In 1966 my father in law purchased a 1964 Devon split screen camper, in pristine condition, and allowed me to drive it home.....I found it quite daunting...the biggest vehicle I had driven apart from a Land Rover . Sadly this bus lived outdoors all its life, and eventually went to the scrapyard in about 1980. We had a whole lot of fun in that bus, and it gave me the idea to buy my bus. Tony
Bought our first VW , a T25 about 18 years ago. Picked it up from Wakefield and drive down to Vanfest the very next day. Hoping all the way that we hadn’t bought a nail that would pack up on the M5 . it was fab and was first of eight owned so far. Tho been a variety of T2,T3and T4’s
The test drive of our camper in January 2017 It's the first time I'd driven a T2, although I'd owned a beetle for years. My wife spent her childhood in camper vans and was hankering to own one. She was very specific that it was to be a Devon Moonraker double top, having lived in several different conversions. We had been searching for a decent example for a few months and finally found one that seemed to fit the bill My second drive in one was on the way home, with a big grin on my face!
Well she’s not had a T5 up to now afaik so I’ll settle for T4 . For us, at this time a Bay would be a hobby vehicle and I don’t have the time to put into it right now. I would have one again possibly
Dad had a 69 super beetle in the early seventies. I was a kid.. With the ragtop sunroof that leaked. Dad hated it . Didn’t have it long ,,,But a few guys used to have some in high school in New York. We used to smoke weed in one in the school parking lot between classes.. I remember it was cool but always breaking down and just a general piece of junk. My opinion has not changed.
Bought it off eBay with 5 days MOT left in 2010. With 5 litres of petrol in it, first drive (of any T2 ever. ) was as the owner, drove it off the hard standing at the vendors house. It was only on the 1 in 10 hill descent after a couple of hundred yards, a T junction with a busy A road at the bottom of the hill that I discovered the brakes were not there, the handbrake handle came out miles. And I was then freaked by the cab bed bars smashing around under the back seat behind me. Drove it to the filling station a mile away . Starter motor did nothing then clicked several times before catching after fill up . But it started. Had trouble finding gears kept stopping to tweak the gearstick base. Second gear was a bit elusive, first was hard to find. So there were some slight hill starts screaming it in third. Made it 120 miles to Southampton. Later the brakes, ignition switch, starter motor and gearbox were replaced. The start of 10 years of pleasure. Being able to cruise country lanes looking over hedges...
I test drove a couple of Bays but I don't remember them. Ended up buying a hand painted 72 crossdresser from Brighton and drove it back to Birmingham. The gear selection was like stirring porridge and the PO seemed to smoke A LOT (I did find enough gear to have a few sessions myself when cleaning the camper). I stopped at some services on the M25 and I think at every services to get some fresh air - I'm sure I was under the influence The motorway bits were fine, I stuck to about 55, it as the short bit when I got off the M42 at this end, traffic was busy and so I learnt to get the bite and first and second really well. That was back in 1998.
I was working about 50 miles north of Aberdeen in 1980 bought a camper drove it home to Blackpool, it was terrible to drive and rotten in all the usual places. I took it to the local body shop, 6 months later he hadn't started on repairing just stripped it. He gave me an estimate to repair, I decided not to bother so he kept the camper in lieu of the minor work done. One month later, he'd fixed it and sold it for less than he'd quoted me, and bragged that he had made a mint on it.
actually on reflection I like them for different reasons. T4’s for ease of driving relatively quickly on long journeys and good equipment, no rust. T2 general loveliness and pleasing to look at T3 a mixture of the above
1994 ish. I lived in a rented house. Most definitely the towns er “party house”. The boyfriend of a girl who also rented a room there had an orange tin top. In those days we didn’t worry too much about silly things like insurance, so I ended up driving it around a bit. Happy memories of going to Yarmouth raving in it, getting stuck in traffic on the way home, crawling along with the slider open for ventilation. I vaguely think we made an old couple behind us in the traffic queue a brew at one point. then another mate had a couple which I hung out in but never drove, that would have been 96ish. wanted one ever since, unfortunately the money I had put by a few years ago had to be used for other stuff, so I’m saving again. I’m 48 now and I’ve promised myself a 50th birthday present. actually never considered hiring one to take to a show weekend, but that’s a great idea. Might turn up a techenders next year in a rental. You never know.
It’s rare to hear “happy memories” and Yarmouth in the same sentence.. Although I suspect the raving bit included consumables that would make it somewhat more enjoyable...
Now I think harder, in 82, the last time I worked there, I used to raz about in an almost new 2l panel van owned by the farm I worked on every year. It went like the clappers. Last year of production. Previous to that a mate's mother had an orange and white tin top we borrowed occasionally but I didn't drive it. He rolled it into a hedge, by the time it went past the tipping point we'd almost stopped. We pushed it upright and carried on. Late 70's it must have been almost new.
I nearly bought one in the 80's. A type 2. Took it from this garage for a test drive and couldn't work out why it was so slow. About a mile down the road I discovered I'd left the hand brake on. It was the smell.
Remember it like it was yesterday Tiffany’s Rosies The long bar The winter gardens plus a few interesting parties in places like lowerstoft warehouses
