TheSamba.com :: View topic - 71 Westy -- bought new in London by my father, rolls again!

Tue Oct 15, 2024 4:28 am

Xevin wrote: Weird how a 1956 Ford was “Giving up the ghost” after 13 years and the 1968 VW bus is still on the road 55 years later. So cool you all have the family bus.

Nice pull on my obscure Pop music video reference Sunny Dog 8) You didn’t disappoint :D

The Ford lived it's first 6 years in a small PA coal mining town. Back then, cars just didn't last that long in that kind of environment. Then it moved to Tucson. My mom decided one day to repaint it. So, she went to Montgomery Ward and had them mix up some paint that as a close enough for her. Then spent a week in the car port painting it with a brush. In the end, even my dad admitted, it looked really good. She is a master at painting.

As for the bus, since my dad knew they would rust to the ground, the bus only did one winter in St. Louis. After that, only summer trips. It has approximately 80K on it. From 1983 to 2024, only 2400 miles was put on it. It sat in a nice dry garage. Thus why it's in great shape.

As for that video. We got Showtime back around 1978. A microwave antenna on top of the house. Showtime started up at 6pm and shut off around 2am. In between, the movies, there were Showtime Shorts (i.e. Hardware Wars, Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind, Porklips Now, etc.) and Music videos. That one was on a constant play between movies.

Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:15 am

pierrox wrote: A British roundabout? That would be dangerous as it would spin the wrong way! ;)

Only if you are foolish enough to drive around it the wrong way!

Once upon a time in France, traffic entering the roundabouts had priority over traffic already on the roundabouts. The French having always been slightly crazy (including driving on the RIGHT hand side), had a high rate of collisions!

Fortunately for them, the French government was persuaded by the British TRRL - Transport & Road Research Laboratory, to changeover to the British system, so now their approach to negotiating roundabouts is much safer and more civilised, and LESS prone to collisions!

If one seeks a little more challenge and/or excitement, one could have a "magic roundabout" instead, with several small roundabouts as satellites of a large central roundabout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Magic_roundabout

Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:31 am

sunnydog wrote: Nigel, I love roundabouts and they are building a lot of them here in this town, but I also see many dumb folks who do not know how to drive them. More than once I've seen the person already in the roundabout stop to allow others in -- "THAT"S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" I yell, to no avail. Yeesh.

Roundabouts have probably been in use in Great Britain since before I was born, which was nearly seven decades ago! They are much simpler than multiple-lane roads with traffic lights and help to keep all of the traffic flowing.

pierrox wrote: A British roundabout? That would be dangerous as it would spin the wrong way! ;)

Only if you are foolish enough to drive around it the wrong way!

Once upon a time in France, traffic entering the roundabouts had priority over traffic already on the roundabouts. The French having always been slightly crazy (including driving on the RIGHT hand side), had a high rate of collisions!

Fortunately for them, the French government was persuaded by the British TRRL - Transport & Road Research Laboratory, to changeover to the British system, so now their approach to negotiating roundabouts is much safer and more civilised, and LESS prone to collisions!

I recall our first overseas motor-caravan touring holiday in August 1975 to Luxemburg, in our then recently purchased, second-hand 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 Westfalia Continental. The French & Belgians were crazy drivers, the Germans were better but drove much too fast and the Dutch were quite reasonable.

If one seeks a little more challenge and/or excitement, one could have a "magic roundabout" instead, with several small roundabouts as satellites of a large central roundabout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Magic_roundabout

sunnydog wrote: Down to the pub, where the 2 choices are to take a photo with the beer in focus and the bus blurry in the background, or focus on the bus in the background and let the beer in front be out of focus. Somehow, I chose neither and instead got the orange water container sharp...

I do hope the beer-drinker was NOT the designated driver! :shock:

Wed Oct 16, 2024 4:13 pm

NASkeet wrote: sunnydog wrote: Nigel, I love roundabouts and they are building a lot of them here in this town, but I also see many dumb folks who do not know how to drive them. More than once I've seen the person already in the roundabout stop to allow others in -- "THAT"S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" I yell, to no avail. Yeesh.

Roundabouts have probably been in use in Great Britain since before I was born, which was nearly seven decades ago! They are much simpler than multiple-lane roads with traffic lights and help to keep all of the traffic flowing.

pierrox wrote: A British roundabout? That would be dangerous as it would spin the wrong way! ;)

Only if you are foolish enough to drive around it the wrong way!

Once upon a time in France, traffic entering the roundabouts had priority over traffic already on the roundabouts. The French having always been slightly crazy (including driving on the RIGHT hand side), had a high rate of collisions!

Fortunately for them, the French government was persuaded by the British TRRL - Transport & Road Research Laboratory, to changeover to the British system, so now their approach to negotiating roundabouts is much safer and more civilised, and LESS prone to collisions!

I recall our first overseas motor-caravan touring holiday in August 1975 to Luxemburg, in our then recently purchased, second-hand 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 Westfalia Continental. The French & Belgians were crazy drivers, the Germans were better but drove much too fast and the Dutch were quite reasonable.

If one seeks a little more challenge and/or excitement, one could have a "magic roundabout" instead, with several small roundabouts as satellites of a large central roundabout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Magic_roundabout

sunnydog wrote: Down to the pub, where the 2 choices are to take a photo with the beer in focus and the bus blurry in the background, or focus on the bus in the background and let the beer in front be out of focus. Somehow, I chose neither and instead got the orange water container sharp...

I do hope the beer-drinker was NOT the designated driver! :shock:

Don't worry Nigel, I'm sure it's just a glass of Orange Pekoe iced tea ..... :wink:

Sat Oct 19, 2024 11:03 am

NASkeet wrote: sunnydog wrote: Nigel, I love roundabouts and they are building a lot of them here in this town, but I also see many dumb folks who do not know how to drive them. More than once I've seen the person already in the roundabout stop to allow others in -- "THAT"S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" I yell, to no avail. Yeesh.

Roundabouts have probably been in use in Great Britain since before I was born, which was nearly seven decades ago! They are much simpler than multiple-lane roads with traffic lights and help to keep all of the traffic flowing.

Here are a few links to explore:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#Operation_and_design

https://trid.trb.org/view/485254#:~:text=Roundabou...he%20time.

https://www.ft.com/content/3c75e10e-b799-11de-9812-00144feab49a

https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/roads/when-and-w...p-traffic/

https://www.bing.com/search?q=History+of+road+roun...mp;PC=U531

Sat Nov 30, 2024 6:09 pm

Well, I am normally a Grinch when it comes to holidays, but I've been doing yardwork and listening to coyotes in the distance and it's 36*F, and my attitude is great, so I put the Christmas lights on the bus early this year. Let meteorological winter commence!

Sat Nov 30, 2024 6:15 pm

Mon Dec 02, 2024 11:04 pm

Out doing my part to spread holiday cheer! I visited one gas station, two hardware stores, three pubs, and drove through at least 10 roundabouts, most of which were dedicated to Professor Skeet. Sunset comes early but is great in the PNW when crisp and clear. Here's a super-processed HDR photo.

At one of the pubs where I met friends I got the parking spot right in front of the window. LED lights mean I can just leave them on without drawing down the battery at all.

...and finally a sunset window reflection self portrait -- and the secret to easily attaching string lights to your gutters is small binder clips.

Is the bus having any mechanical issues? Not really. Do I have any good vanlife stories? Nope. We are just living a small town life, people beeping their horns, kids pointing and waving, some dude in a 1995 yellow Volvo 850 sedan threw me a hang loose shaka. Good times, boring stories of glory days and all that. Happy winter to everyone!
sunnydog

Tue Dec 03, 2024 3:12 am

Happy Holidays to you , Sunnydog, and may your Mom and Dad ride with you for the season, in their van Bus

Sat Dec 07, 2024 1:16 pm

sunnydog wrote: Out doing my part to spread holiday cheer! I visited one gas station, two hardware stores, three pubs, and drove through at least 10 roundabouts, most of which were dedicated to Professor Skeet.

There was a recent programme (James May and the Dull Men - Roundabouts) on British television, featuring James May (one of the "gang of three", which included Jeremy Clarkson & Richard Hammond who presented Top Gear), in which he was undertaking the challenge to negotiate TWENTY SEVEN of Milton Keynes roundabouts, without needing to stop at any; illustrating the superiority of roundabouts over traffic lights as a traffic-management system! 8)

https://tv.apple.com/gb/episode/roundabouts/umc.cmc.2zlrtng7w8apb96y77p94ptrp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Keynes_grid_road_system[/b]

It's always been my philosophy to gently adjust my speed when approaching roundabouts, so that I can easily merge into a suitably-sized gap in the traffic stream without needing to stop; thus minimising vehicle wear & tear, driver stress, travel time & fuel consumption rate. :D

Tue Dec 10, 2024 2:54 pm

i just wasted a whole day at work reading this thread. WOW! great story. now i want to get my bus in better shape and start driving it more. congrats on the history and the storytelling.

Tue Dec 10, 2024 7:44 pm

Wasted?? My dude you just got paid to enjoy your time!

Congrats :)
Robbie

Wed Dec 11, 2024 3:05 am

:D :D :D

Well struck, airschooled!

Wed Dec 11, 2024 5:06 am

airschooled wrote: Wasted?? My dude you just got paid to enjoy your time!

Congrats :)
Robbie :lol: :lol: i wasted my companys time....i really enjoyed every minute of it.....

Wed Dec 11, 2024 8:16 am

superman73 wrote: airschooled wrote: Wasted?? My dude you just got paid to enjoy your time!

Congrats :)
Robbie :lol: :lol: i wasted my companys time....i really enjoyed every minute of it.....

Niiice! :lol:

Sat Mar 22, 2025 6:56 pm

Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm right here at the first marina sunset of the year. Listening to Johnny Cash's greatest hits. Ain't it grand?

I think that tree out front is getting bigger.

Tue Mar 25, 2025 12:48 am

It's been a while.

Tue May 06, 2025 1:48 pm

Last weekend was a beautiful sunny weekend in the PNW, the first weekend in May, and I was invited to a Beltane bonfire on Saturday. What better vehicle to bring than an old VW bus! On my way there, I started thinking and got a little suspicious, but felt better when I arrived and there was no large wicker man effigy -- and I mean the 1973 version, not the 2006 legendarily bad Nick Cage version set on an island off the coast of Washington. I parked in the driveway, left the sliding door open and put up the table, told people to feel free to jump in and hang out...

Some nice folks had brought along their sweet Dobergirl, who was leaning up on people all night. I tried to get a selfie with her and got licked on the mouth. Which I was not prepared for. Yergh.

Delicious food, a great bonfire and fantastic conversations... but there was no angle to get a shot of the bonfire and the bus lined up together, my apologies.

Sunday was another beautiful day and after doing a bunch of yardwork and other chores, Mrs. sunnydog and I took the bus down to the park by the Columbia River to hang out.

We brought our own 10-year old Doberboy along with us in the bus, which he does not like anywhere near as much a good old-fashioned Subaru Outback. He gave us some side-eye:

After a lounging around a bit, we drove over to the wildlife refuge at the entrance to the Columbia Rver Gorge, and caught just a bit of the top of Mt Hood in the distance

I took this picture with the 0.5 wide angle lens, so yes the steering wheel is still a circle even tho it looks stretched. I know you'll find this surprising but we stopped at a pub -- this one was recently declared one of the 22 best new breweries in the entire US of A. We got tasty pints of "Fire & Flowers" Spring Bock (again with the Beltane motif, setting up the pastoral summer season of fecundity)

Then later on the way home, our old Dobie was tired enough to get in some sleepin'. He's a sleeper, that boy is...

Another fantastic weekend in the books! Y'all want me to take this bus on a long road trip! Will 2025 finally be the year?!

Eh, probably no. But rest assured there is plenty of good livin' always happening around here. And sleepin', too.
sunnydog

Tue May 06, 2025 2:25 pm

I think the preferred terminology is “DoberThey” ;)

You could road trip with us to Warm Springs in a couple weeks. 8)

Tue May 06, 2025 5:03 pm

I miss my DogKisses from my departed Catahoulan Hound, tough week.