Ready for Resto: 1965 Volkswagen Split Window Van
In 1947, Ben Pon, a distributor for Volkswagen in Holland, witnessed utility vehicles running around the VW campus hauling parts and dreamed up an idea for enclosing the basic platforms that were acting as carry-alls. He sketched an idea for a van and presented it to Volkswagen. By 1949, the Type 2, aka the Transporter, aka the Kombi, aka – well, it’s called by a lot of names depending on nuances of configuration – the van was put into production. The first generation Type 2 was produced through 1966, and their split window styling has gained substantial favor with collectors. Speaking of windows, they’re a big deal. Common configurations were 11, 15, 21, and 23 windows, and in today’s market, the more windows, the higher the price. But all early Type 2s have risen in value. Here on eBay is a 1965 Volkswagen camper van project, bid to $5,600, reserve not met. This van is located in Scottsville, Kentucky. The body has suffered from an enthusiastic application of purple paint and an equally enthusiastic invasion of iron oxide.
Powered by a tiny air-cooled rear-mounted 1.1-liter motor, the first Type 2 wasn’t fast, but it was a best seller. Over the years, the motor was enlarged to 1.5 liters, accumulating a few more horsepower. When the van hit the streets of America, with its long unbroken highways, the motor was tweaked still more until it reached 44 bhp by 1965 – the antithesis of the muscle cars prowling the streets at the time. Engine swaps are common; we’re not told if this is the original 1.5 motor or not. The seller does say that the previous owner drove it and that the engine will run. The original transmission was a four-speed manual transaxle.
Like the body, the interior needs a lot of work. It looks like there might have been some unwanted guests in the seat stuffing (hospitable! – if you’re a mouse), and the door panels are missing. The windshield glass is delaminating.
The camper portion is tatty and might require a complete renovation. In fact, the seller does call this a restoration project but he encourages in-person inspections to measure the scope of the work required, giving very little detail in the listing. High-quality restored split window camper vans seem to sell in the $40,000 area. Notably, in today’s market, restoration costs have become significant if you’re not a do-it-yourselfer; maybe the seller is considering that but maybe he is not. What do you think this one should sell for?
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Comments
To me it’s underwater already, good luck to the poor soul who buys it
There’s a great section of VW Fandom who do “roadsterations.” They keep the patina and just sort them out mechanically with just enough interior/rust work to make them roadworthy.
I know where there are eight of these split window vans in my area (including two 23 window Sambas, two oval window bugs, and also a super rare type 34) in various states of disrepair, but was never really into Volkswagons, so let them be..
I have 3 too many VWs right now, and would love an oval or Samba, location?
Can cruise all day at highway speeds. Uh huh.
These were the ones you always seemed to get stuck
behind when the four lanes turned into two,right before you
got into the tight & steep uphill corners.
I used to say that the only thing worse than getting
stuck behind one of these was getting stuck behind TWO of them.
The ’65 Kombi I had with a 1776cc engine and dual 40 Webers could do highway speeds no problem.
I get itchy, just looking at the interior pics. Yuck.
“ready for resto”? Isn’t any beat to hell car ready for resto?
Look, I am a “bus guy” and I can say that one of these can be fun to drive when it’s all working correctly. Does a muscle car owner have a smile while ripping around on a 5hp go-kart? Sure. it’s not something you’d want to drive every day but under the right conditions ANYTHING with wheels is cool. I really have to question, though, the people spending huge amounts of time and money to acquire and rebuild one of these. I have to believe that they’ve never owned or driven one. With that, I suspect they are going to be very disappointed. As many have pointed out, they’re not smooth/fast/quiet/safe. Once up and running, you have to ADJUST everything every 3000 miles. Brakes/dwell/timing/valves/carb. And that’s a nice Saturday morning shot to heck even IF nothing is broken.
This one might be worth more if it had been left as a plain panel van. You could have a “cool car” and still use it to haul firewood…
Seller take the money and beat it to the bank as fast as you can make it. $5K for this wreck is high praise. Take the$$$$$ and burn rubber headed for the bank.
Plum Crazy works on the Cuda…..not so much on this heap !
Cuda’s weren’t painted Plum Crazy… I think you mean In Violet.