Rusty_OToole Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 (edited) They found this 1955 VW bus abandoned deep in the woods on a French mountain thanks to a tip from a mushroom hunter. They found it, bought it from the land owner and DROVE IT OUT a few days later. Most extraordinary story. http://www.doityourselfrv.com/abandoned-volkswagen/# Same video from Youtube Edited March 5, 2017 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Terrific! Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Not that surprising. Anyone remember "Sleeper" ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 very cool! a lot of rot on that baby.................... what we wont try when we're young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Wahlberg Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Nicely produced video and a great story. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Here is the one I saw three years ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Very well produced and entertaining video; however, I believe that it is just another "reality" presentation. With that said, I enjoyed it very much and thank you for posting the link to it. Cheers, Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidAU Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Good story. I loved the hub puller at he used at 3.54 minutes. I'll have to find one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Walling Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 The helicopter in the second video was the coup de grace. (In this case, the last chance for life) It was the last thing that I would have thought of. He really must love those busses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46 woodie Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 While I admire their enthusiasm I keep asking myself, WHY! We're not talking about a one of a kind, super rare vehicle. A helicopter??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipdang Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Imagine how valuable they would both be if they were barn finds. Forest finds? Swamp things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 You would be surprised what a following old VW vans have, especially in Europe. Both those were rare early versions that are desirable to collectors. Price a 1950 - 55 and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 5 hours ago, DavidAU said: Good story. I loved the hub puller at he used at 3.54 minutes. I'll have to find one of those. I have never seen one like that. A guy that pulls a lot of hubs would be well off to have one. The expense of good tools in never a bad investment. Although I have a few that I only used once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&J Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 4 hours ago, 46 woodie said: While I admire their enthusiasm I keep asking myself, WHY! We're not talking about a one of a kind, super rare vehicle. A helicopter??? I did not study the whole video, but I think it is what is called "barn door bus". That name is for the very TALL rear engine lid, which is much shorter on later buses. Mid-1955 I think, was the change. VW bus guys get pretty excited to get a barn door bus. And not many were made, compared to the later type. If you can't find a barn door, the next choice is any bus variation, is with the "split windshields" made through 1967. There are countless variations of bus features during those years of splitscreen buses; Panel, singe and double cab pickups, more common kombi with some side windows, then deluxe with the little windows on the roof and the huge sliding sunroof. There are different seat layouts in these; some are called "walk-through" to get into the rear seat area, and others have no way to walk through. Some of the early deluxe ones have 2 more side windows, going all the way back to the corners, and these have aluminum "jailbars" that are on the insides of the rear glasses to keep cargo from breaking the glass...these are highly prized models as well. They are cool to look at, but if you drive one, "you will discover hills that you never knew were there" ...meaning, these had tiny beetle engines till the early 60s, therefore they are SO underpowered on any size hill. Not uncommon to need to downshift to 2nd gear with the 4 speed box...and all splitscreens had reduction gear boxes at each rear axle end to gear it down lower, but it still does not help much on hills. The earliest bus had 25 HP motor, and then a 36 HP till around 1960 I believe...think about driving those. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 On the plus side, two could have a stoplight drag race and never exceed the speed limit. Had a '70 Westphalia with a built dual port 1600 and an RVEECO cooler. Pulled the Cascades in 4th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush Mechanic Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 A split window Kombi sold here in Tasmania recently for A$91,000, far short of the record, in Sydney, which I believe was well in excess of $200,000. When the iron ore price was high, a few years ago, scrap merchants were encouraging people to bring in old cars. Many interesting 50's and 60's cars were crushed, especially from the drier areas. Vanguard, Hillman, Humber, Ford, Holden, Vauxhall. Many were runners, as there were set prices for runners and non-runners. (They wanted the batteries, radiators, alternators, etc). Amongst them a friend of my brother found a Kombi bus with the curved windows along the roof-line, fairly intact. He sold it on ebay to a buyer in the US for A$107,000, as found. Better than scrap prices! I have a younger friend in Germany who is into rescuing them. He assures me they have a very strong following there, and a high proportion of the enthusiast are in their 20's and 30's, which is encouraging. When he was out here visiting, he was amazed at the numbers still on the road, and at how cheap the basket-cases were. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 We still have our '84 Westfalia camper. We have camped all over the US with the kids and the wife and I are back camping with it again now that the kids are gone. It is very much a conversation piece when we pull into a camp ground. My one daughter and her friend took it camping at a outdoor concert a couple of years ago and she said she lost count the number of people that stopped to look at it. She said that the highlight of the weekend was when one couple stopped by and said "Way cool, your parents must have been real hippies" after she told them that the camper had been in the family for about 25 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Cruising on the freeway came upon a diesel powered conversion bus that had a big sign in the back window that said " 'this vehicle cannot exceed 55 mph' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 My father had this one he coined "the green machine" which went out to the West Coast and back not once but twice and we went to Hershey in once. He then bought a 1986 liquid cooled Westfalia which was even a better unit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 (edited) We took an 81 air cooled to the west and back and then bought an '84 water cooled. A little more pep but both are underpowered for the 10% grades of the west. Here is our '84 with the top down. We will be showing it at Auburn. Edited March 7, 2017 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dosmo Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Dang! How many of these old buses have been rescued from the woods? Here is another one. If you watch it, you might find it more enjoyable to turn down the soundtrack volume. I found parts of it somewhat annoying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOldGxyJEQ4&feature=player_embedded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Geez, the helicopter bill would kill any value in the POS. Kids and their toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kytown2 Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 (edited) Thank you for sharing this video and cool story!! I collect VW's and I am currently the VP of the Vintage Volkswagen Club of America (VVWCA). Here is a photo of our 1971 Westfalia "weekender" Bus! Edited March 10, 2017 by kytown2 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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