Geelong Sleeping Beauty

Here is a late bay window kombi we saw last November somewhere in suburbia in Geelong, Australia. It is a Sopru campervan which may have started its life in yellow and was then re-sprayed in light green. Sopru pop-up roof and Sopru roo bars at the front. Front wall panels and bench matrasses in the rear newly upholstered at some point. Furniture in there rear looks a bit self-built, but then I do not know the Sopru conversions in detail. Another customer of “V-Dubs Only“. Looks like put away and waiting for the next holiday season. Hope it has a lot of holiday trips ahead!

 

 

 

Bay Window Get-Together

Two bay window buses on a sunny summer day last December in Geelong, Australia. The green one is in overall better condition. It is from 1978 and comes with a CJ engine (2L, 70 h.p.) and an automatic gear box. The red one, with some severe rust, is from 1974 and comes with an AP engine (1.8 L). Looked like the home of a Volkswagen lover, with a more modern VW Golf in the drive-way. Stickers advertising for “V-Dubs Only – VW Air Cooled specialist” on the rear window. I was spotting these stickers on several buses during this visit- perhaps a new player in the field of Classic Volkswagen workshops in the Geelong area? They don’t seem to have a web site, but this facebook page. Will add the address to the list of VW garages to the list in the section above.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Berlin Late Bay Kombi

Another beautifully restored bay window bus, spotted a year ago in Berlin. Looks like a brand new paint job. Nice light green, but not sure which color this is, or if it is an original VW color at all (Sand green, L311?). Extra indicators on the roof in the rear, usually more common on ex-ambulance buses. Spare wheel and rectangular additional fog lights at the front. The hub caps look like from an early bay, but front indicators and rear lights are clearly late bay, so the bus should be from 1973 or younger. The indicator switches at the steering wheel suggest early late bay, and the little door covering the fuel filler cap was apparently build between 8/71 and 7/73, so I guess it will be from 1973. Wheel clamp and steering wheel lock as theft protection. I had stopped to take some photos and was so focused on the bus that I did not even notice the BMW 2002 next to it. Had to go back and take one more photo when DrJ pointed it out to me.

 

 

 

 

 

Sage Green Berlin Westfalia Camper

We are back in Germany, so no more Australian Soprus or Sunliners. Westfalia is again the dominant camper van conversion, if you lucky to see a bay window bus on the road at all. Here is a particularly beautiful example, spotted last October in Berlin, when walking wonder-daughter home from Kindergarden. It comes with a Late Bay Westfalia fold-up roof with an additional roof rack on the top. FIAMMA Carry Bike bike rack on the rear door, same we have for our Taiga Lily. Beautiful fresh paint job in authentic 1970ies sage green (Taiga Grün, L63H). Advertising for “Bushaltestelle.berlin” (German for Bus Stop Berlin) – look at this, another VW bus specialist garage in Berlin! Beautiful green Westfalia plaid seat covers on all seats and benches. Original-looking Westfalia kitchen block. Left side with a louvered or jalousie window in the middle (looks old/original) and a sliding window in the rear (probably newer version, added later). I admit I am slightly biased when it comes to sage green kombis, but this is a fantastic bus!

PS: Small world, and small Berlin: Met the owner of this very same bus two years ago when we parked next to him at a local DIY market, for a sage green family meeting.

 

1954 Barn Door Kombi

I found this awesome split-window kombi in April 2014 in Geelong. I had knocked on the door of a shed to ask if I could take a few photos of an old rusty late bay in the backyard. Turned out this was the workshop of a panel beater who loves kombis and has restored quite a few over the years. On that day the hall housed two splitties and a late bay in various stages of restoration. This blue-and-white T1 was about to be completed. It is a VW bus kombi from 1954, so one of the very first kombis ever built, and I was told there may be only a handful of these early ones with right-wheel-steering left in Australia. A lot of panels were rusted trough and had to be made from scratch. All welding was done with the ambition that even an expert from Volkswagen should not be able to recognize which parts were original and which had been replaced later.

The split-window bus or Volkswagen T1 was built in Germany from 1950 till 1967. Over the years, the rear doors of the T1s changed most strongly: the very first models came with a very large door for the engine bay (“big as a barn door”). The photo below shows that the large engine bay also housed the petrol tank (on the left) and the spare wheel (on a shelf above the engine). Over the years the engine bay and its lid became smaller and smaller and a door above was introduced as access to the cargo area. This upper door also changed in size over the various facelifts. The latest splitties (1964 onwards) already feature the same large rear doors which from 1967 onwards were then also used in the T2s or bay window buses.

The paint job was carried out with normal glossy paint on the inside, but with matt finish on the outside, to avoid the shiny and polished finish of a fully restored van. With a bit of wear and tear this bus will quickly develop some patina. It also comes a bit lowered and with Porsche Fuchs wheels – tribute to modern coolness.

A Christmas kombi!

If Santa drove a kombi, this could be it! Spotted two days ago in Melbourne, with beautiful new paint job in what is probably chianti red (L31H) and pastel white. Judging from the red paint coat on the wheels, inside the wheel houses and on the inside of the van, it probably started its life as an all-red kombi and the white top was added later. The paint job has been customized with a fine white-on-red line running around the car and “VW” written small and in cursive in orange-on-red at the front and back of the van, see photo below. Several details are non-stock, but nicely done: Front seats and back bench upholstered in a beautiful combination of red vinyl and red velour. Door panels and wall panels covered with the same material. Dash board resprayed in red instead of black. Chrome bumper in the back with a different shape than the original one.

Dating this kombi is interesting: Front indicators and rear air vents make it a late bay, so 1972 or younger. The indicator and windscreen wiper switches are of the older variety, from before 05/1974. The speedo is in miles per hour, updated later with a sticker to km/h.  Based on this educational video from 1974 on the conversion to the metric system in Australia, km/h was introduced to Australia on July 1, 1974. Chianti red as a color option was available only in 1971 and 1972. This should mean that this kombi is from between 1972 and mid-74, and most probably from 1972. Merry Xmas to everyone out there!

 

 

Aireys Billboard Kombi

Taiga Green late bay campervan used as eye-catcher for the restaurant “The Captain of Aireys” in Aireys Inlet, located between Angle Sea and Lorne on the Great Ocean Road. Rear roo bars look like from a Sopru camper, but the front bars are more massive than the Soprus I have seen so far. The pop-up roof also looks different. Jalousie window with only two tiles, opposite the sliding door. Haven’t seen one of those before. Plastic extensions on the rear air inlets for the engine to get more air funneled into the engine bay, for better cooling. Certainly caught my eye!

 

Marino Yellow Geelong Campervan

Here is a late bay Volkswagen campervan spotted some weeks ago in Geelong. It comes with a massive, more modern looking roo bar at the front which includes the front bumper and replaces the original one. The color is probably Marino Yellow and Creme White (more buses with this beautiful color scheme here). No pop-up roof, but with a door for a gas bottle and with ventilation slits for a fridge on the side. Peeping  in the drivers cabin showed it comes with an automatic gearbox, an additional oil temperature gauge under the instrument unit and it was originally delivered as a deluxe or L bus (airvent channels along the front doors and seats with the respective basket weave pattern). Cool bus!

 

South Australian Sopru Camper

South Australian Sopru Campervan, spotted some weeks ago in Lorne, Victoria, with the evening sun in the background. Color may be Flipper Blue (CLR529). Pretty bad rust at the front mask and at the usual places, but hey, still cruising!

Kombi Spotting: The Next Generation

When the four-year-old has become a better VW bus spotter than the parents: Casual comment from the backseat while we were waiting at a traffic light in Geelong, “Look, there is an orange Bulli over there.” And there it was, hidden from our view by other cars, and spotted early enough for daddy to take a snapshot. Very proud of my big girl!

P.S. Beautiful Aussie campervan with pop-up roof, small front roof rack, windscreen visor and the full roo bar set-up with front spare tire. But not sure from which campervan conversion company. Looks different from the Sunliners and Dormobiles I have seen so far, but this type is also quite common down here.

P.S.S. It is a Sopru! Thanks to Bevan and Inheritanceorg for pointing this out. I had learnt about Soprus 18 months ago, see the beautiful Sopru campervan in this older post, but did not make the connection.