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LazyLightning75 Samba Member
Joined: August 02, 2016 Posts: 115 Location: Carmichael, CA
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 7:01 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I see 3-4 busses is my neighborhood on a regular basis, but the highest density I saw recently was on a trip to Encinitas/San Diego. Must be the land of busses down there. However, I’m not sure CA is reflective of the rest of the nation. I also met a guy not to long ago that had three busses ready to ship over seas.
There’s a guy (other beach) on the Split Bus forum that tracks bus prices, including Bays. Kinda interesting to look at the numbers. That being said, Bay prices are all over the board with some crazy stuff being listed for crazy high prices. It’s entertaining. _________________ 1975 Riviera 1.8L FI |
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mtcamper Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2010 Posts: 255 Location: Montana
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2018 7:54 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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1979 Mexico beige P27 here. Still camping all around the region. Still fuel injected...
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airschooled Air-Schooled
Joined: April 04, 2012 Posts: 12688 Location: on a bike ride somewhere
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:57 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I have worked with 14 bus owners this month, and here is the breakdown:
(1969 - that’s me!)
1970 - 1 Westy, 1 double cab
1972 - 1 station wagon, 3 Westies.
1973 - 1 Sportsmobile/Westy hybrid
1974 - 1 Safare Camper
1975 - 1 Riviera
1977 - 1 Riviera, 2 Westies
1979 - 1 station wagon, 1 Westy
Of the six applicable models, five of them still had the original fuel injection systems. Both ‘79s had the original and correct exhausts. (One CA, one Federal.)
There were a few Type 1s and Type 3s in there, but the bus statistics from my current tour show an overwhelming number of campers. BUT this isn’t a survey of who has a driving bus; it’s more of a sampling of buses whose owners still take them on enough long road trips to warrant learning more about them.
My Spring tour this year showed similar stats, with only two station wagons and one panel van between 23 buses and a handful of other types. (Thats 20 campers if y’all on the west coast are still waking up and don’t wanna subtract.)
Whoever said that most VW owners are not on this site is spot on. MAYBE five of the owners I’ve worked with this year are active members. Colin and I had a chat a few campfires ago, where we talked about The Samba being like a hospital for sick Volkswagens. If a classic car observer were to base reliability of these cars by the threads on here, you’d wonder how ANY of them are still on the road.
Robbie _________________ Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com |
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LazyLightning75 Samba Member
Joined: August 02, 2016 Posts: 115 Location: Carmichael, CA
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:58 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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Yes, still waking up - thanks for doing the math. I wonder how many random busses you’ve seen just traveling around the country on your road trip? We just did a week long road trip from Sacramento to the Redwoods and I counted two busses along the way (both campers). Back in the early 90’s Humboldt County was loaded with Bays. Lots of Dead Heads, students, and canna”bus” farmers up there driving busses. Seems like the Outback is the vehicle of choice now for this crowd. It was also interesting to see all the Mercedes Sprinters (campers) that were on the road. Some are pretty bad ass and modified for outdoor travels. They may be filling the niche now (if you have the dough) that was once occupied by the Westfalias, Rivieras, etc.
Anyhow, it’s good to see all the VW busses still on the road and I do enjoy a good road trip thread where everything goes well. _________________ 1975 Riviera 1.8L FI |
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wcfvw69 Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004 Posts: 13382 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 11:50 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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asiab3 wrote: |
If a classic car observer were to base reliability of these cars by the threads on here, you’d wonder how ANY of them are still on the road.
Robbie |
This is spot on. Most people on this site, especially new classic VW owners reading these threads have to believe these old VW's are horrifically un-reliable. I chuckle when I read the threads about people being afraid to drive their air cooled VW any distances.
The truth is these old classic VW's can be very reliable ONCE it's been gone through mechanically with good parts. Of course the tech needs to know how to work on these VW's too. Avoiding the cheap, Chinese parts while overhauling the VW is a must as well.
You, Colin and many of the other bus drivers who put lots of miles on their VW each year provide an example of the reliability. Of course, you guys have had some mechanical hiccups on yalls road trips though most were self inflicted.
My son and I did a 500 mile road trip a couple of months ago in my 1970 bus. I'd gone through this buses mechanical systems. The bus ran flawlessly the way all classic VW's can once they are mechanically sorted out. _________________ Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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bigbore Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2003 Posts: 3296 Location: Wasilla Alaska
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 12:47 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I have been doing something similar to Rob and Colin driving around Alaska this year working on vw's and it has kept me bizzy between trany work and being on the road in my old air cooler vanagon or my 71 westy of which Iam building a fresh engine for right now. Iam working on a tour of the lower 48 soon in my 70 westy and I will have my trany tools with me. _________________ where its cold and snowy |
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thewilly789 Samba Member
Joined: June 09, 2015 Posts: 7 Location: Winnipeg,Canada
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 2:13 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I have an orginal 1978 Westfalia up here in Canada-Manitoba.Has everything orginal on it -FI all there.Needs a paint job but has only 69k orginal miles-(109km). Will be selling it here next yr after i go over everything.Has underbody surface rust but nothing major.Orginal canvas with no holes.Wondering what these units may be really worth.For the 20+ yrs i have owned it -summer vehicle only for camping.-garaged over winter always. |
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Our79Westy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2012 Posts: 97 Location: Bronson, FL
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 4:53 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I am glad to hear more people chiming in and helping understand the dynamics of bay window ownership aND use...
according to that article here's a breakdown per zip code of long island...
does anyone know how to get this data for other states? I emailed the author of the article to see if there's a breakdown by year of the vw bus...
so, I guess the moral of the story is that there are fewer and fewer buses on the road each year, soo enjoy the time we have with such awesome machines...
here's a few I saw online in 2018, gives an idea on what's selling or not, plus you might see them on the road somewhere.
drive safe! _________________ 1979 Westfalia DELUXE 2.0 FI manual
Mexican beigeutiful and mostly original.
See the most up to date status of Constance on YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvO1ZedS22IepvvRYaTxiPQ
My 1979 Westfalia Campmobile's sundry Tales of Constance
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620965
1990 Vanagon, Red, Driven 70,000 miles till sold. |
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78BusGA Samba Member
Joined: February 01, 2017 Posts: 315 Location: Buford, Georgia
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 3:09 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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In the Buford Georgia area, I have my '78 that needs work still, plus I know of what I understand to be a late 80's Brazilian with the old window style and the new bay front+tail lights.
Family keeps saying that see 2 others semi regularly here too. _________________ Few will understand the passion and majesty, among the nuts and grease.
Tom H.
My '74 Super 1303 thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764902&start=60
My '78 Kombi Bus thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=769385&highlight=
'72 Superbeetle (retired), '78 Bus Kombi 2.0FI, '74 1303 Superbeetle |
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babysnakes Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2008 Posts: 7104
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:39 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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During the "No Dough" weekend in the spring (VW show) there might be 60 Baywindows attending on Sunday. On Saturday during the Southeastern Baywindow Rally we have about 40 bay windows attend. Many of these travel over a hundred miles, though there are 3-4 trailer queens.
I myself have a '69 single cab, '72 station wagon, and a '78 Westy. |
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bigbore Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2003 Posts: 3296 Location: Wasilla Alaska
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:10 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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Iam mostly the only bay running around here for about 100 miles on a daily
basis. I see two or three all summer on the road and that's over the entire state of Alaska. I cant hide in a parking lot Iam the only one. _________________ where its cold and snowy |
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Our79Westy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2012 Posts: 97 Location: Bronson, FL
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 10:28 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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it's great to see people chime in that are enjoying their rides. looking back through the pictures of the car shows I've been to, (which I just updated with pics from 2013) there has been decline in camper show goers...
the reporter I emailed said he would check on Monday to see if he can identify the years of the 39 volkswagen campers registered in Long Island...
I think it will be interesting to compare with rat wells import numbers . again, this would be just a rough estimate...that we can adjust for state population and extrapolate nationwide...
btw, love everyone's pictures! _________________ 1979 Westfalia DELUXE 2.0 FI manual
Mexican beigeutiful and mostly original.
See the most up to date status of Constance on YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvO1ZedS22IepvvRYaTxiPQ
My 1979 Westfalia Campmobile's sundry Tales of Constance
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620965
1990 Vanagon, Red, Driven 70,000 miles till sold. |
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babysnakes Samba Member
Joined: August 19, 2008 Posts: 7104
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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There 31 here if I counted right, a bit more than a dozen behind me.
This was the SBR gathering last Nov. @ Florida BugJam. |
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Our79Westy Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2012 Posts: 97 Location: Bronson, FL
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:15 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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awesome pictures!
one of the reasons I started this thread was because of a question a gas station fillup admirer posed...after the typical, how long have you had it, where'd you get it, where do you get it fixed and how much can they get one for? the stickershock caused one to ask how many there are...I didn't know and I always direct them to this website anyway...so now they can see the answer for themselves...if I can't remember......
fyi, i heard back from my source (aka the author) and unfortunately our vehicles are so old that no further data was available. ..I did get the info for 1981 through 91 though...if anyone's interested. ..
as stated by the member above, using a 1 percent estimate of the 102492 fuel injected type 2s imported... 1025 ish, should still be around...
and in 1979 with only 11762 imported, 118 ish, should still be around...divided by 50 is 2.5ish per state...like I estimated above.
morale of the story? my bus is roughly 1 in a hundred...that gives me a new perspective on the value of my efforts to restorbish, (restore + refurbish) it...
how about you?
here are a few websites and articles I found that capture registration data for our UK members and 2018 nAda value for a 1979 camp mobile (westfalia).
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/29/ne.../30821191/
http://automotivemileposts.com/garage/v1n7.html
https://www.motor1.com/features/226251/vintage-vw-microbuses-get-expensive/
cherish your rarity I know I will continue to for as long as possible...there's just nothing like driving a 79 camper...fully loaded...in the mountains...(pick at least one)...
picture taken on skyline drive, virginia, usa, august 2018 _________________ 1979 Westfalia DELUXE 2.0 FI manual
Mexican beigeutiful and mostly original.
See the most up to date status of Constance on YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCvO1ZedS22IepvvRYaTxiPQ
My 1979 Westfalia Campmobile's sundry Tales of Constance
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620965
1990 Vanagon, Red, Driven 70,000 miles till sold. |
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notchboy Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2002 Posts: 22416 Location: Escondido CA
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 10:56 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I think there is considerably more out there than realized. Both running and not. It is very true that bombed out non-runners are making their way to Europe. Ive sold several that way starting as far back as 2009. Splits of corse but did sell two bombed out early bays out of Seattle that went to the UK. Must of been 2011?
Cars still come this way too. I just bought a 64 notch and all them trailers from Mainland Europe.
Link
_________________
t3kg wrote: |
OK, this thread is over. You win. |
Jason "notchboy" Weigel
1964 1500 S
1964 T34 S Convertible
1977 Westfalia Camper pop-top |
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jtauxe Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 5778 Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:22 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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Another data point, FWIW:
In our County of pop 18,000, I know of about 12 bay window buses. About 1/2 of these are up and running.
For my part, I have gone through about 18 Type 2s, and of those, I would expect that 15 are still-running bay window buses, but most are scattered to the four winds. I know that 4 of them ended up in UK or Germany.
I don't think there is any good information on how many are left in the US, much less in the rest of the world. _________________ John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 11:23 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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I still think 1% is a low estimate, but even if your Bus is 1 in 500, and 10 in your state, its worth taking care!!
..and I can't justify my 5% with anything more than SWAG.. _________________ .ssS! |
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Marleybus Samba Member
Joined: January 05, 2013 Posts: 314 Location: Oro Station, Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:16 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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Up here in Canada, I would think that the percentage is closer to the 1% value. When these buses were bought I would think more than 3/4 were used as daily drivers and 1/4 were used as summer vehicles. The 3/4 were subject to our salt and winter driving conditions.
My son just picked up a 78 Westy that was field parked for 20 years. It has extensive rust and will take a year to get back on the road.
We have not discussed accidents, I would envision that these were just as susceptible to taking buses off the road as rust and deterioration.
In my city and county of approximately 200K there are approximately 13 bay buses that I know of. 8 on the road. All Westys. _________________ 1972 VW Westy (Hit by dumptruck)
1963 VW Beetle (RIP)
1974 VW Beetle (RIP)
1981 Vanagon Westfalia (Sold)
1969 VW Beetle Convertible (Wifes)
1977 VW Westy 2.0L FI Chrome Yellow
1978 VW Westy 2.0L FI (Under Restoration)
1973 VW Westy 1.7L Tourist Delivery Orange
Check out my thread!!http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=556709 |
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aerosurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 25, 2012 Posts: 1602 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:55 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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wcfvw69 wrote: |
I'm honestly shocked how I never see cars made in the 70's/80's on the road anymore. They've vanished to the big smelter in the sky. |
About the only regular 80s car I ever see any more are 3 and 5 series BMWs. All over the country where I have lived and fly to, Its not unusual to spot an e30 323/325 or e28 528/535. Even the e24 6 Series is more common than their numbers should be. For the same reasons as VW, they are fun to drive, iconic looking and can be very reliable. Although there are still probably enough German shops that are familiar with later model BMWs, for those few not doing their own work.
Other than the M cars and grey market ones, they really are on the road cause they want to be, not cause they have to be _________________ Rebuild your own FI Harness..My Harness
77 Westy 2.0L Rockin and Rolling Resto!
72 Sportsmobile (sold)
79 Tran$porter... Parts car money machine (gone) |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2018 6:45 am Post subject: Re: How many are still around the United States? |
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On the stats - one note - the skew on per-state survivors is probably easily 10x or even more, in the case of CA.
Thus - if 400k Bays were shipped to the US, and 4000 survive, estimating that there are 80 per state is probably way off for CA - by 10x, 20x? _________________ .ssS! |
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