TheSamba.com :: View topic - My 1989 VW Vanagon (Transporter) Karmann Gipsy, AFN TDI

Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:43 pm

EDIT: finally page two! Getting to that first page to answer questions was getting long with all those pics...
What was the OP thinking?
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Steelhead wrote: All I can say is that if I ever end up with pile of FU money, one of the 7 people who currently own a 16 syncro gypsy (1990-1992) will get an offer they will be unable to refuse. OMG! A syncro 16 karmann Gipsy... Wow! That is something. I just imagine the asking price would be totally out of this earth.

Like this one here:
http://www.vw-bulli.de/de/bulli-people/traveller/nordamerika-reise.html
Can someone translate this with google? There is a way but dont know how right now...

Edit:
Here it is with google translate to english:
http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&...reise.html

.

Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:47 pm

I love it! I wanted to say so many things about the craftsmanship, the layout, the diesel engine.... but all I could think of was TOO CUTE! I love my Westies, but I've always had motorhomes when the kids were growing up - everything from the little class C Toyotas to a Wanderlodge bus. But you've got a rig I'd turn around just to look at again.

Uncle Lon

Tue Jun 24, 2014 8:55 pm

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: That interior appears to have been lifted from a quality sailboat or motor yacht. Very un-motorhome-like. I was expecting solid space efficiency and general layout, but the quality of the materials is way above anything I've seen in a small RV package. I hope you plan on putting serious vacation miles on it, soon

The interior is the most beautiful thing out of this camper. Its all teak wood and there is a spray specially for that, you put some on a rag and you rub it on all the walls and cabinet doors. It nourishes the wood and keeps it new appearance. No cheap laminated wood!

This camper was bought with the intention to do a north american tour in the near future, 2 or 3 years from now. Might include central america. Well I should include central america, my wife is from there...

Last summer we went to Cape Cod with the westy (one of the trips last summer). This year we should go further south with the Gipsy.

Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:10 pm

Uncle Lon wrote: I love it! I wanted to say so many things about the craftsmanship, the layout, the diesel engine.... but all I could think of was TOO CUTE! I love my Westies, but I've always had motorhomes when the kids were growing up - everything from the little class C Toyotas to a Wanderlodge bus. But you've got a rig I'd turn around just to look at again.

Uncle Lon

Thanks Uncle Lon! Yes it is cute! Thats the first thing women says about it. My wife does not care about my westy Silverfox anymore... But I still do! I'm thinking of keeping Silverfox for my son, that is 16 years old now. Later it would be fun if we would be in our Gipsy, and my son and his girlfriend in Silverfox on the same trip... I don't know, i'm just dreaming...

Tue Jun 24, 2014 10:37 pm

Wow, that is an amazing vehicle. I've liked them before but never saw one in such detail. Thanks for sharing all the pictures. Incredible. Congratulations and I'm officially jealous.

Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:00 am

Awesome Pedro, I hope to get over and see it in person pretty soon. Been incredibly busy lately. What is weight of the Gypsy?

Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:43 am

Wellington wrote: Awesome Pedro, I hope to get over and see it in person pretty soon. Been incredibly busy lately. What is weight of the Gypsy?
Thanks Wellington!
Come on down anytime, brother!

The official weight on my registration is 2130 kg (4695 lbs). The german TUV does calculate the added weight of the 1.9 AFN TDI.
This wedsite says its 2060 kg (4541 lbs) for a diesel gipsy.
http://www.karmann-coachbuilts.com/differences/dimensions.htm
A regular 2wd westy is around 1950 kg (4300 lbs).

Photo 116 and 117 shows the gipsy's rear springs. Not sure, maybe its the angle of the picture or something, but the rear springs look different from my westy, like shorter and fatter springs. They also have a smaller spring inside the big spring... I'll look into it...

Photo 116

Photo 117

Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:13 am

shadetreetim wrote: Wow, that is an amazing vehicle. I've liked them before but never saw one in such detail. Thanks for sharing all the pictures. Incredible. Congratulations and I'm officially jealous.

Thanks for the compliment!
I've been lusting over a Gipsy for many years, since 2005 I think. And now that I have one in my driveway is just incredible! I bought it two months ago, and I'm still amazed! I did loose faith of ever owning one.

I plan on taking more pics of some other details soon...

Tue Jul 01, 2014 4:48 am

Here is a vw Karmann Cheeta for sale!
The little brother of the Gipsy.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1658814

Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:14 pm

We went to Sanbanks provincial park, Ontario, Canada, last week from wednesday to sunday. Really nice first campout with the gipsy. All the family loved it! I'm amazed at how much attention it gets.

I met a couple other westy owners there. One 82 baby blue westy and a 88 silver westy all jacked up "a la prerunner" style. All good folks to talk to. Sean the owner of the 88 westy did a really good job on his westy with a lot of attention to detail.

My first diesel consumption is estimated at around 10L / 100KM (23,5 MPG) going at 100km/h (62MPH). Will do better calculations on the next trip.

Here a nice pic with the gipsy parked next to the beach during the day.

Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:22 am

It's lovely to see another Karmann on the North American continent. I think yours and the others make a total of 5 (one being a VW T4 Gipsy).

The front overcab window was most likely removed by a previous owner. These front overhead cab windows are prone to leaking (especially the 4 section windows) therefore causing damp and rot. I think you can see the joint in the inside overhead cab ceiling which originally would not have been there.

I see - unfortunately - the Truma vent for the boiler is broken. This is quite common. The newer style Truma vents are a different style and larger. The original vents are almost impossible to find.

Interestingly you lounge table has had the corners shaped. Again the original table would have been more square. I wonder if the top came from a later Gipsy or Cheetah? Whoever changed it did a good job and it will certainly help you get into and out of the back lounge seating area.

The curtains are original as is the wall paper in the toilet.

There were 741 T3 Gipsys produced by Karmann (excluding the Syncro versions) and currently we know that something like 264 are still in existence.

Well done on your choice of vehicle. I am sure you will love driving and using it.

Cheers!

Mon Nov 03, 2014 8:14 pm

grenjs wrote: It's lovely to see another Karmann on the North American continent. I think yours and the others make a total of 5 (one being a VW T4 Gipsy). Thanks Gren! I heard about 5 or 6 Gipsys in North America, but I did not know about an Eurovan Gipsy... Do you know where are the other Gipsys?

grenjs wrote: The front overcab window was most likely removed by a previous owner. These front overhead cab windows are prone to leaking (especially the 4 section windows) therefore causing damp and rot. I think you can see the joint in the inside overhead cab ceiling which originally would not have been there. Yes, i really had doubts that it was original. Thanks for confirming this. The interior ceiling was a clue.

grenjs wrote: I see - unfortunately - the Truma vent for the boiler is broken. This is quite common. The newer style Truma vents are a different style and larger. The original vents are almost impossible to find. I will need to look into some parts for my Gipsy. Bummer that the truma vent is very hard to find. I will start make a list soon and post my needs on the Karmann Gipsy forum.

grenjs wrote: Interestingly you lounge table has had the corners shaped. Again the original table would have been more square. I wonder if the top came from a later Gipsy or Cheetah? Whoever changed it did a good job and it will certainly help you get into and out of the back lounge seating area. Oh! I did not know my table was "special" :lol: From what I can tell, the table was not modified. All looks original, so I guess its probably a table from a later gipsy. Do you mean a eurovan Gipsy?

grenjs wrote: The curtains are original as is the wall paper in the toilet. Really? I find that the blue curtains is a weird color that does not match at all the wood interior. I thought the first owners made them "hospital style" since they were both nurses... I don't know. The wall paper i did believe it was original.

grenjs wrote: There were 741 T3 Gipsys produced by Karmann (excluding the Syncro versions) and currently we know that something like 264 are still in existence. Thats not good. Less than half of the production.

grenjs wrote: Well done on your choice of vehicle. I am sure you will love driving and using it. My wife and I really love the Gipsy! We just can't wait to make our big trip with it!

grenjs wrote: Cheers! See you soon on the Karmann Gipsy forum.
http://www.karmann-coachbuilts.com

Wed Nov 05, 2014 9:58 pm

Wow, thanks for all the great pictures of that awesome camper.
I would really like to see a picture of the rear table converted to the bed if you have one.

The windshield stickers, upper two are Austrian road passes, good for one week. They are stamped on date of validation.
The lower sticker is the Swiss highway sticker, good for the calendar year displayed.

Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:16 pm

What are the dimensions of the bed above the cab and the rear bed please? Nice Gipsy!!!

Sun Nov 09, 2014 4:07 pm

otiswesty wrote: Wow, thanks for all the great pictures of that awesome camper.
I would really like to see a picture of the rear table converted to the bed if you have one.

The windshield stickers, upper two are Austrian road passes, good for one week. They are stamped on date of validation.
The lower sticker is the Swiss highway sticker, good for the calendar year displayed.

Thanks for the compliments Otiswesty! 8)

Edit: Thanks for the info in the windshield stickers. :wink:
I will update the post soon, but first I need to ask a moderator to unlock the post to edit. Its too old.

So here is some pictures taken today or the foldable rear table into bed arrangement. There is a mechanism that you unhook by turning a handle up, the table folds down easily and slowly because the hinges has a spring built into it like a pop-top westy. When its time to pull it up, turn the handle up again to unhook the mechanism, pull up the table up, and voilà!

Sun Nov 09, 2014 4:13 pm

ThankYouJerry wrote: What are the dimensions of the bed above the cab and the rear bed please? Nice Gipsy!!!

The bed above the cab measures 77 inches long by 48 inches wide.

And the rear bed measures 77 inches long by 60 inches at the widest part, and 53 inches wide at the narrow part. We sleep with our feet at the narrow side...

Sat Jan 23, 2016 8:50 pm

Overlander Syncro mod

Sat Jan 23, 2016 9:20 pm

tjet wrote: Overlander Syncro mod
Man! I love it!!!
Thats pretty much how it should be with solid axles...

Getting closer to this one!

Wed May 25, 2016 1:07 pm

These pictures of your Gipsy were so helpful and inspiring in getting ideas on how to fix up mine! Thanks for the through documentation! :)

Wed May 25, 2016 6:28 pm

free_berg wrote: These pictures of your Gipsy were so helpful and inspiring in getting ideas on how to fix up mine! Thanks for the through documentation! :)
Thanks for the compliments, free berg!
It is a nice one, but its still a 27 years old vehicle, and always needs some attention.