Reinis Babrovskis Photography: GTINI Castlewellan 2015

GTINI Castlewellan 2015

Dubs All Around

Text and Photos: Reinis Babrovskis

I am really not that interested in the VW scene, nor would I ever choose a car show over a Rally if they clashed on the same date, yet there I was – GTINI Castlewellan 2015 instead of the Lurgan Park Rally. Why? Because for a reason I cannot really even explain this show has a magical atmosphere surrounding it and I wanted to be there; and I do not regret my choice.

As we all know the boys and girls from the GTINI club certainly do know how to put up a good show; these folk are also behind the hugely successful Dubshed and Titanic Dubs shows, so there was no surprise really that the show was another triumph. Whilst the shows above are serious full-on competition, Castlwellan is more like a stress free family gathering of the "folk car" community.

It could be the location, or the chilled vibe, or simply the cool cars that make it so wonderful, but one thing is for sure - these guys certainly master the weather dance; whilst the rest of the country was getting soaked, just like any other year the dubbers were having bbq's and getting burnt.

Despite the show’s affection to the VW brand, other manufacturers were welcomed, and more so this year by the looks of it. Don’t get me wrong, it is not a bad thing though; I thoroughly enjoyed the variety. It is still a VW show at the end of the day, but seeing a retro BMW or Ford, or Japanese classic thrown into the mix make it more versatile and appealing. This year certainly was the busiest it has been with both sides of the Castlewellan Forest Park car park being packed

One of the main attraction of the show is obviously the car limbo - aka how low can you go competition. Poor cars got loaded with dozens of people to gain that extra cm clearance.

One of the show sponsors, a local car blog - ilovebass presented a magnificent stand with some truly amazing rides on display, including Kyle Jackson's Audi S3 that got finished and picked up from the bodywork shop on the previous night, Adam's Beemer tourer wrapped in matte black, Mark's green Audi RS4, Ben's edition 30 GTI Golf and Thomas's S2K and a few others.

The quality of rides on display were truly impressive.

If you think being cool in the car scene is easy, thing again - these boys and girls buy more accessories and blings for their cars than they do for themselves. Trendy wheels, suspension and accessories is a must to stand out and being seen with the same outfit for two car show seasons is not an option.

Some of my favourites from the show include James's liquid yellow wrapped Lupo on the Schmidt Th-Lines. This bright hatch certainly stood out from the crowd.

Credit where credit is due - Clark's midnight purple (Yes there are 50 shades of midnight purple) GTI Golf MKV looks amazing in the sunlight and is one of my favourite German cars in the country.

John has not one, but two amazing MK2 Golfs. The 16v GTI as well the recently acquired VR6 MKII. Both of the cars look and sound amazing.

Obviously I have a soft spot for Hondas, so Gaetano's Civic did grab my attention.

Conor's Golf has underwent some major changes recently - with the help of his mates, Conor transformed the Golf beyond recognition. The Golf received a new heart - VR6 as well as new colour - the Manilla Green as well as front mounted BBS. VW would approve!

The oak green turbo MKII of Derek likes to take the spotlight, and I if I'm honest it is well deserved.

Whilst restoring his classic Mini Autolifers member Jayme has swapped the British classic to a bit more modern German hatch. The GTI Polo is sitting perfect and dressed in lovely shoes.