Events Coverage
European Event Coverage: MIVW Treffen
By words: Patrick Hill, photos by author
Sep 1, 2005, 07:23

Welcome to our series coverage of the European 2005 event schedule.

The European 2005 Audi/VW show and treffen season is moving along, and no doubt this means we North Americans will get a glimpse at what new styles and technologies will take the European continent by storm. Like it or not, what's happening across The Pond at enthusiast events is bound to make it over here at one point or another, so pay attention if you're keeping score.



Fourtitude is pleased to announce we're partnering with VWHome.de in providing our readers the very latest and greatest coverage of some killer Euro events for 2005. Some will be huge, and others will be but mere informal GTGs, but the point is that we hope to provide an unparalleled slice of the Euro show scene for those of you unable to see such things for yourself.

Next up is coverage of the 2nd International MIVW Treffen which took place August 14, in Leiden, The Netherlands (near Amsterdam).

MIVW is an exclusive European VW club and its initials stand for, shockingly enough, Men In VWs. According to their website www.mivw.nl, there are some 17 members and a couple of these members include such illustrious names as Emiel Kooistra and “Big Ron” Huyser.



Fellow vwhome.de member Marc and I drove to the event in Marc’s 25th Anniversary Golf IV GTi. Marc lives in Hannover, Germany, which meant our journey to Leiden was some 500 km! But, oh, was it worth it!

Aside from the massive Wörthersee Treffen, the MIVW event was the best one of the year so far. In my opinion, Dutch and Belgian VWs and Audis are at the top of the game this year because their style is so clean and simple. Another reason these cars are superior in 2005 is because nothing really new has come out of northern Germany in the enthusiast scene this year, and southern Germany is still too caught up in two-tone paint jobs and wild graphics – that style is okay if not overdone, but there are simply too many of them and too many that are too crazy for my tastes.



The drive to the treffen was horrible – rain, rain, rain. And on the way home... more rain, but the event saw nothing but sunshine! Some 300 cars attended. Most of this show is made up of modified Volkswagens, but Audis show in respectable numbers, as do their junior brand SEAT. Among them were a great looking B3 90 and an A3 3-door with the newer corporate grille that seemingly couldn't have been dropped any lower.

For more discussion on this story, click on the link to our discussion forums to the left.	For more photos of the car in this story, click on the link to our gallery at the right.

© Copyright 2004 by YourSITE.com