Sportsmobilers Unite! FAQ

[danfromsyr]

another one spotted on craigslist.
https://frederick.craigslist.org/cto/d/frederick-1971-vw-bus-camper-reduced/6951734113.html
with a westy slider window and westy interior.

1971 VW Bus Camper

Sportsmobile camper top( straight up), westy cabinets, 1600 dual port, Empi shifter, Bluetooth AM/FM/CD with remote, dual batteries, dual fuse boxes, rear folding bed ,child cot , full upper bed, tiger skin print curtains ....comes with sportmobile roof rack, folding table and shelf, set up up for 120v hookup ..comes with electric heater . Has 12-v out let in cabin and even one in engine compartment to keep batteries charged.

Rust repaired and painted 2 years ago ....5 low mileage tires on powder coated rims , new windsheild and seal , new door seals,solid frame,

not a show car but get lots of attention and is fun to drive

pretty firm on price, will consider offers, but not low ball offers .

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[danfromsyr]

yet another sportsmobile on CL

I swear I don't even search for them, just Bays.

https://maine.craigslist.org/bar/d/gorham-1976-vw-sportmobile-for-pop-top/6940880064.html

[alman72]

kinda like the aftermarket handles on the upper bed extention

[danfromsyr]

spotted in the classifieds here.

incorrectly spelt

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2307887

sportmobil topper Price: 100.00
Have this topper that I am never going to use. I believe the price is more than fair from what others have priced theirs at. It is pick up only cash in hand. I have somewhat of a loading dock so we can slide it easily into the back of your truck. I live in Winchester, Ky. 40391

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[SnowDaySyncro]

Early Sportsmobile top blowout!
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2312933

[danfromsyr]

Yet another CL sportsmobile

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/cto/d/manson-1973-vw-camper-sportsmobile/6983070418.html

[alman72]

hey dan, neat to see pics of SMBs for sale, but unless you are trying to recruit folks to be members of the "sportsmobilers unite!FAQ", I would only post pics of survivors or rare items. Lots of crickets around here in the last year or so.
Not trying to be a old fart.....

[danfromsyr]

well my 'intent' is a bit multi folded.
1 to see other surviving sportsmobiles,
2 to bring the thread back to the top sometimes, I agree there's alot of sporty crickets..
3 not sure where else I could (if I should) post them.. they're not good deals per se

if they were wild westerners wouldn't even be a question..

maybe we should start a registry and recruit more to bettering the sub-model that are Sportsmobiles.
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[alman72]

I do appreciate your archiving of craigslist photos to the forum, and love seeing the survivors too.

[danfromsyr]

plus this one still has the original sportsmobile interior..
unlike many that are ripped out shells. or like mine converted to a westy interior.
so it allows others to see what it supposed to be there and such.
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[BIGspill84]

HELLO ALL BAYWINDOW AND SPORTS MOBILERS LIKE MYSELF! ive used the Samba for many years to gain as much knowledge I can from so many of you brilliant minds willing to share even a small taste of your years of experience and hard earned expertise with younger inexperienced DIY guys like myself that have been officially diagnosed with the ever contagious VW BUG. i hope to one day pass down the torch so the Love and Legacy of these air cooled beauties keeps cruisin'.

that said, this is my first Samba post and real comments and even criticisms are welcomed as I still have so much I need to learn.

i got VERY LUCKY early March OF 2016 and found a 71 bay Sportsmobile advertized as a riviera as they often are. I was instantly consumed by the instant LOVE I felt for this bus and was able to convince the seller to remove the ad and consider it sold. I live in Lubbock, TX and the ad was posted in YUMA, ARIZONA. so a good 15 hour drive away. (this bus has spent its entire life in the desert!) the seller took detailed photos convincing me this bus was actually and literally RUST FREE!!!

I then sold the idea to my wife that we and this Bus were meant to be together. He was asking $9K and calculated id only have 8k after Travel expenses. I HAD SOLD MY 71 TYPE 3 SQUAREBACK (Broomhilda, named for her big fat German caboose) just a couple of weeks prior.(also have a 68 cali look beetle ive maintained since 2009 that my Wife currently uses as her daily cruiser). With BIG plans to find and invest my very first type 2.

TO MY COMPLETE SURPRISE agreed on $7,500 considering my journey expenses but WITH MY CONVINCING he rested easy knowing the Bus would be well cared for and maintained by my hands only. acording to seller the 1600dp had been "rebuilt just 1 year prior by PO and had been "regularly serviced including valve adustments to .006. since" the seller convinced me that it would make the trip back to Texas. At the time relied on YOUTUBE VIDEOS to help me clarify my bently manuals which I still use every size job to eliminate any probable mistakes. I want to make sure I torque everything to spec every time.

upon previous research I had set my sights on a 71 bay camper because I had experienced in fixing common problems that occur with the upright vw motor and was able to diagnose issues "after a usually lengthy and tedious process of elimination". ihad packed 4qts of shell rotella, 3 various length fan pulley belts, spair accelerator and clutch cables, carb cleaner, pedal repair kit, wiper blades, extra set of points, spare tire and my emergency roadside vw tool kit as well as batteries to power various portable shop lights. yada yada blah blah I had faith I could and WOULD make the drive home if I stayed attentive and aware of any small changes in the Ol' Girls behavior on the road.. i knew the hills and elevation changes would be an issue if I pushed he past her limits.
With that in mind I gathered our loot and future late bill payments money and we hit the road to Yuma late morning 3/10/2016.

We had already planned to hall ass in our GTI with minimal stops in attempt to make the deal happen on 3/10 to Yuma.. we also planed to drag ass returning home to break her in nice and slow and enjoy some camping so we decided to stretch out the 15 hour drive home into 4 nice and easy 4-5hr drives with plenty of (cool down/oil top off stops) and at the same time, take in the scenery and any weird roadside attractions we might stumble upon as my Wife and I share a Love for anything and everything "Americana" the weirder the better...

we arrived just before 11:30pm in Yuma after keeping an open line of communication with the seller and ETA updates throughout the day so he stayed confident that this a a done deal so he wouldnt consider any offers to steal her from me.

I was so excited at first sight of the bus i could no longer keep a poker face for last minute negotiation possibility and was initially blind to any and all not previous noticed flaws and blemishes. cosmetically the Bus was tip top for my standards as Ive always been more attracted to vw's mechanical upkeep, capability and reliability. you know... its personality. i become more and more attracted to a cars physical blemishes signs of its age and "experience" the more a vw lacks mechanical flaws.

wow ill have to make this a "to be continued" because I keep rambling... photos of the trip coming.... as well as my building anxiety and experiences on our journey home. the good the bad and the UGLY....

TOO BE CONTINUED....

[TweedLinn]

She's a beaut, welcome to the family!
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76 Sportsmobile

[danfromsyr]

nice bus, nice interior, nice exterior and sporting some rims.
great story and looking forward to your many adventures.
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[danfromsyr]

another CL Sportsmobile
originally a automatic with Air conditioning.. tough life for a bus.
sadly there isn't any 'sportsmobile' left in the interior.


https://lansing.craigslist.org/cto/d/lansing-1973-vw-bus/7004597318.html

[Ceckert64]

Yeah, I saw that one on Craigslist to looking for busses in my area. Right now I have a 1964 beetle that I’m restoring, but I’ve started looking at busses and I’m staring to want a pop top camper. Anyways, my mom had found a VW bus near where we live. I decided to go by and look at it. Well, it looks to be a 1968-1971 Sportsmobile. I can see the one original interior rear cabinet at least from walking by. I’m thinking going up and asking about it and seeing if they’d be willing to sell it since it never moves and doesn’t look like they give it much attention. Any help on a more specific year or info on it would be great. It’s intriguing because it also looks clean and rust free. What would it reasonably be worth?

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1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Sierra Yellow Tin Top Westfalia Camper
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop

[alman72]

it looks clean because it has had a repaint. that's not a factory color. If you do check it out, take a magnet and check for body filler.

[Ceckert64]

Your right on the repaint, that happened with my beetle I’m restoring. Also, could there be more vw treasures in the garage? It looks like the bus might be outside because it can’t fit in the garage. Do you think if they would consider to sell it $750-$1000 would be good? I don’t have a ton to spend but it’s intriguing. I can see it has an engine and it looked to have a radio and the cabinet is making me think it might be fairly complete, not much to base it on though.
EDIT: alman72, are you in Midland? I’m out of Midland, I was looking through your gallery and noticed the picture with your bus was on Main Street.
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1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Sierra Yellow Tin Top Westfalia Camper
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop

[alman72]

yup. we are city neighbors. wow.
anyone with a bus has a few treasures stashed away.
if the bus starts, runs, drives and stops, I doubt you would get it for 1000
There is a big swing on what folks think their bus is worth right now, but it would not hurt to ask. he could be at 12, 000, but not sure you can get that with a non factory color. it would have to have everything gone thru to be worth that much. more likely 3-8 thou.

there are a couple on FB marketplace, one local and one grass lake for less that 3k, but both need lots of work, both tintops.

[Ceckert64]

Yeah! Do you have the Orange crush pop bottle caps Painted on your bus? If so, I think I talked to you at the antique fest or the the tridge car show. I will have to look at Facebook Marketplace. Generally I look at Craigslist but now that they are charging, not as many good deals get posted.
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1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Sierra Yellow Tin Top Westfalia Camper
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop

[alman72]

yup that's me.