Why an Early Bay?

[surfbus]

If God wanted me to drive a splitty,
He wouldn't created the early bay! :mrgreen:

Just a very cool looking bus; curved air inlets, lowlights and small rear lights!
And splitty's are expensive indeed!

 

[Cali_bay]

Got a crossover because I got impatient, but really yearn for an earlier bus. :roll:

Just love the crescent vents and the small lighted rear end.

Half a mind to sell ours, but have already done alot of work to her and have got too attached, wish I had a bit more cash and I would have two. 8)

 

[sparkywig]

Low Lights, cool bumpers, flat arches, crescent vents, small rear lights

Just the way they look, 8)
although most could do with a tap from the lowering stick to look really cool. :wink:

I had a '59 split, slow, cramped and too damn overvalued now.

 

[scott wilson]

dont like the big rear lights or the vents of the later bays. The real reason is that I love the whole shape of an earlybay, i think it is better in proportion than a split etc.
me too, and they just look right...maybe i`m in love :idea:

 

[Danbury Doug]

The fat bumpers and high indicators of the lates just don't do it for me.

An Early (as opposed to crossover) was actually the original plan. However, when the Danbury Crossover I own now came along, I guess it was just meant to be, as it is identical in every aspect (conversion, colour scheme, tin-top) to the crossover my parents had from new. Being solid and 100% original, nearly all my criteria were fulfilled in one go, so like I say, I think it was just meant to be!

Doug

 

[Marie S]

i am a newbie to the VW world so please do not be too harsh on me for the following question....what is a crossover and when you say a late bay what year do you mean?

 

[smudge]

i am a newbie to the VW world so please do not be too harsh on me for the following question....what is a crossover and when you say a late bay what year do you mean?

Welcome aboard 8)
Early Bay....wide 5 wheels,low indicators....small rear lights....rounded bumperswith step up front
Crossover..low front indicators....big back lights...rounded bumpers..theres more but thats the simplist way to tell

Late Bay...high indicators and big back lights...square bumpers......73??? on?A proper FATCHICK!! :lol:

 

[Benyon]

i am a newbie to the VW world so please do not be too harsh on me for the following question....what is a crossover and when you say a late bay what year do you mean?

In brief, bays were first produced at end of '67 then '72 was a crossover year between early bays and late bays which were produced from '73 to '79 - I think...

There is a sticky on this in Technical: http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2240" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[bigbluebullybus]

From a girlies point of view - T'early bays look goooooood!!! Wouldn't swap me low-lighter for anything - ever!!! A curvy goddess with lights in all the right places . Reet pretty

I've just bought a wedge to accompany her - can't knock him. He looks like Kryten, awkward and ugly - but drives like a dream. In the right light he looks really good! Just a normal bloke I guess... Wouldn't give you 'alfpenny for a late bay or a crossover (seen the advert with Monsieur Rhodes and his oversized crumpet? - I rest me case (saddo)). Nasty rear end!

Would still buy a splitty if I won the lottery though. I'm aiming for a fleet that charts the whole of VW history to park outside me substantial stretch of road outside the house. Bit of a timeline thing for the neighbours kids I see it as my duty to plant the seeds of the VW bug wherever and whenever...

 

[BigG]

Wow, im starting to feel like im in the wrong forum
Are crossovers really held in such low regard cos they dont have splitty back lights? Are they that terrible that someone would rather have a hideous wedge.
Do owners of different generation splits have such bias? I thought this was about why we love earlies not why we hate lates and crossovers. I thought we were in your gang

 

[sambadeluxe]

Nowt wrong with the cross over (early front late back) tax exempt, better cooling, brakes and decent reverse lights!, i dont get the mines better than yours thing- :?
Think it comes down to the best you can get at the time......
If you manage to keep it on the road its cool what ever bay it is! 8)

I have had 76/77, and two 72'S

ben

 

[smudge]

Nowt wrong with the cross over (early front late back) tax exempt, better cooling, brakes and decent reverse lights!, i dont get the mines better than yours thing- :?
Think it comes down to the best you can get at the time......
If you manage to keep it on the road its cool what ever bay it is! 8)

I have had 76/77, and two 72'S

ben

couldnt agree more Fella 8) As long as its got a VW badge on it then its cool.Ive had a few fatty's and loved driving them.Wasnt to keen on my fist split though...double door 60 panel..Felt real small inside as it has a cab divider and couldnt see when over taking(HAHA) on the motorway

 

[sambadeluxe]

not that it should matter but another bonus of some 71/72's they came from factory with servo brakes!
There all cooler than the alternatives
How many transits of the same era are on he road with the same following? :lol:

ben

 

[bigbluebullybus]

Wow, im starting to feel like im in the wrong forum
Are crossovers really held in such low regard cos they dont have splitty back lights? Are they that terrible that someone would rather have a hideous wedge.
Do owners of different generation splits have such bias? I thought this was about why we love earlies not why we hate lates and crossovers. I thought we were in your gang

Read through again and you'll see it's not just about rear lights! The title of the thread requires people's opinions and that's what people are sharing. There's definitely something about early bays when it comes to proportion and curves - they're just very pleasing to the eye Lookswise, many of us feel they can't be beat :wink:

As for the 'hideous wedges' - well I've got one of those too. Fugly - I'll give 'ya; Hideous - actually NO, I don't think it is! I didn't choose my T25 over another later bay or crossover. I picked it because I know it needs less money spending on it and it's reliable. My '71 bay and our steps to restore it has been well chronicled on these pages in the past (Campervan in Crisis thread) and she's still far from ready to hit the roads any time soon. I wanted a bus that I could drive and use and not worry about it draining away money and time from our resto. The T25 ticked all the right boxes. He's not pretty, I'll give you that, but I've learned to love him and can forgive him for his awkward angles and lack of curves.

Just because I've gone from one extreme to the other does it mean I'm not part of the gang? The answer is 'No, it doesn't!' All are welcome to the forum because at the end of the day we're driven by a passion for the buses we own and will naturally seek out like minded people to share our thoughts, feelings and experiences with. We won't always agree - but that's life.

Cheers, Debby

 

[smudge]

Wow, im starting to feel like im in the wrong forum
Are crossovers really held in such low regard cos they dont have splitty back lights? Are they that terrible that someone would rather have a hideous wedge.
Do owners of different generation splits have such bias? I thought this was about why we love earlies not why we hate lates and crossovers. I thought we were in your gang

Please dont take offence Fella.I didnt mean to cause you or anyone any.

One big Happy Family here..i just wanted to know what attracted us to an early bay in the first place.

A crossover...ok i dont like the big rear lights but it still has the nice bumpers and TBH alot more improvements to a pre 71/72...braking better etc etc... 8)

 

[BigG]

Wow, im starting to feel like im in the wrong forum
Are crossovers really held in such low regard cos they dont have splitty back lights? Are they that terrible that someone would rather have a hideous wedge.
Do owners of different generation splits have such bias? I thought this was about why we love earlies not why we hate lates and crossovers. I thought we were in your gang

Please dont take offence Fella.I didnt mean to cause you or anyone any.

One big Happy Family here..i just wanted to know what attracted us to an early bay in the first place.

A crossover...ok i dont like the big rear lights but it still has the nice bumpers and TBH alot more improvements to a pre 71/72...braking better etc etc... 8)

No offence taken Smudge just feel that the humble crosser gets a bit of the second class citizen treatment in a lot of threads, I cant argue that the earlier bays have it right in the looks department but a proper sorted crossover for me is more of a driver friendly package and still retains all the good bits from their predecessors.

And Debby my description of the T25 as hideous was a little strong and I appologise
I drove a wedge in the early nineties as a builders wagon and it never let me down and I believe its still earning its keep in south Yorkshire somewhere, I have read your thread regarding your van as I too have a 71 though a little more rotten, I did buy it for parts for my 72 but cant bring myself to break it.

Come on crossover owners be proud of your back lights, and proud you own a 'Bay' 8)

 

[bigbluebullybus]

No offence taken over the T25 - As i've said FUGLY is the most apt description of the beastie; but he's definitely not hideous (and if yer'd seen what I've done to him - Oooh Errrr :shock: ).

I have read your thread regarding your van as I too have a 71 though a little more rotten, I did buy it for parts for my 72 but cant bring myself to break it.

A 71 a little more rotten than Eve? Flippin eck. I thought we'd found the worst one!!!! Actually I've been meaning to update me thread as we've done a lot more since I last posted anything. Just wait till you see what we found when we took the front off... I'll try to add pictures during the next week or so - T'is a tale of woe I tell thee! :roll:

 

[Danbury Doug]

I was brought up with a crossover (from the age of 5 'til the age of 22) so to me any other configuration of bay just didn't seem 'right'. :lol:
Of course in later years I definitely prefered the early bay and crossover look over the late bay look.

I'm glad that our buses are generally accepted in the 'early bay' category, in particular here on EB, and rightly so, afterall, a crossover has more in common with a '67 than a '77 i.e. round bumpers, front bumper steps, low lights, early bay indicator stalk, most dashboard 'furniture' such as instrumentation, heater controls etc, steering column, early bay style sliding door, chrome door releases in cab doors (as opposed to black plastic). Also from what I've noticed over the years, crossover camping conversions generally continued unchanged straight over from the 'earlies', whereas the opportunity to modify/update/change styles etc generally was taken with the introduction of the first generation 'lates'.

Earlies and crossies go hand in hand, and we are proud to be in the same family!

 

[woodslat]

Early bays are the best drivers, period. Why else would everybody go through the trouble of putting 68-68 front axles in a split? I find 71 to be the best, upright engine and disc brakes. Our crossovers came with the 1.7 pancake motor, which is more expensive to buy parts for. If I had access to cheap conversion tin for 1.6 motors to put into 72 bays I'd have a fleet ready by now. I have three crossovers in stock now, one in the paint shop. I've driven splits about 200-250,000 miles in my lifetime, been blown off the road more times than I can count. Only logged about 10,000 miles in an early bay (an ex airport 1969 passenger bus with more than 500,000 miles on it!)

This is why I am going through so much trouble to restore the 1971 panel that I have to be the shop truck, easy for employees, friends, anybody to jump in and go. No worrying if my split is going to get stolen, mashed up, break down, not stop in time, whatever. My 64 crewcab is sitting for now til next summer.

 

[tom_r_p]

Really dislike large vents, big flared wings, high indicators and worst of all (hold on all you cross dressers) LARGE rear lights.

Cross Dresser???? bad enough I get called the gay with the bay, let alone being typecast as a cross dresser!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: