1969 Volkswagen Bus

1969 Volkswagen Type 2 Bus You've got a problem. Your life is filled with places to go and things to do. But how can you carry all the things you need in a car that's shaped like...a car? What you need is a car that's shaped like a box. A box big enough to take you, your family, your friends and your things wherever you want to go. From a VW bus, (called station wagon at the time), sales brochure. For consignment, a 1969 Volkswagen Type 2 bus showing 94,709 miles, but the true miles are unknown. The '69 brochure touts, This box seats 7. Without crowding. We mean people. We're not even counting dogs and cats. This example has been owned by our consignor for 15 years during which it was partially restored and seats 5. Exterior The very pleasing shade of light brown here is called Savannah Beige and is fantastically accented with red wheels, red inside the rear ducts, red inside the cowl vents, and dark tinted windows. It's a clean look that includes sharing that color with the bumpers while an Empi roof rack adds the right period touch and provides extra capacity. There's a front hook for the included tow bar and according to our consignor, an RV plug for the lights in case you want to tow this bus to your destination. Paint and metal trim are in nice shape but upon close examination, we find some imperfections including numerous drip marks and paint run, some wavy panels, uneven areas of filler, and rust bubbling on lower edges and rocker panels. Interior Light brown tweed panels fill the inner door space and the material is also used on the floor, headliner, and footwells for a blended presentation. The front buckets seats are beige vinyl tuck and roll inserts inside of brown outer panels and a similar configuration is used on the sidewalls in back where a brown vinyl bench resides. VW didn't complicate things and the simple steering wheel leads to a black plastic dash with minimal gauges, some colorful vent levers, and a more modern Kenworth AM/FM/CD unit in the center above the floor mounted shifter. In the rear section, there is some loose fitting vinyl on the walls and a plastic shelled spare tire. Drivetrain Under the rear hatch is a 1600cc flat four cylinder, rated at 57 horsepower, and according to our consignor, possesses a newer long block. It is fueled by a 1-barrel carburetor and mated to a 4-speed manual transaxle that keeps power in back through 4.857 gears. The engine is clean and accessible. Undercarriage Driver quality conditions prevail underneath with the typical surface rust, some residual oil on the underside of the engine, a wet spot on the front axle, and clear belly pans. The dual exhaust travels a short distance through a stock style muffler that expels two chrome tailpipes. Drum brakes are on all four wheels and independent suspension front and rear includes torsion bar and a transverse torsion bar respectively. Drive-Ability After testing cars with long noses all day, it's a relief and somewhat fun to be right up at the front window with no hood to look over. We roll this bus onto the test loop where it might not win any drag races, but it gets you where you want to go, and the smiles are no extra charge! It runs well, tracks straight, and stops when prompted. All functional items operate as intended and we take this groovy ride back to the mall to find a place to rest under the lights. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase. The retro effect should soon be in place with VW buses. Just as the new Bronco injected some energy into the already fervent classic Bronco market, the Volkswagen ID Buzz might make vintage buses hotter than ever. So here's a fine example with some custom touches. Perhaps Cat Stevens said it best, Now I've been smiling lately, thinkin' about the good things to come, and I believe it could be, something g