ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

I have a bone to pick. In almost every issue of VWTrends or HotVWs, one will rarely find nary a picture of a Baywindow Bus, much less a recurrent article on Bays. I saw a license plate frame on a Splitty that read "If it Ain't Split, It Ain't poop". Now, I understand the desire for the classics. I have fallen in love with the 23 Deluxe. But does my 72 Westy have to be considered the Red Headed Bastard Stepchild of the Antique VW Community? I am, if you can't tell by now, a DeadHead for life. The sight of a parking lot full of Pop-Tops and the smell of Grilled Cheese, Patchouli, and Kind Herb just makes my heart swell. So to you Splitty owners I say "I love the Splits, but my Bay is OK!" Just had to get that off my chest. Don't hate me cause I'm Bay!

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"Goin' Where the Wind Don't Blow so Strange"

I feel the same way. Neither Hot VW's or VWT pay enough attention to Bay Windows. We need to get a magazine like Volkswagen Camper & Commercial (all Type2 magazine in Europe, and it's Bay Window friendly!)going over here.

But I digress, as the new VWT I got in the mail today has a pretty neat article on a '71 Dormobile...

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Joser
1972 Super Beetle
1972 Super Beetle (Parts)
1969 Westfalia

hey, i got a bay and a split. both are unique and fun.
does this mean i'm bi??


bob

I have a 71 bay and I love it dearly.I would like to have a split,but one project at a time.I agree that there should be more bay coverage.Let's get our bays in shape and maybe they will be in the magazines too. JT

I have owned both.. When I drive a VAN, I just feel like I am driving... When I drive a split, my eyes roll back, and I feel like I am becomming one with the bus, as the tires rub the fender wells... It isn't that there is something wrong with a baywindow VAN, but it just ISN'T the same experience.. thats all

The segment in VWTrends this month on that Dormobile is nice too. What a ride !

My 62 was my first VW so I can't attest to the driving differences between a split and a bay, but I can see the reason for more articles being done on splits.....

I think it's just that they're older & have a more "retro" look. The sight of splitty's riding down the road is pretty rare these days, depending on where you live of course.

By the way ; HotVW's has a monthly reader/writer section called "transporter talk". It's mostly info exchange on bay's. I rarely see anything there that helps me w/ my splitty.

Give it time brother, your bays will be prevelent in those mags soon enough.
After all, there's alot more of 'em. ;^)


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<I>Bryan...St.Petersburg, FL
'62 11W Kombi ;^) "Monie"
'72 Beetle "Punchy"</I>

[This message has been edited by 62T2Doood (edited 06-15-2002).]

I have a '73 Adventurer high-top and a '71 Super Beetle. I could teach Rodney Dangerfield a few things about getting no respect.

But, I can actually drive on the freeways without a slow-moving-vehicle sign. I get to the parties sooner and leave later. The splitty's are nice to look at, but if you actually want to get somewhere the Bay is the Way.

Maybe if I put a strip of Duct Tape right down the middle of the windshield...

I could be wrong but it seems like the few overseas mags I've bought usually have Bays in them. Try getting some of the British mags.

VW trends this month has a bay in it, but don't get used to it!!

Yeah, that Dormobile is Suh-Weet! And it now lives in Japan if I read correctly.

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"Goin' Where the Wind Don't Blow so Strange"

Hey, I've seen both varieties in action and the bay is hands down a better rig (30 more years of engineering kinda helps). The split is waaaaay cooler looking from the nostalgia point of view.

I'd personally like to see some more coverage of bay window busses in the mags...but lets face it, they're boring to look at. It's hard to drool over a bay window on page 17, when there's a sooper dooper 21 deluxe on page 62.

Try getting some respect in a Vanagon...

After owning both styles... I would only want to drive a split.

Sure the bay is better in some small ways but I like the split because it is Spartan and drives better.



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Adrian Pillow
'66 VW Westfalia - "Biscuit"
'67 VW Deluxe Westfakia - "Dino"
'79 Porsche 911 SC - "Cochese"

I beg to differ with the opinion that the splits drive better...???

1.7 to 2 liters, power disc brakes, IRS rear suspension. Yikes, splits aren't even in the same league.

As for vanagons...yes, you are the ugly second cousin that nobody wants to admit to. ; )

steve,

and the ugly vanagon drives better still than the baywindow. i love my '79 baywindow westy.

yesterday i drove a stock 36 hp kastenwagen (firetruck). holy crap, what a trip! it was fun, but give me my boring hopped up baywindow any day. i wouldn't want to drive very far with that old splitty, not with the stock motor, anyhow.

this is the same argument that is about to heat up about the new VW microbus. the ludddites amoung us will wail for the old days. is new bad? no. is old bad? no.

to quote the current parlance: "it's all good, bro."

scott lyons

To me Bays drive heavy (at least Westis). I am always afraid of tipping them over.

Also from a maintenance perspective Splits are cake!

Then again I like simple things. Splits are not for everyone. The 73-79 Westi bays are really nice though, I just do not enjoy driving them.



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Adrian Pillow
'66 VW Westfalia - "Biscuit"
'67 VW Deluxe Westfakia - "Dino"
'79 Porsche 911 SC - "Cochese"