So why an Early Bay?

[Grazy]

So we all either have one or like em . So why .

Well for me , as most the only VW i knew of was Beetles from Herbie and everything else to do with VW`s has a Split on , So yeah I like Splits but when looking , I saw Split Panel Vans for 5,6,7 k :shock: . So it was more by luck than judgement that the Bay I found that was a Panel van , OG Paint and pretty much un touched was in my budget turned out to be an Early Bay 8)

Just wondered why all you guys bought Early Bays :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

good question Grazy ! for me - had to be practicality of the Bay - Splits rather been done to death - subtle details of an Early give it a purity of line that later ones lost ... a design classic !!

 

[gninnam]

^^^WHS :wink:

 

[BigG]

My girlfriend always wanted a split but they where always out of reach or wrecks so we went for a bay, any bay, the first bay we managed to win on ebay (after many atempts) was a crossover, an early as far as most are concerned, also turned out to be an original uk deluxe with a sunroof which was a bonus, now we are so glad we didnt get a split or a late bay as our bus is perfect and we would have never found this site

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

I bought a T25 a few years ago by accident,it was a part exchange where I work and my first VW camper.I loved it but always liked the look of the earlier splits and bays.I sold the T25 when my youngest was born with a view to buying an earlier camper later.After much thinking I thought with two kids and with high prices a split might be a bit too small and expensive.So I decided on a bay.After further thinking I decided it must be an early bay for the more classic looks and it must be a four berth pop top/elevating roof,with a complete interior.So I found my 1970 Dormobile with a complete interior and running engine but needing plenty of welding! I'm glad I chose an early bay, I don't regret it.

 

[Fortunate Son]

I had owned a 1970 1500 Beetle for 7 years (still do in fact) before I bought my Early Bay (a 1971). Having been born in between my 2 VWs, I guess that I just have an affinity with things the same age as me.

And to be honest I just do not get the obsession people have with splits

 

[Shaggy]

Mine Wined and dined me so I had no choice

But it really had to do with her easy to get parts still having the early bay look but slightly better brakes a crossover was the bet choice for me.

I do love splits and hope to own one as well, maybe one day when the silly prices come down from all those rich people wanted to just be cool and paying a lot of money for them.

 

[rjb63]

I feel that there is still an apologetic whiff of 'second best' about bays which I for one do not entertain. Split's are obviously iconic, beautiful and what a lot of folk would epitomise as the bus thing and I too love them. BUT splits are of the '50's, mechanically, aesthetically and just, IMHO a bit antiquated.
EarlyBay's on the other hand, are from the decade(s) which formed me and my ideals, the late '60's and the early '70's. More practical and consequently incorporating safety features and yet aesthetically smoother, slicker and slippier than their direct ancestor. This came through advancements in technology but also through advancements in design and resulted in more space and usability but, and this is a big'un, also became more pleasing to the eye. And they stop better. And have more room. Not knocking splits but they're like Morris Minor's, ration books, demob suits and black and white telly. All very well but do you want to live like that? There's nostalgic, and there's actually having to go out into the backyard to go to the toilet.

 

[Shaggy]

hahahahaha..... rjb63 I like that post, I was hoping one day to own one of ever year in fact although that will never happen its worth a try

 

[chrisby]

I had a 1965 tin top split that I imported from California , built a complete camping interior and got up and running really well .Used it for a season , but wanted to upgrade the brakes and gearbox, also found it abit to small . So I sold it and imported a good solid , never welded 1971 Westy, because I like the early styling , with the added advantage of disc brakes . :wink:

 

[kempy]

I feel that there is still an apologetic whiff of 'second best' about bays which I for one do not entertain. Split's are obviously iconic, beautiful and what a lot of folk would epitomise as the bus thing and I too love them. BUT splits are of the '50's, mechanically, aesthetically and just, IMHO a bit antiquated.
EarlyBay's on the other hand, are from the decade(s) which formed me and my ideals, the late '60's and the early '70's. More practical and consequently incorporating safety features and yet aesthetically smoother, slicker and slippier than their direct ancestor. This came through advancements in technology but also through advancements in design and resulted in more space and usability but, and this is a big'un, also became more pleasing to the eye. And they stop better. And have more room. Not knocking splits but they're like Morris Minor's, ration books, demob suits and black and white telly. All very well but do you want to live like that? There's nostalgic, and there's actually having to go out into the backyard to go to the toilet.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[carole]

ditto kempy.

the first time i ever drove my (it has to be said very pretty) stock split after selling my bay to own it, I went cold and though, oh s**t, what have I done?

drove like a milk float, frightened the life out of me. I then spent a fortune on it trying to get it to drive like a bay, IRS, 68 Beam, dual circuit brakes etc etc......lovely to look at, not so lovely to drive, for me anyway.

I've owned 4 bays now, a crossover (our first bus, what great memories.....), then 2 late bays, the split and now my early (beeglebus). I sold the split to buy the EB.

I have strong memories from first being involved in the VW scene of all those lovely early bays with the scoop air vents, flat front arches and low indicators. Even though when I first saw them I didn't have a clue what 'type' of bus it was, I just loved the design of them.

They've always struck me as such a subtle yet classic design. Less is most definately more.........

For me they are a design icon of their time, and for someone that grew up in the 70's, a great reminder of 'all of that'... 8) 8)

Interestingly, I get just as many people stopping me in petrol stations for a chat about the EB as I did about my split, everyone just loves 'em!

No turning back for me now....

If anyone knows of a good early crewcab, let me know.....that's next on the list!

8) 8) 8) :wink:

Carole

 

[shane r]

I've owned a few bettles (65, 72, 71) and a late and crossover bay before buying my EB.

There are two mains reasons why I own an Early Bay:

1) I LOVE VW campervans.

2) I have driven a split.



Number 2 made me realize it's a early bay for me. It retains plenty of the style of a split but the performance and/or handling of an EB (steering, servo, disc brakes etc) make it a much more reasonable daily driver.

 

[NADZ]

Myself I didn't want to be associated with the up your own ass attitude that seems to go with splits.It happened with mini's and series landys and moggies and spitfires etc.The old gits with second mortgages or the "Professional"types with red braces and disposable incomes looking for an investment.FOOK em their paying scene tax because of their own greed taking over a bit of common sense.Like you say I equate splittys with moggy minors.All well and good but you woudn't want your mates to see you in one.
Plus i wanted to drive a vehicle made in 68 !!!
(nearly there)

 

[spit nolan]

i ended up buying an early bay because a friend of the family contacted me to say, a guy near him wanted to sell all of his collection of vehicles.... he then said there are about 12 vw vans...

so i agreed to go have a look, i got there and decided the vast majority were not somethin i would want, and then i spotted the 71 tucked right at the back of his garage, buried under a mountain of stuff.. it needed more work than some of the other vans but it just looked so nice...

ill be honest i have never really been to fussed about bays in general, ive always wanted a spilt, and ive had one, and i love the antiquated driving etc.. but the bay in the garage just looked so good i thought yeh ill have it!!!

so i bought it along with a t25 panel van, which was quickly mot'd and sold on.... driving that was horrible for me... too modern and boring!!!

but now the more i look at the 71 the more tempted i get to maybe sell my 55 oval and keep the bay for myself!!

we'll see......

 

[jabbo]

1) I've always had a soft spot for early bays. Especially commercials.

2) Price. My bus came up at the right time at a very good price (relatively speaking) so it seemed stupid to turn it down.

 

[ianscooby]

For us it all started early last year, I had some spare cash and was looking for a Harley (mid life crisis thing ), the wife found out :evil: and on her tick list of things to do in life was vw camper ownership, so the search began (van not bike ).
After looking through flea bay and various other places, with prices rising on what seemed a daily basis (caused by people like us probaly) we looked at a couple of uk buses which were full of filler and ended up in FBI on a saturday afternoon following a road trip looking at vans.
Full of vans and like a child in a sweet shop we looked around and came away with a number of options, I wanted a split (not thinking practically again) and she wanted a bay, she won as usual :? (they always do).
We ended up with a 1970 as it looked a more friendly bus from the front (so she says).
The van is know part of the familly and even after being offered 12.5K at vanfest for it she won't sell it,
Un-like most on this site we were not vw fans, at the time and only wanted the bus for short weekend breaks.

 

[rob-stone]

Some nice comments here, its nice to see where people are coming from and goes to emphasise the positive nature of this forum. I cant image this thread reading so well on other forums.

Perhaps my story is a bit of an odd-ball. I own a late bay, but look at this site pretty much every day.
Having played around with various older/retro cars and missing out buying a bug, i started too look at vans. I go camping quite alot, i take my bikes to various places and carry the bands equipment often to gigs. It made sence to get a van. I soon realised Splits are too expensive, and as i want to actually use the thing, too inpracticle. I prefer the look of bays, and whilst doing my 'research' i found this site. The gallery was inspirational and my search for an early began. However, the ones i looked are were a pile of crap! on the off chance i decided to view my late bay...and what can i say...it chose me. For me solid bodywork and low milage for a bargain price is more important than its indicator position.

perhaps im bias, but its later styling still rocks. Afterall VW's quest for constant improvement is what make these cars so good. I still drool over low lights and small vents, and one day i may own one. But the big bumpers will do for me now.

 

[halfpint_fighter]

After having a resto cal pre67 styled 69 bug and a 74 Baja we decided a camper was needed as i have a company car for a daily.
At the time we were waiting to get our own place and wanted to get away at weekends for our own space hotels were eating our house fund!

So at Beachbuggin about 3 years ago we walked around the car park looking at the buses. We decided a bay for better size size etc. although did look at a couple of splits in the hunt.
On looks alone we decided that low indicators and a straight up pop top were what we wanted and not green, purple or orange paint.
My local mechanic was acting as an advisor to the people that bought our baja and while chatting to him we mentioned our search.
He had the red 72 Danbury at the painters (front end only) and did a good deal for cash as we were regular customers and his wife was expecting.

Never looked back!

 

[lobus]

I sort of "fell into " mine, I was looking for a pop top camper for a German bloke who had lived with us as an exchange student. Everything I looked out was a clapped out POS, but this panel van was solid as a rock and an easy conversion to a semi camper for a solo traveller. He wanted to travel around Aus for 6 months at the end of his Uni degree. The plan was to buy it in my name with his $$$ (always a good start) then I would flog it off after he went home to Germany. Well, as we have a T3 Caravelle, the fun of driving this thing I delayed and delayed advertising it. Then I had the inspiration (with her indoors approval) of going on the cruises in this instead of the water boiler. So I sent him the bucks that he had paid and it was mine officially as well as morally.
Next thing you know I am keeping it. Then I decide to fit an adjustable front end to have it level up with the rear which a bit tired but sitting at what looked like the perfect height to me.
5 years later the thing is still in a development stage and I have travelled 30,000km all over Australia in it and don't look like slowing down either.
When I bought it the thing I liked most about it externally was the carry over rear from the split, and the thing I liked most underneath was the power assisted discs up front.
All party up the back, but strictly business down below!