The VW Camper Story by Giles Chapman

Author:Giles Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 2010-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

T2 dropside pick-up offered a flat load bay with a lockable storage unit beneath.

This rear-engined Chevrolet Corvan-based Greenbrier Sportwagon of 1961 was a notably unsuccessful Kombi imitator from the USA.

Typical 1970s domestic life in a Devon Eurovette; the bloke takes things easy while his missus gets his supper on the table (or else he’ll get upset).

Goodbye, splittie, hello, bay window

It seemed the Transporter had been through continuous evolution for its 18-year life by 1967 yet, of course, the distinctive ‘splittie’ had barely changed in overall appearance, and was by now a familiar sight in every corner of the globe with some 1.8 million made. That year, though, the face of Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles was set to change with a comprehensive revamp. The era of the Type 1 T2 was dawning.

It was a lot more than simply a major restyle, although the squared-up look that dispensed with the V-theme that shaped the visage of its predecessor was immediately obvious (and, many thought, regrettable). Overall, it was a larger vehicle. It was 20cm longer, and the increased space inside the van model was much better utilised. So was access to it, with a single sliding side door in place of twin barn doors, and an enlarged tailgate. There were even more significant changes behind the wheel. The two- piece windscreen had gone, usurped by a modern, curved, single-piece ‘bay’ item, while the side windows were larger too, giving better all-round visibility. This was some consolation for the deletion of the distinctive rooflights that had defined the old Microbus Deluxe, for in the dash to modernity these and the curved glass in the rear quarterlights had all been dropped.

The driving compartment was a much safer environment, with most surfaces now padded instead of bare metal or pointed features, and with flat, rubberfaced knobs. The steering wheel was deeply dished and fronted a collapsible steering column, and Volkswagen had been through everything carefully to reduce glare and enhance clarity. A vastly improved heating and ventilation system was hinted at by the prominent air intake on the nose section.

A new front axle and a double-jointed rear axle with constant-velocity joints were specified to provide extra comfort, better handling, and to cope with the more powerful, 47bhp 1.6-litre engine. This made it livelier and gutsier, and able to hit 70mph. Wow! Yet, despite all this, the Transporter was light for its size, the original 1967 panel van version weighing just 1,175kg.

While the changes might have dismayed Type 2 purists, who feit much of the original’s character had been sacrificed, the new range was a gift to the camper van converters. Westfalia was straight on the case.

Its extendable top design had now followed the Dormobile pattern of being hinged, but to avoid any legal dispute with the boys from Folkestone, this was either at the front, just above the windscreen, or the back, in each case lifting about two-thirds of the roof.

Closer co-operation with Volkswagen saw a Standard Westfalia-modified Kombi join the factory model line-up in the USA, where it was called the Campmobile.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.