Show us all your old real cars and vans..

[mike]

When's the last time one of these was seen on the roads? (not mine, but I think it's an interesting and classic vehicle!) :

Cheers, Ken

We love this car.
Cheers Ken, Thanks for the view.
Mike & Nico

[ford_a_30]

When's the last time one of these was seen on the roads? (not mine, but I think it's an interesting and classic vehicle!)



Cheers, Ken

I've got a buddy with a single cab VW(59 no less) with a 350cid Chevrolet engine in the middle of it. Crazy stuff.

[Hans]

Fabulous crewcab pick-up. Very rare now. And a nice link to my continuing story of once owned motorhomes.
After having sold the Ford Transit I decided it was time to build one myself. We're talking 1995 now.
I bought a VW T3 crewcab pick-up and started to build a motorhome body from scratch.
It was built entirely from plywood, and most of the interior and body parts were taken from an old caravan that I scrapped.
Later I sold the remains of the caravan as a trailer.
The body was detachable, but quite a precise job, so only done at the start and finish of a holiday.
I created a hatch in the rear body to be able to reach the rear engine of the VW, in case of emergency.
This came in handy as we were stranded one day in the Peak district in the middle of nowhere with a broken v-belt.
The AA managed to get a new one on without removing the rear body.
The body lasted us for quite some time. I had four VW's underneath over time.
Next time the story of the other VW's.

[Broughton]

Hello Hans,
this is just an amazing and wonderfull work!
Where do you get the knowledge to build such a construction? Are you a carpenter?

[mike]

Hans Bravo, very good work.
I bought a ready-made camping cabin.

[Hans]

Nice camper Mike. These factory built bodies were a bit too small for our liking at the time, and the one German firm that built bodies to fit VW's pick-up were very scarce and expensive. So I decided to build my own. And no, I am not a carpenter. I was a pipeline designer in an engineering office. But having a job where you used mainly your brains, I liked to do things with my hands in my spare time. Funny enough, although doing designs and drawings as a profession I never made any drawings for the motorhome, and just built it and developed it as I was going along. I have attached a few more pictures of the build.

[misterpop]

Ha haa..Superb.Realy cozy looking.This is what we are talking about..Lets see some more.....Anybody done a bus?

[Hans]

The second VW to serve the dual purpose of pick-up and motorhome base was similar to the first orange one, except this was a turbp diesel. That made a world of difference in performance. Sad enough the same day I bought the white one, I parked the orange one outside my garden after preparing it to sell when it got stolen. I never saw it back again.
The white VW also had it's bad moments. Once working in Germany driving on a country road I saw a wheel passing by. When I felt lifted up in my seat I realized it was one of my own rear wheels. Luckily I could recover it from a ditch with only a few bolts missing, so after fitting the wheel again I could carry on.
The second misfortune happened on holidays in Ireland. When leaving a campsite I was stopped by the owner as he saw a balloon popping out of one of the tyres (see photo's). I could not imagine what would have happened when driving at speed if it would have popped. The other thing I did not realize when jacking up the car is the fact that I just had filled up the fresh water tanks, where the water was now running out onto our bed and onto lots of books. The wife was not happy.
You may have noticed that I modified the body slightly. I had cut away the bottom part on both sides where the water tanks were first situated. Now I replaced them by plastic water containers located in the front upper parts next to the bed. This had the advantage of a better weight balance, and it also freed up the luggage space and the engine ventilation.
The disadvantage I already explained above.
The next step was an upgrade from T3 to T4. More on this the next time.

[matchbox360]

Amazing stuff, Hans, both the pictures and the stories behind them! You're a real craftsman when it comes to making a camper nice and habitable! Loved reading your escapades, the part where you're driving along and your own rear wheel passes by... LOL! Fascinating adventures, please tell us more!

Btw, I've noticed that the "crew cab" VW Pick-up has 5-spoke Superfast wheels!



Cheers, Ken

[Hans]

The next chapter of all my once owned motorhomes.