Someone has offered me a camping vehicle. An ol Vw bus, the original not the euro version. It has the pop top and such. Is there a way to carry a couple boats up there? What is the thing made of. I haven’t even looked at it yet due to this vexing problem. From what I remember they were hell in a crosswind and didn’t get anywhere too quickly. Other than that I don’t know much about them.
Ed
Ther is always a way to carry boats
foam pads bow and stern lines belly straps whatever it takes!
I had a lot of good times in one of those vans, with a home-made cargo deck scuba tanks below deck matressess and beanbag cchairs above, Drive from chattanooga straight through to the keys.
Unsafe as hell and after this much time that one has got to be largely rust. In an accident there would be nothing but a cloud of red powder.
Drive safe and have fun with it!
If it’s free go for it
They don’t do well on hills, never did even when brand new, but if there’s no investment besides the cost of registration then why not? I live in NYC and never had a car here but someone gave me a van and it changed my…paddling life. When the cost to repair was more than it was worth, I passed it on to a neighbor who had the time and talent to fix it. He’s still driving it. It sounds like a low cost experiment to me.
Lyn
Not free.
From AZ originally body dinged but not any rust except minor surface stuff. Rebuilt engine and tranny. The thing is in good shape for being 35 years old. I have been keeping my eyes out for a “van” for a while just to use around the northeast portions of our country. This one happened to come up in conversation. The guy that owns it is basically “putting it up for adoption” at a reasonable price. You have to prove that you would provide a good home environment for it before you could drive away.
Ed
VW van
Hard to beat a free vehicle- even know the expected repairs will add somewhat to price. They are fun to camp in.
For boats, you can may be able to use the 70’s style rain gutter brackets that you top off with a 2x4- could clear the top.
The van has very low power, very slow to reach our present higher highway speeds- expect frequent tail gaiters.
I had one as my daily driver and sold in after the first time I drove it on snow- the rear came around at every turn.
Click and Clack say that when driving a old VW van, your knees are the bumpers.
I am familiar with the performance.
– Last Updated: Sep-17-06 10:32 PM EST –
I just couldn't remember what the pop up roof are made of. The pop ups are at least a foot above the rain gutters. The only plan I can come up with is foam and bow and stern lines. Trying to figure uot something for the center. I was thinking maybe welding a couple of cleats to the rain gutters. I will probably take a look at this thing this week and brainstorm a bit more.
Knees aren't bumpers, they are more like a "crumple zone".
Ed
VW van
Hard to beat a free vehicle- even know the expected repairs will add somewhat to price. They are fun to camp in.
For boats, you can may be able to use the 70’s style rain gutter brackets that you top off with a 2x4- could clear the top.
The van has very low power, very slow to reach our present higher highway speeds- expect frequent tail gaiters.
I had one as my daily driver and sold in after the first time I drove it on snow- the rear came around at every turn.
Click and Clack say that when driving a old VW van, your knees are the bumpers.
AZ antiques don’t like the northeast
That VW will last another 100 years…in Arizona.
Bring it to the Northeast and it’ll rust out in months. Cars don’t rust in Arizona but they do get sandblasted and sun baked.
If you want another hobby, go for it, but I would plan on a professional undercoat and paint job as soon as possible after it arrives in the Northeast.
If you just want a utility vehicle for camping and kayaking I’d look for a more recent model Ford or Chevy van with a straight 6 or small block 8.
…Mike
great idea, bad in practice
I owned 2 of these guys–67 and 71–and now have a 97 Eurovan. The orriginal bus is unsafe, cold in the winter, very slow up hills, burns valves like crazy, not great in snow, and blows all over the road in wind. I loved the bus, which carried me all over the west climbing and fly fishing. However, the Eurovan is so much better even though it isn’t anywhere near as charming. The best rack system is probably a Yakima bolted to the sides of the poptop.
another option
is to buy an old car and camp in a tent. After I gave away the van, I missed the freedom of getting out of the city on weekends, so bought an old Volvo station wagon for a few hundred dollars. My insurance is very inexpensive and it’s not an attractive target on the street.
Lyn
Old cars I’ve got.
I usually sleep in the boat hauler now. I was just thinking about getting something Ican almost stand up in. I tend to collect old crappy vehicles and outfit them for my purpose. I have one for work, one for play, one for boats, and one for “Sundays”. I like to keep all the crap I need for an activity in a vehicle so I don’t leave anything behind when I go.
Ed
VW Camper and Boats…
– Last Updated: Sep-18-06 10:14 AM EST –
...sure can work. A couple of years ago, we met a couple from British Columbia on the beach at Eastport, Nfld, after I'd spied a nice Arctic Tern alongside an orange VW camper (air cooled, the real thing). Had 'em up to the cabin for a coffee, shower, etc - turns out he was 70+, his wife a few yeras younger - they had come to Newfoundland in mid-May, and were planning to head back across the Gulf in mid-September - that's my idea of a holiday...
Anyway, re the boat rack - he'd just basically duct-taped a cradle made of blue closed cell foam to the roof, and ran his straps thru whatever projections there are on the roof - and bow/stern lines - must have worked, 'cause he'd crossed Canada just fine with it.
vehicle stuff stored - I can relate
The VW Van sounds like fun. My supervisor, years ago in Jersey, kept his canoe on his.
I used to keep my tent and gear in the back of a VW Rabbit. The reclining seats made for good sleeping.
Now I have a Dodge Van and that is where I store my kayak gear, extra clothing, and step stool. It is all I have so I drive it to work and church as well. During the summer I have my pungo on the roof - and use it once a week or more. I don’t want to forget things I might need so everything stays in the van.
One of my so called friends likes to give me hell about that. So I was glad to see I’m not alone.
Nit-pick on the quote
– Last Updated: Sep-18-06 12:33 PM EST –
I'm good at remembering quotes and lines from movies - it drives my friends nuts.
The actual quote from Click and Clack was something closer to "...(this car) relied on the driver's legs as the first line of defense in an accident". Actually, it wasn't Click and Clack who said it, but one of their fans. There were several more comments about this car, and I can't remember them all, one being that you were likely to get rear-ended due to the slow speed. I'll see if I can find a link to this and post it here, because it's worth a chuckle (and if I succeed in finding it, be sure to read the comments about the other nominations for "Worst Car of the Millenium" such as the Vega - about which one person said something like "as near as I could tell, these cars were made from compressed rust").
Oh yeah! One more thing! Long ago, in Click & Clack's newspaper column, I saw them provide advice to someone who was going to get an old camper-style VW Bus to tour the country. They provided two main points. First, it's a very romantic notion to go travelling the countryside in something that harkens back to the '60s, no doubt about it. Second, when (not if) the thing conks out and leaves you stuck on the side of the road, all you have to do is say "okay, we'll camp here" and everything'll be fine.
***************
Found it:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/Worst-Cars/results1.html
Alternative Boats?
We bought a Chevy Conversion van kind of on impluse about a year ago. It has a raised fiberglass roof. I pretty much decided I just don’t want to bother with racking boats on it, so I am thinking about a Feathercraft Java folder/inflatable/SOT.
Or maybe a good inflatable(S). I still have a couple of Stearn inflatable kayaks, and we used them at a nearby lake last spring. Not too bad.
I can get my little 9’ Frenzy in the back which works out pretty well. We mostly just use it for weekends at the beach in winter, so I can surf if I really feel like.
Had a 64 VW van, not the pop-up.
Forget warmth in the winter, there is none. Forget cooling in the summer, there isn’t even the double 55 you can get in most cars as you’ll cruise at 50 in hilly country, if you can call it cruising. Be sure you can work on and rebuild one before you buy it, because no one else can anymore, not without going to a VW specialty shop or charging more than its worth.
As for my old van, after rebuilding it, the engine blew a valve in Arkansas 15 miles out of Mena. Its now home to a family of 5. I abandoned it.
It a great novelty vehicle. Nice to have one of everything in your stable if you have room, can afford it, and can maintain it. But, it is not a great choice for dependable transportation. If its cheap and in good shape, buy it and sell the thing to finance something better.
Friend used to have one
Back in the 70’s. Went to a lot of races in it with as many as 3-4, 18"6 race boats piled two high on the racks. Loaded with his family and who ever was riding with him(AKA who got the short straw). Was slow, horrid in the wind,hot in the summer and add that to fact that he never stopped for gas until he was sure he was on his last oz. Oh yea when he got near the river he watched it more then the road. Boy I miss the old days.
VW Van
I had a Vanagon poptop camper, the top was fiberglass and someone bolted on a homemade rack. I don’t know how strong it is that way but I did travel up & down the east coast with two plastic kayaks & didn’t loose anything (gusting winds from high bridges make for white knuckles)! You could use a rack on the rain gutters, but you wouldn’t be able to pop the top. Loved the Vanagon, the room, the sounds, the quirks. There’s a good group of VW van enthusiasts in the NorthEast, look up Late Model Bus Organization on the web or go to Vanagon.com.
Family had One
Growing up. We went camping with that thing a lot. Then one day my mother was driving it into Utica and it was a windy day, very windy. The damn thing blew over on it’s side while she was driving it! Never had another one after that.
dougd
The later models had a bigger engine and
eventually were water cooled. The early models had the same engine as the beetle.