Introduction
Back in 2007, like many people, I had the romantic idea of getting a Type 2 VW Bay window camper van for myself and my family to have holidays in. We bought what we thought was a good early bay van (“Jaffa”), made in 1973. As is often the case with these old vans, there were many horrors hidden under the surface that needed “attention”. This is the story of how it became part of the family…
Buying the van
After searching for months and putting offers on many vans (and losing out), we realised that if we were ever going to get the van, we would have to be quick. We were buying one of these vans at the time when they were just starting to become really popular. So, often a van would only be on the market a day or two.
Eventually, we found one for sale for about the right price that was only an hour drive away, so we decided to take a look.
These are the pictures from the original advert:
We knew the interior was a bit rubbish but we also knew we were planning to replace that anyway. The engine and bodywork looked clean and it started and ran well.
It was registered in 1973 but was actually manufactured in 1972 so was the same age as me! This age of van is only the first year after the crossover between the split screen and the bay window – the high indicators give this away. As standard it has a 1600cc aircooled engine. For some reason the seller had fitted a limo “fin” to the front part of the roof. This was pretty quirky and initially we liked this.
If you have ever driven one of these vans then you will know what I mean when I say it drives like a ‘bed’. It has a very floaty feel and once it is going is pretty easy to drive (it has no power steering). The brakes are weak and the engine is underpowered (as standard) but we knew all that before buying.
We knocked the seller down a few pounds and a week or so later collected the van and drove it home.
