In a previous episode about about my slow Peugeot 504 diesel wagon, I mentioned at the end that I managed to trade it straight across for what was undoubtedly the slowest (legally licensed) vehicle sold on an unsuspecting American public in semi-modern history. Well, this is that vehicle: a Vanagon diesel.
I saw an advertisement for it; it was in Portland. So on a whim I called and talked to the woman who owned it. She said she wanted to downsize, as she had been living in the van but now had a place to stay. I told her I had a Peugeot wagon and right away she was interested. I had always wanted a diesel Vanagon as I figured it was bigger than my previous bus and got better fuel mileage. So I took a (leisurely) drive up to Portland in the Peugeot.
The owner was living with another woman on a sort of rural estate. She was of the typical hippie persuasion associated with tall, square VW products. That was cemented in my mind when she showed me her Toyota truck, which had the words Dance Like No One Is Watching and Love Like You Have Never Been Hurt spray painted on the sides in large letters. Yes indeed, she was a perfect candidate for Peugeot ownership!
We test drove our prospective vehicles. She instantly loved the Peugeot like she had never been hurt, which is a bit surprising given how loud and rough the brown and tan Vanagon was. I had been hurt, so my love for the Vanagon came on a bit slower. But it had the big sun roof that actually worked and the interior was pretty decent. Besides, where else could I find a Vanagon diesel? For the less informed, the 48 hp diesel Vanagon was sold in the US only in 1982. There are good reasons for that, although it makes them cult objects to its devotees, who invariable swap in turbo-diesels. At the time, it never really occurred to me that I was trading in a mangy dog for a rabid cat. Some things come the hard way.
The Vanagon had one immediate problem though. The shift linkage was knackered so it would only go into first and third gears. I didn’t want to fix it in her field, and my recent experience helping her fix the brakes on her Toyota (sucker, I know) had left me wanting to see quite a lot less of her (long story there). So I decided I would drive it home to Salem on the back roads (about 70 miles). It was a long, loud, and shaky drive in third gear the whole way back (maybe forty tops). Ever driven a tractor from one harvest to another across the county? It was worse.
But I was not dissuaded in my diesel dreams. I set about getting to work on it. I fixed the shifter mechanism, and took on the rattling exhaust system. The down pipe from the manifold (a J shaped pipe) was broken from all the engine vibration. There was no where to get a new one in the world but from Volkswagen. I checked on the price: $750. Yes indeed, a single J shaped pipe, 750 dollars! Suddenly the pipe didn’t seem so bad.
This particular Vanagon also had the auxiliary fuel fired heater, a rare option. Of course it didn’t work, so I decided to get a quick education on its workings. It was made by a big aerospace company, and no other vehicles used this particular model. It was basically a mini turbine engine complete with two or three computer control boxes, a glow plug, a motor, a primary turbine, etc. So of course the long and short of it is, it never worked.
By some sort of miracle (or curse) I found a Vanagon diesel being parted out at a local junk yard. I obtained the exhaust parts along with the many other little bits needed. And when I got it all up and running good I found that it was the worst dog of a vehicle that I had ever owned. It had a four speed transmission, but it felt like it needed six. On a slight downhill grade, with the wind at one’s back, in fourth gear the engine would be screaming, the van would be shaking, and you might, might achieve 60mph.
Oh and lord forbid that you should happen upon a small slope of any sort. Semi trucks were passing me routinely, angry drivers shook their fists at me as they passed, and I shook my fist at it, too. One time I actually did crack the dash hitting it in frustration. The idea of putting a 1.6 liter diesel engine with four speeds in a nearly three ton vehicle that was shaped like a cupboard was sounding less and less brilliant, and more and more insane.
And then the sliding door handle decided to fall off. Take a look at Vanagons and you will notice that many of them are missing this handle. Next to go was the front sway bar mount, which simply sheered in two. This was a far cry from my rugged old bus! And just to add insult to injury, the transmission went tits-up next. Only Volkswagen could make a transmission so weak that a 48 horsepower diesel motor could break it! I was through with it. But of course to sell it I had to get a transmission.
Shortly after installing the new transmission I was driving by a garage sale and noticed a 1957 International S120 4×4 pickup on the side of the road. I stopped at the sale and asked about it. Turns out the owner really wanted a van…………..
Love that color combo. It looks like a praline!
Notice also how the left rear light is mounted upside down.
“Notice also how the left rear light is mounted upside down.”
Excellent observational skills!!!
I would call that Polish customizing. Yes, we have polacks in Europe too. There are a lot of Polish artisans and carpenters, working cheap all over Europe. And they all have very run down cars. A not insignificant amount of Polish reg’d VW Vans have that particular upside down mounted rear lights, though usually on both sides. I don’t know if it was a local factory option or just some kind of cheap customizing, but apparently the lights work both ways. An easy way to make your car unique, with no means at all.
Notice the U.S.M.C. sticker in the window?
A marine adapts. Probably got a free of cheap deal
on a leftie.
Hmmm… Porsche, Corvair, or Subaru engine swap anyone?
Best one I ever saw had mid mounted Holden/Buick 3.8 trans n diff in Hobart ,Tas is very hilly not VW friendly.
Paul,
Having owned a few vanagons, including an ’82 diesel westfalia, I’ll sympathize with you but I am still a big fan of the vehicle. Before I forget, the 1.6 diesel really was a mistake for the NA market. The turbo 1.6 was an option (not in NA) to power, what many would believe to be the ultimate vanagon, the 16″ (wheel size) syncro.
If you think driving a diesel 7 passenger van was slow, try a loaded for 2 weeks camping including wife and 2 large dogs diesel westy making its way from the coast to the Kootenays and back. Soon after that trip (’93) I swapped in a low milage 1800 8V Digifant gasser (the original diesel made mounting the I4 gas relatively easy) and that van took us on many trips around B.C. and never left us stranded.
The door handles, especially pre-85, were weak. Partly a design fault, and partly due to not tightening them up. There are few things like that on these vehicles, and now that the newest one is about 20 years old, finding one in tip top shape is not easy.
And then there is the world of the Syncro Vanagon… surely there must be a few nice examples on the streets where you live Paul.
alistair
the good old diesel -> gas westy at Little Big Bar Lake (Chilcotin area of BC) around 2001.
alistair, this is Michael Freeman’s piece, and reflects his experience with it.
I’m going to do a CC on the Vanagon; It will be a bit different. I do have a Syncro for it, and it’s a pretty wild one.
My brother has had a diesel Vanagon for years (three engines), started out stock, and mind-blowingly slow. he used to take it way up into the Rockies every year; can you imagine the fist-waving? Then he swapped in a 1.6 td; that was a fair amount better. Anyway, stay tuned for a “Take 2”.
Noticed it was Michael’s piece after I posted, I seem to be going through an ADD phase.
I’m just back from a 2 week trip with family in camperised syncro vanagon (used the parts from the old white westy in picture). Still have the stock 2.1 litre wasserboxer and it is a bit tired. Still, most times (apart from the long steep hills we have here in BC) I could easily travel at 10 kph above posted speed limit. But even that is too slow for most people, got passed all the time. Not just sedans, but huge RVs and 5th wheels. Sheesh 🙂
A few pictures of the van on the trip are here:
http://shufti.wordpress.com/
Looking forward to Take 2.
alistair
I have two syncro pickups, one double cab, one regular down the road from me.
Yeesh. I like vans, but I have to wonder what made VW think this could be sold in the US (outside of Iowa, or North Dakota, or other places with dinner-plate topography). Please, can you tell us about your Cornbinder?
In the next installment.
“The idea of putting a 1.6 liter diesel engine with four speeds in a nearly three ton vehicle that was shaped like a cupboard was sounding less and less brilliant, and more and more insane.”
That’s good writing, that made my day
Did these really weigh nearly three tons? I learned how to drive in a ’68 camper, and it didn’t seem that heavy!
Great article, but for some reason now I have a craving for pumpkin cake with chocolate frosting…
Yes, by all means let’s hear about the Cornbinder, and I hope you saved the cool CAR-prefix New Brunswick license plate off the praline.
I never really understood the undying love so many people had (and have) for VW Vans. For me anyway, a van is a vehicle to move stuff and or people and or do things that 1) doesn’t cost an arm an a leg to buy and run and 2) doesn’t leave you regularly stranded on the side of the road and finally, 3) can keep up with traffic.
In my shady used car days, I was always leery of selling these things. It was a love/hate thing because I always made money on them, no matter how beat and rusty, how out of tune it was, how much smoke it blew, it was an easy sell to some starry-eyed teen, usually girl. I would tell van buyers over and over that said vehicles had a penchant for blowing up, breaking down and catching fire and would retort with tales of how often one needed to swap engines. All to no avail and without fail, a week later the thing would be towed back with some ranting dad accompanying it, screaming how I had sold a piece of crap, which I had, because all VW Vans, are, in my opinion, pieces of crap, even when new. Now that will raise a few hackles here!
Eventually, I came to the conclusion that VW Vans were a sort of S&M with a heavy emphasis on the M part. The S part was trying to flog the beast up Coquihalla and actually succeeding, the M part having it explode climbing the hill out of Revelstoke, which was a common situation twenty years ago in my fair part of Soviet Canuckistan.
My solution was the fit a Seat of Nails for your VW Van, which was retractable and on a timer. In the rare moments that your VW Van actually ran well, the nails would suddenly lodge themselves in your backside to remind what was certainly going to happen sooner rather than later. An even better thing would be to mount said Seat of Nails in a Ford Econoline 6 or Dodge 1500 Slant Six van. This way you could have a reliable, economical van and still experience the regular pain of ownership only a VW could provide.
lolz, nice. I own a Chevy van now.
Any of the short American 6 cyl vans of the same era were infinitely better than the VW. They had more power, went better, stopped better, were more reliable (not hard compared to a VW), had a heater that actually worked and did not use any more fuel than a VW.
My buddy had a mid-1970s Dodge 2500 van, extended wheelbase what was fully camperised (but fortunately not raised) and had the classic Slant Six/Torqueflite 727 combo. Great van, relatively easy on fuel and could cruise at 110 km/h all day. You could even retrieve a beer from the fridge whilst still driving! In 1995, we drove it from Victoria to Toronto and back. On the return trip we towed a U-Haul trailer full of his stuff he had left in TO and you couldn’t even feel it. It never missed a beat. That was the road trip of a lifetime!
Edit: I found this on Craigslist: Were I a few years younger….
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/cto/2557960405.html
Richard Hamond on topgear UK turned one of these into a houseboat with limited success.
funny thing is Vanagons are still on the road, and still are selling at good prices.
Don’t see many Econoline 6 or Dodge 1500 slant sixes around here. I do see lots of Vanagons. Probably my fellow idiots that never did get the memo.
🙂
alistair
True. VW Vans have a very large following that is willing to spend money to keep them running. Like you say, said people are willing to pay good prices to buy them, too.
And good for them. Anyone who enjoys VW Vans is more than welcome to buy one and have fun with it. I will never understand it, and the VW Van lovers will never understand my disdain for said vehicles.
As for how common VW Vans are, there are presently three listed on Vancouver Craigslist. They have good listings of how much they have recently had, too. But this goes with the territory of VW Vans. Fixing them is part of the fun. There are loads of Dodge Vans listed, some campers, some not. A handy man could fix up a 2001 Ram Van 3.9 V-6 quite cheaply I think. You are correct, the Slant Six ones were always hard to find.
I, however, realised many years ago that five star hotel rooms are much cheaper than any second vehicle. But that is me. Anyone else can buy anything they want.
I counted approx. 20 vanagons on Vancouver Craig’s list. In any case, that’s what’s great about the world, some folk like 5 star hotels, others like finding secluded spots to camp in, and BC is great for the latter.
As soon as a good substitute comes along for the vanagon westy then the market for them will crash, as of now there really isn’t another car that can pack so much in such a small footprint, and is relatively affordable.
alistair
Very true. I really enjoyed your blog and you really enjoy your VW Vans for sure! I, however, simply have neither the time, tools nor skills to take care of a VW Van, nor the inclination to get all greasy and dirty. I also do not want to pay someone to maintain such vehicles as it would become very expensive.
For me, a vehicle is about performance, comfort and reliability. We are just not camping types.
I think it is like owning a small sailboat. If you enjoy the maintenance and the fixing up/modifying part of ownership then it works. I do admit to mixed feelings sometime when I’m under the van doing the expected repairs on a 25 year old vehicle that I use both on logging roads and as a daily driver. If I was a rich man… well the even the T5 (latest in the line) is not quite the same as a syncro vanagon. I guess I’d lean more towards a Volvo 303 or a Pinzgauer. Now I’ve confessed the full extent of my S&M tendencies 🙂
alistair
Oh how I want a Volvo 303. But you are right, I would also love a sailboat. It’s not the maintenance. The older T2 needs maintenance but it gets you something in return. Not so much on the Vanagon.
Ive had a few vans including a VW Kombi which by far was the worst for longevity they really cant stand being driven in hot weather if fitted with the upright motor mine had a 1600 twinport ok on flat going but uphill gawd thats what did it in the twinport also had a design flaw that led to a cracked oil gallery behind the flywheel and new Brazilian engine casibgs are the only effective repair, stupidly I learned how to fix VWs and Ive wrenched on many for various people over the years If youre gonna buy one get an idiots guide or just dont buy a VW because taking a sick dak dak to a garage will only multiply its faults The English Bedfords and Transits were much better vans faster smoother more comfortable larger inside and infinitely more reliable.
This VW Bus is slower than a brown turtle on Valium.
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2011/09/04/recycled-car-part-cows/
Tose are cool
The Camper Van lives in Europe:
http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/california-range/california/overview/
Absolutely love that color combination. Looks good enough to eat! Yum!
From your description, that auxilliary heater seem to be a much more complicated and sophisticated contraption than the van’s engine! Talk about overengineering! A gas turbine just to produce heat?
I believe these were made by Espar, or “Eberspacher” (same company). I installed an Espar diesel-fired coolant heater in my Ram2500 Cummins that works the same way, except has an air-to-coolant heat exchanger instead of air-to-air.
I’m gonna check in with my typically contrarian view. I had a Vanagon Westfalia, a 1985, gasoline. And apart from the (as it turned out) end-of-use frustration and hatred for the Volkswagen support infrastructure, I had a pretty good time of it. The right vehicle at the right time…all of that.
I was in California at the time…Alameda NAS. Had already been stationed out in SoCal for eighteen months, long enough to see the wonders of the West but not long enough, or not rich enough, to really explore it properly. The Vanagon offered the solution – or so I thought.
As it turned out, there wasn’t enough time; and too much of that time was spent fixing things that the P.O. let go…wheel bearings and brakes, stuff you’d expect on a used car. But once those were done…it ran like a top. For eighteen months, anyway.
I don’t remember it being three tons. It felt much lighter on the road…especially in crosswinds, which was expected. And yes, it was slow…but there truly are the joys of life in the slow lane. Such as the World’s Simplest Cruise Control…a brick I’d put on the accelerator.
Nor was I saddled by a 48-hp diesel…although in odd moments, I did fantasize about that variation. The kind of fantasies that deny reality and don’t think things through to conclusion.
The skylight, in that year, was double-layer Plexiglas; the outside layer was cracked open…the inside layer intact but soiled on the wrong side. It leaked, but gently…a foam rubber plug kept things dry in rainstorms, and a bucket while parked. No significant damage to the erzats-wood-tile floor…but then, that was the Bay Area.
And I never lost the outside sliding-door handle. Wasn’t aware it was an issue. I remember the rig, even well-used, as a tight, quality-built unit. Just unfortunately small for its intended purpose. It was warm, with the engine running, as I was pleased to find on a trip to Lake Tahoe…but I did lust for a gas-fired independent heater to help on subfreezing nights.
Ah, well. One man’s trash; another’s treasure. Thank all gods for the wide spectrum of automotive choices, that even such an eccentric as I can find joy on four wheels.
Great article. I remember marveling at the gas heater, hoping it would work. Mine was a water cooled 1986. A lifter collapsed and the push rod hammered a hole in the block. I did not notice it until I had rebuilt the head. Not to mention you had to be a quantum physicist to properly fill and bleed the water system. That was some nightmare I don’t care to relive. Everything was great for under a 5 mile trip.
Common problem
kheyli ham aliye
As crazy as it sounds, I’ve always been a sucker for diesel powered vehicles.
I love old, smelly, and slow diesels…..I’m wierd like that..
When I was a kid I had “muscle cars”, but now at the ripe old age of 38 I’ve got 80’s and 90’s Mercedes diesels…….
Would love to add a diesel vanagon to the stable. Funny cuz I test drove one back in the late 90’s, a westphalia (diesel) and I hated it…. I was thinking about trading my 1987 Mustang 5.0 for it…. I look back and I wish I would have…
Fantastic article! I am still laughing to myself ( out loud I might add) because like many, I too have Westy stories. Most forgotten (for good reason) until now – after reading your account. My dad always loved these vehicles and I vividly remember the “waving fists” (as a kid ) while driving to holiday destinations. Thanks for the trip back to memory lane and the laughs.
Cheers
I used to have a ’83 Vanagon GL diesel with exactly the same colour scheme. Luckily the previous owner had swapped in a 1.8L GTI and it was pretty peppy with the 5-speed transmission. I could do 80mph and pass any Vanagon on any hill or on the flat (as long as they didn’t have an engine conversion as well). The diesel heater never worked and would have been the same as the one in this van. And likewise the door handle broke while I owned it. I sold it with 196,000 miles and the new owner drove away happy. I loved my van and remember many many camping and road trips. Whenever I see a van drive by I reflect on owning mine and I still miss it to this day. Surprisingly it never let me down down but I did have to make a few roadside tweaks to keep it going. Ahhh, nostalgia.
The older ones from the 60s were more reliable. My dad’s 67 made it all the way around Europe, 4 summer vacations, up through Norway, as far south as Spain and east through Turkey. No problems other than a flat tire in Norway and a muffler replacement in Italy. It wasn’t a fast vehicle by any means. We were always getting passed on the German autobahn. But it always got us there.
I fantasize about a diesel Westu. Then I drive one with a rebuilt NA 1.6 (guy bought it only to have it blow up on him within a few days…prior owner apparently put “gas” in it). He dropped over 3k for a proper rebuild, couldn’t afford a much better 1.9 diesel or one of the many other transplants. I’ll tell ya, it baaaarely moved. It’s been sitting on Craigslist whilst he is asking about 4 times more than what it really is worth (unless someone with more $ than actual sense buys it). I keep waiting a Westy, of many configurations, but I realize renting Yurts and driving our bullet proof Forester is a less stressful all around option. But I dream. I’ll stick with bicycle touring and a lightweight tent.
hi all. I currently own my 2nd diesel 82 van. 2nd). in the 90s, I would go everywhere in it for a song. I much younger then, missed it. So after owning everything else, all must faster and often more reliable, I found myself starring at a CL add showing a white 82 westie. I bought it, and am now even selling my 85 vanagon, which has a new rebuilt “Watterboxer” engine, .77 “overdrive” 4th gear, and doesn’t leak or burn a drop of oil. it’s perfect.
=all I can say is, aside from the $ savings in fuel, just having access to your own box of space, that can take u anywhere on the continent that u wish to go, at a low price, it always pencils. Lastly, folks often drive too fast anyhow. slowing traffic down is not all bad. we also can always pull over if the opportunity presents n let them through! 🙂
I have same color van except mine has 2.0 engine bought in Florida 18 years ago other then shifter problems would not part with TURD her name for and amount of money
I almost busted a gut when I read the title of this blog. We had an ’82 diesel Vanagon and, indeed, it was the slowest vehicle on the planet.
We absolutely loved it and went on a zillion road trips in it. My favorite one was from Portland, Oregon to Western New York. I cried like a baby when we traded it for our first New Beetle-also a diesel.
Having retired last year, I just/finally rebuilt the motor on my project 1982 Vanagon diesel camper with 99K miles. It runs and looks excellent ! Drove with my wife from IN to FL (
Cocoa Beach for Nephew’s Wedding) last DEC and back cruising at 60 M.P.H. , got 26 M.P.G. . No problems. It’s like a time machine when I get behind the wheel! Having owned Vanagon Diesels since the late 1980’s this is a behemoth I know about..and appreciate! Just take it easy ( that means baby them in all 4 gears) with them and they will last.