December 13th Road, Qormi Fly Over, Mdina Road, Attard, Saqqajja Hill, Rabat through Buskett and onto the designated parking. 

The drive was uneventful except for Kevin’s slammed bug (because of which he had been burning some midnight oil all through the preceding week) which decided to force a premature stop for breath on the final leg from Rabat to Buskett.  Apparently, something overheated and, when the mandatory time for cooling had elapsed, the battery decided to play up, necessitating some frenzied driving to get a replacement from somewhere in Zebbug.  He eventually made it to parc ferme but only after voting for the best car present had been concluded.

Conspicuous by their absence were several bugs, some vans and buses as well as a variety of Cabriolets of all types with which our roads are adorned. Apparently, the Committee had overlooked one vital detail - a drag meeting was being held on the same day at Hal Far which probably attracted more interest.

Another five or six cars joined the group at Buskett including a chopped 12 volt beetle and a Baja Bug amongst others.  After the cars competing in the first Best Car competition were tagged, the voting proceeded and eventually, the 1966 Bug which Sammy had driven over from Mellieha for the occasion was selected as the best car present.  The elated chap was presented with his merited trophy by Colin who thanked the sponsors for their co-operation and assistance in turning the occasion into a memorable event.

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During the course of the event, several participants expressed their ideas regarding future venues and events.  The Committee will be discussing these at its next meeting.  In the meantime, they hope to keep receiving information and feedback from interested persons since this would ensure that members' tastes are catered for and that future events will be as varied and interesting as the cars that members drive.  So get pen and paper together and drop us a line at PO Box 30, Msida or, for those of you who may have access to the Web, at volksmalta@hotmail.com.