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 :
- 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! - 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. - 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.
- 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. - 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. - 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! - 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. - 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). - 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.