There are a lot of different vehicle listings that fly trough the transom here at Barn Finds but this is the first VW Vanagon that I have encountered. Specifically, this is a 1980 Westphalia camper edition with a pop-top. Located in Lubbock, Texas, this VW is available here on eBay for a current bid of $3,850, 41 bids tendered so far.
This version of the VW camper, technically known as a “VW Vanagon Westfalia Camper” is referred to officially as a Type 2 (T3) and was manufactured between 1979 and 2002. Westfalia is a reference to the contractor firm, Westfalia Werke, that performed the camper modifications to the Vanagon. Westfalia was briefly owned by the former Daimler-Chrysler but then returned to independence only to be acquired by another firm in 2011. While I have no experience with the Vanagon version of this camper, I have an old friend who had a late ’60s version, (pre-Vanagon). While we never went camping in it, it was perfect for one of those outings when you had a little bit too much fun and finding your way home was an improbable task. You could just pull-over wherever you were, raise the roof and call it an evening (or early morning).
The first thing that caught my attention is the seller’s statement, “We purchased this Van NOT RUNNING and have not diagnosed it or tried to repair it in any way. The engine turns over (slowly) but will not start. I have a video of the “start attempt”. This van will NOT drive home, you’ll need to bring a trailer.” Apparently the previous owner had the engine rebuilt and then six months later it went on the fritz. She couldn’t (or didn’t) want to deal with it a second time so she sold it to the current seller. The engine in question is a 2.0 liter, four-cylinder, air-cooled, 70 HP, flat-four arrangement. The enthusiast website, “Go Westy” which can be found here has this to say about the engine in question, “The Vanagon was introduced in 1980 with the same 2000cc EFI engine that was used in the last of the Buses. These air-cooled Vanagons, although functionally a great improvement over their Bus predecessors are the worst of the Vanagons, and maybe even the least desirable of any VW van ever made. The 2000cc air-cooled engine was simply not up to the task of pushing around an even bigger, heavier box. Typical engine life is about 90,000 miles.” Uh-oh! But wait, there’s more, “A good specimen of an air-cooled Vanagon pop-top will run between $2500 and $5000, but we recommend steering clear of any air-cooled Vanagon.” Just sayin’…… There is a video clip of the seller trying to start this VW here. Sounds like a pair of jumper cables could work wonders this case…..This example is equipped with an automatic transmission as opposed to the standard four-speed manual but Go Westy is not a fan of the manual transmission as they claim it was a “complete failure”. Well at least you won’t have that worry with this example but I have to believe this Vanagon would be very sluggish at best (when running) with an automatic transmission.
Well now that the mechanics have been completely trampled, it’s time to review the exterior visuals and this is a very clean, 40-year-old camper. While the finish is a bit flat, it still has a good depth of coverage and there is no sign of rust or panel damage. Apparently you can tell this Vanagon is air-cooled by its single front grille. The water-cooled models, introduced in 1983, have a second lower grille to accommodate the radiator. Speaking of the grille, it looks like it’s missing some pieces of its slats but it’s nothing terribly noticeable. The two-tone paint job and color selection are oh-so 1980 but it presents itself quite well.
The interior is another story. The seats look like someone used a razor-equipped broom to sweep them off and the typical ’80s hard plastic dash/instrument panel components look sun-bleached and brittle. The seller adds that he was told, “everything works properly” but he has not verified that claim. Well, when you’re hauling an entire kitchen around on your aft end, that’s a lot of stuff to verify.
The camper end of the interior looks as about one would expect, it reminds me of an inexpensive motel “suite” that I rented in Paris, Texas a few years ago – lots of veneered wood grain poly-something-or-other. But you have to remember the era in which this camper was made, so it’s fitting.
So, two things to consider here, one is the engine and the other is the engine. What’s causing the engine’s failure to start may be something minimal, especially if it was recently rebuilt. I do find it odd that the seller wouldn’t try a jump; he seems to be warning potential buyers that the problem is something more serious without coming right out and saying it. The other matter is, supposing that the non-starting engine circumstance can be easily resolved, is Go Westy’s warning to avoid ’80 to ’82 Vanagon campers something to be seriously considered? Hard to say, maybe there is a big problem here and maybe not. OK, show of hands time, has anyone ever owned one of these Westfalia campers and if so, what was it like?
After using up a ’77 camper running all over the country we bought a ’84 special edition water cooled unit. Big difference in the power and rock hard dependable. Traded it in with over 90,000 miles on it. It had enough power to pull our Porsche 914 race car on a 4 axle trailer at 70 mph all day long. Only change we made was to put a 110 volt AC and cruise control in it. For two people and a semi small dog it was perfect. Without the race car it would cruise at 80mph (think Nevada) all day. The water cooled units are a lot slower but if you’ve got one there is a chance you didn’t buy it to run the interstates with. Build quality was quite high so if this one is solid it should be good buy.
Looks like an excellent candidate for a Subie transplant!
These are a lot harder to transplant other engines into due to the lack of water cooled bits that you would need to have like radiator and grille, water lines, etc.. It can be done but is much easier to do on either the early diesel or later water cooled models that have that stuff already in place. These are fun, simple vehicles and are much less expensive to buy than water cooled Vanagons and late buses. I like em’ and don’t really care what GoWesty thinks. They are biased towards the models they sell stuff for.
Have a ’78 VW bus with the same 2000cc air-cooled EFI engine, and one of the cardinal rules with this engine is to NEVER, NEVER use jumper cables or you could fry your EFI. Use a battery charger or replace your battery instead.
Good to know Ken, Thx!
The trick with that is to use jumper cables made with welding cable and to leave the engine in the jumping vehicle turned off before making your connection. Early electronics and microprocessor based EFIs were prone to being fried if jumped by a vehicle whose engine was running.
I remember shopping in the mid 2000’s for a 4WD Synchro. A really nice one was still close to 20K, which was out of my budget so it never happened. There is a lot of material out there on this camper buses and the things that you can do to them.
A Subaru EJ25 (4 cyl) or EG33 (6 cyl) water-cooled engine transplant could double or triple the horsepower and do wonders for reliability. They’re both common swaps with kits made to do it.
Had a number of these from Diesel Westys to Syncro Westys. The air cooled ones are faster (if that term can be used) than the diesels and I drove one all over the country including many fire roads.
The wiring is known to fray and cause interesting electrical problems. Might be something as simple as a ground wire. What ever it is if this has little to no rust and the kitchen all works buy it. They are a blast.
Second to last sentence should read ‘air cooled units’ in above comment. Have a friend with a standard van pushed by a Subaru 6 cylinder. Nice clean installation and really gets down the road.
82 is better in terms of air cooled. If the goal is engine transplant then best is 85 or never, 84 water cooled is fine, too.
15 years ago this was a $1500 Buy. Water cooled ones in lovely shape were $7000. made sense then, to put yourself through the ups and down, now they are extremely over valued.
They are $ Pits. I just could not put myself through that constant love/hate relationship. Lets go camping! Had a great trip, if slow. Months later; “Lets go Camping!” Engine failure.
Learned a pop top added to a Previa and bringing a stove would be a lot less stressful.
I had an early ’83 Blue & White air cooled Vanagon (not a Westphalia) . Later ’83 Vanagons were water cooled. I bought mine needing interior work which I did rather inexpensively, I scored a complete set of seats, 2 front buckets, middle seat and rearmost seat in blue cloth, all in excellent condition, I redid all the brown vinyl of the original interior pieces including the dash board in black , it came out very nice. The only issue I had with the Vanagon is it had an appetite for ignition switches, besides the poor heater. I was in the process of trying to find a South Wind Gas heater for it when a guy came by a few times trying to buy it and when he offered me very decent money for it , it was gone. I became very adept at changing those ignition switches, I put many pleasurable miles on it and wouldn’t have hesitated one bit taking it cross country. It was a 2.0, with a 4 speed.
I don’t know where the seller gets off saying the air-cooled units are trash. The 2.0 is also shared with the Porsche 914 and unlike the later Wasserboxers, don’t require head gaskets every 100k or so. I drive my ‘82 GL for about 4 years and had to replace a head as the previous owner had the engine rebuilt by a nobody at 130K. Other than that, she never let me down. The issue is likely a fuse or connection in the fuel injection wiring harness. The injection system isn’t widely understood, but it’s super simple and unfortunately a lot of ppl change to a carb setup. As to a Subie conversion? Not wise on the air-cooled versions. There’s not much room behind that grille for a radiator (it’s where the a/c condenser lives) and underneath the gas tank is in the way.
I believe I know where he gets off saying that the air-cooled units are trash. Had a fuel injected squareback. Motor was rebuilt and kept on running hot. Was too lean and I was sure that it was because of the no good fuel injection. Talked with the fellow that rebuilt the engine about what carbs I should use to replace that piece of junk.
He responded by handing me a book on how to tune the fuel injection. I followed the book and to my amazement the car ran well. No it ran great. Power, mileage, and temperature were right were they should be and never again a problem.
They are not trash because of poor design. They are trash because of poor maintenance. An air cooled motor with points and a carb can be poorly maintained and still run okay. An air cooled motor with points and fuel injection poorly maintained will run poorly and have a short life.
A Subi conversion could be done….. with a lot of extra work. Radiator, cooling lines, cutting the bodywork in the front for radiator air flow, figuring out the heating system. Smallcar out of Tacoma does conversions, an air cooled conversion is $5k over a normal Subi conversion! As it is I’d figure out the air cooled motor. The only issue I have with this vehicle is totally personal, as Vanagons evolved the interior materials became nicer and aesthetically much easier to live with.
Looks just like my dads. Bruce.