What is the Attraction of VW T2 Campervans?

[Brains]

I had a T2 back in the late 80's
I was touring with the bands and needed a van,
I swapped it with a mate who needed a plane ticket to New York which cost me £400 (about a three weeks wages)
I'd been looking at a Transit, and was intending on putting in a mattress and a camping stove, the fact that this one came with all that fitted was a bonus.
I then toured for 18 months and a lot of miles in it.

I then kept it for another 4 years, drove all over the UK and down as far as Austria all at it's maximum speed of 63mph

What I loved about it was
It was reliable
It was distinctive
It had character (not just another white van)
I though it sounded great
It was amazingly versatile, I had everything from rock stars to builders rubble in that van
You could park it anywhere
Amazing all round vision (not driven another vehicle with such good views)

What I did'n't like was
Top speed was too slow
It was under powered
I was always concerned that there was zero crumple zone. a head on crash would probably be fatal

Would I buy another.
No.
But even 30 years later people still remember I had it, and it was the first 'motorhome' I owned. when we sold it, we replaced it with a VW T3, which was a vast improvement, but not a distinctive.

 

[Electraglide]

We had a Bay window for many years until children grew up. Took us all over this country and many music festivals. Reliable and easy to work on, never let us down and always got us home. Bit like our Harleys, treat the engineering with respect and no problems.

 

[Spriddler]

I guess they represent post-war liberty and liberal attitudes to unmarried young people sleeping together.
I think its only competitor in the 60's was the boring Bedford Dormobile which doesn't seem to have been anywhere near so popular as the VW. Out of nostalgic interest (my sister had one) I had a look on the Web for Dormobile info and according to Wiki:

The novelist Anthony Burgess and his wife, Liana, owned a Dormobile and used it as a home and means of travelling throughout Western Europe in the late 1960s. Burgess described the Bedford Dormobile as "a miracle of British design, although much let down by slipshod British execution – screws missing, bad wood-planing ..."

Sound familiar?

 

[DiggerJon]

A honeymoon in California in one borrowed from a friend of mine. It ended up as a tour of the garages of California as dollars evaporated in the sunshine on repairs; it made my drinking habits seem abstemious and oh did we long for a “proper” bed rather than that narrow plank each night. Memorable? Yes, but for all the wrong reasons! Want one? About as much as Covid-19!

 

[tonyidle]

what a concentric twin axle

It's twin rear wheels. I made up the description .

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[tonyidle]

Low power

And some. A 1:6 hill required 2nd or bottom. Vague steering & poor brakes didn't matter at the speeds available.

 

[tonyidle]

For a lot of people I’d guess they represent a certain uncomfortable, slow, and expensive way of life.

Corrected

 

[Lenny HB]

May look cool but in realality uncomfortable rust buckets that cost a fortune to keep going. A lot of them about going for silly money that have had bad restorations jobs done on them, buyer beware.

 

[Wagoneer]

I've had two VW T2's. Last one was a fixed roof Devon conversion with 1600cc engine. Before that a 1700cc twin carb which was a standard T2 microbus, converted for basic camping.

Plus points:
A) independent suspension all round
B) engine over rear wheels so good traction
C) rugged construction, good for gravel roads (plenty in Africa where we lived when we had the microbus)
D) good ratio of internal space to overall length
E) used as daily second vehicle
F) VW reliability
Not so good points:
1) underpowered 1600cc engine
2) air cooled engine not very efficient in high ambient temperatures
3) front crumple zone virtually non-existent
4) bit skittish in side winds

Overall, not a bad base vehicle for a couple plus possibly one child. We erected a bunk bed over the cab for our son. The VW T2 served us well for our purposes at the time (70's/80's). Wouldn't buy one now with the high prices being asked. Much better newer alternatives around at a lesser price.

 

[matt34]

We had 5 of us in our splitty poptop for a month in the uk, After that sold it for a 6 berth motorhome and holiday in france for a moth in it.Wehad many good times in them and all my mates had them just moved on with no regrets

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[Tanya_and_Mick]

Dude is a slang greeting term between men, meaning "guy" or "man." For example: "Dude! ... In the American nineteenth century dude had another life as a term for a dandy — a particularly well-groomed and fancily-dressed young man.

COOL means "Awesome, great or to remain calm

So I reckon dude, it’s just cool....?

 

[Brimo's]

I’ve got a 1968 T2 that I purchased 20 years ago for £4000 restored it for £3000 now worth £16000, you can’t say that a modern motor home would keep its value that well.

 

[Spawn_e_git]

A few of my mates have these and other VW vans.

The comment about affording a Splitty is defo correct. Nearly all I have ever spoken to would have the Splitty as the Holy Grail.

A few of my mates have the mid 80's T25 (?) which is a bit more refined than the old T2.

I helped a guy I did my apprecticeship with rebuild one on night shifts in the early 90's. A complete rust bucket but working with welders and fabricators, we were able to get it looking really good. Working in a food factory there was a lot of stainless steeel around to make bits out of.
The guy parked it in a block of flats where his brother lived next to an old dumped car which got set alight and took the T2 with it

For the guys that have the older Splitty/T2 and the newer T25's it is as much a culture as something practial to sleep in. They have their own local VW owners club that meet up once a week, and they have camp-outs in the middle of fields they can rent, much like Rallies but with a lot more open fires and weed.

They have shown that the best fire pit is an old stainless steel washing machine drum

They also go to all the VW festivals, (Run to the sun, alive and Veedubbing, Brighton Breeze etc.) and they all seem to have a great time.

I spoke to group that came to a site in Halstead a couple of years back in two Splittys and they admitted that reliability is a problem as some of them were sixty years old, but they would not have it any other way.

You need to be dedicated with one of these and good with the spanners and a welder.

I have seen a few of the newer Brazilian models with a front mounted Water cooled engine which surely would be much more refined but somehow just do not have the same value as the old rust heaps.

 

[stevewagner]

We had 2 in the late 70's early 80's. One was written off by a drunk driver outside the front of our house and the other we sold to buy our first touring caravan. We absolutely loved everything about them and if nothing else they left us with the bug to tour which is as great today as it was then. In my garage I have a 1967 Bedford Dormobile given to us by a farmer which will be a project for when I retire next year!

 

[Allanm]

We’ve had 2. First was a 1976 tin top Devon conversion. Travelled all around the UK and France without anything going wrong. 2nd was a 1978 pop top. We kept it for 8 years and sold it in 2000. It was a struggle to sell, I had to drop the prIce to £1000. It was immaculate with a new mot and ran perfectly, there just wasn’t the market for them then.
Its still going now, mot history shows it’s still on the road. We loved both vans, they were perfect for what we wanted, slow, yes, but we were always on holiday in it so it didn’t matter. Both were very reliable and comfortable.
Would I have another? Probably. But just for a bit of fun, we‘ll keep the motorhome for holidays.

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[wasp]

I had a 71 Bay it was a Danbury, lovely thing for days out cos you could put kettle on, cup of tea an all that. It was a bit limited I must say, not good in cold weather, the heaters are crap. We did campin ours though, we went to France twice in it. No hot water, toilet or shower, so you always had to be on a site. I kept it three years spent a bit on it, returned a profit as well.

 

[PaddyM]

OK for a day out, but that's about it..

Sooooooo not true ! We went in Buster to Norway ?? and as far south as the Med coast of France ??, we had a ball and tons of adventures.
I truly motorloved that van .

 

[Littlewheels]

First Van/Camper we started with 40+ years ago,I bought it fire damaged in the engine compartment that did some interior damage but sorted it and whilst doing so did a lot of dreaming of future travels, our first and last night in it, a family of four started and finished in Bainbridge in the Yorkshire Dales the wind almost blew us over and the Kids thought they were going to die up in the raised up roof bunks.
It was a nightmare and I sold it straight after. I’ve never understood what people see in them a square metre of floor space and them blo@dy sliding doors are still the bain of my life I’ve spent the last 40+ years attempting not to park anywhere near one,however,the little blighters can sneak in now and again

 

[LesW]

Sooooooo not true ! We went in Buster to Norway ?? and as far south as the Med coast of France ??, we had a ball and tons of adventures.
I truly motorloved that van .

... but with no facilities on board I guess you're limited to sites with services..

 

[Neckender]

Our lad Jason has a 1965 lowered Splitty and a 1973 Westphalia camper both in excellent condition.
He imported the splitty from California about 15 years ago and as had it resprayed orange and black, lowered the suspension upgraded the engine and anything else that he could do to it.
The Westphalia he bought whilst at a VW rally about 8 years ago and the 2 lady’s who owned it sold it at a bargain price of £5500.
The only thing he has had to do to it was a respray.

John.

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[tacr2man]

Plus points quite quiet to drive , and good viz . negatives , loads , heavy on fuel , vague gearchange, crap demister , engines dont rebuild at all well ., going by the number I have towed over the years . The best I have driven was in Australia fitted with subaru flat 6 , you almost lost steering accelerating thru the gears .

 

[westhamman]

I had the t25, Holdsworth conversion, pop top. It meant with having a young family and dog we could have lots of holidays. Everything on it rusted, even the heat exchangers which VW wanted a fortune to replace. It certainly served its purpose, lots of good memories. Many years later brought my motorhome and realised that campsites wanted me buy a share for each nights stay.

 

[vwalan]

i have had several vw t2,s .
had a few splitties then got into the bay windows first one was brown and gold ,then yellow and striped . that was back in the 70,s .there were hardly any customized vw t2,s back then , there was a nice spiderman vw t2 from hull used to turn up at custom car shows .
then on to hightop t2,s . great sheldon hightop made a lovely 4 birth.
later i took the plain brown vw t2 to africa and had some great trips in it .
no windows ,roof tent and one time towed my teardrop caravan around morocco.
they are easily fixed and can be done cheap.
my hobby of having vw,s got me involved so much i packed in my butchery job and took up fixing and repairing them and selling new spares .
i found them ok to drive , nice and narrow for driving in the winding local narrow lanes .
not super on mpg but 25 to the gallon is ok.
i also had a few t25,s one a 2.1 that was great .
also did engine conversions and put golf and passat fuel ing engines in the t25,s .
very fast specially with a super chip fitted .
i may go back to a 1600cc single port engined t2 in the future ,
got engine and bits ready to fix one up.
the aircooled 1600cc vans go all over the rough terrains and are really strong, not fast but reliable .
did lots of foreign tours with my parents in vws in the 60,s , greece ,turkey and a trip to morocco when i was a little kid . so have lots of nice memories to look back on.

 

[Electraglide]

One of the best things for us was a company called Autocavan based in Badshot Lea, OEM parts at a fraction of VW prices.

 

[vwalan]

One of the best things for us was a company called Autocavan based in Badshot Lea, OEM parts at a fraction of VW prices.

yes there was quite a few places like autocavan .
i was a volkspares agent and fitted hundreds of their engines .
but firms come and go ,uro were ok ,vee wee were another ok crowd.
think volksbits are still going . and jim who built lots of volkspares engine now runs the engine shop in erith .
been out of it 22yrs now so not quite upto date who what where these days .
there was a time when my life only involved vw,s .

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[Cheshirecat57]

Hear me out please
Nostalgia is not what it used to be when I was a boy

If you buy anything “Classic” it depends on your expectations of it when you buy it
If you buy a T2 and want it to drive like a T6 190 bhp DSG- you may well be disappointed
If you are buying into a “style concept” with 60’s performance, you will be as happy as a pig in muck

i recently drove a 1969 E type ( allegedly 80k worth) and I could not wait to get back into my daily 170 bhp Mini Diesel with Traction Control with a quicker 0-60

 

[Electraglide]

yes there was quite a few places like autocavan .
i was a volkspares agent and fitted hundreds of their engines .
but firms come and go ,uro were ok ,vee wee were another ok crowd.
think volksbits are still going . and jim who built lots of volkspares engine now runs the engine shop in erith .
been out of it 22yrs now so not quite upto date who what where these days .
there was a time when my life only involved vw,s .

I used a company in Princes Risborough I think to fit a recon engine as I was to busy. They did a good job, I use Just Kampers for odd bits nowadays but no longer have a VW

 

[solaris]

I bought a splitty in the 60’s. Just had a sink and a camping grill. For ventilation a lever opened grilles above the windscreen and the air rushed out of a metal box at ceiling height, this ran with condensation in the evenings. You had to travel about 50 miles for the heater to work, long exposed uninsulated ducts from the engine. Inside driving was quite quiet because the engine was so far behind you, but from outside .. er noisy. It chugged along and to be fair it chugged up mountains etc. At the time it was the only vehicle I took to Europe that didn’t break down. And it had a fixed roof so you moved with a stoop. But it was luxury compared with tents back then. My future in-laws liked it so much they went a bought a bay window version, £1650 new!
But they are rooted in the sixties, and like cars from that era, until you try one you don’t appreciate how far things have developed. By today’s standards steering and breaking were much more interesting but they were big enough for most other cars to get out of the way.
Eventually I moved upmarket and bought the in-laws. Both went faster with age as the rust made them that much lighter.

 

[DBK]

Many thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I need to get my thinking cap on to try and draw all the thoughts together.

I like the idea of linking them to the appeal of Harley Davidson bikes. I can see the similarities. Different, but there is a connection I think, history, tradition, image and the social side. ?

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Im a VW fan. And I don't like the t2 or the splitty really. Alot of it is image. They are icons really, and they attract those who aren't necessarily into the "scene" but want to have a part of it....


I long for a t25 panel van though. T25 panel van syncro....

One day I will own one. I plan to fully restore it and use it and my everyday...

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