1966 VW Bus For Sale
This 1966 VW Kombi has a fun and interesting story
and remains in extremely solid condition in Southern California,
recently revived after several years in storage.
The Bus is a bit of a 70's time capsule with its trimmed wheel wells,
side scoops and wheels. This is what a lot of folks did with these Busses back in the
day when they wanted to make them a little more flashy and cool.
This is a "Kombi" model originally, the base model passenger Bus with minimal interior
and easily removed rear seats for cargo hauling. Its original color was Pearl White
but was repainted in this blue back in the 70's
The body is really straight and solid on this Bus and while it does show its years of use
and adventure, the paint still holds a bit of a shine and it still looks cool.
The part I love most of this Bus is the history, and its truly fanatical owner for much of its life.
He was the second owner, purchasing it used from Village Motors in Pasadena
on July 16th 1974 with just 31,570 miles on the odometer at the time.
The owner was a VW mechanic and an absolute fanatic about maintenance, logging in little
notebooks all the maintenance done along with the mileage.
Book two pics up in 1995 after book one was full and the impressive logging of
oil changes and adjustments continue.
The final log notation in book two dates to December 30th 2010.
We believe the Bus was parked not long after that when the owner bought a newer vehicle.
A couple historic shots of the Bus pupped up in the family slides including this one
with the Bus in the driveway and the owner astride a stunning vintage Velocette motorcycle.
Check out the crazy bumper on the Bus at this time...which we located by the way and can be included in the sale if desired.
A couple other shots were found on some of the adventures in the Bus.
When rescued this past year in the owners backyard after his passing, the paint had gone chalky
and it sat up on jack stands surrounded by parts.
We took this one home and spent some time reviving it and cleaning it up.
A video of the process is posted on our YouTube Channel
(CLICK HERE TO VIEW)
The engine was restarted after sitting for many years and the Bus was driven around the yard.
The engine, trans, steering and electrics all seem quite good.
Still to be done are a cleaning of the fuel tank and hooking that up
as well as doing the brakes so it will stop properly.
We plan to do this prior to sale, so it can be driven on and off a transport truck
if needed, but expect to do further sorting before daily driving. (Tires are old...etc)
The "M" code tag is present behind the passenger seat.
Rolled off the assembly line Jan 24th 1966 with
Los Angeles as the destination port. Model 231 "Kombi" , left hand drive of course
with the optional Walk Thru front seats, 6 pop out windows and North American equipment.
Original color Pearl White with mesh grey interior.
Seats from a 70's era VW Bus have been installed with headrests.
The seats are in nice shape actually, protected for years by covers.
While not the original equipment, the are very comfortable and it looks like
the original 66 seat tracks and such remain intact underneath so you
could put the original seating back at some point if you desired.
(we do not have the original seats by the way)
The dash and inner panels are all still the original factory Pearl white paint and its in nice shape.
Extra gauges have been installed over the years
and the speedometer looks to be from an earlier model based
on the style of the central needle and the 70mph top speed.
Mega cool dividers fitted to the parcel tray!
I have never seen this before and it is such an awesome idea.
Cool 70's barefoot gas pedal cover sure fits the style of this Bus
and that wacky carpet is kinda hip as well.
The floors under that carpet are incredible...original paint and rock solid!!
I bet they would even polish up and shine!
It is incredibly rare to find this era of Bus with such solid floors
even in the dry California climate it is something I very rarely see.
Walk thru front seats are a super cool option.
Out back the interior was converted to a camper by the owner long ago.
A couple of very neat details such as a removable passageway shelf that
when in place makes the passage level so your stuff doesnt roll back behind you while you drive.
Simple but functional interior seat up with a camp stove
removable center table and a simple platform bed.
Definitely a bit "shabby chic" in its current form, but there is something pretty cool about it.
Remove it, restore it, or leave it as it is and go with the theme, while it is all a bit worn
it is actually all reasonably clean.
Cool 70's vinyl tile flooring
Camp stove is positioned right behind the driver.
The pop out window behind it would provide some ventilation
but I'm not sure how comfortable I would be frying up the morning bacon inside.
Looking at the cleanliness of the stove, I bet it was only used for heating water.
Some old camping gear remains in the storage compartments.
Wood paneling on the doors and roof.
A surprisingly comfortable sleeping platform out back.
(I tested it out with a nice afternoon nap)
The tin bread boxes he used for assorted gear and they will come with it.
The small gas can is just in place here for our test drive around the yard
(gravity feed via hose to the engine).
We will get it running off the fuel in the tank before sale.
The engine is a 1600cc dual port with 12 volt electrics and auxiliary oil filter.
Its dirty and it spent some time sitting, but once it fired up it settled into a very
smooth run. I dont know how many miles are on this engine, but perhaps the service records would
tell that, but my gut feeling is that after a fluid change and proper service,
there are some miles ahead for it...it really ran nice.
The underside of the Bis is impressively solid
A little surface rust in spots but I see no nasty rust crusties or areas that need welding
at first glance here. Looks like most of the original dealer applied undercoating it still in place.
Jacking points, outriggers, inner rockers all look good.
The Bus was missing one side scoop when we found it, but another pair were found in the
parts stash, so we popped them on there just for kicks.
The wheels and tires are old obviously and the rears in my opinion are a little tall
(they get close to the top on big bumps)
I will offer a set of original 14" Bus wheels OR the vintage Pacer slotted steel wheels
that are currently fitted.
Gas door has been fitted with a lock
A couple dents on the rear corners but nothing heavy
Rockers look solid overall.
This passenger side rear corner shows a couple small blisters and signs of a brush touch up.
Drivers side rocker looks good
Front nose down by the seam...maybe a bit of a blister?
Windshield frames look amazing with no signs of rust or repair
The nose did have a spare tire fitted at one point but now has a chrome emblem installed.
Roof and gutters look awesome
If you look closely at the nose just through the lower "W"
of the emblem, you can see a couple drilled holes from the previously installed
front spare tire mount.
The body is really pretty nice overall.
The cut rear fender arches of course are a common body repair and replacement panels are
available, but Im kinda digging the vibe here of it just as it sits.
Ive got some old surf racks for the roof, throw your longboard up there and fill the windows
with surf stickers...this would be an epic cool surf cruiser.
So fun.
As it sits it is still a bit of a project but as you can see it has incredible bones.
So solid and straight and quite complete. A long life of use from a maintenance minded
owner and adventurer. Its not going to take much to make this a driver and the longer Ive got it here,
the more I will probably do to it to get it to that point.
Asking
$17,000
For More Info...CALL
951 795-1175
Or Email oldbug@earthlink.net