WANTED: My First Early Bay....

[tnt1975]

I've been umming and arring for over a year now about buying my first camper. Had plenty of VW Golf's but never ventured into campers....yet.

So I've spent some time thinking about which one I want and soon realised I wanted an early bay. The other half say's i want a white over blue one, which if that's what I have to get to help persuade her then I'm good with that.

Anyway, I'm no mechanic, so looking for something that won't require loads of body work or take forever to get on the road. I'm not necessarily looking for a perfect van either.....

I've got all the links to usual sites and I'm keeping an eye on those (ebay, pistonheads, dubs4sale etc etc).....but what's out there for sale that's not on these sites ? What have you all got up your sleeves that might be just what I'm looking for.

My only must have, other than good bodywork and good engine, is right hand drive. I know I'll get a sound lefty bodywork wise but I just have an aversion to sitting on the wrong side when driving in UK !!!

Any help will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bermuda blue]

Sounds like you are exactly where I was two years ago, so if it helps to shorten your route to an Earlybay - here goes :-
Spent the first year only looking at RHD, and despite loads of photo's I
wasted a lot of time and effort travelling only to find rust, rust & rust.
All the usual places are well documented (bottom 6" all round). OK you can
find them fresh out of bare-metal resto/makeover but if you are on a set budget !!!!!.
I then switched to looking at LHD (imported from sunny climes) and straight
away the primary worry (corrosion) recedes -but it is a nervous business to buy at long range and you have to factor in shipping cost/port fees/VAT etc;. There are a number of reputable Pro's on here who do it all the time so
way to go for not taking a big risk unseen :shock: .
But to do that you need to Spec it - Bus or Camper , Tin-Top or Pop-Top,
I see the wife likes White over Blue (don't they all ) but don't tie yourself down like that and miss a good 'un. And LHD is really not a problem, you get used to it very quickly - all I would say is if it's a Westy with a Wardrobe (offside in UK) that is a limitation , but without one or a Bus rig -
not a problem really.
Hope that helps to focus a bit , enjoy the hunt.........JIM.

 

[scott wilson]

you`ve got two choices...ENGLISH or FOREIGN
i happen to be a purveyor of FOREIGN
i reccomend a phone call and a discussion of budget as a rhd rust free late bay westy doesn`t cost £7k to be honest, you are looking at £15k upward for a rhd SA or AUS import

 

[67panel]

theres a brilliant blue deluxe with white roof at Midlands Early Bay,1970 .check the web site.

 

[dansilv]

I agree with everything said above - I bought a british bus (72 westy) a few years ago and had no end of agg with it - lots of rust - visible and hidden! I nearly gave up until a good friend of mine 'showed me light' by selling me a freshly imported 72 tin top westy in white - I have just driven it for the first time today and lost my left hand drive cherry! took me about 2 minutes to get used to it - seriously its easy!

So I would recommend imported lhd's all day long over rusty uk buses!

Also I would seriously advise you to speak to my friend who I know has quite a few decent lhd's for sale at good prices!

His name is Tony and his number is 07775677670 - give him a call and say Dan from leigh on sea gave you his number.

Happy camping!

Dan

 

[Beigebay1968]

i went for a cali import lhd and driving is easy you dont even think about it. got mine from fbi vw sales in swansea and they also delivered it too. They are really price fair and you can get one hell of a tidy straight bus rust free for small pennies.

 

[no1vdubber]

Hi i have a beautiful 1970 early bay baby blue lowered front beam two year old 1.6 engine poptop new clutch and thrush bearings new mot rock and roll bed looks and drives lovely around 8k thanks

 

[bacos69]

I know of a SA RHD pop top westy for about 8.5k. It's in Italy but the price includes shipping...
Some Photos.... http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn80/bacos69/VDubs/Early%20RHD%20SA%20Westy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Ta Andy.

 

[froggy]

Open to offers for my RHD Westy
See below for my for sale thread

 

[Anonymous]

Hello there,
The above comments are spot on about rusty Uk buses.I spent a long while looking around, ringing companies up speaking to sellers etc. The problem is that some (not all) sellers are conservative in what they tell you, for obvious business reasons. They want your money. I personally felt reluctant to part with my hard earned money and buy a bus of a UK importer who slaps a few grand on a bus for doing what you yourself can do.

All I know about buses I found out from reading forums like this and researching the net. I spoke to one company, and when asked about importing a bus, they told me tax and duty would be about £1,500 which is probabaly correct, but they never once mentioned thesamba.com!

I imported a bus myself, yes it is a risk, but the seller had sold 16 buses on thesamba in 6 months. It was a smooth operation. I even rang up the guy who had just sold him the bus!

If you can afford it, you might want to go to California yourself and source a bus and send it on from there. I can give you a few insider secrets, but it might be prudent to PM me. I can also give you the details of the guy in the US I bought my bus off. I have never met him, but would certainly recommend him. You can always find a bargain if you look hard enough.

This is a good cheap bus, might be work a butcher's:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1186138" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cost= £2,158
Transportation to UK = £1500 (approx)
Duty = Lets say £500 (but this will depend on a few things...)

Total: £4,158 landed (this excludes registration (DVLA about £66 and MOt costs)
LV

 

[LittlestHobo]

Hi Lordain Volley,

Any chance you could pm me your contacts details? I don't seem to b e able to PM you.

Cheers