Any Campbell, California locals?

[Who.Me?]

Hi

This is going to be a long shot, I know, but I've been trying to trace the history of my single cab, but can only get as far as the previous owner.

The truck is a 56 (57 MY) dove blue single cab. Last owner in the US was Dave from Peninsula Automotive in Campbell California. He had it for several years and thinks he bought it from a local woman (he gave me a name) whose father owned it from new. Based on that, I'm reasonably certain it was local to Campbell all its working life, prior to being shipped to Belgium by Bob at BBT, from whom I bought it.

I've tried an internet search for matching names in Campbell and found only one, who I wrote to last month, but have heard nothing back (so I'm guessing they are either not the right person, or have moved away, or don't want to help).

Some pictures below, (some are mine, some I borrowed from the interweb) in case anyone thinks they recognise it and might be able to give me some leads.

The truck was given a cosmetic refurb/restoration at some point (bondo and paint on the outside) and the bed and treasure chest were sprayed with black bed-liner. Cuts in the rear panels show that hit had later oval lights for a while and they look to have been replaced during the resto with the post-57 lights that it has now. A picture on Streetview image from 2011 suggests that it had a window-mounted passenger side mirror at the time rather than a hinge-mounted one.

Prior to the resto it had some lower nose damage and a crease on the left flank ahead of the rear wheel arch. Since the resto, it's had a whack in the backside (bent engine lid).

The last US registration number was 68884S (don't know if the registration stays with a vehicle all its life or changes with the owner in California?)

I know it's a real long shot, but I live in hope that someone might recognise it from the pictures or the description and can give me some leads?....

(credit Peninsula Automotive from their Facebook photo streams)

This one shows the rear end damage...

(Credit BBT - sales photo)

The old side damage was where the crack in the bondo is on this picture and runs back as far as the front of the rear wheel bucket...

(Credit BBT - sales photo)

(as it sits today)

Thanks

Andy

[Red Fau Veh]

I can't see why this would be hard, it shouldn't take more than a few hours before someone that knows that bus speaks up.
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[hoss]

Glad to see this truck pop up somewhere. I was wondering where it went.
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'54 Kombi | '57 356 Coupe | '57 Samba | '62 Notchback | '63 Beetle (36k Original Miles) | '66 Pigalle Sunroof Squareback | '70 Westy

[Who.Me?]

[Big Bill]

Is the name Dave from Peninsula Automotive gave you Lois Grace?? She had a SC that was her Dads that looked alot like yours.

[Who.Me?]

[Who.Me?]

Think I've managed to fill in a couple of blanks on the history of my truck.

I'd tried Googling the name that Dave at Peninsula Automotive gave me a few times and had a likely address that I wrote to, but got no reply.

I Googled the address last weekend and remembered that Streetview has a timeline slider that allows you to look at older images.

The title that I got with the truck (sale from Dave to Bob at BBT) was dated October 2008. Streetview had images for October 2007 and April 2008, so I had a look and...

So I had a closer look...

And in later images it was gone.

Shiny blue bullet-indicator truck with black bedliner outside the likely address before the date on Dave's title document. Looks like a match and looks to confirm what Dave had said about how he came by the truck.

Dave also said that the woman who sold him the truck said it had been her father's from new. Some further Google searches suggested a likely name. Still don't know for sure what he might have used it for, but what info I found online makes me think it was a personal vehicle, rather than used for a business, which might explain how it survived so intact.

Maybe oneday I'll find out some more.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Wade]

Hello,
According to the Redfin real estate site, the house at that address hasn't sold since 1996, so it's likely that whoever lives there now either knows about your bus or is renting from someone who does. I google searched on the address and came up with some phone numbers. Have you tried just calling them?

Good luck with your search!

-Greg

[BarryL]

It is simply stupendous that you got that far, even.

[Who.Me?]

[Who.Me?]

Edited to tidy up, as Everett has kindly added the Gallery links into the original post.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Clara]

A 57 truck has a VIN something like 267 548
If a travel trailer has the same VIN, maybe it could come up on the search.

If it was in Seattle in 2010, try contacting the Cascade Kombis, as the owner might be a member.

You can call the WA state DMV on the phone. They will tell you if the vehicle is in the system, but won't tell you much about it. But it could clear up confusion about if the was in WA, like if the vehicle listed with the VIN was actually for a VW truck, rather than some other make & model

WA does have a program where you can register the vehicle as a classic car. After it is registered as a classic, you do not have to pay tags again. I have not paid for tags on my 53 since the nineties. Think we registered the 56 westy as a classic before 2009.
I would hope they don't purge the records of the classic cars.

[Who.Me?]

[TomSimon]

[velvetgreen]

as I recall lois posted about her bus extensively in Old Bus Review (NEATO) might try searching old copies

[mdege]

Back in the 90ies I met an elderly man with a truck just like yours at the Foothill College electronics flea market and some time (years) later at an electronics surplus place close to Moffet Field. He was a very nice fellow and we had nice talks when we met. Could have very well been the previous owner of you truck.
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- Michael

1965 21F: Restoration of a former '65 firetruck
1963 Typ3 Notchback project
1988 Multivan Magnum 112i
1984 Standard: My son wanted a bug for his first car

[Who.Me?]

Thanks both. I made contact with Lois in 2015. She still has (or at least had) her truck then.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[velvetgreen]

Just pulled out my July/August (1990!!) copy of OBR and Lois Grace's 1959 Single Cab "Vernon". Article says she was based out of San Jose, CA

[Who.Me?]

[bobrk]

Thought this pickup looked familiar. I took some pics of it on Highway 17 in San Jose in April of 2011.

Probably not helpful now, but I thought you'd be interested...
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1959 Single Cab “Otto”

1500 single port | 1963 small nut/big brake transaxle | CSP Disc Brakes | dual circuit m/c | Deutsch Polster seats