Sustainable Surf

My sisters wheels goes great too

That's a cherry Ricardo!! (Not your sis, wouldn't be so presumptuous)

There's some awesome Kombi's in Bali, FJ45's too. I reckon it would be worthwhile importing and on selling from there. Some cracking old holdens too.

Its going to be fun in two hours time when I go down after my nap,and the already hordes have gone to work...well I hope

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Macaha said..
Hell yes that is nice^

Interesting how lots of people enjoy looking at VWs and get excited by the so-called romance of them. From my experience they are (in no particular order): 1. slow and painful to drive (its no fun doing 90km/h on a freeway or 30km/h up a hill) 2. unreliable 3. lacks decent heating (important in England and NZ) and / or cool (important in Australia) 4. cost a lot to fix these days of you can not do it yourself 5. have **** braking systems 6. have poor all round safety standards 7. expensive to purchase 8. noisy.

I drove one round Europe in 1996 - when they were almost 20 years newer and apparently should have been more reliable

I am sticking with the practical Japanese version myself but yes indeed they can look super nice I spent a few months last year looking at whether or not to purchase another one but in the end decided against it - the nostalgic value was overtaken by the practical / value for money argument !

Having said all that if someone handed me down one I would probably keep it.

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Ted the Kiwi said..

Macaha said..
Hell yes that is nice^

Interesting how lots of people enjoy looking at VWs and get excited by the so-called romance of them. From my experience they are (in no particular order): 1. slow and painful to drive (its no fun doing 90km/h on a freeway or 30km/h up a hill) 2. unreliable 3. lacks decent heating (important in England and NZ) and / or cool (important in Australia) 4. cost a lot to fix these days of you can not do it yourself 5. have **** braking systems 6. have poor all round safety standards 7. expensive to purchase 8. noisy.

I drove one round Europe in 1996 - when they were almost 20 years newer and apparently should have been more reliable

I am sticking with the practical Japanese version myself but yes indeed they can look super nice I spent a few months last year looking at whether or not to purchase another one but in the end decided against it - the nostalgic value was overtaken by the practical / value for money argument !

Having said all that if someone handed me down one I would probably keep it.

Not sure if I have said this before, but
A mate of mine, who I sailed 14' skiffs with, had a Kombi in the early 1980's. We towed the 14 with it, drank in it, lived in it. I think it was a 1961 split windscreen model. I know it was a splitty, not sure of the year. I don't think it had a heater. It was slow. It was actually really reliable, and we had no clues on car maintenance. Didn't cost to fix because (generally) it didn't break. Didn't go fast enough for brakes to be an issue. We didn't die in it. It was noisy.
We towed the 14 Melb. to Perth in maybe 1982. I got my driver's license the day before we left. Instructor said to me - "You may have your license, but it doesn't mean you can drive to Sydney tomorrow". Nup, other way.
Had to have the engine rebuilt in Ceduna ("Dad, I need money") - somewhat suspicious origin German VW mechanic on the edge of town. Made it to Perth, in company with another 14 towing Kombi somewhat newer than ours. Got pulled over by a cop somewhere in the middle of WA for no reason other than he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Very little recollection of the return trip, apart from 8 hour shifts driving / sleeping, maybe 80k top speed, AM only radio.
Hated them with a passion after that.
Mate sold Kombi, or maybe it just stopped. A long time ago.
But somewhere admiration of them had been seeded. A couple of years ago I read a history of VW, then a British book on Kombi campers.
Would never drive one now -but a bit like Ted if I was given one I would keep it.
Maybe they jog the memory of a time when, as we had to get to Perth, we drove what we had, before the time we knew cars needed oil changes ( or needed oil for that matter). or memory of a time before work, mortgages, finances ruled my life.
Maybe I like the style, I definetly like the engineering. My 20 year old daughter thinks they're cool, having never been in one. Maybe they just make me feel young - particularly if they are really old.
Toyotas only for me, but I have gone backwards from a 200 series Landcruiser to a Troopy, because it doesn't beep at me all the time for having my door open or no seatbelt or something else. And it carries boards and bikes a lot better.
But Kombis are cool.