Fort Boise: That First VW Van

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  hmoffsuite on December 15 at 11:20 a.m.

  Current bid now at $21,000. I figure it is worth about 25 thou. Often, tho, ‘celebrity’ cars like this will sell for more than actual market value.

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  Phaedrus on December 15 at 11:22 a.m.

  1972 Bug with a piece of plywood under the rear seat to keep the battery from falling out of the car. Again.

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  hmoffsuite on December 15 at 11:25 a.m.

  Btw, I currently own 3 VWs. A 1955 Beetle, a 1974 Thing and a 1973 Convertible. The first two will be sold next month.

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  lastdemoinidaho on December 15 at 11:40 a.m.

  Oh yes I did own one of these. Bought one new in 1966. Great little rig for a large family, but lots of negatives. Almost no heat in the winter. Pulling a pass grade with four kids and all the camping gear meant lots of gear shifting and 35 mph at best. Lots and lots of shifting which the wife didn’t really enjoy. Don’t know how I talked her into this critter.
  Only 45 hp engine. Teen aged son of the family we sold it to a few years later blew the engine trying to do “wheelies” leaving the high school.

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  zelda on December 15 at 11:54 a.m.

  I wonder how many Baby Boomers learned how to drive a stick shift on a VW Beetle or microbus. The rule of thumb was if you could learn that, you could learn to drive a manual transmission on anything (‘cept maybe a Peterbilt).

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  OfCoffee on December 15 at 11:59 a.m.

  ‘68 Fastback. Same plywood holding the battery in as Phaedrus. I melted the aircooled engine pushing the throttle across the Southern Idaho desert in college.

  I dubbed that car my “Ferrari”.

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  Phaedrus on December 15 at 12:18 p.m.

  Hmoffsuite, what’s the price range you expect on the Thing?

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  hmoffsuite on December 15 at 12:57 p.m.

  Phaedrus. That one is sort of a roll of the dice. At auction, they often are decidedly ‘cute’ and will ‘break out’. They can become a darling of the auction. I have seen a couple this year sell for up into the $20k range. Mine is very nice and I would think it might bring around $12k. If you shop for them, they can be found for around $8500 for a nice one. Buy low, sell higher. :~)

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  Phaedrus on December 15 at 1:18 p.m.

  hmoffsuite, thanks.

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  Stickman on December 15 at 1:38 p.m.

  I have had a few and loved them all. When I first got married, we bought a 75’ Super Beetle for 3k I think and three years later sold it for the same price. The vans have always been considered hippie vans, and I always loved them.

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  BigMike on December 15 at 1:47 p.m.

  I guess my glory days aren’t quite over yet because I still drive an ‘85 VW Vanagon. Actually I’m really in my golden years but I still use and love my van. Camping in it allows me to travel light and cheap.

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  wheels on December 16 at 10:01 a.m.

  I have fond memories of the VW van, the funniest being one day years ago when I was teaching skiing in Aspen.That day my class was at Snomass(a few miles out of Aspen) and I was on the edge of town hitching a ride when a group of “hippies” driving one pulled over to give me a ride.The song ‘here comes the sun’ was playing so loud U could here it forever and when the side door opened smoke came billowing out(not car smoke either)funny as H but I got to work on time.

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  spokelooneh on December 17 at 12:13 a.m.

  “wheels on December 16 at 10:01 a.m.

  I have fond memories of the VW van, the funniest being one day years ago when I was teaching skiing in Aspen. … ”

  Wow, I would never have thought that about your experiences.

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