RE: PH Blog: auf wiedersehen pet!
Discussion
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!
I own a '73 1303 beetle with a stock 1300 twin port, it isnt slow and will more than happily keep up with traffic and cruise at 65 on the motorway, also no tax and £100 a year insurance. Plus it makes people smile, has zero depreciation and does about 40MPG........Yes it takes a bit more effort to drive but so what its 40 years old!I do however think a decent T4 is better than a Bay on the value for money front, but style wise not even close.
Contigo said:
Here's my 1978 Type 2 Bay Window Wesfalia US import. Loved every minute of ownership and Westfalia make the best conversions.
what a nice example.don't want to turn this into a "show us your bus" thread but here's mine
and whilst this isn't the fastest run I've done (and certainly won't be once I fit the turbo!) this gives you an idea of what it goes like. (both videos pre body resto)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7deu8L0ra4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF699WljqbE&fea...
Orb
I did like the VW Bus Wheeler Dealers did up from an old White wreck to a Bronze Beast;
Video here (Last part of the story):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okai4kadyFM
Video here (Last part of the story):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okai4kadyFM
I sold my 1959 splitscreen panel van in 2011 after owning it 17 years from the age of 16. I bought it in Germany in 1995 for about 2000DM imported it to the UK in 1996. I got £4k cash plus two cars (M3 and Subaru WRX) in part exchange so after selling both cars off cheap i ended up with £8.5k my van was not in great condition but did get through an MOT.
You can't pickup a bay window for less than £10k really and splitscreens for £15k upwards but i've heard of vans selling for silly money, a close friend was offered £40k for his 23 window splitscreen samba a few years back but £120-135k is silly money, you could buy one for £20k and do a nut and bolt restoration for less than half that.
I now drive a 1970 1500cc Beetle daily, it's lowered, stainless exhaust and a few simple mods to make it more efficient as a daily driver, electronic ignition and electric fuel pump mean it starts without too much hassle
You can't pickup a bay window for less than £10k really and splitscreens for £15k upwards but i've heard of vans selling for silly money, a close friend was offered £40k for his 23 window splitscreen samba a few years back but £120-135k is silly money, you could buy one for £20k and do a nut and bolt restoration for less than half that.
I now drive a 1970 1500cc Beetle daily, it's lowered, stainless exhaust and a few simple mods to make it more efficient as a daily driver, electronic ignition and electric fuel pump mean it starts without too much hassle
HorneyMX5 said:
Yup, you don't.
Just what I was thinking. It doesn't matter if it's water cooled, with leccy windows and air con. All of those extras are completely irrelevant. It's about owning a vehicle that has charm and maybe even a bit of personality. It's a weekend leisure vehicle, not a weekday mile munching motorway barge. 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?Horrible slow things, clogging up Cornish roads every summer as the owners live out the surfing dream - dude.
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!
Whilst the image may be a well sorted multi window or clean bay van, unfortunately we see too many bodged examples with tired caravan interiors causing havoc on the roads down here where the owners think they are special because they've hung a feather boa from the interior mirror (why please?).
Saying that, the pre-wedges are getting harder to keep on the road and you are seeing more good examples now than before.
big_boz said:
I own a '73 1303 beetle with a stock 1300 twin port, it isnt slow and will more than happily keep up with traffic and cruise at 65 on the motorway, also no tax and £100 a year insurance. Plus it makes people smile, has zero depreciation and does about 40MPG........Yes it takes a bit more effort to drive but so what its 40 years old!
I do however think a decent T4 is better than a Bay on the value for money front, but style wise not even close.
When I was 17 (many, many moons ago) my mate had a beautiful looking 1960-something Beetle. A 1300cc (1302??), cal-looked, sloping front with EMPI wheels. It looked fantastic and cost (IIRC) about £1500 (which was a lot of money back then).I do however think a decent T4 is better than a Bay on the value for money front, but style wise not even close.
Unfortunately it was very slow and handled like a drunk bear on a pogo stick. My bog-standard £200 1000cc Mini could easily out drag it and certainly out-handled it on the twisting lanes – we had to pull the Beetle out of a few hedges over the years. It also had 6-volt electrics, which meant that if he had the headlights AND the wipers on at the same time, it would grind to a halt in a flurry of burnt-out fuses.
It looked great parked up by the beach, but you wouldn't pick it to drive home in.
Hi PH now one can say I hate them or I love them it is like Marmite. Yes they due stand around on the Motorway and they are a handful to drive with sidewind but that is the whole idea, why drive something new without character and boring. The moment you get in and start the engine and you start off it is a different world and this is about taking time to enjoy the trip. Working at Infiniti we move in very quick cars across europe and with the bus you have time to enjoy and to relax. The van we own is a T2 b Westi Berlin from 1979 and we have had it for 10 years with a 2.0 l Typ and 125 Bhp hitting 95 mph if you dare. we cruise at 65 -75 mph all day and it is a great family car with room for all three of us when camping, going to Le Mans and enjoying VW meetings or towing my BMW to the Nordschleife. As a kid my mum drove them all Splitty from 63 then a 67 then a T2A then another T2A then a T2A/B then last one was a T2B with the 1.8 l as a daily car as we were 4 kids and there was nothing better to drive around in living in Germany touring Europe every summer. Vive le bus it is a lifestyle and this can not be said about the average white T5 tailgating you on the motorway every morning. Regards Gav
Mr Gear said:
VW have regularly showed this concept car off:
Looks good, but you can understand why it has never made production considering they have the perfectly good but less interesting-looking T5 that they can churn out much more cheaply.
Old campers are beautiful things, but they need commitment and cash if you ever want to own one.
Me personally would love them to build this - think it looks cool for a family bus.Looks good, but you can understand why it has never made production considering they have the perfectly good but less interesting-looking T5 that they can churn out much more cheaply.
Old campers are beautiful things, but they need commitment and cash if you ever want to own one.
MarJay said:
Excellent. Worst vehicle I've ever driven. It will not be missed.
I remember having a shot of my mates one with worn steering & at the time I had a Lotus Europa (original) which had very direct steering. The T2 was like steering a boat with a loose rudder ! I do like the look of them though kilauea said:
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).
I'll support this with the wasserboxer Skinnie Beetle - 850hp 9.01sec 1/4 - i was there, fantastic!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).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9timj16OM&fea...
Enough petrol for the heads boys?
While I do find the camper quite lovable, in reality I don't see myself every owning one.
However I have been toying with the idea of getting a classic beetle and setting it up as a drift car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXLxYQxci7k&fea...
However I have been toying with the idea of getting a classic beetle and setting it up as a drift car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXLxYQxci7k&fea...
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