White roof Buses...Option?

[type241]

I know there are some SWR/CB 23 with white roofs but has anyone seen or know if white roofs came on some Westys? There is a 59 Dove blue westy that Colome is selling with white roof. There is a SO 33 in Seattle with white roof. And my 64 Light Grey SO 34 had a white roof also. I will try to scan old pic I got from previous owner showing clearly the drip rail down being light grey while the roof is definitely white. It seems to be a Westy thing? Or even more specific, a subhatch thing as Colome's is a SO23, Seattle's is a SO33, and mine is a SO34. Here is the Seattle SO33.

Here is a link to Colome's white roof Westy.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=664540

[thom]

My '55 westy had a white roof

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1956 Single Cab
1957 Porsche 356A Sunroof
1957 23-Window Deluxe
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1963 Unimog 404
1965 E-Type

[bastardbus]

...spray paint
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Samba Member #95

[sled]

I was under the impression that a white roof was simply a special order option. Any bus of any configuration could get a white roof. Generally considered for hot climates?
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drive your split.

[bastardbus]

[sled]

youre right it would be awfully hard to prove or disprove..as there would always be the body color under the white, like the top half of a two tone bus.

There is a question about this in the barndoor photos thread in the BD section.

I dont know if this thread is relevant.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=114908&highlight=white+roof+option
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[bastardbus]

If you play detective as well, look at Thom's bus.
That is pretty solid white paint on that roof.
Compare that to the og dove blue on the sides
and doors, it is baked off down past the primer
and has been rusting for a long while, yet the white
is very solid and intact. If that white was factory it
would be in much much worse condition then the factory
dove blue on the sides of the bus that does not see
the intenstity of sun and heat the roof would have.
Things like that help prove againist the theory as well.
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Samba Member #95

[bloovw]

i have tent envy....

[type241]

I just find it to much of a coincidence that there is a handful of subhatch westy's with white roofs. Previous owner swears that the roof was never painted. There is a 2 year period from 64-66 that I do not know the history of my bus. So there is the possibility that it was painted by first owner in the first two years of existence. Will get my light grey pics up later and you can be the judge. I am hoping I can tell better once I look at subhatch and surrounding area very closely this weekend. Oh yeah my pic is from the seventies and bus shows absolutely no fading or sun cooking. Who cares what someone did with their shit ass Chevy or Ford van.

[type241]

Is there a M-code for white roof? I did not see one. I have an unidentified M-code that could possibly be it.
It would sure seem you would see all kinds of busses with white roofs if you follow Sled and Bastardbus theories. But what I have found is subhatch has the highest number of white roofs.

[sled]

I dont necessarily think you would see 'all kinds of buses' with white roofs under my theory of it being a special option. I doubt there would be THAT many folks who would order a white roof.

There are a couple very early barndoor deluxes with white roofs, and some later swr/cb deluxes that do as well. Of course they could just be painted by the owner for their preferences.

a friend of mine has a 59 dove blue kombi that he pulled out of hiding where it sat for 35 years. It has a white roof as well, of course this could have been painted by the PO.
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[type241]

Finally got it scanned in. Definitely white.

[Mowser]

I would tend to agree that it was an after thought done by owners for heat. Why so many westies with that paint scheme would make sense too as those are the buses that people were trying to stay cool in for entire camping trips. Every bit helps or at least the thought was that it did.
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[bastardbus]

[j.pickens]

If you look at any collection of vintage splitscreen bus photos, you'll see a very high percentage of white roofs on buses. Especially commercial buses.
Not sure where the white came from, but it was VERY common back in the day. I'd guess dealer and owner painted, not factory, but I have no information to prove it, other than photos of factory buses being shipped.
Do any of the factory shipment photos show white roofs? I can't recall seeing any.
Some of the very early Westies had the lower color, upper beltline color, and roof painted the lower color.
Like this:

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[bastardbus]

[Doubledoor Dave]

[bastardbus]

[Lind]

the '51 deluxe buses had a three tone paint scheme.
the westfalia painted buses had the two tone scheme with the roof being painted the same color as below the beltline.
those cases are well known and documented. the life pictures are august '51 I believe. there are many period pictures of the westfalia painted early westies, and I don't think that more than a couple hundred of them ever even existed. less than ten are known to exist today.

I have never seen anything convincing on any other buses. I have seen several buses that had their roofs painted white later in life, but the paint quality was obviously not VW factory. I would be very surprised to see anything that was VW factory paint with a white roof (other than a pearl white bus of course... )
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[Levonbenelli]

the PO of my subhatch painted the roof white.
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