When will/what will become the ultimate latebay?

The thread on the barndoor split that was rescued from the woods has got me thinking, will a baywindow ever become as desirable as a split? not in the near future i'm sure, but do you think it will ever happen in your lifetime? i guess the ultimate split is a samba? i'm no expert but these seem to be the ones i hear so much about (unless it's a trend) but that isn't what i'm asking anyway so that's not relevant, but at 60 years old in some cases, splits are obviously rarer than bays, At the moment bays are still in plentiful supply in decent condition so they aren't in immediate danger of becoming rare like splits yet (for rare i mean supply versus demand) however as we already know bay prices are overinflated already due to the amount of people that want "in" on the scene, so what bay do you think will become the ultimate bay to own in say 30 years time?

 

I dont know what will become the most desirable but i think the panel van will become one of the rearest due to so many people picking up cheap then converting into campers i know i came so close to putting windows in myself and know few people who have

 

I agree with dubmonkie, it will probably be a straight panel van. However, there is also the Silver Fish and Landmark to consider.

 

as much as i love my panel van and what i have done to it i do wonder in a few years if i will regret modifying it but till that time i will enjoy it

 

I agree - the commercials and panel vans will become the rarest unmodified.

An unmodified split is a pretty compromised vehicle on todays roads in terms of performance, bit like many of the cars of that era. Even the campers rarely run stock as lets face it stock suspension and engine, leave alone steering and brakes are not up to daily or long distance use (when I was growing up everyone knew the real surfers drove Merc Sprinters and Type 4's if they wanted to actually get to the beach). Of course, there will be people that will argue and/or prove me wrong - but I would think they fall into the sheer bloody minded enthusiast club.

Late bays, like cars of their era, are still useable - bit of an issue on fuel consumption and reliability - but for the most part you can happily daily drive one. I dont think they are that viable as workvans for daily use - most of the companies I've seen use them for promo first, work hack second, hence why many panel vans are converted.

In nearly all older vans - the campers survive in the most numerous numbers, commercials being by far the rarest and perhaps the most interesting.

In camper terms, the most desirable I would think would be the most useful or rarest. If its a rare edition, I would imagine its desirability rests solely in its originality (i.e. if it has things that make it rare, then it would need to retain these things surely?)

In which case - maybe its the low volume campers that tick the box most in being still useful and rare - so one of those?

 

the panel van will be the rare thing to have , as said above too many have been butchered to make campers

 

Late bay's are mostly all the same. You may lack commercials and panel van's in the UK, but places like Italy and Greece, there's quite a few still being used daily, in fact i've seen more of them on the road than campers and buses.

The rarest might be the Champagne edition, the Swiss army bus, and maybe some of those rarer UK camper conversions like the Viking, but nothing will ever come close to a Barndoor Samba, not even early bays, ever.

 

judging by other rare classics, RHD or LHD never made much, if any difference in value, as long as they are in the original position.

 

Champagne microbus will be the ultimate latebay 23 window samba.

 

I think it will go on the oldest late bay meaning 1979. Oh hang on thats the age of ours

 

i personally dont ever see there being an ultimate bay

 

The most extraordinary find in lets say,,,,25-40 years from now, in good no rust working order, must without a doubt be,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,











A Brazilian made in 2005 ;D

 

anything that hasn't been bastardised in any way, or had a hole cut in its roof. Tintops are becoming rarer, yet still people buy them and put fecking holes in them for sunroofs or upturned fibre glass boatesque poptops

I guess the ultimate would be a factory fit panel, crew/single cab or microbus. LHD as VW intended with original factory paint.