Down On The Street

Spotted in downtown Encinitas on a beautiful Sunday morning was this nicely-restored 13-window VW Station Wagon variant of a VW Bus.

Someone put please replace that missing hubcap!

It's hard to beat an ivory/green combo. And hey, look, it's my friend Graham popping out from behind the drivers-side mirror.

Not captured - the smell of fuel leaking on the pavement. Hope they get that fixed before they end up with a car-b-que.

But not to be outdone, this even-finer specimen was captured in the wilds of the Del Mar dog beach six days later.
Yeah, people like my mom will scoff at the notion that this Bus, rich with patina, is nicer than the green machine above...
...but with wrap-around rear corner windows (and jailbars)...
...Porsche Fuchs wheels and an Baja excursion-sized luggage rack, I certainly know which one I'd rather have in my personal fleet.
Oh, and for those keeping score, it's a fifteen window splittie.

Down On The Street

Leaving our neighborhood this past Sunday, I stopped in my tracks as I came upon yet another cool VW van parked on the street.
A classic mid-60s "splitty" 11-window Bus. Nice, shiny and straight - even if it is missing a hubcap, the rear bumper and the front bumper over-rider ("towel bars") supports.
It's even clean inside, the front seats have been re-upholstered, replacing the vinyl with fabric. Interestingly there was an infant seat buckled to the rear bench.
Unfortunately it's ruined.
Not because of a lack of a rear bumper, but because of the Grateful Dead license plate frame and a Dead-related sticker. This one would require a thorough sanitizing/fumigating/de-hippyfying before I'd take it out on the road.

But it still looked pretty good sitting on the street.

Down on the Street

During the block party festivities of Saturday I was finally able to snag a shot of this nice '71 VW Type 2 station wagon on the street.
As far as I know, this is the last of the three "bay window" buses in the 'hood. The other two include a late-70s hardtop Westfalia camper and a rough late-60s station wagon. This one is a 1971 - the best model year of this generation, the first year with front disc brakes and the last year with the "upright" engine.
The luggage rack and sunroof add to the charm. I still vividly recall riding in the back of my Uncle Jerry's orange Bus back when living in Decatur as a kid. I had never ridden in a vehicle with such a large sunroof. Maybe that's where my VW van fascination comes from.
This one is nowhere near perfect, which is perfect for me. A few Mexican blankets draped over the rear seats add to the beach charm of this buggy. But still, I think the owner should spring for a proper VW emblem for the front panel.

Down on the Street

This late-70s "bay window" bus is yet another one of the many VW vans that have seemingly failed to disappear from our local streets. A nice, era-correct shade of green; I wonder if it has the oh-so-70s orange/green plaid fabric underneath those seat covers.

Sure looks fresher than one of the other bay window busses that lives in our neighborhood.

Down On The Street

As most of you four readers know, I just love the vintage iron roaming the streets of San Diego County. Especially the old imports and VW vans.

This '68 - '69 "bay window" T2 station wagon lives in the neighborhood and is often seen moving under its own power (albeit slowly - and noisily). Still I like the weathered look...

...and the surf stickers. Just enough patina to scare the neighbors. Put a fresh 1776 or 1885cc engine in there and throw your surfboards on the roof for runs down to Ponto.