I was just turning down this block on my early morning walk with the dog to get a shot of that T2 bus when a T3 (Vanagon) suddenly pulled out of its driveway. Perfect. And two Subarus. Even more perfect. two Eugene stereotypes, in double. And that Vanagon is hardly the only one.
Frankly, I was a bit taken aback by the number of T3 Vanagon buses when I decided to start actually noticing the cars in my neighborhood and shoot some of them. I didn’t shoot them all, but I found 5 or 6 just within about three blocks of each other.
I did shoot this one, because it’s sort of the ultimate Eugene stereotype driveway shot. Two very different cars for different missions.
Yes, folks do love Vanagons, as they do love getting away to go camping or such. Or want to feel like they’re ready to do so should the desire strike to hit the road.
I have a Prius and a T4 (Eurovan). Does Eugene have room for another Bay Area expat? Hahaha
Nice photos and somehow people keep those Subarus going despite head gasket issues. I decided to buy an 04 Sienna for adventuring since Toyotas are reasonably reliable though it does not have the cool factor of Minivans such as these.
I have seen some neat conversions where they put a kitchen on sliders in the back hatch and a pop up roof tent that sleeps 2. Good thing about that set up is when the miles pile up you can take it with you to the next van.
I traded my old vanagon for a previa although it doesn’t have the same interior space it spends less time at the shop. Passing on the highway is a lot less stressful as well.
I used to see a lot more Vanagon based campers around here on Vancouver Island but they seemed to have thinned in the last few years. That democratic has moved on to those right hand drive Japanese vans like the delica and Toyota HiAce, judging by the bumper stickers. I also see the Subaru or Prius as the second vehicle although the Nissan Leaf seems to be quite popular since the city has put in a bunch of quick chargers, that for the moment are no charge to use.
Is the stereotype of the T3 greenish, hippyish? For me, it was that it seemed like the Merc 123 of vans, a stern quality cast-iron cube, delightful to steer, up there in what feels like the second floor, rolly ride, far-off flat-four sounding Porschey. So very tempting. And I fell. For what was really an underpowered, disproportionately thirsty, no-braked Modernist sculpture of truly spectacular unreliability. Doubtless there are hordes who’ll tell how they drove 500k with nary a squeak (enthusiasts being both forgiving and selectfully forgetful in my experience), but as someone joked to me: “They did – then you bought it.” (Actually, not so, mine wasn’t very worn, though after a mere 9 months, I was). Quite irrationally, all this time later, I still want one.
You’re not the ONLY Vanagon fan, I had one when I lived in NYC. Yeah, I put up with the horrors of Expensive insurance and licence fees, but my bus was worth every penny. I should’ve drove it to San Diego instead of selling it to a friend in Jersey City, but I’m still hopeful that I’ll get one for my Okanagan/South Sound “stable”, VW Vans always make me happy!
I just can’t figure out why they are so expensive. A quick search on Autotrader shows 34 Vanagon’s for sale nationwide and one of them has 234000 miles and is $25,000 and another has 94,000 miles and is$60,000! You could buy a real RV with more room and functionality for that.
Funny to see VW van with Subaru, some folk fixed a Subaru engine on VW van, he told that it was powerful and really simple to fix…
As I was waiting my turn at a bay area smog shop last year, I noticed the guy in front of me was the owner of the vanagon out front. Almost 1 hour later, this eccentric blowhard was still babbling about the vanagons Subaru boxer swap and all the issues he has every 2 years getting it through emission testing. In spite of wasting an hour of my busy day, he was quite entertaining!
If you’re going to do it, do it right. Fit the Subaru flat 6 in there and lay rubber at every stoplight.
A friend of mine has a 83 Vanagon Westy camper. Waterboxer. He bought it new, and while it has hardly been a pillar of reliability, it hasn’t been too bad over the long haul. And he loves it.