The Ultimate Driving Machine.
(Welcome our newest COAL contributor Heath McClure. You’re going to love the ride! Click on the author’s name for the rest of his posts. PN)
So, my young family needed reliable transportation.
It was the early ’90s and my wife had a bun in the oven. Our sole vehicle, my ’81 Toyota pickup, SR5 long bed 5-speed and my pride and joy, simply was outclassed now due to its virtue/vice of having bucket seats and being tiny. So what to do for the coming kiddo and the car seat? Change for a bench seat? Still tiny in there. Couldn’t very well strap him in the bed a la Subaru Brat, so sell the Toyota and get a…drumroll please…
A minivan!
Yes, that most practical of personal transport, the one single automobile that is Plato’s Theory of (car) Forms made sheet metal, the perfect solution to the problem of getting humans and their stuff from point A to point B; behold the minivan and weep all ye pretenders.
I was excited to be joining the minivan revolution, and who wouldn’t be back in 1992? But of course now comes the kicker, my fairly deeply ingrained inability to own any auto that is remotely mainstream and “normal”. It’s a curse really, but there it is. So instead of shopping for a normal, practical, reasonably cheap used Dodge Caravan, with woodgrain sides of course, like every other normal American family was buying in ’92, I veered once again into my endless delusional love affair with Volkswagen air cooled. A love affair that had always left me, in the end, cold, broke, and feeling slightly soiled.
See, to my mind the perfect minivan is, er, uh, was, the Type 2, the original and of course the all-time best. Modern things like “handling” and “power” and “safety”? Bah. That’s for the plinker, not for me, no sir, no how.
Now where can I find me a cherry Transporter?
We were living in central Texas at the time, and as this was pre-internet era the go-to source was the good old Thrifty Nickel rag. And shazam, on first attempt I found not only a Type 2 that might work out, but the Holy Grail of them all, in my mind, a mint Westfalia. It was in Dallas, said it was original owner, was green, had AC (!) and only 42,000 miles. Asking price, $4,500. In short order I was on the phone, confirmed that the ad was legit, and we were on our way to Dallas cash in hand.
Of course I didn’t have 4,500 bucks per se, but I’d always managed some creative, uh, financing, and so the money was, uh, acquired in short order. Luckily my long-suffering wife was game on my automotive misfires, and gave me a lot of rope to hang myself when it came to picking cars.
Following the directions in Dallas we soon began driving into tony, leafy hoods. Fine sprawling mid-century ranch homes obviously built for doctors, lawyers and the bourgeois of Dallas lay before us. Soon enough we found the house and saw the van for the first time, it was under a fully sided car port to the left of the home and simply took my breath away. It was beyond all expectations, as clean and neat as if it had just rolled off the line. No way could this be a 15-year-old VW, but somehow it was. The paint, that fantastical lime green called “Sage Green,” was glowing and wax residue was lurking in cracks and crannies, clearly this man knew how to care for paint. It had orange/brown stripes and a set of goofy imitation white spoked rim hubcaps that were VW marked and original to the van (the “spoke accent wheel covers”). The interior had that old VW smell of curious German plastics, was squeaky clean and in the “Green Plaid” pattern fabric. Every single thing was immaculate, the carpets, the seats, the woodgrain, all of which had been Pledged its whole life into utter submission. Sweet.
Really, a black and white beauty pic in 1993? Cheesy. Note the AC vents under the dash and the porta-potty below the passenger seat.
It had the FI 2.0 liter engine coupled to the usual 4-speed manual. That engine husked out 67 net horsepower making this the hot rod of Type 2s. And it was air conditioned! A compressor sat to the left of the engine with its own drive belt, and an under-dash set of vents and controls in the cab controlled the beautiful, beautiful cooled air. The owner said the dealer had installed the AC unit and it was a nice neat job, and worked quite well. All the camper gear was functioning and in perfect order, the upper canvas for the hightop was like new, the stove and electric fridge and sink all working great. And did I mention it had cruise control? It did, another dealer add-on and it worked. Had the 12-volt fridge, two burner propane stove, outside water and power hookups as well as power front disc brakes, and even a screen for the door when opened to keep out the gnats. Primo.
I was in love.
After a cursory test drive to at least say I drove it, it was an honor to hand the man the full asking price, he signed the papers, and bam, it was mine, mine, all MINE!! (er, uh, ours).
After getting it home and giving it the Full Monty once over, it was apparent that it was even better than I’d hoped. Never been in an accident, no rust at all whatsoever, all glass perfect, and it had great compression on all four cylinders. First order of the day, as usual when buying anything, was an oil change and then a lengthy polish and wax. It had hilarious stickers by the factory in various locations saying things like, “Achtung! Neintouchdehotthingie!” and such. I now owned the world’s greatest minivan. Bow before me all posers in mass market Iacoocamobiles.
And it was time for a road trip, to California to see my folks and then up to Washington to see the wife’s family. Would an untested 15-year-old air-cooled VW Westy be able to make a 5,000 mile round trip in the height of summer? Sure. No problem. I got this. In fact we’d be camping in the van all the way, it’d be super cool and unlike those plinkers in their Dodge Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers we’d be having a whale of a time, seeing sights, camping and self-sufficient, like Americans ought to be. We loaded up and set out only a few weeks after buying the van.
Bathroom in full view. Note the kids car seat way in the back, turned out that was a bit of a problem.
That was when a few minor problems manifested themselves.
Problem one; wind. The Westy did not like wind when it came from three places, port, starboard and the bow. In fact once we got into the West Texas wilds the sidewinds nearly were blowing us off the road, and driving at anything over 50 mph the van was almost unmanageable. Loaded with luggage, the rear heavy tendency of the Type 2 was even worse than usual, and the Westys are rather top heavy to boot, it felt like trying to navigate a boat in rough seas with all the weight in the stern. So at one rather dismal rest stop where we licked our wounds and contemplated turning back, an idea came to me; add ballast to the front. Lots of large rocks were soon gathered and about 200 pounds worth were placed between the front seats, here they remained until we arrived in Bakersfield, CA. And son of a gun it worked! The van was much more manageable and speeds could be increased to 60, we were practically flying along, but you still had to actively drive it, if you know what I mean, wink wink, nudge nudge. Plinkers in Caravans passed me at 85 with one hand on the wheel and the other on their diet soda, but whatever.
Problem two; the AC. Oh for sure it worked, the AC. But the problem was obvious to anyone with less VW lust in their eye than me, there was simply too much volume for that little dash mounted unit to fill with cool air. You only had cool air coming out of the dash, it lacked the inner roof mount unit, and the lack of serious insulation and the large space quickly rendered the AC as pointless as teats on a bull beyond about 18” inches from the dash. Plinkers in Voyagers passed us with the windows all up and their dual AC units blowing frost on their spoiled back seat rugrats, but whatever.
Problem three; the power. There actually wasn’t any, and that was the problem. With the AC running who knows how many of those original 67 ponies were actually making the wheels go round, and whatever that number was it wasn’t enough. Any hill at all caused speed to drop, a lot. I noticed that, distressingly, my foot was buried on the floor a depressingly large amount of time and it still didn’t help. I became a topography expert, noticing even the slightest upgrade that was coming up and accelerating like mad to try to get some speed up before that hill stole it all away. Downshift you say? Of course. How about second, will second work for you? Oh, OK, first it is, then. Conformist plebs in Grand Caravans scooted by me, their startled minions little faces plastered in the back windows, looking puzzled, at the slow, ancient, lime green VW van that was straining with all its might to pull the “hill” in second gear while their dad’s shiny new van was flying up it at 80 as mom and dad full-bore argued about whatever it is middle-class couples argue about in the middle of nowhere New Mexico at 80mph on I-10, but whatever.
Here’s those gnarly wheel covers in the options catalog.
Problem four; breakdowns. Yeah, things broke. But hey I wrench and of course brought enough tools to do a full rebuild on the side of the road if need be. I mean come on, if you’ve ever owned an old VW you know what I mean, you never leave home without enough gear to at least drop the engine and replace a valve, right? The biggest problem was the FI, it kept cutting in and out and that was simply not good, not good at all, and beyond my ken to fix on the side of a road near Wasteland, AZ.
Finally we arrived in Bakersfield where my folks lived for needed R and R (rest and repairs). The rocks came out and were planted in mom’s flowerbeds as a decorative West Texas highlight. I got some concrete to replace them, yup, poured it right into the front console thing between the seats and then attached some weights under the front end as well. Fixed the FI with a new mass airflow meter, and patched a few other things, and set off for Silverdale, WA with a few stops to see friends along the way. Believe it or not the rest of the trip was mechanically uneventful, and once we got into the Great Pacific Northwest and could turn off the AC we even had a little more power to fight those hills and headwinds. But the Pacific Northwest led to a discovery of another issue.
Problem five; heat. Actually there wasn’t any. Not real heat. Oh sure, some warmish air came out from the vents when you pulled the lever up, ha ha ha. Very funny, you people who want heat, bah, the love burning in your hearts for all things VW should keep you warm! VW uber Alles!
At home in Texas. Yes, we lived in the trailer, (12′ x 36′) and the raccoons lived under East side and the possums lived under the West side. (gangland love story anyone?)
Upon returning to Texas I did a few things to help with some of the very, very minor problems the trip uncovered. Bought a full set of sway bars and installed them to help with that little side wind problem. Dang if they didn’t almost make my ancient German box on wheels almost handle decently! Installed a header exhaust system to eek more power out for the hills. Installed an oil cooler. Installed an electric interior heater. Rigged the fridge to also be drainable to serve as an ice chest. Installed a porta-pottie for complete and utter independence from needing to even stop for peeing. My wife and I worked out a system of switching drivers at speed so we could go back and pee, cruise control works great for that. I’m telling ya, it was the PERFECT vehicle!
We had many an adventure with the Westy, including one priceless trip to New Orleans which ended with us having to replace all four tires because the roads there ruptured them all. New tourism motto for New Orleans, “Come and get four new tires on us!” Oh there were endless little issues with the van, but nothing a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money could not fix. Many a late night working under the glare of incandescents passed, desperately trying to get part A back onto part B without breaking part C in the process.
But I was never gonna sell my baby! No way.
Well time passed, and a couple years later we moved to California for schooling. I was working on a MA degree in some pointless thing or other in my usual quixotic quest. We towed the Westy behind our U-Haul as we came out West, and landed in Fresno. (motto: “Fresno: at least it’s not Modesto!”) Now comes the kicker, in order to register the van in the Great and Wonderful State of California, a special little sunflower of a land if ever there was one, it had to pass a smog check. Uh. Uh. I threw all that stuff away back when I upgraded the engine in Texas. Okay, crap, now I gotta find smog parts for an ancient Type 2 and somehow manage to get it to pass biannual smog checks for as long as I live here. Expletives. I start tracking down smog gear I’d need, and talking to guys who own late 70’s FI VWs and find that smogging them is a black art, not for the timid, and not a sure thing at all. “Like dude, you might have to sell it, dude” seemed the general thinking.
OK, uh, maybe I will sell my beloved Bus. And I had to admit that I’d grown weary with its endless little problems, and was really ready to get something else, maybe even ready to finally give up and join the Great American Mainstream™ and buy a normal car like everyone else. A car with real heat and AC, with actual handling in wind, and with enough power to merge onto the freeway without the sounds of the screams of terror of your passengers being the last thing you hear. So I put an ad in the local Thrifty Nickel. Got a few desultory calls, nothing much, till one guy suggested a trade, even Steven, his car for mine. He came and showed me his, I did likewise, we both liked what we saw and signed the titles on the spot. He drove away with my trusty, sort of, Westy bus and I admit freely before men that I cried a tear as it puttered away. I’ve missed that darn thing ever since. Rats.
Oh, and what did I take in trade? Remember this is our only car and it’s for my young family, which needs reliable transportation. Well, sitting in my parking spot as Westy drove away was a mint, and I mean MINT condition 1951 Ford F-1 with the 100 horse flathead V-8 and a bench seat for the kiddo to perch in the middle.
But that’s another story.
The new family hauler!! That’s my son behind the wheel, and me at the door with the geeferbob eyeglasses.
Sweet looking VW Bus Westfalia. I used to know someone who had one. I can’t remember what colour it was, whether it was orange, or green, or what year it was.
Wow you are brave.I had a 71 type 3 ,much less weight lower , no ac nothing but an am radio and I was in 2 gear on the n y state throughway
I learned to anticipate hills.
“At least it’s not Modesto!” Ha!
How did you sell the Type 2? California generally requires the seller to smog the vehicle before transferring the title, which in this case would seem to have not so much resolved as compounded your dilemma.
Even back in the mid-seventies this was true. I bought a 1973 Nova (private party sale) when I was stationed in the Air Force then and it took some very creative “adjustments” to get the car to pass the smog test. Essentially we kept increasing the idle speed on the SBC until it registered clean enough to pass.
If you “knew a guy” (in the late ’80’s) the test machine could be hooked up to the offending car while the tail pipe sniffer could be inserted into a different clean running car and pass the test. Never got involved in this myself, of course.
You probably could sell the car “as is or sell out of state (possibly non running) with buyer responsible for all repairs to make it emission compliant.
See, I’m not sure California law would permit the latter option. I’m not familiar with all the nuances of it, but my impression has been that the DMV would not allow you to transfer the title without a smog certificate — and back then would sock you with a hefty smog importation fee even if you had one.
There might be some additional flexibility for a non-running vehicle with a planned non-operation registration — a junker hauled in on a trailer as a parts car, say — but the law was written to specifically discourage sellers from sticking buyers with a non-compliant vehicle. It was partly to make it harder to end-run the emissions laws and partly to prevent unscrupulous dealers from sticking customers with a gross polluter and then saying, “Sorry, buddy, no warranty.”
It used to be the case (in LA County anyway) until at least the late 80’s and I believe well into the ’90’s that you could sell it but the buyer would have to get it smog checked BEFORE registering it. Yes, this caused inevitable (and predictable) issues and so it eventually was changed so that the seller had legal responsibility to get a smog certificate before selling it (the current law).
Back then different counties had different rules (and still do to some extent) regarding how often you had to get it checked while owning it – some only upon transfer, some every year, some every other year.
And yes, there were certainly plenty of people who “knew a guy” that would get it done (for a small additional “fee”. Actually it seems like almost everyone knew someone who could be called upon if needed. The technician would just put the test equipment into the tail pipe of a different car. Also, back in the day the system was not linked to the state computer so if you failed you could re-test immediately elsewhere until you eventually passed, now it’s much more complex. This didn’t always mean going to “your guy”, sometimes it was the difference between taking a cold car in that would fail and then going back after taking it on a long high-speed run and bringing it in again. Some stations (ARCO specifically in my area) even advertised free re-tests.
Around ’89-’90 the smog machines in repair shops in LA county were already connected to the state computer, the second car tailpipe to sniffer was a work around. At this time the buyer was still responsible for smog check. I moved from LA in ’97 and never had to deal with buying or selling a car since the late ’80’s in SoCal.. Not surprised by the law change, where I live now (Washington State) buyer is still responsible for smog check for newer than 25 years old. But here physical state inspection stations bypass the private repair shop certification, failed and repaired cars have to go back to a state inspection station for final test.
Cars built after 2010 need no annual inspection, cars younger than 25 get checked every 2 years in my county, I believe more rural counties have no annual inspection. As I recall in LA cars newer than 1975 still need annual smog check.
Sounds like the laws in California now would pretty much force an out of state sale or junking of a non compliant vehicle.
Newer cars (mine, anyway, which is a 2005) generally need a smog check every other year. There’s some variation about whether the DMV demands a test-only certification or not; I’m not sure if it’s age-related or some kind of periodic rotation. (Since it’s a biennial thing, I haven’t tracked it, so I’d have to dig through old records to see if there’s a pattern.)
He had just moved from Texas. So, Texas title.
If California law wouldn’t permit the latter option, then the law is an ass.
~20 years ago my Peugeot 504 started showing signs of a leaking head gasket, and I sold it to my mechanic. I’m sure he gave me more for it than a junk yard would have. For all I know he may have fixed the head gasket, swapped another engine into it, or parted it out. I’m in Washington state. In any event, it would have come due for smog inspection at its normal 2-year interval, whether I’d sold it or not.
I’m reminded of rlplaut’s comment on the end of his Pontiac Tempest: someone could probably fix it, but it wasn’t going to be him.
“He had just moved from Texas. So, Texas title.”
–Yes, that’s the key to getting out of this conundrum.
I cannot see how California can even have a say if it is sold to somebody in a different state even if it does not have a smog cert. Odds are the car will be out of the state of CA before CA knows it. Ether on the back of a trailer or with that state’s tags. It is not hard to imagine somebody from Josephine County OR buying a car from a person in Del Norte CA. They could take the title and other paperwork to the local ORE DMV and get tags and then come back and pick the car up. In my state, you take the vehicle’s original title and paperwork showing you bought it to the DMV and you can register it in the state. For non historic cars, a safety inspection is needed for plates and a every two year emission inspection. For historic plated cars none of that is needed.
I am sure CA would like to control every step of the process in regards to a vehicle that was once registered there but most states tend to give CA the middle digit in that regard.
Heath, Great COAL story. Lots of familiar air cooled VW memories are recalled here. If my 64 Beetle was shaky in crosswinds, I can only image how the van with so much more sail-area handled them.
Neither of my past wives, nor any girl friend present or past, would have found your porta-potty solution acceptable.
And if the F-1 is indeed your next vehicle, your desire to stay out of the mainstream is admirable, but portends even more [I’ll use the term] excitement.
Welcome to the COAL club. Fun read.
Great read, and I say that as a former fellow VW ‘bus owner (’71 Campmobile that I gutted and used for eight, count ’em, eight years, six as a DD). Glad to see the rose-colored glasses came off early; while there are a lot of things I loved about my old ‘minivan,’ and yes, I, too, wept when it died for good on the way to OSH one year, it was a *very* high maintenance relationship… Having also owned an old Ford pickup (’69 F100, 240, auto), I look forward to the next episode!
Love the WW2 paint scheme!
What a great write-up. It sure brings back memories.
I had a friend with a Type 2 van (not a Westy though) back in the 70’s and we took a couple of road trips in it although nothing as epic as your trip to th coast. I have very vivid memories of chugging along and nearly being blown off the road by passing semi’s. The front of the bus would just jump sideways about a foot towards the berm. I was young and immortal, but that got my attention.
As for air conditioning and VW’s, in 1983 I acquired a 73 Super Beetle with the automatic, for my wife who was about to learn to drive. It came with air conditioning, in a box, in the trunk. I took the car to our local ‘Bugs Are Us’ and asked the mechanic to install it. He actually got angry with me. He said, “I like Volkswagens and I refuse to murder them by putting AC on them. And the heat…well I one time melted some plastic stuff that I left on the floor behind the driver’s seat…. But I had to scrape the inside of the windshield ’cause that heat was never going to get as far as the defroster vents.
Reliability ? I liked to say that (in the 80’s) “There’s nothing on a Bug you can’t fix for $100”. However I learned that there was no limit on how many $100 repairs might be necessary. I liked the Beetle, but my next car was a Toyota.
“Neintouchdehotthingie” – haha, classic.
I owned an old BMW with similar Teutonic labels everywhere. I had my father in law translate them. He was a German translator with the Italian army in WWII.
My cousin loves these vans especially the camper version. He lives in Britain so its the perfect RV for him – the compact presentation and good manoverability are perfect there. The modest power and general lack of speediness is no problem on their vast network of backroads.
I lived with a guy who had a T2 poptop, not a Westy but. It had a worked 1800 engine and I got to drive it for a week while he was away. It was ideal in the narrow backstreets of Sydney because you could manoeuvre it easily with your head so close to the front, and this one’s engine was peppy enough too – but with so *much* potential exposure to a front-on I never really pushed it. A couple of times I’d get home to find the top had popped without me even realising. Nice writing style and great read.
Great story, and oh so sad that you had to get rid of such an awesome vehicle. There’s a lot of allure in a VW camper – even 40+ years later there is nothing out there that is quite comparable. I’m glad you enjoyed your time with this one and look forward to your next COAL!
Wow, the COAL bar keeps getting higher here. Great story!
I kept waiting for the part where the many comfortable accommodations in the Westy would be perfect for when the Mrs. would eventually force you to sleep in it – but that part never came. You did indeed choose a patient lady. 🙂
In the late 70s, an aunt and uncle drove their VW bus from New Jersey to Indiana for a visit. I have no idea if it had aircon or not, but I am sure that with a family of five aboard (with three of them being in their teens), it must have been a fun time on interstate entrance ramps.
Perfect description of the joys of VW Bus ownership. And yours was the latest and greatest in power and handling of the ’68-’79 generation. Brother owned a ’78 Westy pop top, white in color, for many years and drove cross country several times in it. No AC on his, though. He kept it in like new condition as well. Eventually moved up to a ’86 Vanagon Westy, also white, this one did have AC. Replaced head gaskets and a head or 2 at least twice, as well as a 4 speed transmission that slowly started to make expensive noises as he managed to limp into a VW repair shop for an exchange transmission. He blamed himself for towing the largest U haul trailer he could get stuffed full of furniture cross country for his move to his new home.
I had a ’66 Bus with a Sundial camper conversion, it was like a Westy but non pop top. Had the beautiful wood paneling including headliner. Ice box and camping stove, 120v connection, sink with water tank, no propane. This had a 1600cc single port engine which I added dual single barrel Solex carbs, along with headers and quiet non glass pack muffler. It was no speed demon, but ran pretty strong for what it was.
The first Bus brother bought was a ’56 Panel Bus, complete with Earl Schieb orange paint job (the colors were limited in the $29.95 price range), and cut out rear fender wells with rear chrome Chevy wheels on JC Whitney adapters, along with fiberglass rear flairs, side scoops, and wood bumpers I made in wood shop for it. The 36 hp engine broke it’s crankshaft on the Grapevine, found a ’54 25 hp engine for $75.00 and was good to go. Your ’78 was a Ferrari in power compared to his!
I loved my ’66, But in Parker Arizona around 1975 (drinking age then 18, yay!) in the 120 degree heat the engine could take no more, losing a rod but it did manage to limp along at 20 mph on the side of the road into town under it’s own power. Had to make a phone call home for Dad to come and tow us home with his ’72 Winnebago Brave. He had a universal tow bar which required drilling out the VW’s bumper to install, and got us home. A used $100 1500cc was found and installed, and I sold it soon after replacing the engine. It did have a bench seat with spare tire well up front, and if you pulled the curtains closing off the back, the heater would keep the drivers area somewhat warm, at least in 30-40 degree weather.
Great write up, you got a great deal on your Westy. I enjoyed the two I had, (had a beat to hell ’65 Westfalia non pop top in high school, it had the rare flip up windshields as well). But after the ’66 I had my fill of VW Bus ownership. Today I would love to have it back, for a weekend fair weather toy. It was in beautiful condition when I had it, would be worth a pretty penny today!
“How did you sell the Type 2? California generally requires the seller to smog the vehicle before transferring the title, which in this case would seem to have not so much resolved as compounded your dilemma.”
–Ah, well, all will be revealed next time, same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.
“I have very vivid memories of chugging along and nearly being blown off the road by passing semi’s. The front of the bus would just jump sideways about a foot towards the berm. I was young and immortal, but that got my attention.”
–Oh yes, almost getting blown off the road by a semi passing the other way was a terrifying way to pass the time as you crawled up a hill. Sometimes I thought the Westy would spin in a circle when a semi roared by.
“A couple of times I’d get home to find the top had popped without me even realising.”
–Air brake!
“I kept waiting for the part where the many comfortable accommodations in the Westy would be perfect for when the Mrs. would eventually force you to sleep in it – but that part never came. You did indeed choose a patient lady.”
–Oh, that, uh…well…(looks awkwardly at his watch)…
“The 36 hp engine broke it’s crankshaft on the Grapevine, found a ’54 25 hp engine for $75.00 and was good to go. Your ’78 was a Ferrari in power compared to his!”
–36hp to try to climb the Grapevine!! And then downgraded to a 25hp!! That man is my new hero.
Welcome as a contributor. I enjoyed your entertaining style. And your courage in going against the grain! I bought my first minivan in 1990, a Dodge Caravan. Then ten years later bought a used 1996 Town and Country. The T&C had some problems later in it’s life but these vans sure were practical.
There were several mentions of watching Chrysler minivans passing with occupants in comfort while the writer struggled out on the road. Seems like quite an inducement to lose the VW in lieu of something much more comfortable and not nearly as maintenance intensive.
OTOH, I suspect that anyone who suffered through a Type 2 ownership consider it priceless. VWs, as much of a headache they might otherwise be, have ‘character’. I can’t imagine any ChryCo minivan stories being half as entertaining.
Welcome aboard! What a great story, and looking forward to the next one.
I’ve had some experiences with old VW vans, well short of actually owning one, and thoroughly enjoyed your story. I’ve owned 1950 and 1952 Ford half-ton pickups so of course I look forward to your next piece.
Loved it. That mobile home brings back some graduate school memories too.
Sounds like we had similar tastes in vehicles back in the ninties. I had a couple 1973-74 kombi’s. The first one I bought for $1100. Within a couple of months a used engine was put in and I got about 5 years out of it until it got too rusty and I picked up another less rusty one for $1800. Mine were basic with a bed in the back and no pop top. I replaced the troublesome dual solex carbs with a single Webber, Bosch 009 distributor and single quiet pack exhaust and header. It could almost keep up with traffic. But hey I didn’t look like all the soccer moms riding around in grand caravans. I got really quick at changing clutch and accelerator cables at the side of the road.
Finally reason prevailed and I picked up an old ford van with dual heaters which was a revelation after freezing through a decade of Canadian winters in my old VW’s. I remember one time going through a check stop after having a beer or two one cold winter night. The officer took one look into the van seeing me wearing gloves and the window scraper on the dash and remarked that he used to have one and they were cold. He sent me on my merry way.
Now I have a Toyota previa it’s not a funky but it has 2 good heaters and doesn’t need a lot of monkey wrenching…
Thanks for the memories.
“Mine were basic with a bed in the back and no pop top. I replaced the troublesome dual solex carbs with a single Webber”
–I was so tempted to yank the Bosch FI and go with a single Webber. But I kept the FI because the cool factor was so much higher. I mean, German Fuel Injection, gnarly city!
Besides, late 70’s German electronics spending decades in a hot engine compartment can’t possibly be all that problematic, right?
I can totally understand why you kept the fuel injection. No messing around with mixture control when you hit sea level and repeat when you got up a few thousand feet. It was a great system when it worked or you could find some old German mechanic to get it working. I liked to keep my VW’s as stock as I could but sometimes there were a few things that could be improved on from the factory. I never had any problems with the heat running the carb. However in the winter the manifold was not as close to the engine as the stock duals so I would get some carb icing. I ended up running another preheat hose from over the muffler to the side of the air cleaner which helped a lot.
The FI system in these old vans was not complex. It was Bosch L-Jetronic and very easy to diagnose. FI just makes everything run better.
BIG TIME ! .
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It was AFC too meaning you could *carefully* relax the air door’s coil spring one or two click and increase both power and economy whilst retaining the ability to whistle though SMOG Tests…
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Even the crude Bosch D-Jetronic F.I. was better than any carby, ever .
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This includes Dellorto’s , Weber and so on .
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-Nate
(HUGE DellOrto fan)
Awesome story. The VW bus / camper does look like a seriously fun vehicle, thanks for the vicarious opportunity to experience one!
Welcome aboard! A great first voyage. Looking forward to the next one, hopefully on the Ford F-1.
That 51 either has fenders made of fiberglass or Bondo. What lies beneath?
Up until a few years ago I had always had a VW camper of some vintage: 1972 Campmobile, 1982 Adventurewagen (camper conversion company out of Fort Bragg, CA), and most recently a 1987 Westfalia Camper.
The Adventurewagen used the same 67hp, 2.0 FI engine as the ’77 camper in the story, but pushing around an even heavier van. This camper had a propane furnace, 3-way fridge, stove, sink and water tank. The interior was trimmed out in teakwood and brown corduroy upholstery. The permanent high-roof allowed you to stand up in it, and it had a storage locker over the cab. The Adventurewagen was a neat alternative to the VW Westfalias, but no less expensive. It was said at the time to be better handling in cross-winds due to the shape of the “tail” on the fiberglass top, but I still recall some gusty trips across the San Mateo bridge where I had to hold tightly onto the steering wheel.
I did manage to drive my Adventurewagen from San Francisco to Alaska and back in 1991, with the only mechanical issues being 2 flat tires along the Alcan Highway.
Now I drive a dead-reliable Toyota 4Runner and pull a small tent trailer, but I sure do miss my VW campers!
-Dan
“OTOH, I suspect that anyone who suffered through a Type 2 ownership consider it priceless. VWs, as much of a headache they might otherwise be, have ‘character’.”
–Bingo, nailed it here.
“That 51 either has fenders made of fiberglass or Bondo. What lies beneath?”
–Now don’t be a party pooper. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
I had a 74 VW camper for a while, and drove it from Oregon to Arizona and back with no problems. It was only 10 years old at the time. This one was basic, and didn’t have the poptop stove and fridge. I traded it in for a Toyota Chinook camper, thinking it would be better, but it wasn’t. There were bad leaks in the poptop and rear windows. Build quality of the Chinook wasn’t nearly as good as the VW. Wish I had kept the VW.
“An ingrained inability to own any auto that is remotely mainstream”
Welcome to the club Heath. The Westy is a good start and here’s hoping things only go uphill (downhill?) from here. I’m looking foward to your COAL series.
Nice story and I look forward to the one about the F1
I am wondering, if you were wanting a manual transmission van. How come you did not look at a caravan with a stick? I think 1991 was the last year they offered them so a dealer might have had one for sale at a huge discount. I have driven a few of the non turbo Caravan and Voyager manual transmission versions and have also driver a VW van a few times and I will say the Caravan and Voyager has a lot more power on tap for comfortable driving everywhere.
A friend of mine had a high roof VW camper if the low pop top scared you its lucky you didnt try Joes van it had stand up head room inside and a bunk in the top but only a 1600 twin port engine, he sold it after a couple of laps of Australia and got a beaten up regular VW van but with 2.0L suitcase engine with twin carbs, that was better on the road but no more reliable, it was a VW they break down with monotonous regularity and out here in the antipodes are not cheap to either buy or repair.
Bryce,you are the King of the Anecdotes!So much information packed into exciting stories of driving in Oz!A friend of mine drove around,and did this,and then that!Great stuff!And then you rebuilt a ’59,and it melted in the hot sun!That kind of technical knowhow should be good enough for anyone!
Check out what I saw on US 101 in Oxnard, CA the other day. I figured some Westy fans would scratch their heads over this one!
I like the massive side scoops to funnel air to the engine. Appears to be home built mounted on a ’71 single cab pickup.
What a great read, love the story.
“Fresno, at least it’s not Modesto” I chuckled loudly at that, I know what you mean. Our COAL series both start the same weekend, and it sounds like our cars almost crossed paths. My Aspen wagon was in the San Joaquin valley until 92, just north of Fresno in the Atwater/Merced area. Sounds like we just missed. 🙂
Sounds like this van was a nice one, albeit somewhat maintenance intensive. Fun read, and looking forward to another good COAL series!
Thanx for the good writeup and not varnishing the truth…..
I’ve owned quite a few Typ II’s over the decades (the blue ’54 used in the very first Waterboxer TV commercial) and struggles across America with 36, 40 and 1600 engines, all had their strong and weak points….
The cross wind thing was no joke ~ kinda like flying a very small aircraft in cross winds .
-Nate
I did the VW bus ownership experience with a ’72 twin carb 1700 9 passenger. It was the go to vehicle for road trips with friends up and down California (but not to Fresno, thank the Lord). Due to the lack of heat, I drove with a sleeping bag around my legs on Mammoth Mountain trips. CHP let me through snow chain checkpoints due to rear weight bias.
Roadside repair was necessary when the clutch went out (due to slipping it, due to first gear going out) in Santa Barbara.
Good times!
Way back when, my brother and I drove from Charleston, SC to Ontario for Christmas in a 60’s era VW van. It started getting cold in the mountains of North Carolina. We tried sealing off the cab from the rest of the van with plastic to retain what little heat there was. We even bought a propane torch. Nothing helped.
A cold miserable trip.
My parents owned a VW bug with air conditioning in the 70’s. I think the evaporator was under the front somewhere, maybe with an electric fan on it. Anyway, it worked. You needed a clear plastic curtain behind the front seats to limit the cooled cubic feet. I guess the kids could fry back there.
Just think, a lot of these (maybe earlier years?) had the regular Beetle engine. The “advanced” more “powerful” larger engine was an expensive option at least in some years.
So, what about that awesome ’51 Ford pickup? Do tell.
That story sounded so familiar, owing to my parents having a succession of 3 VW camper vans: 68, 74 and 78. We took several long family vacations in them and I learned to drive on the 78. Good vehicle to learn on since if you can drive that with a stick, you can drive anything. As a kid I was always embarrassed when everything would pass us on hills. Everything. That includes jalopies, Beetles, economy cars and fully laden semi trucks. At the time I desperately wished my parents would just get normal vehicles like most everyone else.
Now that I’m older, I can appreciate their charm, but still feel that those vehicles are great sitting still as compact camping homes, but as transportation…yikes!
We had a 59 Westfalia in the mid/late 60s. My dad built a pop up tent on top and it stayed loaded with camping gear (except fresh food) at all times. We would get home from school and be on the road to… somewhere in about an hour.
It worked great as a camper for a family of 6. But with the tiny engine, the box on the top, and my moms lead foot, we threw rods in 3 different states*. I think at the 2nd engine replacement dad at least upgraded to larger engine and from a 6 to a 12 volt system.
*IL, MN, MT, Kind of a pain when your house is in the garage.