I’ve picked on Brian and his big truck fetish for a bit, but I’ve never really found any ammunition for Chad’s desire for an RV. Every time I’ve looked at an RV online, it was because Coachman makes an entry-level version called the Mirada…which isn’t the Dodge I was looking for. I wasn’t even looking for any kind of camper, RV or van when I stumbled onto this 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia. From the outside it looks like a dead-on stocker, but this one is carefully hiding a secret in it’s engine bay.
The Vanagon was the replacement for the vaunted VW Transporter that had been removed from the U.S. market in 1979, and was the last air-cooled VW sent to our shores. Like with the previous Transporter, performance was adequate at best, and best not discussed after that. What the VW vans always had was room, and with the Westfalia option, the microbus was effectively a tiny and useful RV.
So what is one of these breadboxes doing on BangShift? To answer that, you need to look at where the engine is. Vanagons were powered by either an air-cooled or, in the later years, water-cooled four-cylinder engine that had about one horsepower more than needed to overcome the air at 60 miles an hour…the 0-60 times could be measured on a sundial. But this enterprising owner decided that his van needed more power, so the four was ripped out and in it’s place is a 1982 350ci V8. That alone would make this worthy, but the owner has taken the time to do the swap so that the entire rig is legal for the state of California. CARB be damned, this V8 Volkswagen is fifty-state legal! The seller says that the Vanagon has roamed around the Southwest with not one ounce of trouble or overheating, and is capable of hitting 100 MPH.
Without any information given to the 350’s current state, it’s best assumed that it’s a stock motor if California was pleased enough to give it a pass. It isn’t going to light anybody’s world on fire, but it’s a great addition to the Volkswagen, eliminating the fears of slight inclines and off-ramps. The combination has been good for 20,000+miles and with the other upgrades the van has seen (sound system, tiled floor, video player) this would be a neat little weekend-travel ride…provided, of course, you have the at-press-time price of $20,000 ready.
eBay Link: 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia V8
Great apart from the paint and the fact that you’ll be dead after the first tight corner on a rainy day!
I have to congratulate the seller just getting it to pass the anal California smog laws.
Hell I couldn’t even get my 48 state STOCK 98 dodge van to pass.. Everything was fine except the Carb did not like the #’s stamped on the cat.. Had to through $250 down the toilet to replace a perfectly good cat to get it passed..
Keep the 350 mild and it might even keep the trans alive. Google VanagonS for STI powered Vanagon craziness.