The Long Haul VW!

Although the title of this post may seem oxy-moronic (or just moronic), this VW trekked all the way from Washington State to Heckscher Park in Huntington, NY. How it made that trip is anyone's guess, but obviously everyone in that van was a qualified mechanic! This baby blue T2 was actually in very nice shape, and started right up when the brave travelers turned the ignition, which leads me to believe that it wasn't a real VW at all, but a Honda of some kind.

Cool Transporter Pickup

Well, we got lucky and found this in the Amityville Beach parking lot August 2008. It seems that some company, Lifeonaboard.com decided to use a nice condition VW pickup for advertising. I was secretly hoping that their website would be down, so I could make a snarky reference between the reliability of their chosen transportation and their company, but no suck luck. Enjoy the pictures!

Pure Driving Pleasure (If it will actually turn on)!

Well there's been a huge gap between postings, which is fine really, since I don't think too many people actually read this blog. However, if there is anyone out there that isn't me, or if in the future someone needs pictures of an outmoded way of traveling, this blog will be there to answer their call. But seriosuly I doubt it, just like I doubt that this van will ever get above 60 mph, or perhaps get around the block, but here it is: the Fahrvernugen van! That's right, only by owning a Volkswagen can you experience driving Nirvana, as long as your idea of pleasure is collecting various bits of the drivetrain off of Main St. Enjoy the pics!






Note, this van (like almost all of them) is in a repair garage! Also take note of the unique airhorn, interior hanging plants, as well as the glued on rhinestones that adorn the front and sides of this action-packed machine.

Super Late Bonus Post!

Lucky for you, Long Island is blessed with people who like waste. And stupidity. This combination of waste and idiocy is displayed perfectly in the ideals of some car collectors. However, the LI VW Club is one exception. No one would ever think of putting money into an air cooled econo box from a different decade is a bad idea. Neither do I, so I went to their latest car show on September 13, 2008 in Deer Park Long Island. Of course there was more than just vans there, so here is an album of all the interesting photos. Please forgive my including regular (non-van) VWs, but some of them were rather interesting. Enjoy!

Help! I'm missing two windows!

Found in Locust Valley, NY: What is looks like we have here is a mashup of two of Volkswagen's most popular vehicles. It seems like some really smart (read: bored) person decided to chop and lower a VW van... and then put it on a Beetle chassis! If you've ever had a bad idea, I don't think it could be this bad. The van was actually so low, it's dual exhausts had rusted into the dirt on which it was parked! The only thing this is missing is two pieces of toast popping out of the top.

The more the merrier!

What we have here is another example of a sweet T2 van. Sadly, we have yet to find anything older, as the East Coast doesn't treat these fine transporters well. (Not like those lucky west coasters!) The blankets covering all the windows do more to describe the destitute drug addicts living inside then all the camping equipment thrown on top. There is some king of weird CB radio thing (obviously for monitoring police channels), and this van looked like it hadn't moved in a couple of days. Please take note of the (matching color!) Schwinn Traveler in front! (This was found just north of south Philly).

1988 VW Vanagon (Well, kind of...)

So this ad for a 1988 VW Vanagon was just hanging off some pizza place near the Adirondacks. If there is one thing that you can learn from the Adirondacks, it would be NOT to get pizza there. It could also be 'don't buy a Vanagon here.' First off, an automatic combined with a 'new rebuilt' engine? Also, how can a 1988 van be 'new since 2004' (Bullet point # 4)? I don't know, but does the new propane tank justify the ~$12,000 selling price. High Five for suckers!

Down on the Beach!

So apparently beaches are the cool hang out spot for these vans. Just like the purple van that is listed below this was found in field 5 of Robert Moses Park. Unlike its purple brethren, it is slightly more ugly! This swamp monster of Westfalias is beautifully decorated with speedy stripes, lifestyle promoting stickers and your daily requirement of rust. This van apparently runs, and is one of the few that isn't in a garage. I think if our masked hero poked the metal side paneling his hand would go right through!

Enjoy!

Look! Another T2!

What we have here is another T2 VW bus with some kind of tall-people adapter installed as the roof. The snazzy basement windows installed on the side perfectly complement the tugboat-style tire installed on the front. The bizarre roof made me question the use of this van, camper? or methlab? Either way we'll never know as the interior was empty.

This van was also found in a repair shop. What else is new. Enjoy the pictures of our explorers!

TAKE THAT CHRYSLER!

YOU SEE THIS VAN HERE!? YOU SEE THOSE PINSTRIPES!? YOU SEE THOSE DAINTY HUBCAPS!? NOTE THE BARELY VISIBLE BRAKE LIGHTS! CHRYSLER HAS NOTHIN' ON THIS THING!

Do note however that it is in for repairs though.... There was also so enough fluid leaking out of the bottom of this thing to bathe a Transformer.

Enjoy!

Does This Count?

Well, we found this right before the red van below. This van, like most VWs, was in a repair shop parking lot. Although it may not have the charm of its older brethren, it probably still has the same cop-appeal. This particular van still has the enviable pop-top and actually belongs to the Long Island Greyhound Rescue. Although newer, safer, it appears it is no more reliable than other, older VWs. So, does this count?

More Volkswagens From The Homefront

What we have here in this picture I think is more interesting not because of the van, but because of its excellent surroundings. Clearly, this is located in some type of Volkswagen and VW derivative graveyard. Note in the first picture: our heroine in front of our older van, next to a detenté era VW sedan (with bonus bird's nest on hood), surrounded by Porsches, and a BMW (?) convertible in the foreground. Excellent.

A sweet bonus of this find was that the inside of the van was stuffed to the brim with aircooled engines! (Look in the window next to her head).

Another Volkswagen, This Time From Sunny Philadelphia!

What we have here I think is one of the older Volkswagens from our collection. You can see from the sagging suspension, hanging metal bits, and questionable color that this van has seen better decades. What is really important to note here is that this picture has a story. Note the sad faces of our heroes in the first picture - after a full day of trekking through every thrift shop in Philadelphia, people tend to get disheartened. Alas! Upon their 6:30 pm walk across the city back to home, they come across this wonderful example of 60's design, and everyone is all smiles. I think this was taken a couple of blocks away from that gigantic building with Ben Franklin on top of it.

VW Numero Uno

What we have here is a sweet 1970's T2 VW bus. This lovely lavender people-mover has obviously been put to good use, as you can tell by the tin foil curtains and suction cup Garfield. This excellent example with some sort of removable roof segment (ex-camper?) was found in Robert Moses Beach parking field 5.


Now for the interesting information. This picture was taken on or around April 15th, 2007. It was a chilly "spring" afternoon and was preceded by a lovely walk on the beach. We're all pretty sure that it was the beautiful Crystal (the lady on the left) who pointed out this fantastic "road-trip" vehicle machine in the parking lot. We discussed road-tripping and how the VW would be the most suitable of all the vehicles to trip in, that is if it would actually turn on. And thus we decided to commemorate that lovely moment in time by taking a single photo in front of this purple and white VW (we pretended for all the onlookers that it was actually our own). Little did we know that this single photo would lead to us searching out EVERY VW Van in the world.com. Enjoy.