I want a VW BUS!! (vehicle, manual transmission, air conditioning, camper)
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I just love these little VW buses! I have been looking at Craigslist and I found one for $5,000. It seems to be in great shape, but the only problem is that all the VW buses (from the late 60s early 70s) are standard and I can't drive a standard. Does anyone know if they made these buses in automatic? What about A/C? Did they come with a/c and if not, can they be easily converted?
Yeah, my coworker is willing to teach me. I was just curious.
I used to have no clue how to drive a stick... my dad tried to teach me, at age 15, on his Chevette... it didn't work.
Then I looked up how manual transmissions worked... once I understood their workings, driving a car with a manual transmission was a lot easier. It'll only take you about ten miles of driving to become reasonably used to how to drive a vehicle with a stick... and then you're golden.
As for air conditioning... those old VW buses didn't have much engine power to begin with. They're super-cool and they'll give you decent gas mileage too... but engine power... nope... they weren't known for that. So, you probably COULD try to bolt on an aftermarket A/C compressor... but then you won't be able to get the darn bus up a hill.
If you want a VW bus with air, buy one which has been converted to have a more powerful engine. I've heard of people converting them to be powered by V6 engines and V8 engines. You're more likely to be able to afford the engine power loss caused by A/C if you have a bigger engine.
I asked my hippie buddies who were passing one around and seeing things in all shapes and colors while listening to "8 miles high" over the 8 track, they don't seem to recall any autos being made, they just made sure to change sandals often. Groovy.
Outside of the "flower power" image associated with these vehicles, there's a lot not to like about them.
Low powered (very sloooow), poor fuel economy, poor heaters unless equipped with the aux gasoline heater, no A/C, aerodynamics of abrick sh**house (slow going in any cross or head wind), poor handling, poor brakes, very dangerous in a crash situation (especially frontal) ... the list of deficiencies goes on and on. There's simply not too much going for one of these unless you're headed to a rainbow family gathering or only intend to park it somewhere as a "camper" vehicle.
As a VW mechanic of 28 yrs I can answer all of your questions. Type 2 (van) always had a stick (standard trans) up to late 70's. Most popular are from 1967 and older due to body style. As for gas mileage, 18-20 mpg is the avg and will depend on the size of the engine and driving habits. A engine can be increased in HP without affecting the mileage if properly done. There are many VW specialty engine rebuilders that will/can build a engine for economy and also for performance needs to satisify any customer.The early vans had a 1500cc, then 1600cc with single carbs. A very good set up is to install a 1776cc dual carb and a mild cam which will give a excellent power range and reasonable gas mileage taking into consideration the weight factor. Buy a Hot VW magazine and read about the various bus/van modifications as to body and engine mods and you will have an insight to VW Mania. Happy Hunting, Steve
I want one too. The one I want I've seen a few times at car shows in the area. And since your in the same area as me keep your eyes out for this one. I have a pic I need to get online w/ it. Even my girls love it. It is a light pink and white w/ white interior w/ pink piping. I'd bet the headliner is original as is much of it. The lady that owns it has a pink surfboard on the top of it. IT IS TOTALLY COOL!!!
Low powered (very sloooow), poor fuel economy, poor heaters unless equipped with the aux gasoline heater, no A/C, aerodynamics of abrick sh**house (slow going in any cross or head wind), poor handling, poor brakes, very dangerous in a crash situation (especially frontal) ... the list of deficiencies goes on and on. There's simply not too much going for one of these unless you're headed to a rainbow family gathering or only intend to park it somewhere as a "camper" vehicle.
Very true.
They are not very pleasant to drive.
Road Test magazine (Dec., 1969) tested one and discovered that it took a snail-like 44 seconds to go from 0-60 mph. Top speed was 65 mph. Average mpg was about 20 mpg (my '95 4,200-lb, V-8 Lincoln Town Car averages 21 mpg!). Passing from 50-65 mph took a ridiculous 30 seconds (try passing a car with a time like that).
Car Life (Sept, 1961) tested a '62. Rated at 40 (!) horsepower, top speed was (barely) 60 mph and 0-50 took 26.8 seconds. They didn't have enough road to run a 0-60 mph test!
One of my neighbors owned one and keep some bricks in the back of it so it wouldn't tip over when driven on highways during strong winds. They were incredibly dangerous to be in when involved in a head-on collision. No way would I want a wife/daughter/son other family member to drive around in one of those things.
As mentioned, the stock heaters were a joke and no A/C was available. It was just about the most primitive vehicle you could buy back then and you couldn't pay me enough to drive or own one.
Some of the negatives only apply to a dead-stock early model, although, you first have to have your own HEAD in the right gear to drive a bus - they are not real dynamic vehicles, not really suitable for "modern" urban area traffic. They are too valuable to risk/too hard to repair for this environment anyway. They are at their best out on backroads with little traffic.
Aircooled VWs are very easy to live with for maintenance. You'll need to find a specialist shop for any serious work, or should anyway. Somewhere there probably is a shop that does things like engine and transmission rebuilds for both aircooled VW and more modern cars and does both right, but I have never met them.
I recently drove a 1980-ish aircooled camper that has essentially the same fuel injection (CIS or K-Jetronic) as my 82 Scirocco - it has a stickshift 4-speed, and would get out of it's own way, although to me it felt more comfortable at 60 to 65 than at 70 to 75.
By all means learn to drive a stick, VW Bus or no.
A similar vehicle is the later "wasserboxer" bus/camper that was built with a slushbox - but see my earlier comment -
I would say for most of Texas, most of the time, the heater is barely adequate, but the Bus experience is not about cushy comfort anyway.
Various conversions of later busses have been done with Subaru and even Porsche engines, you can see some of these in You-tube videos. Probably you don't want to go there, the setup Steve Bagu suggested for an early air-cooled should work out well. But keep in mind that hopping up the Bus engine makes it less slow, you can't really get into "fast" territory, and if you did, you'd have to do some suspension and brake upgrades.
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