VW Bus as Collector Car

Look who's with the big boys.

Growing up, I spent a good deal of time reading my dad's Hemmings magazine. It is the car collector's bible of sort. Lately - it's added color and become slick with actual articles, but back in the day it was parchment brown with ultra-thin newspaper print that the ink smudged on as you read it. It contains classified ads full of cars from around the world. And it is read all around the world.

Old Hemmings before they went slick.

In the front of each issue, were the auctions. Where cars that were either super rare or super expensive were going up for bid. The average auction may have a '63 'vette or a Cord or a 70s muscle car. The grandaddy of these auction houses were the Kruse auctions, as they seemed to bring the great cars in.

Well, I was reading the Auto Trader last night and stumbled across an ad for a Kruse auction in Del Mar, a beachside community north of La Jolla, CA, and advertised in the middle of the ad is a 1973 VW Westfalia. Now it may not have been uncommon to see Split Windows - especially the 23 window model - in these auctions, but never have I seen a Bay Window gain such an elite status.

Here is the picture and description at their website:


1973 Volkswagen Camper Westphalia [sic] Pop-Top in great condition and very vintage! New tires, shocks, brakes! Fully serviced and needs nothing!! This is the nicest unrestored vintage camper I have seen in a very long time! 75,000 miles are believed to be original, and probably are based on the condition of this VW. 4 cyl with a 4 speed transmission, power brakes, new tires, tinted glass, pop-top. All camper equipment is mint to perfect condition. The camper features a gas stove, ice box/refrigerator, hook up for outside power, sink, all side curtains, bug screens, fold out bed, table, bike rack, propane tank, plenty of storage and closet space. This camper is ready to go - it needs nothing! Drives as good, or better than new. It is rare to find one this nice with no rust. It is solid and dry top to bottom with beautiful paint. It is quite obvious this car was well cared for its whole life and garaged as well! Don’t miss out on this opportunity!

There is also a Bug and a Thing for sale at the same auction.