So you think MB engineers were smart........

[georgem]

Like Gary down in Melbourne, I also own a Kombi - mine is a ute or pick up, his is a camper.

The speedo stopped working the other day with a broken cable. Replacing it was soooooo simple because it is such a simple (read clever) idea - perhaps the engineers that designed the VW were the fathers of the Pagoda engineers.

The speedo cable looks pretty much like ours at the dash end, at the other, the inner cable sticks out of the outer and has a square knob, not much bigger than the cable outer. This end is pushed into a rubber gromet at the back of the front left wheel housing. It goes in about 6 inches, through the centre of the stub axle and out past the end until it fits into a square hole in the centre of the grease cup. It pokes through a little and is held in place by a circlip. Thats it. One turn of the wheel rotates the cable once. No gearing - nothing. I just love the simplicity of it - brilliant.
FYI

cheers

[jaymanek]

They also have terrible brakes and no heater or proper wipers...

Basic they are and I cant fathom why they are worth so much money!

Dont get me wrong, I love the charm of them but they are so so basic.

[georgem]

Their charm is BECAUSE  they are so basic - no pretence - a mass produced vehicle that everyone could afford - the beetle, or a commercial load carrying  vehicle - the Kombi which evolved into a people mover then a holiday mobile home. All the problems that you mention are true, although in later years, the bay window kombis (single piece windscreen) are more driveable - if the stars are aligned and everything connected properly, my heater works and the disc brakes are fine.

The iconic kombi is the early split screen version and it is guilty as charged however last year one sold in the US for in excess of $200K. In Australia, a restored "splitty" sells for north of $60K

Everytime I drive mine I have a smile on my face - its that sort of vehicle; as I do when I drive our pagoda, but this is more of a giggle.......... You sit nice and high so its a great view - lets you see around all the pretenders in their SUVs  and you can imagine you are driving a Mack truck with the upright seat and flat steering wheel.  For many people, they evoke memories of their youth; for some a hippie lifestyle, for others of time spent camping or living a surfing life, or for others a pretence that that's the life they are leading now.

They can be a challenge to drive; not known for their power, and equipped with an automatic, unannounced lane changing capability in strong cross winds just adds to their charm, as does a gear stick with worn linkeages - its a couple of metres back to the gearbox - and  gives the stirring porridge impression.

All in all a fun car to drive that nobody takes too seriously-well that's not completely true, we do have the types that rabbit on about whats genuine of not - what color cad plating the bolts should be that hold the tin ware to the engine bay etc etc, but they are in a minority. Most people just want to enjoy their kombi.

cheers

George

[Garry]

I totally agree with you George,  They are just plain fun to drive and always bring a smile to you and others.  Brakes not so good, heater, sometimes, but that is all part of it. And everyone comes up to you to tell you how they had one when they were younger.  Mines made in 1974 and is an Auto.  Allows the Minister of Finance to drive as well.

I took mine for a small drive last year that lasted two months, up to Darwin then down to Perth and back to Melbourne, a total of nearly 10,000km or 6k miles.  Only broke down once just outside Perth about 600km and I had it trucked into Perth for repairs then drove on back home across Australia, the equivlent of LA to NY.

Going to do the same next year the reverse way around from melb to Cairns, to Darwin to Adelaide to Melbourne.  Another 10,000km trip and will take a couple of months. Thankfully its a camper and can stop anywhere which is good as we tend to only do a couple of hundred Km a day at most  

[jaymanek]

Thats really cool..

I did go through a phase of really wanting a splitty.. I went and test drive a few and then decided that they were too expensive for what they were...
Because of this, most were badly repaired/"restored" and in all honesty I would never have the time to enjoy such a vehicle.

I think If i were to buy an old camper, I would look for the MB equivalent... I know most of them were also basic but I like the look of them.