It all probably began when I was at university
back in the seventies and my supervisor had
an early 60’s Split Screen in which he drove
most of his students on course visits. I was the
proud owner of a black and chrome Honda
SS50Z motorbike, which I would take along and I
used to race the VW back from our trips. The result
was always the same: I easily out-accelerated
it, but then on the long straights it gradually
hauled me in with its 60mph top speed. Once
it was ahead I hung on in the slipstream until
gradual asphyxiation forced me to fall back to
watch helplessly as the speeding Kombi slowly
slipped away, laying smoke like a WW2 destroyer.
It was in those days that a love was kindled, and
it lay unrequited through many dalliances with
big Citroens, British sports cars and assorted
Land Rovers.
Then a couple of years ago, my Defender betrayed
my trust one more time. I knew instinctively that
it was over and what I had to do and that was to
seek out my first love: My wife, Jenny (different
sort of first love) and I decided we would look for a
Camper. We knew we could offer it a good home
because we had already had a garage able to
accommodate the Defender. Jenny, for different
reasons, was equally keen to enjoy a break. Not
long ago I had to drive a borrowed and stricken
T25 at night in rural South Africa and met lots of
friendly people every time I stopped, the problem
being that I couldn’t persuade them ever to get
back out again! We knew we would forgive an
old Camper for breaking down because we knew
that’s what they do and also because everyone
says it’s how you make new friends.
So here are some experiences and tips we picked
up on the way. I hope not ALL of it is obvious.
First was to go to shows and flatter owners into
showing us round their Campers, asking to
see their best welding repairs. Then I turned to
websites where I found most on Car and Classic,
Auto Trader and eBay. Split Screens were out of
range, so as is so often the case, I went for a younger
model and was easily seduced by the softer lines
and less expensive tastes of Bays, especially early
ones. So began the long phone-calls and longer,
fruitless trips from which, to summarise, I learnt
to be very suspicious of: anything selling near a
canal, anyone poor at maths or grammar (body
110%, drives excellent, etc.), anything just painted,
anything wet and trader jargon (got to be right,
good clean motor, first to see will buy, etc).
Now for some hopefully practical tips, especially if
like me, you are not mechanically talented :

1. Find a local specialist you can trust. I was
   extremely lucky to come across Jez and Lou
   at Dubtricks near my home in Harrogate, who
   actually spent ages humouring me and looking
   at photos of possible purchases which I took
   to show them, even though I wasn’t even a
   customer. They were just really prepared to take
   an interest and offer advice – though I suppose
   they might have reasoned that if I turned
   up one day with a basket-case, I might try to
   persuade them to work on it!
2. Best tip – Take a camera with a powerful flash
   and photograph every inch of the underside of
   as possible. Holes appear through Waxoyl as if
   by magic when you get the pictures onto your
   computer and I could easily have bought a
   lovely looking late Bay from its confident owner
   if my photos hadn’t shown it to have a chassis
   with a LOT of extra ventilation – holes show
   as jet black against the reflected wax surface
   and weld lines show up like a relief map of the
   Yorkshire Dales.
3. Take a WEAK magnet, like a fridge magnet. A
   professional-looking heavy magnet has expert
   pose value but it’s more like a metal detector
   and will find metal deep beneath, whereas a
   fridge magnet will fall off if there is filler under
   the glossy paint. Also take a powerful led torch.
   Used at an angle, paint texture changes
   and panel ripples show immediately.

4. VW in the sixties and seventies had OCD and
   plastered their vehicles with ID plates. The
   Camper we bought has to date revealed plates
   next to the windscreen, behind the driver’s seat
   and deep under the carbon on the floor of the
   engine bay. It is good if these match and even
   better if you check it all out on the internet from
   the m-plate codes behind the driver’s seat (on
   our U.S.A. import). It is also fun because of what
   else you find. I dug up from under the front
   seats an anti-Vietnam war badge, something
   to do with a rabies clinic, a strange-looking
   cigarette end and a scary looking dead spider.
5. Documents – Ideally import documents and UK
   log book which all match up. Historic vehicle
   status is great for forty year-olds and apart from
   free road tax you should still be allowed into
   London freely once new emission zone rules
   come into force in 2020. This could spread to
   other cities, so it’s a thought.
6. Choose your van based on the seller and where
   the vehicle lives, as well as the Camper itself.
   Ours had lived in a big garage in a big house
   in the country with a Porsche and the owner’s
   kids all loved it, so maximum points there. I
   should add that my wife does say I am easily
   fooled!
7. Beware the prices of spares. Ours had a broken
   jalousie window from a break-in attempt and
   it took me six months to find another and
   that basic-looking little Westy folding table
   top will set you back around £200 on eBay in
   mint condition. I thought I might need a new
   front-hinged roof as mine was warped into a
   pagoda impersonation (I wondered at first if
   it was a rare Japanese import) and they seem
   totally unavailable. Luckily Jez and Lou with
   a combination of a super hot day, probable
   extensive sunbathing lying on top of the roof,
   lots of leverage and remarkable skill, have
   returned it to shape without it cracking. I still
   don’t know how they did that, but it saved me
   over £2000 on a non-original replacement.
8. In my view, don’t worry about left-hand drive or
   right-hand drive. There seems to be a premium
   for right-hand, but you are never remotely
   going to overtake anyone so it’s just not an
   issue. I’m OK with my German VW having
   German left-hand drive (OK it’s American, but
   same point, sort of).
9. Lastly, to come back to the beginning, it’s really
   all about rust. European vans will probably have
   been restored, but a recent paint job will stop
   you knowing how well, despite photos – I am
   a photographer and can make ANYTHING look
   good! USAs, South Africans and Australians
   may be rust free, but may not if they lived near
   the coasts (most South African ones) or in salty
   winter cities (lots of USA ones). Conversely,
   European interiors are more likely to be in good
   condition, but at least you can readily see if the
   hot climate ones have baked themselves to
   biscuits and dust.
   So, after it all, we have a lovely Early Bay Westfalia
   Campmobile, with an original interior in amazing
   condition. It has never had any welding and it’s
   recently been to Dubtricks for a new engine,
   clutch, dynamo (though it’s ended up with an
   alternator as the Hella recon dynamo was faulty),
   replacement fuel lines, rewires to make it less likely
   to immolate itself and some UK headlights (despite
   passing its last mot with USA lights!) The thing
   is all this is incidental to having good bodywork
   and a good interior, everything mechanical can
   be fixed and there are clearly specialists out there
   who are enthusiastic, expert and a pleasure to
   work with. There are also excellent parts suppliers,
   such as NLA, Just Kampers and VW Heritage with
   prices for moving bits reasonable, far less than
   for modern vehicles, though if anyone knows
   of a LHD early bay steering box for less than the
   average mortgage, do please let me know! We
   can’t wait to get it back on the road.