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Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:19 pm

I wanted a bus since I was little. My neighbor used to tell me that if I got a bus it would overheat at the top of my hill and I'd be stuck there with all the hippies who's busses had broken down.

I ignored him and ended up getting one. I didn't plan on fixing it, restoring it, or even working on it. Well, let's say I've learned a lot since then.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:27 pm

It was the Bus I 1st partied in, in 1984.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:30 pm

Ive had a few beetles, bays and splitty over the years. Loved them all. Im on a bay camper at the moment.

For a head turner you cant beat a splitty. A bay is just a bit more practical/usable as a daily driver, and that is what i need at the moment.

Absolutely everyone stares at you in a splitty and its a bit draining after a while! here is my last splitty, you got to love them!:

Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:39 pm

I have always always wanted ab bus so I got one for a small project to get it running for my first car. even though i have never driven it, I would only choose either a T4 or T2 bus... maybe a vanagon I would have to dream on that one.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:09 pm

I thought they were the coolest idea. It is like a motor-home that you can daily drive.

I wanted a project, I had too much spare time on my hands, we had one up at my farm. One thing led to another and here I am. Just about to daily drive my bus.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:14 pm

I was 17, I wanted to be different and I wanted the adventure. I certainly got what I wanted ... now, it's a long term relationship. :D

Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:17 pm

My 71 westy is my third bay. all of them have been campers. I have been a mechanic now for 30 years the first 13 years I was a VW mechanic exclusively. I have worked on them all, splits bays and vanagon. So when someone asks me why I drive a bay (especially the split window snob types.) I always give the same answer.

"Because I used to work on them for a living. So I know better!" :lol: :wink:

P.S. someone mentioned that '72 to '79 type 2's came with front disk brakes. that is incorrect 1971 was the first year for the front disk brakes. 8)

Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:14 pm

my 68 dc, be cause it is a DC, if it was just a bus then it would have been crushed
my wifes camper, because it was a nice bus

I have owned and currently own splits. They all have their own charm and to say that they dont mix is silly.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:20 pm

Got my current '70 westy as a wedding gift. I have owned 6 bugs and 5 buses in the past 3 of which were westys. but all were bays. I like the type 1 engine in the back, I have owned both and I just really love that engine. The wife ad I are currently restoring our '70 1 owner westy. It is funny any time we go anywhere we fight over who is going to drive.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:28 pm

A local never do well needed to change vehicles to keep the cops off his tail for a while. He had a straight Bay bus that the cops were keeping an eye on and I had a none running Thing that I was unlikely to get going soon. The trade was made. He probably got the better deal mechanically as the Thing only needed an engine, while the Bay needed seemingly everything even though it ran. This was a good introduction to VW vanning though as by the time I got everything right on the Bay it was ready to go for many many miles, about 200K so far if you count the latest morph.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:38 pm

All of the reasons I like my 77 bay have been mentioned.... better for camping, better engine (tho better is such an ugly and subjective word!), etc.

For me, also, I was looking for a bus my own age. I'm serious! With that, I had the rough range, and began hunting on the Samba and Craigslist, etc. No luck for a while, then there he was, in a town two hours away! He was a 77 and I was looking for a 76 (my B-day, silly me), but I went anyway, he was my dream bus (my first and last), and I bought him. When I got home I saw on his badge inside the driver door that he was manufactured in November 76! And if I guess right, "born" around October, same as me. Maybe even the 18th.... :|

I don't believe in ghosts, I don't believe in santa, but I do believe this: we don't find 'em; our busses find us.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:47 pm

Traveling Writer thats funny before my wife and I got our '70 as a gift, I was looking for a '76 westy cause it would be the same age as me.

Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:17 pm

I wanted a one-ton truck that was affordable, simple to maintain and easy on the gas. It is so helpful being able to load sheetrock and plywood with a forklift via the side gates instead of sheet-by-sheet through the back. And the locking tool chest below the bed is just brilliant, full-size shovels fit in there no problem.

Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:45 am

We have a 77 Microbus we're converting to a camper, love the looks of a splitty but we want to use the bus regularly as a second vehicle so an Early bay was on the cards but then the extra power and braking of a late bay and the Reef Blue microbus on the forecourt swayed our opinion...

Pictures on our blog!

http://www.auroracamper.blogspot.com

Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:51 am

Always wanted a splitty but was willing to go for any kind of bus 71 or older(I was afraid of the pancake motor),Ended up with a 72 because of the price and actually like it alot pancake and all. :)
Of course I'm still on the hunt for a split just like everyone else.

Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:56 am

I never knew that I was looking for a Bay until I saw the one that I now own. I was actually looking for a Single Cab Splittie at the time. Sure don't know what I was thinking!

Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:10 am

I'm partial to the 68-71 buses. I own my 68 cause I was in the market for another bus & it was pretty much rust free desert bus. I have owned this one for about 8 years now. This is my second 68 & my 4th bay.
I have owned an early bay's for the last 18-20 years.

My main reasons I own the current bay:
Lack of rust
type 1 engine
carrying capacity
Already owned a few so I have spare parts.
After 8 years, darn near everything has been rebuilt.

If I need to get another in the future it will also be an early bay. If I happen to find a reasonably priced rust free single or double, the deluxe would be put for sale.

Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:27 am

I've loved VW's since I was young and my dad taught me to drive in our '68 squareback. My first VW found me. A co-worker had to drive his '73 super to work one day and I asked him if he wanted to sell it. The rest is history. I owned two other bugs over the next few years and my wife told me that she had always wanted a bus.

We were visiting my grandmother and noticed a '73 bus for sale next door. My GM told us that some college kids had moved in and it used to be driven, but she thought something was wrong with it. I thought my wife wanted a splittie when she said bus, but I guess I was wrong as she urged me to go talk to the gentleman. A deal was struck and we towed her home the next day.

I just clicked with that bus. Getting her on the road wasn't that difficult. And just recently a friend came to us with the info about the '77 deluxe that's now in our driveway. My wife had been hoping to find a pop top :). They really do find you ;). Peace!

Mon Mar 24, 2008 5:51 am

ConcreteBalloon wrote: Why would you say you bought a Bay Window, rather than a Splittie or Vanagon? Was it just personal choice, or were you unable to find your first choice? If you got a Bay because you couldn't find your first choice, what WAS your first choice?

I originally wanted a Beetle, but after I found one in my price range and went and saw it........I didn’t fit into it very well!! I'm about 6'-4" and people will argue that they're 6'-4" + and they fit fine, but I just wasn't comfortable in one. So I decided to go up in size....buses. First I wanted a Split or a Bay but NEVER a Vanagon......just too ugly. I looked at Splits and got sticker shock so I went to the Bays. Again I found one in my price range and after I took it for its first test drive I was sold!! I've never had regrets about buying one either and would love to own another one!!

Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:17 am

Dumb luck I guess.

Back in 1988 a local guy had a 21 window splitty and I remember how cool it was and always wanted one. 6-7 bugs, baja's and rail buggys later I found my first bus, a 59 european standard. 90% through the rust repairs I found a 65 21-window project I had to have and sold the 59 to a friend, a year later bought it back then sold it on The Samba. A local club member had a 60 ragtop bug for sale and I went to look at it only to find a pristine 73 westy in his driveway. I told him if you ever want to sell it, let me know. About a year later it's mine and although I have always been leary of the T-4 engine (mostly unfamiliarity) it's really like a T-1 engine only BETTER. Still I have never driven any of my buses (legally) on the road. The 73 should be driveable by next week :)

All era's of VW bus have pro's & con's in their own ways. Right now, my 1st baywindow is the chit followed by my 65 21-window (if I ever get to finish it) and who know's maybe the future holds a water cooled bus for me.