On Glider's note I like both, but just prefer the splits.
An English company used to make and might still make a front clip to make a bay front into a split... So you could have a more modern bus with the kwelness of the split
I love my Vanagon. Maybe it isn't "pretty" but hey I love it. Talk about offroad camping! It ain't no synchro but the camper kit outdoes the oldskool kits by far. I have traveled afar in it and feel that at one with the road feeling. So how come oldskoolers don't wave at me when I pass?
I put it like this: Pretty skinny girls are all about pleasing themselves, its the thick average ones that aim to please me.
This thread has taken on a life of its own! All I was saying is my Bay is cool and others like it should get some respect in the magazines and VW community. Talk about tangents!
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"Goin' Where the Wind Don't Blow so Strange"
I have both types and will almost always chose my 69 over the split if I'm going on a long trip. I (and my back) are a bit more comfortable. Does that mean my split would't make it ? No, it's just that the bays are a little more up to date (?!?) and so on. But my splits are definently better looking IMHO!
I get a stiff neck from driving a split (I've owned a half-dozen buses and pickups since the `60s) - they just don't give enough upward/forward visibility for a tall man to see a traffic light.
Still I'd rather deal with that than have to stifle the gag reflex that comes with the sight of a Type IV engine (knowing that I'm the one who's going to have to fix it).
`71 is the best, bar none. My `73 (with a type I engine, of course) is a nice compromise....
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"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." --H.L. Mencken
`67, 69, `77 Beetles, `73 II (Type I engine), `86 Audi 5000s, etc. etc.
Independent VW specialist shop manager/unit repairman 1978-1991
My Son gets the '63 camper when he moves out I'd rather get him a 1971 camper stops/ handles lots better easy to work on , safer and the '63 has 1776/40 IDFs front sway bar and gas shocks. In High school we made a lot of long distance trips in the new '67 deluxe( in '67) and the new '69 Westfalia(in '69) and the '69 was much improved...but the braless women lift up there shirts when you drive by in a splittie( happened a few weeks ago to me) Lloyd
i love my 72 westy , splits are out of my price range. i was at a big bus campout in VA. last month there was 75 buses , 58 panel,61 westy,vanagon westys,syncro,and lots of bays. it was east coast camping at its best all kinds of buses and people. i like all vw's but i drive my bus and use it for camping. my dad used to have three studebakers a 1917 and a 1930 limo {a 57 pick up too} it was like owning fine art ,pretty to look at but not very functional . when you dump alot of money into some resto or rare vw you may be worried about scratching it . i have a little over 2 grand in my westy its not perfect , all new brakes,rebuilt 1.8,new ball joints and tires .i would drive it almost anywhere {except wash.DC }any way i love all buses i just happen to own a bay window so thats my thing, if i owned a split then i would be sounding off about it, to each his {her} own.......jeff
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one sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak.
PapaG wrote:Try getting some respect in a Vanagon...
Amen brother, Type ll guys give us no respect! I love my 83 Westy, and wouldn't trade it for the world, though I'd like to own a splittie, or a bay, maybe all 3, so i can make a fair comparison.
ps, Dallashead, take care of that bay, I love seeing buses on teh lot while I'm sipping a few ice cold imports, and eating some grilled cheese!
Them old boys over in Germany just took a while to figure out that a rounded windshield made the bus look better than having a bar in the middle of the windshield.
