New production Split-Bus body seen at MAM Funfest this weekend

[Douglas Denlinger]

[ryans65]

I don't think the new bus shell fits in the existing market but rather its going to create a new market, one where the customer has always wanted a bus but has zero interest in going through the restoration process whether it be on his/ her own or paying someone else to do it. Lets face it, nobody on this forum is going to buy one lol... not to say they aren't cool or anything but there are threads about correct styles of hose clamps for christ sake.

[peecee69]

[thom]

[ryans65]

yes! HA!

[Who.Me?]

With a couple of scrap parts that can be traced back to a single vehicle it would be perfectly legal to build and register one of those in the UK as a rebuilt vehicle, with an original registration...

[Lind]

I love it. More split buses on the road makes me smile. Anything that lowers the prices of split buses is nice. That said, I really don't see how these can be finished to a decent standard for under $100K. Sure, the price of admission is low, but these will need everything except rust repair.

Does anyone know where there is a 15'X6'X6' vat of primer so we can seal up all the hidden areas like they did originally?


I do like how some people worry about the value of their buses. I don't care about their value, just how much the next one will cost me.
_________________
.
Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
.

[thom]

[otis64]

I have been restoring my SC for the past year, in the cold, in the heat and in every other element the earth can throw down. the time/bond, that I've endured with this god forsaking machine! is what makes these tubs live man! I have shed blood, burnt skin and have FREAKING cursed at this rod countless times, but I wouldn't trade any of that for any FAKE!…. Whew! I need to lay off the coffee. Anyway, back to welding. Keep it real folks! Keep it GERMAN!

[Braukuche]

It's pretty obvious it is aimed at VIN swapping.
Think of what you are getting for $15k: a shell.
You are not getting glass, front beam, brakes, transmission, seats, all of the little bits and pieces of crap that simply cannot be bought off the shelf...to build one of these you have to have a donor to pirate parts off of.
So you buy a roached 21 and swap over all the running gear and little shitty bits you need, plus of course the VIN plates , cut out the the stamped section and weld it it, an viola you register it as a 66 21 window.
Or for less buy any number of roached panels or single cabs or standards.
Those fake speedsters you see everywhere, there's a reason why even the tube frame ones use a small piece of a bug tunnel.
$15k is a screaming deal if you think about it, a roached bus can often need half that in metal and that's not factoring in labor.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[KWZ]

People have been doing VIN grafts onto new bodies with popular American cars for years. Check out these 55-57 Chevy bodies. Same concept:

https://www.danchuk.com/9e52a2cb-2831-44eb-9c09-1f89ce6350cb

And frankly, repro bodies are like fake tits. If you can touch them, they’re real. But I would rather go home to an original.
_________________
'57 sunroof Standard
'63 15 window
'65 Westy SO44

[hitest]

I see them as a great opportunity for a customizer to go nuts. Great for the builder and great for the purists who bite a guy's head off for backdating to bullets.

At least more of the rusted, yet titled POSes out there will drop out of the classifieds and whine thread and perhaps actually see the road again- in the form of a born again 'completeable' bus.
_________________

[gitchesum]

[tisius]

The day has come
After the "fiberglass bus" https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...ss+replica
and with the prices for genuine 21/23 deluxe busses through the (sun )roof, and many "deluxe replica options" on the market already (some good, and some not so decent), this was in the line of expectations.

It looks like so far there are only prototypes? So I guess we'll have to wait for a fully finished product to judge on the level of quality.
But so far I think it's pretty creative that they have managed to produce a full replica body of a 21 window deluxe. Although I wonder whether there is a big market for full replica bodies, with the Brazilian busses as a relatively cheap alternative to the original German busses already.
I also think that the whole investor's perspective should not be the main reason to get an old Volkswagen... you should enjoy it in the first place, and if it goes up in value, well then that's a nice side effect. The other way around doesn't do it for me.
_________________
drive it like you just robbed the bank
you don't have to be crazy to be into VW's, but it sure helps!!
.... if it ain't dutch, it ain't much!

[Abscate]

You will have to have a VIN to get this on the road, otherwise its a 2019 model and you have to pass safety and emissions for 2019

Not happening.

In my state, possession of a separate VIN plate is a crime.
_________________
.ssS!

[Braukuche]

[Braukuche]

[gitchesum]

I'm seeing prices of $15K for the body with doors. Also read somewhere the possibility of SC's and DC's.

Or you could just get the Gerson model.

_________________
Looking for SP Kadron manifolds...please !!



57 SC
61 rag w/356B brakes
61 356B
Honda XLR 250, 69 Z50, Yamaha 100 Enduro...and others.
GMC SLT 4x4 Dmax
Kubota L3710, not enuf attachments.
And various VW's that come and go...

[mandraks]

[mandraks]