This is not your father’s Vanagon. No, this is a European market LT40 Syncro, and it’s ready to take you globetrotting. That’s really the sole purpose of an advanture-mobile like this, because if you’re going to incur the heady maitenance bills and tracking down parts that were hard to find in Europe 20 years ago, you better go on some epic trips when it’s running well. The LT40 was never sold stateside, and this four wheel drive van originally came over as a former postal service vehicle that then had a custom Westfalia top installed and the interior components swapped in. Find this rare van variant here on eBay where there’s a handful of bids to just over $35,000.
As someone who has now both a.) owned an old van that was somewhat tricky to find parts for and b.) now owns a much more modern 2003 VW Eurovan, I can say this: VWs builds excellent long-haul vans, and riding in a more modern one when you’ve got your family in tow offers great peace of mind. My 1981 Toyota HiAce was a crowd pleaser and oozed with personality, but given you can’t necessarily roll up to the local shadetree mechanic in the middle of nowheres-ville for an unexpected mechanical fault, it was kept to mostly local trips in my ownership. Conversely, my 2003 Eurovan (which is currently at a specialist shop in Missouri for a manual transmission conversion), has already notched a 1,000+ mile trip in the six months I’ve owned it.
Looking at this rare LT40, I can see that it would be an absolutely incredible road trip companion, especially with that full Westfalia interior swapped in, and because of the house-like ceiling height: as the seller points out, this version of the LT series van stands over 10 feet tall, and it looks as if those of us of average height could actually stand up inside. The seller notes that an owner prior to him brought it over to the United States and then – shockingly – found another gray market LT28 van in Florida with the factory high roof and swapped it off of that van onto his because it came with the heavy-duty Syncro four wheel drive system. The Westfalia top had to be stretched to match the length of the longer wheelbase of the four wheel drive platform. While I love the finished product, that’s also a highly custom feature on an already obscure model.
As you can see here, the full Westfalia cabin remains in excellent condition. The seller notes that he acquired the LT40 with a broken timing belt and $15,000 in invoices from the previous owner. Despite the engine being rebuilt just 14,000 miles prior, the belt let go and given the seller references installing a new head, I’ll assume that to mean it’s an interference design. The VW still has some issues, namely that it doesn’t go very fast at all and there’s still some smoke on cold startups, which the seller’s mechanic has blamed on dirty injectors. With only 1,250 of these LT trucks equipped with four wheel drive, you can bet there are some rare-as-hen’s-teeth components on them, but the risk could be worth it given how this LT40 Westfalia could turn you into a seasoned overlander almost instantly.
It’s located in Eugene,Oregon.
Why do you guys omit the location?
Most of us know how to read item location on Ebay postings.
Sometimes when a seller ends the listing the ad is deleted so there is no way to tell where the car was located. When it comes to Craigslist ads, it’s not always clear where the car is located, they often use a description which doesn’t translate well to people from a different area, sometimes you have to blow up a map to find a highway or some other landmark, then look that up.
Steve R
I know that,but I don’t want to look it up all the time.
Oh yes, much better to make everyone go over to the listing than to type two more words in the write-up.
If the timing belt broke and this was (is) an interference engine, it needed a new engine.
Not always. In this case I recall it only needed a new cylinder head.
It needed a new head. Same engine was used in 80s Volvo diesels.
I just re read the listing. I have never seen a Volvo- VW collaboration before.
Cool article about the van in the ebay listing, on the Curbside Classic link.
Boo hiss. Curbside Classics. Buy into your town’s franchise store today!
???
If I owned this, I would install Recaro seats and a roll cage. It looks like it would tip over on its side if you hit a pothole or a 10 mph. side wind gust.
It probably gets the same ban as tractor trailers in high winds 😆
Over 10 feet tall?! There’s this railroad bridge in North Carolina…
Slow….Surely you jest…It’s an air cooled VW with an automatic…I mean that thing has to be Dodge Viper territory at least….?
Might I suggest making the kids walk along side on your sabbatical across the country. Old Dobbin is getting a bit tired from the journey.
Water cooled. No relation to the traditional VW bus.
And much larger!
The LT is the big brother of the VW bus/transporter, 40 stands for 4 tons.
There are also LT28, LT31, LT 35, LT45, LT50.
I have got a LT35 crew cab since about 25 years.
Great work horse and very reliable!
A blistering 78 hp! I wonder if you could swap in the intercooled turbo version for 121 HP?
I’m not sure where you’re pulling up those specs – but the 2.4TD of that year was 92hp, intercooled was 102hp. There is no internal difference in the engines. Slight different turbochargers and the smallish intercooler netted that big 10hp difference. Haha.
That said, modifications to the non-intercooled version are fairly straightforward. ‘GTD’ injector nozzles add a few ponies, some custom tweaking of the injection pump and max boost level even more, and you’ve already increased output quite noticeably. Add a larger efficient intercooler, free flow exhaust, and if you’re brave and know your way around variable-vane turbos, that’s another upgrade. I’m in the middle of doing ‘all of the above’ to my ’92 1G-code engine; the result will be a solid 160+ hp and about twice the original torque output. There are further upsized injector nozzles available that can take this into the 200 range, but this will be ‘plenty’.
Doesn´t it look a bit top-heavy for hills ´n bends ´n stuff?
Im interested but i need to know how long it will run with water 4 inches below the snorkel? Does the snorkel manufacture suppy that info ? Or VW? Is it on YouTube yet? Also totally unrelated , Europe gets the diesel corolla wagon? And it /is was 4×4, not to mention the ee20 diesel pancake Subaru? Its not right and its not fair. If im only going to be able to roll coal till 2050( ill be 85 thank you) i want my freakin diesels, the corolla wagon diesel 4×4 ??? You know thats a sweet , functional rig.
Boo hiss. Curbside Classics. Buy into your town’s franchise store today!
Not sure what you mean. Curbside Classics isn’t a store…it’s a blog that originated at The Truth About Cars. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/
A guy in our Army ROTC unit in college had a Westphalia … he usually wore short khakis and the Aussie slouch hat … he lived in it on campus which was always a hassle with the administrators because he was not yet eighteen (though he was emancipated)) and a freshman which meant he wasn’t allowed to have a car on campus … he left after one semester and I always wondered what happened to him …
A classic that fits right in the class B category. VW always built some of the best B class camper vans.