Dubshed 2023

It's got to be said that we absolutely loved Dubshed last year, so much so that we already knew that we'd be back, before we even boarded the boat back from Belfast.

One of the greatest full-on weekenders out there for the VAG faithful, this one packs out the huge Eikon Exhibition Centre with some of the best builds that both Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland have to offer. It's a proper German car fest and no mistake but it's not just the Dubs that get a look-in, nope, there's always plenty of immaculate imports to ponder, too. After all, what with Belfast being the gateway to the UK they seem to get all the best stuff first anyway. And we all know that the whole of the Emerald Isle has a serious love affair with Japanese motors. So, it's no secret that we were looking forward to seeing all those, too. It's also the reason why this year we'd not only be taking along some of our own "Dubs' - namely the OG Mk1 Caddy and our Caddy V2 Project - but our mentalist Liberty Walk S15 would also be making the trip. Besides, it would have been plain rude not to get this monster out there for all the Irish Japanese car fans, right? But, first of course, before any of that, we've actually got to get there.

Now, it's obvious that it takes quite a bit on the logistical side to get the AF crew, AirStream pop-up store, a whole load of top detailing products and a fair old chunk of our project cars across the water. What with this time of year being extremely busy, we can't just take a whole week off to do it, either. Instead, we pre-prep the cars to get those loaded onto a transporter and hook up the Airstream all on the Friday night. Before heading from The Detailing Academy in Hertfordshire to Liverpool to jump on the overnight ferry.

The ferry docks in Belfast at some ungodly hour on the Saturday morning and we headed straight to the show to set up. As you can see, we really broke out the big guns for our huge display this year, with the whole team mucking in to get fully set up before the doors opened.

Of course, there was one other small thing to contend with before the show opened and, as always, that's perfecting our display cars. Luckily though, we just happen to have a huge American trailer full of all the bits and pieces we needed to do the job, so it didn't take long for the team to make sure every AF project (not to mention a whole load of other people's cars) were finished to perfection.

And there was us thinking that the standard of show cars was pretty epic last year, but for 2023 we reckon that everyone involved really upped their game. There's certainly some of the best builds in the whole of Europe - if not the world - to be found right here in Northern Ireland.

Still, it almost goes without saying that you really need to be there to see them all, there's literally hundreds to drool over. But, with that said here's a whole load of our favourites, along with plenty of other shenanigans from the entire weekend. Suffice to say that this was an unusually hectic one - have a little swipe through our special galleries and you'll see what we mean...

And just like that, a full on weekend was over - doesn't time fly, eh? Thanks to everyone who popped by the stand, and hopefully we'll see you again, here in Belfast for the next one. Keep an eye on Dubshed for updates.