Blue Marley - 1973 Safare' Tin Top Camper

After 20 years of being a former Bay owner, I finally got back on the bus! Picked this Safare' Camper up a week and a half ago and was surprised on what a great shape it was in for a 40 year old vehicle!

I found a bunch of flyers, brochures, and sales options price lists. I scanned and posted here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vi...t=safare&sid=9fc5a1effb62e638d193cb453a8a9530

The story:
My first car/bus at age 16 was a Orient Blue and White '79 automatic transporter. Needless to say, there were many crazy adventures that took place over the few years I had it. Sometime back in the mid 90's, the bus engine seized up on the freeway with thick smoke billowing out the back and the engine was toasted. As a full-time student, I didn't have the money to replace the engine and our mechanic sold it for $300. The dark cloud of being one of the "people who used to have a bus and go around telling current bus owners about thier former vehicle" took hold of me.

Fast forward ~20 years... I had been looking at early and late bay windows the last few years, but never committed to actually buying one. I helped a friend look at a 79 Westy that he was buying, and I became motivated to actually get out an find one for myself. Same friend sent me a link to the advertisement for this bus for sale and I was hooked.

Same Color as the old' bus: Check!
Low Mileage: Check
No Rust: Check!
Original Custom Camper Interior, with roof rack: Bonus!!
Original Owner named it "Blue Marley". I just watched the "Marley" Documentary the night before. It must be a sign from Jah himself! It was meant to be.

After checking it out and finalizing the purchase, I drove it to my mechanic to have the engine, and transmission pulled since it was leaking very badly in all sorts of areas; plus fuel lines, dizzy, axle seals, steering box, spark plugs, wires...etc. A week and a half later, it was sealed up and ready to get back on the road.
He drives nice and smooth and I enjoy every second behind the wheel, or with a screwdriver, wrench, or rag in hand... Looking forward to many new miles ahead!

Some pics:

 

The Back Seat / Dining Table

 

I didn't remove the original funky 70's linoleum, but had to cover it up. $25 of carpet, a cut finger, and a few mess-ups, but it feels a bit fresher inside.

 

The bottom of the tables were extra crispy and the particle board was flaking off with the slightest brush of the leg or touch, so I put a few coats of lacquer to the underside to seal it back together for a few more years. View attachment 790

 

what a lovely van

 

lovely bus are you in another country ?

really nice...

 

Lovely bus. I like the blue, do you know what colour it is?

 

Thanks ken, lost-en-france and Andy! I wish my wife had the same sentiment, but since she lost her parking space in the garage it will take her some time to warm up to it. Yes, I am in Northern California, US.
I believe the color is Orient Blue http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/colorstype2.php

 

nice van - and it fits in the garage

 

That's a super looking van and in great condition. Congrats.

 

Wow, that is one cool van! I love how the seating turns into a table, so practical!

Glad you changed the floor tiles though, they were a bit too 70's

 

Absolutely stunning
Never seen that conversion before , maybe needs to go in features rides?

 

Definitely

 

Awesome how did i miss this

What a brilliantly tidy and original bus

 

Lovely bus. I wish my garage was tall enough!

 

Nice bus dude

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words!
Here's a photo from the other day of "Marley" with my friend/co-worker Nicolas's '79 Westy.




...so now that i have a had a chance to sort out the mechanical issues, I have moved on to "safety".
While replacing the worn out rear lap seat belts, I learned that sitting in the back of this bus would be extremely dangerous in the event of an accident since the seats are not well connected to the floor (a few wood screws holding it down), and the rear table would slide right out since it is not secured either.
The lap belts are only temporary to lock in my 2 child seats, but I wont let the kids ride in the car until I retrofit some reinforcements and hidden locking mechanisms for the storage compartments under the rear seats.
I hate to do anything that will change the original parts, appearance, or construction of the seats and cabinets, but if I ever want my wife and kids to ride along with me I may have to get creative...

 

As paradox said, how did I miss this?
Lovely looking bus
Hello & Welcome from The Colonial Contingent

 

Today's fortune cookie: Lavish spending may be disasterous, be careful

Oh crap. Since when have fortune cookies spelled doom and gloom? Guess ill hold off on the new curtains and other non-essential bits... Althought, it did say, "may be". That's not a high degree of certainty. Maybe I'll take my chances