RE: PH Blog: auf wiedersehen pet!

[kilauea]

dave stew said:

I've not driven a camper, but remember back in the early 80's driving my brother in laws 1973 Beetle... the slowest and nastiest thing I've driven. And I once had an early Vectra company car!

Nobody should expect a 1.5 tonne bus with the aerodynamics of a breadvan to be "nippy". But buses handle well if they are in good nick. And if you want a modern steering rack and coil-overs, there are kits available. A modest lowering, better dampers and uprated roll bars make a standard one pretty damn good for the weight. Although I personally don't like the idea of moving my impact zone (late bays have crash panels and extra structure behind the front bumper) underneath the bumpers of many modern cars.

[graham22]

Thought this was Pistonheads not Hippyheads.

Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.

[HeMightBeBanned]

I fking hate those camper vans - rusty, wheezy and coming to cause a 5 mile tailback on a road near you.

And what is it with old, crude and plain nasty vehicles continuing to be manufactured in Brazil far beyond their natural life? Is Brazil some sort of automotive purgatory where vehicles that refuse to die are sent?

[Mr Gear]

graham22 said:

Thought this was Pistonheads not Hippyheads.

Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.

Chill out man. Spark up a bud and check out that sunset. Dude.

[kilauea]

graham22 said:

Thought this was Pistonheads not Hippyheads.

Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.

It is pistonheads, but if you can't appreciate the engineering that went into the vw bus, then perhaps you aren't one?

I always pull over if I'm holding up traffic, although I know I am in a minority there. And mine will hit 90mph, I just don't like doing!

[Ollieb7]

I have a 65 split with an agreed valuation of £35k and it is true in the 7 years i have had it the prices for these buses have gone up. For a Samba in good condition within the VW community you can get for circa £50k. As soon as you put one of these vans up for sale to a punter that goes to the likes of Coys etc then you can double that as demonstrated by this one sold last year £135k.....

http://www.volksworld.com/news/videos/529754/world...

[Fetchez la vache]

MarJay said:

Excellent. Worst vehicle I've ever driven. It will not be missed.

Each to their own.
I'll always miss mine

I'd expect for £120k for it to be one of the 911 engined ones...

[Fetchez la vache]

kilauea said:

graham22 said:

Thought this was Pistonheads not Hippyheads.

Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.

It is pistonheads, but if you can't appreciate the engineering that went into the vw bus, then perhaps you aren't one?

I always pull over if I'm holding up traffic, although I know I am in a minority there. And mine will hit 90mph, I just don't like doing!

Quite. Surely a vehicle where you hopefully end at your destination with a smile on your face is the essence of PH?

[HeMightBeBanned]

Fetchez la vache said:

Quite. Surely a vehicle where you hopefully end at your destination with a smile on your face is the essence of PH?

Is the smile because it actually made it to the destination without the aid of an AA lorry?

[garypotter]

these are definately a personal choice thing, i like them but not enough to own one but I can Highly recommend £the camper van cookbook" as a great read with plenty of ideas and recipes. Please note I do NOT do camping.

http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Title/book-P9RA1R-6...

[strattonkillick]

I love mine, a 1979 bay. Not too sure about the Brazilian models as you can get a really nice original one for half the cost of one of these. I love the sound of the engine - they don't break down if you look after them. Riding a motorcycle is the only thing that makes me smile as much (automotively speaking of course!). People smile at you when you drive, let you out, kids wave at you as you drive to work, it's a lovely feeling.

[B10]

I have never understood the link between a Nazi car and hippies.
The vans have character and surly it must be the longest living light commercial vehicle? Calling all pedants.

[Numeric]

B10 said:

I have never understood the link between a Nazi car and hippies.
The vans have character and surly it must be the longest living light commercial vehicle? Calling all pedants.

Of course you are incorrect - with a very similar power to weight ratio there was the horse and cart, they got a millenia out of that design :-)

[irob]

Oh lord, here we go with the nazi car statements! It's a good job those nazi motorways didn't catch on!

Have a look at the history of the beetle, and see who made it a success after the war.

I for one loved my old camper.

[kilauea]

B10 said:

I have never understood the link between a Nazi car and hippies.
The vans have character and surly it must be the longest living light commercial vehicle? Calling all pedants.

I don't know about that, but the aircooled flat 4 must be in with a shout for the longest running production engine. It's still available today and used in commercial applications.
VW only stopped using it because of the expense required to compete on power/mpg/emissions with newer water cooled blocks. Porsche soldiered on with modifications that could be sold in a luxury motor for a long while after that with their flat 6 (an evolution of the same design).

It's popular with drag racers for a reason. It's cheap, durable and can be modified for high power relatively easily (type 4's especially). I love its character and mine has only let me down once due to a bodge (as is the case for many stationary vw's).

[KM666]

Mr Gear said:

graham22 said:

Thought this was Pistonheads not Hippyheads.

Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.

Chill out man. Have this massive line of chop and check out that sunset, we've got be up early tomorrow for that important accounting meeting in the City. Dude.

EFA

[Galileo]

B10 said:

I have never understood the link between a Nazi car and hippies.
The vans have character and surly it must be the longest living light commercial vehicle? Calling all pedants.

Let me explain. The type1 and type2 were produced to be cheap to maunfacture and cheap to run and very easy to repair, by Mr and Mrs pre-war german.
Hippies usually spent all their money on weed and needed a car or van that was cheap to run and very easy to fix.

So to sum up; there is no link between Nazis and Hippies via Beetles or Campers. Ok?

[Sivraj]

Ollieb7 said:

I have a 65 split with an agreed valuation of £35k and it is true in the 7 years i have had it the prices for these buses have gone up. For a Samba in good condition within the VW community you can get for circa £50k. As soon as you put one of these vans up for sale to a punter that goes to the likes of Coys etc then you can double that as demonstrated by this one sold last year £135k.....

http://www.volksworld.com/news/videos/529754/world...

Wow that's expensive !...
I'm affraid they're not practicle for my needs so I went all water cooled in my T4.
End of a very long era but they'll still be around for a long time yet!.....

[KM666]

B10 said:

I have never understood the link between a Nazi car and hippies.
The vans have character and surly it must be the longest living light commercial vehicle? Calling all pedants.

Really? Perhaps you should read up on the true meaning behind the 'peace' symbol (The cross of Nero, also known as 'the broken Jew' or 'the broken crucifix') and who adopted it during WW2.

[orb666]

Interesting comments, a lot of which I agree with, plenty I don't :-)
To put some perspective on the "misprint" £120k bus this isn't a mistake and that bus will sell at that money (worse have sold for more!)
In the pecking order or desirability (not rarity) this sits right at the top. Add to that the fact that the bus was owned by the chap who owned Devon interiors (and has a totally one off interior to boot) and that it's totally original and complete with only 30k miles from new and you have a very unique and desirable (to the right person obviously) vehicle.

Yes, in stock form they are unreliable (but no more than any other 50 year old vehicle), slow and antiquated to drive, which for some is part if their appeal.

Modify them however and it is possible to have a useable vehicle.
Mine has rack and pinion steering, servo'd disc brakes, IRS rear suspension, coil over front suspension with anti roll bar, a gearbox with modern ratios and a fuel injected motor that runs a quarter mile as fast as a sierra cosworth and hang onto an R32 golf from 50-90mph - all this whilst returning 32mpg on a run (in 9 years and 50k miles its been home on a trailer once!)
I can drag race it, get 6 people in it, camp in it all year round (gas fired heating), do the dump run in it, it truly is a proper MPV.
I've owned lots of fast, exotic cars and bikes and nothing puts a smile on my face quite like this does.

The values have gone crazy, I wouldn't part with mine for less than £75k but its irrelevant as it is a keeper ;-)

Like most classics you either get it or you don't but what you'll find with bus owners is that what others think isn't important, we are the ones wearing the silly grins, meeting lots of new people and generally having a fun time (something that's becoming harder and harder on the roads these days)

Orb