Do you really love your VW Westfalias? How much do you love them? Do you love them enough to buy a collection of vehicles that are waiting to be restored? Come on, be brave, because there’s only 55 of them. The owner wants to get rid of his collection, but rather than advertising and selling the vehicles individually, he is selling them as one lot, and they can be yours for US$350,000. The Westfalias are located in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and are listed for sale here on Kijiji.
The owner describes the vehicles as being in good restorable condition, and while this may be true with a lot of the Westfalias, there are some that most definitely need to wear the tag “parts only.” I can see at least one that looks like it has been in a major accident, and I’m also a bit concerned about the environment that these cars are sitting in. It probably isn’t conducive to presenting cars in a rust-free state, but I’m sure that we’ve seen cars in worse environments that have been fine.
There appears to be a smattering of split-windows amongst this collection, and it would be interesting to know exactly what this collection is actually comprised of. The fact is that it really doesn’t matter what age or series a Westfalia is, they can all be worth some reasonable money. I guess that this collection represents a pretty unique opportunity. The initial outlay is pretty significant, and you would need a fair amount of space to store them if you bought them. However, if someone out there can meet those criteria and is patient enough to sell them off individually, this is an investment opportunity that could potentially turn a tidy profit.
Only $500 to view them!
Must be a lot of ’60s smoke residue in those rigs that affected the owner. $350k?
Divide $350k by 55. You get $6,363. Who in their right mind would pay that much cash for a junkyard vw bus?
Parochial marijuana comment notwithstanding, check out what restored ones are going for. This is a steal. Once restored (a long and arduous process which admittedly would be quite a challenge) this is a 7 figure collection.
Its really not…as many of the other comments mentioned, top dollar will only be achieved for the most desirable models (which is unclear from the pictures), and then those that have quality restorations (involving the right vehicles, skills, and plenty of cash per vehicle). I see no 13-window sambas, no sunroof deluxe splitties…but what is clear is a lot of exterior rust and neglect, which typically breeds the same on the inside. You’re more likely to gain a family of varmint friends, as there’s almost certainly raccoons and the like in many of these, than your USDS 350K back in 15 years or less. And this isn’t just an opinion from some Mustang guy…I’ve lived and breathed air-cooled VWs for 30 years now.
Not a snowball’s chance in heck of making money out of this collectively. Each westie would on average have 2000hours of labour, (read $100,000) plus $20,000+ of bits… so …er… lemme see…. duh. Kombis are immensely labour and tin-bits complex to bring back from the “forest-find” state that these are in. …X 55 units… Anyone got a spare $10mil to burn?… and a shed to do it in? And 20 skilled staff to do it? RROFWLOL.
With what you see these going for today, you’d think this was the find of the century. Best of luck for seller trying to cash in on the VW bus baloney. Better do it now before the bottom falls out on these,,and rest assured, it will.
HoA..Spot on as always..Seller is, respectfully out of his mind. At roughly six grand a piece……..thats too much money for most of these to begin with. And for $500.00 a pop just to look, I think the seller will watch these return to the earth. At least I hope so.
But hey…Craigslist ads are free and so is Kiiji..I think
I love VW buses, but this guy isn’t here for to let enthusiasts finally lay their hands their dream car – this is solely for the $, seemingly having scooped up any bus within reach.Now he realizes the sheet metal used by VW wasn’t made to last forever ,as I believe these buses’ bottoms soon are literally falling out due to the less-than-ideal Ontario storage!
That’s a huge outlay for potentially tuning a profit (after a lot of labor, materials, etc.)
Maybe if it included the land they’re sitting on….
I’m hopeful that it’s $350,000CDN, which works out to $4,836.36USD per unit. Which is still way too much.
Canadian weed must be pretty potent.
$350k USD, according to the ad, so $6363.63USD per vehicle!
Where would you start? They all look like they are laying on the ground and have been there for a long time. Like Howard said, you could make some serious coin with the price bubble going thru, and yessir it will break eventually. But, if you could find enough of a market for these and blow some out at a market (!) Price you could make some serious coin. Then you have to get them across the border. Lots to think about here. Good luck to the brave folks that take this on!!
Cheers
GPC
I don’t get it. Last year I bought a nearly rust free bus for $3000 (this photo was taken the day I got it). I got it running, fixed several things and sold it for 5K. While it’s not a Westphalia, I can’t believe my selling price was that far off the mark.
Bolstered by the #vanlife craze, Westies definitely do fetch more than your average multi-passenger bus. Is someone has to convert it for living/camping they’re more likely to grab a modern Sprinter or “short bus” from a government auction.
And for every $80K splitty resto that impresses with its sale price there’s a project sitting in someone’s driveway, or running but average model, that can’t even fetch a minimum price.
And as you walk the rows, a faint, tinny sound is heard; suddenly you’re at the hub of them all and you realize that the Wolfsburg Philharmonic Orchestra is about to climax for “Flight of the Valkyries”..!
I cannot understand why people like these hunks of flaccidity.
Hey! I resemble that remark.
Resent
350K?! For rusty junkbuckets?! You’re killing me.
Spot on!
Nice to see that the US has holds no exclusive license for lunatic junk hoarders with bad grammar.
“IF YOUR FLYING IN FROM OVERSEAS PLEASE BE PREPARED TO STAY IN HOTEL UNTIL FUNDS CLEAR MY BANK”
If “your” going to issue threats in “you’re” ads, at least learn to spell.
“If “you’re” going to issue threats in “your” ads, at least learn to spell.”
There I fixed that grammar mistake for you.
You’re welcome.
Actually, you didn’t, but carry on regardless-
Did not realize flying in from the U.S. was a overseas flight! $350K! YIKES! Plus the problems of importing the rust buckets to the U.S. and adding transportation cost! Will “El Paso!”
$500 just to look at them. Really? If I am going to pay $500 to check them out, I will knock on his door at 5am and leave just after dark just to get my viewing money’s worth. The seller isn’t going to get a quick payday from me to hang out on his property for a couple of hours. I’ll even act a little suspicious so he has to waste his day keeping an eye on me. No way is he getting $350k for this.
Dumping this many of them on the market at once will hasten the downturn that is inevitable with these things.
I think I’d rather have a really nice 60’s corvette Resto and a GT 500 Mustang from Barrett Jackson. Maybe a house with a pool and a barn!! $350,000 for VW buses give me some of what there on!!!
The definition of insanity is….not believing that the owner of this horde is gonna make themselves some strong pocket money just shortly.
This guy is in cuckoo land.
Mostly “low-lights”, definitely not my cup of tea. I’ll take a strong 2000cc T4 over an “uprated” T1 any day. And I’d be concerned about some of the rooflines where the rain gutter sits, as thats one place field finds can rot out, almost to the point that the main roof piece can become separate from the rest of the vehicle.
I’m so proud of these I let them sit in a mudhole.
The Seller is insulting and the prices are absurd. No one should go near this.
OH, good. There is no rust in Canada….they should all be on the road in weeks
I’m half hour away, but not going to pay 500 bucks to this whack job to take a peak….and here I thought all you Yanks were the nutty ones. I have now been humbled….they live in my own backyard….ha…
I agree that the interesting thing is I saw no 21 or 23 window jobs. I am sure that these restored would be worth it, but how many can you build from the 55, not all as some will be parts cars. There is a certain mysteque around these things. My first car was a 61 bug. It barely got out of its own way. These had the aerodynamics of a milk carton and heavier than my gutless bug. And quite frankly who like the sound of a VW…?
I would not want one loaded with food and camping equipment and try going over the continental divide from my home in Boulder to get to the less visited camp sites. Wow record number of comments so far!
Wait, WHAT?! Did you seriously just ask who likes the sound of a VW? OMG, that’s one of the BEST things about the goofy things! I miss the crap out of my old ’71 SuperBeetle.
I did just that in 1978. Took a 67 Campmobile all around the USA that summer, including a Sunday spent driving from Grand Junction to Limon. The only way to travel!
ASre they mainly RHD?
If I wanted something to drain pasta i would go buy a colinder sieve
The greater community of car enthusiasts needs to stop calling every lot of cars that are complete POS level crap “collections”. This and like every other field of cars sitting in mud with grass and trees growing around and through them in NOT a collection. Its a hoarder. The type of car is irrelevant. These people are hoarders no different than the cat lady or the old woman who hasn’t taken out the trash in 40 years or the guy in my neighborhood who drives Ford Festiva’s till they are so full he can’t get inside, parks it and buys another. No, really, this is a thing, he is on #3 since I’ve lived in Lawrence.
What I want to know about ALL these people is, what the hell did they/do they do for a living to have this much expendable cash to just throw it away in this manner? I often wonder if their families went without because of dad’s car hoarding problem.
These people aren’t running salvage yards or repair/service/restoration shops. They hoard. This is a mental illness, lets not kid ourselves.
Call them hoarders not collectors.
I didn’t know we had mountains in Markham,Ontario?
Either did I. WT??? I know we have hills but no mountains. It sure looks like a mountain in that first pic.
Titles? I don’t see any mention of titles. If one was foolhardy enough to think this was a deal, would a lack of title prevent it’s import to the US? In some states, [Maryland being one] no title, no luck…
My VW junkyard was 10 miles from this guy and I did not know about it?
I question the validity of the ad’s claims.
It is either a joke or a scam.
And yes, cannabis has been legal here in Canada since October!
Brad
Brad’s Bugs