TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:17 pm

I Just found a 59 swivel seat Kombi sitting in the bushes this week.
The m-code plate reads:

07 08 9

388 199

KA 231 RED 494959

It is pretty rough, and will require some tree cutting and a stong winch to retrieve. there is one wheel mounted, and the other three corners are sitting on their rotors. The driver's seat frame and swivel mechanism are still there, but there is no longer any upholstery on it. I also found some rear seat frames in the loft of the adjacent barn. The passenger seat and middle seat are still MIA, but there is TONNES of miscellanious hoarded junk out there, so I'm hoping they will surface sooner or later.
the other neat thing is that it has the "VOLKSWAGEN" name branding painted on the rear hatch below the window, just like commercial air's 55 Kombi, and my 54 Microbus.

So I am wondering what the rarity of this bus is, because it will have some bearing on whether I keep the bus, part it out, or sell it to someone else as a project. (keep in mind it is pretty rough)

Thanks!

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:20 pm

this is number 7 known. truly qualifies as rare. grab it. congrats on the come up.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:21 pm

Cool find! And in the year of the swivelseat uprising no less! <g> There appears to be well under a dozen swivelseat kombis known to exist. I can't believe you're not throwing pics up yet! *tsk* *tsk* Yet another cool bus from up north... Does it have a passenger seat?

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:29 pm

uberwagen wrote: I Just found a 59 swivel seat Kombi sitting in the bushes this week.
The m-code plate reads:

07 08 9

388 199

KA 231 RED 494959

It is pretty rough, and will require some tree cutting and a stong winch to retrieve. there is one wheel mounted, and the other three corners are sitting on their rotors. The driver's seat frame and swivel mechanism are still there, but there is no longer any upholstery on it. I also found some rear seat frames in the loft of the adjacent barn. The passenger seat and middle seat are still MIA, but there is TONNES of miscellanious hoarded junk out there, so I'm hoping they will surface sooner or later.
the other neat thing is that it has the "VOLKSWAGEN" name branding painted on the rear hatch below the window, just like commercial air's 55 Kombi, and my 54 Microbus.

So I am wondering what the rarity of this bus is, because it will have some bearing on whether I keep the bus, part it out, or sell it to someone else as a project. (keep in mind it is pretty rough)

Thanks!

Rotors, huh? That would be rare. Just kidding. It likely did not have a passengers seat, all but 1 I believe do not. There may be a big thick stud sticking out on that seat stand area though, Johnny's had it. Get the VIN number in here and we'll figure out where it sits age wise against the others. I believe Johnny's old (now JDot's) was the oldest known and it was a 1959. I believe the newest is a 1962 and it possibly had a passengers seat in it, too.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:30 pm

dieselnut wrote: Cool find! And in the year of the swivelseat uprising no less! <g> There appears to be well under a dozen swivelseat kombis known to exist. I can't believe you're not throwing pics up yet! *tsk* *tsk* Yet another cool bus from up north... Does it have a passenger seat?

I had the wife's Canon 20D around my neck but put it down on the bed to do a last minute shirt change before walking out the door. I had to make sure I was wearing my lucky shirt!

I found one swivel seat so far, actually sitting next to annother bullet nose Kombi that had its bulkhead hacked out. I'm guessing it is the driver's seat. I'm not sure (based on my limited research) if these things generally had swiveling passenger seats as well, or just normal seats on the passenger side.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:31 pm

uberwagen wrote: dieselnut wrote: Cool find! And in the year of the swivelseat uprising no less! <g> There appears to be well under a dozen swivelseat kombis known to exist. I can't believe you're not throwing pics up yet! *tsk* *tsk* Yet another cool bus from up north... Does it have a passenger seat?

I had the wife's Canon 20D around my neck but put it down on the bed to do a last minute shirt change before walking out the door. I had to make sure I was wearing my lucky shirt!

I found one swivel seat so far, actually sitting next to annother bullet nose Kombi that had its bulkhad hacked out. I'm guessing it is the driver's seat. I'm not sure (based on my limited research) if these things generally had swiveling passenger seats as well, or just normal seats on the passenger side.

They usually had no seat on the passengers side as far as I've seen.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:37 pm

'59 seems pretty late for the hand painted logo on the hatch. Great find John! Get with the picture taking and post 'em up!

Chris

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:46 pm

BUCIOBATISTI wrote:
Rotors, huh? That would be rare. Just kidding.
Whats so funny? It DID have rotors! Does that make it more rare? :P

Joking aside, the vin is 494959, and it was made on the 7th of August 59 (I think), making it a very late 59.

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:53 pm

uberwagen wrote: BUCIOBATISTI wrote:
Rotors, huh? That would be rare. Just kidding.
Whats so funny? It DID have rotors! Does that make it more rare? :P

Joking aside, the vin is 494959, and it was made on the 7th of August 59 (I think), making it a very late 59.

Wait till Jdot gets in here with his VIN number...

Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:55 pm

BUCIOBATISTI wrote: Get the VIN number in here and we'll figure out where it sits age wise against the others. I believe Johnny's old (now JDot's) was the oldest known and it was a 1959. I believe the newest is a 1962 and it possibly had a passengers seat in it, too.

Sorry, Johnny's old (now mine) swivel kombi is not the oldest.
My other one is older.
Its still on the rotissiere, awaiting the walnut shells.
Supposedly this week, (yeah, right).
I've been waiting for the media blaster guy for about a year now.

The "New" swivel (VI# 457029):

The "Old" swivel (VI# 431093):

Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:47 pm

BUCIOBATISTI wrote: It likely did not have a passengers seat, all but 1 I believe do not. There may be a big thick stud sticking out on that seat stand area though, Johnny's had it. Get the VIN number in here and we'll figure out where it sits age wise against the others. I believe Johnny's old (now JDot's) was the oldest known and it was a 1959. I believe the newest is a 1962 and it possibly had a passengers seat in it, too.

There have actually been two Kombis w/ passenger seats and one Panel that I'm aware of.

Here's the '62:

Here's mine:

This one is a panel but has dual swivelseats w/ mirror imaged controls:

Two of the three have better pedigrees as to the originality of the front passenger seat IMO.

Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:50 pm

KA makes it an Alberta bus. How come you guys and the Saskatchewan crew wind up with all the cool Alberta buses?

BTW - Have you officially joined NUTS yet?

Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:05 pm

I think they were all sent to Alberta and then distributed from there...weren't they?? What other Western Canadian destination codes are there? KA, KP, KV?? Was there a Manitoba code??

I realize this is off topic, but I'm trying to pass the time until pics surface.

Chris

Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:29 pm

I'm trying to arrange visiting the busses this Saturday. the objective would be to jack them up, get wheels on all four corners, and get things spinning again. ...also take a bunch of pictures.

Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:42 pm

Looking forward to pics! Swivelseats appear to have been popular in cold weather climates. Your find is more evidence that the best hunting is up north.

Here's another cool one from the frozen north:

Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:55 am

KA = Toronto delivery.

Anyway, given the past three years of finds, I would like to state there are absolutley no further rare collectible and/or optioned buses in Manitoba to be found.

I think there are more BD's and such in Alberta or Saskatchewan, so if you want to come up to the Great White North ...search there..... and I think January would be prime time to start.... :)

Sat Sep 16, 2006 11:25 am

kintail wrote: Anyway, given the past three years of finds, I would like to state there are absolutley no further rare collectible and/or optioned buses in Manitoba to be found.

I think there are more BD's and such in Alberta or Saskatchewan, so if you want to come up to the Great White North ...search there..... and I think January would be prime time to start.... :)
LOL.

I wonder how many people go somewhere after they see something on the internet thinking that they can find buses in every field. there is a reason that it is almost always the locals finding these buses. all the easy to find ones are gone, and the hard to find ones can only be found through other people. out-of-towners just don't have the connections.

Sat Sep 16, 2006 12:01 pm

kintail wrote: KA = Toronto delivery.

According to
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/exportcodes.php

KT = Toronto
KA = Alberta

and KB = Cambodia :shock:

Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:31 pm

Today Jason and I went out to take a closer look at the swivel seat. The plan was to clean the crap out of it, jack it up out of the ground, and clear some trees to prepare for its eventual departure from the woods. Unfortunately, it was raining though all of this, so we got thouroghly soaked.

This picture is not of the SS kombi, but if you look closely you can see the actual swivel seat hanging off the back of the bus. Unfortunately it has been there exposed to the elements for many years and has lost almost all of its original upholstry. The seat frame does appear to ba saveable though.

This is what we could see of the SS kombi when we discovered it. It appears to have been sitting here for quite a while.

Canadian "volkswagen" branding still intact beneath moss and house paint

This bus was literally full of garbage when we found it. Real creepy stuff too, like old naked dolls and stuffed buffalo and pig toys. This picture shows the pile of crap we threw out of the bus.

More crap!

m-code plate found on the front side of the right hand "cab dividerette"

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside after we cleaned the junk out.

Its too bad the original kombi panels were exchanged for "fancier" ones.

Here is what remains of the swivel seat, returned to is rightfull place.

Annother shot of the canadian "VOLKSWAGEN" script after some gentle scrubbing. The aqua house paint comes off super easily. I cant wait to do the rest of the bus!

all jacked up and ready for wheels!

Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:45 pm

that is awesome! the script looks great. i am thinking of poison ivy and getting itchy just looking at those pics! great score....