It was 7:30a.m. but already pushing 90 degrees; as I stumbled across the scorching parking lot to get some hot bagels and even hotter coffee I thought it was a mirage, but no, it was a genuine first-year VW Vanagon, painted to blend in with the desert scenery. Well, actually it could be a very early ’81 too, the tell is the rear air inlets – body color metal panels for the first year and a bit only, then replaced with black plastic inserts.
And it needs those inlets, as the first few years of Vanagon were equipped with the 2.0l flat-four producing all of 70hp, all luftgekühlt; the Wasserboxer wouldn’t make its presence known until ’83. Better to get things done early in these Tatooine-like climes assuming all is still original under the back, which it might not be as it does sport dual exhausts which it did not originally.
But the party piece here has to be the paint. This one is factory finished in Ivory over Bamboo Yellow, a perfect backdrop to add cacti and lighter yellow highlights for aspects of depth to the solid yellow lower body as well as a more representative “horizon” of what’s actually seen down in the desert above the original color break.
This one’s just a plain Vanagon, not even the slightly luxed up “L” model, so either 7 or 9 passenger accommodations with hot and sticky vinyl seats and not much else in the way of creature comforts or at least that’s how it left the Hannover works in Northern Germany around 44 years ago now. The owner’s added a few personal touches to the exterior and as far as the insides go, the sky’s the limit, really…
The tinted windows help, but hopefully it has air conditioning.
Wow, I haven’t seen an air-cooled one of these in ages. Those front windows / windshield look a bit too tinted to be legal, in your neck of the woods. But then again, it does such a great job at blending in to the scenery that the local constabulary will probably never even notice its presence.
I actually like the paint job. As long as one has a vehicle that may be more static than in-motion, a pleasant mural is probably a good thing.
And good on you for the Tatooine reference. Perfect. On the other end of that spectrum, I have friends who a number of years ago scheduled a very large wedding in Chicago in February. For those of us coming from more temperate parts of the country, this wedding was forever hence known as the “Wedding on Hoth”.
Having been in Chicago in February several times over the years, Hoth is a very apropos description! Although I didn’t see the same pizza options at the base on Hoth.
The two tone paint Job works great for the desert scene. It appears to have been done off the cuff and just to brighten everyone’s day. Works for me.
It never got higher than 66-67 degrees all this past week in Port Orford, and that was because of a heat wave inland. Normally the highs are 60-62. 🙂
There’s still a fair number of these air-cooled Vanagons around here, as some prefer them to the wasserboxers. Simple, proven technology. No need to replace it with a Subaru. And who’s in a hurry anyway?
I very much doubt that it’s original back there, as these invariably have had a couple (or more) “rebuilds” under their belt. Over the decades, the knowledge base on aircooled VW engines has grown tremendously, so it’s possible to build one considerably more powerful and durable than the original.
I vividly remember riding in one of these very shortly after it came out. One of the guys associated with the tv station bought it for his wife. We took a spin on the 405 in it, and I was quite impressed: so much more refined, quiet and better riding than the hoary old T1s, and even the T2s. An impressive box on wheels. And it got along ok with 70 hp, given that it was 1980, the 55 mile limit and the peak of gas prices. Freeway speeds (traffic allowing) were considerably slower then. Expectations were different too, especially of VW buses.
I forgot about the all metal air intakes on the early Vanagons and I worked at a VW dealership as a service adviser in that era. I still remember a customer with vanity plates that read “Pelican”. The strangest thing about that one was the watercooled diesel engine in the rear. They were a very limited production, but they existed. A gutless wonder on the road. No turbo here!
Water cooled Diesel T3s have been very popular over here in Germany. Given the fact that NATO and German Post Office ordered huge quantities: 1.6L 50hp, 1.7L 60hp and 1.6L Turbo 70hp were factory options. Our crew cab had the turbo version, after 700,000 on the clock and there full engine overhauls including reboring the block was done very well, so we decided to implant a 1.9L turbo Diesel 75hp from a ’92 Golf. Right now at 962,000 still in good shape so we are looking forward to seeing the clock go over zero!
Joe