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Vanagon man 1986-1993 Posted by Mike Lynch [Email]  (#81) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Mike Lynch) on Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:44:04
In Reply to: thinking of getting a VW Westfalia--opinions?, nathanael, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:27:35 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Some of the most fun I've had is selling VW's and the most fun are VW Vanagons. I was a VW guy from 1986 to 1993. The most fun you could have was taking European delivery of your VW Camper and touring Europe.
The best VW vans were the Vanagons and the best of those were the '86 and up 2nd generation wasserboxers, you can tell them by the square headlights. Earlier wasserboxers had round headlights, but still the radiator grill and the first Vanagons that were air cooled didn't have the front radiator grill at all.
The square headlights means power steering and decent A/C, even in the pop tops. Really decent AC in the non pop tops with the center spine leading up front from the rear blowing cold air right on your forehead. The 2nd gen square headlight vans even had enough power for the 3 speed auto.
Pop tops, Westfalia campers came in two styles, with a stove, fridge and sink which is usually called a GL Camper, and my personal favorite without the useless space consuming toy stove, fridge and sink, which were called Multi-Vans or maybe Wolfsburg campers IIRC. The non stove-fridge-sink camper vans have extra seating and a nice fold out table that makes them a whole lot more useable and practical the 95% of the time you aren't actually seriously camping and even then the sink-stove-fridge unit is usually a duplication of camping equipment you'd carry anyway.
The ultimate Vanagon would be the Syncro, the AWD version which sits slightly higher and has a gas inlet back on the left rear. They were made in regular GL Vanagaons, base Vanagons and GL Campers. They come with a creeper gear so technically they come with a 5 speed.
Most '86 and up Vanagons come with the weekender rear folding seat into a bed, a very comfy almost king size bed. The double bed in the camper works the same way but is narrower because of the Westfalia camper closet. You can do a lot of great camping without the pop top, stove-sink-fridge toys. You'll have a great bed inside and plenty of storage for coolers and water bottles and furniture. The pop top is usefull for changing clothes and the upstairs bed if you must camp with four and there's a little storage of stuff mashed between the thin folded upstairs mattress. For two, any old Vanagon with a weekender folding rear seat into a bed will do.
I like the pop top Multi-Van but without the pop top but with the same rear facing seats and fold up table, this model is called a Carat. The Carat has the good AC without the pop top. The rear facing removeable chairs and the pop up table really make it practical and Carat models all came with snap in curtains for privacy when you're doin' the camping thing.
, Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:45:12, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:51:26, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:44:04 <-- Viewing This Message
, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:27:41, Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:06:44, Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:39:48, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:27:40
, Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:03:23
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