As I've mentioned several times, Carol and I have been planning for about three years to buy a Volkswagen Vanagon camper. They are a unique vehicle in that they are "normal" sized (not an RV), they get about 20 mpg, and with the pop-top they sleep four people very comfortably. Carol's parents had an older VW "Bus" camper when she was a child and an American van with a homemade bed inside later on. She has many fond memories of family trips in their vans, and we want to build the same kind of memories. We envision a lot of spontaneous weekends away - no reservations required.About 18 months ago I started watching them on Craigslist and got be pretty familiar with the price/condition/age range. I read about other owners' experiences on sites like thesamba.com. There is quite a community of people around these vans. The camper versions were sent straight from the factory to the Westphalia company for camper conversions, and were sold that way by VW dealers. They are affectionately referred to as "Westies". VW has had three generations of campers: the original hippie bus until 1978, the Vanagon from '79-'91 and the Eurovan (with US camper conversions by Winnebego) from '92-'03. After a lot of research and asking friends who had owned them, we had decided that we wanted a "Multivan" version, which was only made in 1990 and 1991. The multivan has the pop-top sleeper and the storage closets, but no kitchen equipment. Instead, it has extra seating (for 6 total, plus another optional jump seat).
I say our Vanagon adventure is just beginning because these vehicles are guaranteed to be quirky and require that money be put into them every year. We know that going in. We think of it like our summer cabin, and even if we have to put money into it every year it's much less than a real cabin. And we can go a lot more places in it.
Replacing the engine has been part of our plan all along unless we found a van with an engine that was already rebuilt or converted. Our plan has been to convert whatever van we buy to a Ford Zetec engine. They are a more modern design, were made all over the world (in the Ford Focus) so parts are available everywhere, they have much more power than the VW engine, and a company in Boston sells a conversion kit that is dead simple.
Two weeks ago a nice-looking Multivan showed up on Seattle Craigslist. I emailed the seller about 10 hours after the ad appeared, but the van was already sold. I was very excited by this van and disappointed that it had sold before I saw it. I wrote to the seller twice over the next week and told him if for any reason that sale didn't go through to contact me. Well, what do you know? The sale fell through. Saturday Audrey I went to see the van and take it for a test drive. It had exactly what we wanted: a body and interior in good condition and an engine that still runs strong. I made an offer on the spot and we had bought ourselves a van. Today we met the seller at our credit union to get a cashier's check and I drove Ruby home.
The seller is a woman named Lisa who has owned the van since 2001. She also grew up with camper vans and was very attached to this one (which she named "Ruby Tuesday"). It was hard for her to part with it. It helped that Carol dropped me off at the credit union and Lisa got to meet Audrey (again) and Charlotte and see that her beloved van is going to a good home where it will build happy memories for another generation of kids. I told her I'd send her reports from our trips and that she has visitation rights.
Audrey and Charlotte knew I was bringing the van home after work and they kept asking Carol when it would be here. When I got home we parked the van in the alley and popped the top and we all hung out in it for a little while. We tried out the privacy curtains (all around - completely private inside) and the radio and the girls hung out on the upstairs bed, then danced to the radio in the "living room". We are all very excited to have found the van we've been dreaming about and we're anticipating the fun we're going to have in it.
2 comments:
SO now Dan thinks we should bail on going to Mexico or the Caribbean and buy a Vanagon. Can I ask, how much was this precious Ruby??? Dan and I had a Toyota Chinook camper when Rachel was 2, and it was fantastic! It had two sling beds that cranked out from the sides that you could sleep on, plus a bed over the cab. Not the most comfortable ride, but a lot of fun for sleeping in.
You will never regret buying this, as we regret selling our Chinook nearly every summer. Tell Carol she needs to dig up her old Thomas Dolby tapes, that was a fave memory of camping with her in the van. Congratulations!
The van was $7500. I have seen them range in price from $2,000 for one not running to $18,000 for a full camper in excellent condition with upgrades (e.g. awning). The Synchros (AWD version) go for even more in good condition ($23,000+). This is all for pop-tops, not for regular Vanagons.
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