The ONE That Got Away

[Campy]

Four years ago, I looked at a 1955 kombi that was about forty miles from Chico. It actually belonged to the man's mother, hence, the color was pink (she had painted herself, inside and out)). It had been stored outside on her driveway for years and had a good engine but it was undriveable (brakes, battery). The body was in good shape and he wanted $2,000 for it or $1,500 without the engine. I talked to him about it a few months later and he had raised the price $500 and he said he was going to list it on thesamba.com.
Did someone out there buy a pink 1955 kombi?

Some 15 to 25 years ago, K&W Autowrecker here in Chico used to have three to six split-windshield buses at a time. I remember that some of them would have been worth fixing but there wasn't much of a demand for old buses back then and I was usually broke. Once, the owner told me that usually the popout windows hadn't been sold and they were on the bodies when they were crushed.

[sportin-wood]

Old thread, but still relevant. I had an opportunity to pick up 2 split buses that were sitting in a friend's field around the year 2000, for free! Granted, they were motorless and had busted windows....but I was (and still am) a VW Beetle guy, and didn't have much interest in the buses. 2 or 3 years later when I noticed the crazy money they were going for (in almost any condition), I went back to this guy and he had sold them for scrap! Live and learn...
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[BUCIOBATISTI]

One more that haunts me to this day was a "Thrifties" find in the San Diego Union Tribune Classifieds back in about 1990 or so.

In order to qualify for the Thrifties section back then, the asking price on any item could be no more than $500.

It was a 1958 Double Door Walkthru Panel Bus, dead player, 4 old bias ply flats, dirty, small amount of rust, but totally complete. It had both bumpers although the pressed rear was tweaked and sitting on the ground next to it, original 36hp, hand crank, tool roll, absolutely all of it was there, and my memory says it had an ambulance fan, too.

The entire exterior had been painted white and it had big black logos on it, "CATALINA ISLAND GIRLS CLUB"

I remember hemming and hawing and thinking that I didn't really have a place to stash it while we revived it.

Miraculously I left without even making an offer.

It went around and around in the classifieds and the guy eventually called me back and said something to the effect of "gimme $200 and get it out of here".

It was up north in the Valley Center/Escondido area.

I never saw it or heard another word about it since.

Back in that timeframe it was likely it went to Interstate VW junk yard and got parted out.

Anybody ever see or hear anything about it?
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[Erik G]

flipseat subhatch in the suburbs of Sacramento. I had went to school with the guy, friend of a friend, it was spitting oil out the center of the case, I asked why he didn't try a breather or something first. He or his brother also had a double cab front single cab bed they were working on. Some of you likely remember these 2 buses.

[Lind]

I have had a few that I missed out on.

An original paint logo'd '62 turkis singlecab that was sitting in a garage since the '70s. You could see it if you peeked in the window. The old guy would always say that he would sell it, but he didn't have the time to get it out of the garage. I offered to do all the work, all he had to do was open the door. Alas, he never would sell it. He died and the truck got sold, and then sold again to a friend of mine who absolutely loves it, so I am happy it is in a good home.

A '50 panelvan, which I really should have bought for $8k in the early 2000s. But I got one that I like way better now, so I am not bummed out anymore that I missed the first one.

A '58 panelvan with a factory ambulance divider. It was parked in a driveway in Nevada forever. The lady would never sell, saying that she had given it to her son who lived in a different state. Last time I drove by, they panel was gone, and the house was for sale. So I called the realtor, explained my plight and told him that I would give him a grand if he could get his clients to sell it to me. He really liked that idea. He called back ten minutes later saying that it was definitely not for sale.

The buses that I cut up in the '90s when they were worthless would make a grown man cry. Sunroof standards, deluxes, westfalias, etc.

Now the ones that didn't get away, that list is a lot more fun.....
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Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
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[BonTonRoulet]

In traffic, probably 10 years ago, I found myself behind a truck pulling a scrap metal trailer that had a complete barn door bus on it. Complete down to the little round tail lights! I followed him for about 2 miles honking, waving, flashing my lights trying to get him to pull over.

He finally pulled over when he took the turn into the metal recycling plant and didn't stop until the trailer was on the scales.

I jumped out and told him I'd pay him A LOT more than the scrap value. Went into the office of the recycle yard and pleaded my case. You CAN'T crush that bus! I'll pay you dearly for it. Do NOT crush it!

Response: Sorry, once it's been weighed on the scales there isn't anything we can do.

DAMNIT!

[Busted-bolt]

This is my story of the first 23 window I ever saw. At the time i lived on a small farm site in rural Minnesota ,the year was 1985 or 1986 . I was always working on my old 60 beetle and I knew what busses were but my knowledge was very vague. There was a very small town on my school bus route. The school bus that I rode on on school days would drive through this small town and on the south east edge of this town there was a pile of cars that were salvaged out and being prepared for scrap . On the top of the pile was this weird bus that had roof windows. The rear of this bus was very visible. It appeared that someone cut the hatch and moved the floor below the window upward.They did a really good job to because the engine cover was gone but it was completely enclosed around the engine.I eyed this bus every school day through the winter in to the spring. I was only 14 years old and wished I could or had a way to buy and extract this bus. Until one spring morning it was gone along with about three other cars. I was so bummed.Then about ten years later I actually realized the real gravity of the situation when I actually discovered what a barn door was. I thought to my self ,yes I have actually seen one before.
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Vw collection 60 combi ,61 panel ,62 deluxe micro,82 diesel Westfalia,88 Vanagon synchro,98 Jetta tdi,11 Jetta tdi mt ,11 Jetta tdi dsg.
I do all my own work,body,engine and transmission.

[Ran When Parked]

Replying to the post above: After all these years, I've never seen a real 23 window. Been to plenty of shows in the southeast too.

[EverettB]

[crukab]

Yes, there have been a few ^^^^^^^^ that got away

The one that bothered me the most was a mid '60's Doublecab, white w/ a red vinyl interior, softball size hole in the rear floor, needed a starter @ a Denver dealership ($2500 asking price) in 1982 or so, they would not trade me even for my '73 Opel GT which I had paid $2500 2 years before, so I walked... a month later the wiring in the Opel GT melted down.
That barndoor was in Northern N.H. in 1985, couldn't get any contact info, never went back to hunt the owner down...
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Tom

My Pops:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604100&highlight=
I know you will always be with me, rest in peace with no more pain. 8/13/14.....

In the yard right now:
'51 Dodge 5 window truck
'65 Bug
'66 Singlecab
'82 Rabbit Truck Diesel from CALI
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
'88 Dodge Ram pickup
'11 Jetta Wagon

[hitest]

Lind knows about this one (correct where needed LB): A fully original, drivable that weekend, complete '56(?) or '57 blue Kombi- all the seats, crank handle and white beltline pinstripe. A well-known bus but I was the first one who went through proper channels when the owner passed in the mid 1990s. Waited several weeks for a phone call from the Good Samaritan home, a local non-profit who was declared(left to) handle the estate. They had my parents phone number as I was in college and changed phones/addresses every other month and wanted stability. They called, told my mom if I still wanted the bus I could have it for $250. Mom gave me the message about a month later...
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[Split 66']

[spoiler]I've always been a ONE Bus guy, and fortunately that one never got away, I've owned that Bus for over 32 years now, got it for my 17th birthday - the blue and white in my gallery.[/spoiler]

But long ago... there was a guys house I'd go over to and play guitar, we'll call him burnboy.

A Bus makes an excellent bandwagon, you can carry the entire 4-man band, instruments and all (short middle seat sideways, L-shape), so I'd always drive my Bus over to burnboy's parents house, and it would sit out front of burnboy's parents house while we played loud music, many times in a month.

The kid down the street from burnboy, took a liking to the Bus after a while, and he and his Dad purchased a '66 or '67 all white Westfalia pop-top, probably the most dent free and complete OG Bus I had ever seen, that interior was museum quality. The original owner that sold this to the Dad and kid down the street, knew what it was and took the best care of it possible. This small court now had two Bus's in it.

One night while driving around that area, I saw that kid sitting on the curb next to the Westfalia, a couple of blocks from his house. The engine had stopped working, that's all I was told. He said he was thinking about selling it and was going to have it towed home. He told me $1800, this was in 1992 or 1993.

Now burnboy, whom had never cared about Bus's in his entire life, suddenly had to have this Westfalia after another respected musician in our area kept complimenting my Bus, and saying how much sense it made for how little gas they can use, and how much you can fit in them. Burnboy knew I had the ability and means to fix this Westfalia, but gave me this doe-eyed speech about he's always loved them, and he would fix it and take the best care of it, on and on - the wishy-washy dreamer type (like a lot of wanna-be musicians are). So I backed off, and said buy it.

Burnboy buys this museum level Westfalia, with the engine that doesn't work(?), but won't let me help him fix it, or even look at it, turn it over by hand even; only sits out in front of his parents house clam-baking the thing inside. Kind of guy who didn't want you to steal his glory by finding the problem and fixing it, even though he was entirely incapable of fixing - anything. Guy ruined more input jacks on amplifiers by stepping on his own cable, all thumbs and two left feet.

Fast forward two years, all burnboy has done is stink up the curtains inside, the engine is still an unknown, no one was allowed to look at it. His parents are making him move out, and sell this Westfalia, and now he wants $3500.

I, nor anyone else that knew burnboy and his story's, wanted anything to do with his BS, or his inflated asking price ($3500 in 1994 was steep), so that Westfalia went to SF, and that's the last I knew of it. Heard it was spotted on the streets of SF not long after burnboy sold it, lowered now, and with a $4000 price tag (can't confirm any of that).

My anticlimactic story hour is now officially over. Thanks if reading.
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"OG = Original German" -- TheSamba.com dictionary

[peecee69]

Two that got away (and two others that were in the stratosphere).

One was a factory sunroof non-walkthrough with an m-coded ambulance divider. The guy that owned it and wanted to sell it to me joked that it must have been owned by a family with a lot of rowdy kids. I think he wanted $5k for it back in 2003 or so.

Another one was a late split mostly complete Westy, completely driver condition for about $4k. I think that was in about 2006.

The other two were simply out of my price range - a '52 singlecab and a completely restored '63 Westy with the bumper mounted tent and Vacation Waterfarer fiberglass roof-mounted boat.
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1973 Standard Beetle - running maintenance thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=675712&highlight=
1966 Doublecab - Starting resto - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668518&highlight=

[BUCIOBATISTI]

[peecee69]

[Blue Baron]

[cru62]

I was at Solvang in like '05-'06 and spied my Holy Grail- A Binz. Sure it had been hit on the nose. And, I think the Bulkhead was missing... And, overall it was rough. But, it was a Binz!! I believe it was for sale for 3.5-4K with a replacement Bulkhead and maybe a front clip. And, I had the $$. It just looked like a bunch of work..... Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda, as they say.

I think Derek Greg stepped up. If so, it is in much better hands.
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"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell all my parts for what I told her I paid for them"-Jon

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[velvetgreen]

I was at a bus show in the 90's with my 65' bus and an old guy comes up to me and says" I have one of those in my garage", he leaves me his name and number. I didn't really give it much thought as I have a lot of people that confuse splits/bays and vanagons as one in the same.

Anyhow I give him a call a few weeks later to arrange to have a look. I arrive and he opens the garage door and there amongst a pile of junk, stands an original paint 1953 23 window deluxe with complete interior, seats etc.. My jaw almost fell on the floor! Anyhow to make a long story short I wasn't able to get the deal done.

Since that time the bus has made its way to California and seen some of the best in the business make it is what it is today

Here it is now

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2480085

[Alan Brase]

[67_SO42]