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If that is rot free, and in chile, it would be in my chilean garage tomorrow.
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I suppose it would be better than a Lancer.
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Tempting, isn't it.
I shall probably go around and see it in the morning.
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I don't think I'd want one permanently but it'd probably be fun to hire one for a week or two.
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The reason I am so tempted is how much use I'm likely to get out of it.
We end up fishing, shooting, hunting and hiking in weird and wonderful out of the way places.
When I say "we" I mean me and the girls, its not my wife's type of activity. We usually use a tent, but resort to sleeping in the Landcruiser when its too late, the weather is crap, the area is not that safe, there are loads of bugs etc. etc.
I could see a VW Camper fitting right in.
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Buy on.Engines are robust aircooled they will run for ever if taken care off.Which is easy.I grew up with the VW Campervan so many about when I was a kid.
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For your entertainment....
autos.trovit.cl/volkswagen-kombi
Its about $1,000 (CLP) to £1 (GBP)
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+1
I have a similar challenge and currently use a tent and trailer, one of these would be ideal.
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Some really nice motors there. The 1500cc was always the best aircooled engine in the Beetle.Has to work a bit harder in a van easily does well over the hundred thousand miles.
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Have you considered a truck camper? Basically a self contained camper unit which you bolt down onto the bed of the truck. Once on site, lower 4 legs, unbolt & drive away in the truck. My CA friends have one and we used it to spend a week in Yosemite, deep midwinter.
The used to regularly drive down to Baja California with their three dogs, kayak amongst pods of Orca and dolphins in the Gulf of CA, and just park the Toyota Tundra ( the mule vehicle) on a beach. Sadly, a couple of years ago that became too dangerous, but they still use it for weekends on the coast north of the border and for attending the Burning Man festival each September.
Perfect if you have a half decent ut.
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>> Have you considered a truck camper? Basically a self contained camper unit which you bolt
>> down onto the bed of the truck. Once on site, lower 4 legs, unbolt &
See the odd one on club sites or at camping shows. They're a pretty large outfit for UK roads even when the 'mule' is running light without the camper unit on board. Might be different in Chile though.
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>>Might be different in Chile though.
The problem here is nto the roads. Where they exist they are normally with fairly large "shoulders" at each side, although usually dirt, even on motorways.
The problem you have is that frequently in out of the way places bridges are a few logs laid across the gap, and sometimes it can be a deep gap - the worst I know is 5 logs across a gap of about 600ft.
At those times you don't want anything wide. Not even a little bit.
I rarely take the Dodge anywhere like that. Even the Landcruisers can be a bit wide. My Hi-Lix was outstanding and perfect for the trips, but I broke it. Quite a lot.
Edit: that's 600ft deep, its probably only 30 odd foot from one side to the other.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 11 Mar 15 at 22:35
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Wow. No way would I take a heavily leaden truck camper over anything like that. I assume you are familiar with the twin cab Toyota Tundra V8. Imagine the weight of that with a camper fixed onto the bed, loaded with kit, full fuel tank and lots of water. Scary.
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Oh its scary as hell, but picture this...
About 10 years ago I drove out into the Andes towards the Argentine border - although the last Chilean checkpoint is about 200 miles before you reach an Argentine checkpoint.
At one point I crossed the bridge I mentioned about. On another point I tore a door mirror off the hilux trying to hug a mountain so that the other wheels wouldn't fall down the 1500ft gap.
My passenger peered out and looked down and could see no sign of the road. It ended somewhere he couldn't see under the truck. Strangely he wasn't prepared to lean out far enough to see exactly how much road we had under the wheels.
After 3 hours or so we drove into a huge flat valley. No roads, no tracks, not even animal paths. However, I knew to aim between two peaks and we picked our way slowly across the valley floor - took about another hour I think.
The we drove quite steeply up past the snow line and reach the hot spring we were aiming for.
Sitting in a stonking hot natural, volcanic spring - as hot if not hotter than a bath, with a beautiful blue sky, miles and miles from anybody, no man-made sound at all, drinking G&T, some 500ft above the snow line wondering exactly what type of cat had left the tracks my friend had spotted between us and the Hilux.
It doesn't get much better. You had to be there.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 11 Mar 15 at 22:57
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Sounds amazing. I have the book ''Hot springs of the eastern Sierra'' by George Williams. Visited quite a few, often in winter en route to/from Mammoth. The further off the beaten track the better. Some stunning mountain views from several, but sadly the odd few nearer civilisation were frequented by stoners, young & old, drinking Bud. A bad combination, so we took off elsewhere.
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Yes Bromp, I have seen a few in the UK. Totally impractical in Europe IMHO. A twin cab ute makes lots of sense as a mule vehicle. Throw the kayaks and inflatable raft in the truck bed in summer, winter throw the skis in the truck bed and off you go with room for 5. 4 WD, low ratios, winter tyres, virtually go anywhere. No messing with chains, and first tracks in fresh powder. Very saleable second hand too. In the land of big open spaces, far preferable ( for my lifestyle anyway) to a camper van. Sorry, RV.
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>> I could see a VW Camper fitting right in.
Yeah, perfick. Make sure it has a freezer, nothing worse than no ice for the G&T.
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>>www.flickr.com/photos/125140832@N05/16165654854/
Soooo tempted. +/- £4,000.
I used to tune & road-test loads of those things back in the day. I never really liked them tbh. Getting s/plugs out was a right pig of a job.
Underpowered / wallowy suspension. Give me a Bedford CF 2.3 any day.
Orf to bed now - been on this blimming all day with one thing and another :)
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Now then Dog how are things.Come on a doddle getting the plugs out needs patience.>:)
Bedford are you kidding me.
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Sounds like any camper would fit right in. The fact you have a chance at the VW for that money makes it a no brainer. Get it bought.
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ok judging from that photo stream you are setting up a fruit and veg stall with it?
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 15 Mar 15 at 09:23
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Cuanto cuesta, por favor? (Original link NBG)
My daughter & SIL paid around 7/8 grand GBP for a Californian import left hooker bay window three or four years ago.
They had some amazing trips when they were stationed in Germany, but since in the UK, it's not moved a wheel on a trip.
The lass had self-illustrated three or four page articles (paid for - 1 for £100 & 1 for £200!) about their trips, published in two different VW Camper magazines
Blooming waste of idle capital now.
Last edited by: Roger. on Sun 15 Mar 15 at 09:56
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Given the prices now, and the fact the chancellor rewards one by taxing interest that does not even make up for the devaluation of the capital, a VW van if mothballed sensibly may be a better investment.
Part of the reason why classic cars (and vans) have increased in value.
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Volkswagen - VW Camper - Zero
