Are VW Westphalia Weekender vans collectible?
- Thread starter bigb
- Start date
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
I wouldn’t say the 1980-1991 vanagon (aka vanagony) westfailia’s (aka westfailure) are collectible, but they certainly sell at a high price here in CA. I had several Vanagon Westfalias... 80, 82,83 and two 90’s. All have their cylinder head/valve train issues. My 82 and 83’s were the factory diesels... gutless 48hp road hazards, which I promptly yanked and replaced with the bombproof Golf 1.8fi gas motor. Torque and dependability! Good times in those 2 westys and no worries traveling.
The 79 and older VW vans are certainly commanding a high price in California. Older the van, more valueable it seems. Personally I’d only have the 71 if I had to choose. Front discs and the 1.6 dual port engine that was still simple, and way more dependable than 72 and later 1.8 and 2L VW boxer engines.
My dad had a saying about VW’s:
”There’s only 2 types of Volkswagons. Those with new engines, and those that need new engines”.
He was of course referring to any of the air cooled VW’s.
I sure miss him.
P
Patrick walsh
Guest
I’ve long lusted for a VW since I was a kid chasing around the dead in whomever friends car I could catch a ride.
Over the course of my adult life anyone I’ve spoken to that owns or services them has mirrored what was said above.
Ill add that I’ve also been told they are cold and impossible to use in the winter and dead hot in the summer. I feel like it was once suggested to me they actually have no heat or at least that the heat sucks. Again if you wanted to go through one and build it out swap motor, insulate, add supplemental heater I still think it would be great.
When ive suggested so much to mechanics that work on them they say great but it’s a money pit. The ones as in the picture of the yellow bus above with 360% windows are of most value.
Id like a driver one to just kick around town as a seasonal daily driver. But alas I’ve got enough on my plate and no time..
Over the course of my adult life anyone I’ve spoken to that owns or services them has mirrored what was said above.
Ill add that I’ve also been told they are cold and impossible to use in the winter and dead hot in the summer. I feel like it was once suggested to me they actually have no heat or at least that the heat sucks. Again if you wanted to go through one and build it out swap motor, insulate, add supplemental heater I still think it would be great.
When ive suggested so much to mechanics that work on them they say great but it’s a money pit. The ones as in the picture of the yellow bus above with 360% windows are of most value.
Id like a driver one to just kick around town as a seasonal daily driver. But alas I’ve got enough on my plate and no time..
Rocksnsalt
There Can Be Only ONE
BertSquirt
Member
campskunk
Active member
on my 1962 vw van, there were headlight buckets down by the front passengers' feet. my father bought this vehicle new- he had six kids and no money, so it was the logical choice back then.
yet many of us started out in vw vans. and most of us are still here to talk about it.
yet many of us started out in vw vans. and most of us are still here to talk about it.
Takes me back. About the same time, late 1961, my dad was trying to choose the right vehicle for our family of six kids (also no money) heading to the Middle East for 18 months. I remenber going to the VW dealer to look at the MicroBus. The lack of front end protection broke the deal on that one. We ended up with an Austin Countryman.Two months camping through Europe on the way home was pretty crowded.
autostaretx
Erratic Member
When i travel, i always try to rent a VW Kombi as my "wheels".
In 1973, it was in Kenya to reach Lake Turkana to watch a solar eclipse.
We managed to find a self-drive (the rental agency actually foisted us off to Avis).
Discussion with Avis manager:
he: you want to go where?!?!
us: Lake Turkana (plus Amboseli, Mt Marsabit, crossing the Chalbi Desert, Lake Nakuru and other oddball spots)
he: take a Land Rover
us: will a Land Rover seat 7 people?
he: No.
us: can 7 people *lift* a Land Rover?
he: No.
us: we'll take the VW.
(adventures ensued... including helping rescue a stranded Land Rover)
((and a semi-test of the "7 people lift" issue (we did 6, with me as driver)))
a few weeks later we returned on the scheduled date.
he: You're back?
us: Yes.
he: where's the VW?
us: parked out front. Here are the keys.
he: You're back?? The VW is back????
us: Yes.
he: But no one made it back. ALL of our cars broke down, even with professional drivers!
us: Well, one shock mount lost its bushing and the battery's split in half, but we drove it here.
---------------
That was an air-cooled (of course). I had taken along my extreme-minimal VW tool kit (6 inch Vice-grip, 17mm Allen wrench).
In 2013 we rented a VW Kombi for a month-long tootle around South Africa. (adventures ensued)
It had the water-cooled Audi engine ... near the end of the trip the radiator split in half in Kruger National Park.
2 days later a piece of electrical conduit that had been used as an elbow in the coolant plumbing melted.
We still made it back on the scheduled date (2 days after the melt).
-------------
In 2014, we rented a VW California (never available in the US) for a drive around the UK.
It's basically the same idea as the old Westie ... kitted out by VW at the factory.
--------------------
A neighbor has a (probably 72? It's air-cooled) Westie ... it's a fascinating collection of rust creeping (well, faster than that) up from the bottom. He'll go on hiking trips in it and have the return trip via tow truck. The engine is constantly requiring work (or rebuild).
--dick (who prefers air-cooled VWs, the California was just a bit too "deluxe")
In 1973, it was in Kenya to reach Lake Turkana to watch a solar eclipse.
We managed to find a self-drive (the rental agency actually foisted us off to Avis).
Discussion with Avis manager:
he: you want to go where?!?!
us: Lake Turkana (plus Amboseli, Mt Marsabit, crossing the Chalbi Desert, Lake Nakuru and other oddball spots)
he: take a Land Rover
us: will a Land Rover seat 7 people?
he: No.
us: can 7 people *lift* a Land Rover?
he: No.
us: we'll take the VW.
(adventures ensued... including helping rescue a stranded Land Rover)
((and a semi-test of the "7 people lift" issue (we did 6, with me as driver)))
a few weeks later we returned on the scheduled date.
he: You're back?
us: Yes.
he: where's the VW?
us: parked out front. Here are the keys.
he: You're back?? The VW is back????
us: Yes.
he: But no one made it back. ALL of our cars broke down, even with professional drivers!
us: Well, one shock mount lost its bushing and the battery's split in half, but we drove it here.
---------------
That was an air-cooled (of course). I had taken along my extreme-minimal VW tool kit (6 inch Vice-grip, 17mm Allen wrench).
In 2013 we rented a VW Kombi for a month-long tootle around South Africa. (adventures ensued)
It had the water-cooled Audi engine ... near the end of the trip the radiator split in half in Kruger National Park.
2 days later a piece of electrical conduit that had been used as an elbow in the coolant plumbing melted.
We still made it back on the scheduled date (2 days after the melt).
-------------
In 2014, we rented a VW California (never available in the US) for a drive around the UK.
It's basically the same idea as the old Westie ... kitted out by VW at the factory.
--------------------
A neighbor has a (probably 72? It's air-cooled) Westie ... it's a fascinating collection of rust creeping (well, faster than that) up from the bottom. He'll go on hiking trips in it and have the return trip via tow truck. The engine is constantly requiring work (or rebuild).
--dick (who prefers air-cooled VWs, the California was just a bit too "deluxe")
D
Deleted member 50714
Guest
Dime a dozen when gas hits 10 bucks a gallon.
campskunk
Active member
i saw a lot of "california" model westfalias when i was in europe. to europeans, north american place names are exotic, so there were plenty of RVs with model names like california, colorado, ontario, even a kentucky. and a few misplaced american RVs- there was a winnebago in the south of france, an airstream in wiesbaden, and a chinook in budapest. plus some mercedes and vw vans we never saw here.
The old versions had their charm, but a lot of it stemmed from the fact that for a number of years they were somewhat unique. Not a lot of factory conversions to compare. A lot of the nostalgia cult following is folks who weren't around when these things were new and perhaps don't fully appreciate the gap between charm and practicality. Most of the older iterations were pretty much gutless, and at that the engines were overworked. At the time you could find a back alley mechanic pretty much anywhere in the world who could get you back on the road. Now, not so much. A friend recently had to do a rescue mission for his son and wife whose water cooled pancake engine version blew its water pump and various other cooling components. It supposedly had a recent engine when he bought it. Told me his son would buy my Sprinter if I cared to part with it. I had a new '93 Westphalia (Eurovan based) for a couple of months camping in Europe and it worked well, albeit not as interesting or exciting as the old ones. At the time there were a lot of older "California" and "Joker" conversions, similar to Westphalia, many in rental fleets.