Jul

6

8

VW Camper: Adventure Sports Icon

Mark Pawlak    Adventure Sports & Travel Thoughts     australia, cornwall, Surf, Surfing, vw camper, westfalia

The VW camper is one of the few true adventure sports icons. And here’s why they have such a place in our hearts:

Designed to live from, the camper is home and vehicle, transport and recreation, all rolled into one.

How else can you carry several boards, have a place to shelter in, a front room to chill in, and a spot to entertain, cook and sleep in. You can’t! VW campers shout ‘freedom’. They invoke thoughts of travels of discovery, and of raw and rugged shores.

A harbour from Cornish gales or shelter from Aussie rays, this vehicle is etched in our psyche. If you never owned one, it’s still likely you’ll have known one. From the tap-tap-tap of their air-cooled motors, to the classic split-screen style (1949 – 1967) there’s something unique about each incarnation.

Ignoring, only briefly, just how damn cool they are, let’s look at what they do.

Originally a VW Beetle with a box on the back, the first models were pure utility – and known as ‘Bulli’s’ (workhorses). Launched at the 1949 Geneva Motor Show, it wasn’t until the mid 50s did they take off as sport utility wagons; the Camper evolved thanks to coachbuilder Westfalia, which made the first conversions in 1951.

The earlier split-screen versions (Type II) were later improved, but never bettered, with ‘proper’ windows and more efficient engines. By now, ‘Campers’ were slowly rollin into hippy and surf folklore.

Earlier models are so prized, and thanks also to the huge aftermarket industry, there are always spare parts to be found.

Recent attempts by VW to create a new camper have failed. Yes, they have modern models that can do similar things, but they’ve nothing that can do it with such style.

VW Camper: Adventure Sports icon? No question, it’s the adventure sports icon!

If you’ve a camper story, or think there’s another product that has the same uber cool iconic status, let us know.

About the author

Mark Pawlak wrote 170 articles on this blog.

Editor at Adventure Sports Holidays, Mark's love affair with travel and the challenges of adventure sports continues... "You could save all year for a two-week, all-inclusive, doss by the pool, booze and buffet binge. Or, with a little planning and some good equipment, get off your arse and plan an adventure!"

• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook

Related posts:

1. Lose weight through adventure sports

If you enjoyed this article please consider sharing it!

8 Comments to “VW Camper: Adventure Sports Icon”

• 

  Lianne July 6, 2010 at 9:40 am

  I agree with you Mark, VW campervans are classic and the ultimate sports icon! It must be the luxury of being able to bung everything on the top & in the van and camp out in it when you fancy a surf.

  I saw a yellow one at the Paddle around the Pier festival and it looked cool, even took a picture on my mobile.. I’m getting one at some point of my life!
• 

  Holly July 6, 2010 at 11:25 am

  They are the ultimate in camper van chic, no one has produced such a stylish one to rival it yet.
  Its not like you would see a VW camper van at the banger races
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dftULwzTrhE

  my sister has been given every sort of VW merchandise there is, slippers, money boxes, key rings… we should probably stop wasting money on the gimmicks and buy her the real thing like she said she wanted years ago! Maybe when she moves to the sea and has the full surf lifestyle to go with it…doesn’t quite work in Derby does it?
• 

  Tim B July 6, 2010 at 12:33 pm

  They might be iconic and look pretty cool but there are newer more practical options now! Step forward the VW Transporter T5. Having recently spent some time with a friend travelling around Biarritz in his suped up T5 and my childhood camping around Europe in a beat up Orange Camper van I know which I would choose!
• 

  Tom July 6, 2010 at 9:42 pm

  Old VW’s, you either get it or you don’t. . . i get it!
  I’ve got a great old campervan (Kermit) and he’s awesome for everything from taking the family away, chucking all the boards in to head for a quick surf, to just cruising along the coast in, . . . you can go on holiday anytime within half an hours notice!
  Yeah you can get more modern, more practical ones, but you’ll never drive or see any other camper with quite as much character, charm and personality as an old VW.
  Hell i even went and bought another old VW van (1966 splitscreen pickup truck) just for work. . .and there are DEFINATELY better, more practical work vans. . . but thats just not the point when it comes to Volkswagens!!!

  Stay stoked!

  Tom
• 

  Derrick Murray July 9, 2010 at 12:38 pm

  Whilst I agree the VW could be seen as an adventure icon we in NZ have a different vechical.

  Believe it or not I think the Mitsubishi Canter could be our Adventure icon. We have a little race down there called the coast to coast. It’s a nearly 300k race from the west coast to the east coast over the backbone of the Southern Alps.

  Every February there would be a caravan of overloaded Kayak and cycle equipped rented campervans. They all struggled making the torturous trip over Porters Pass and down Arthurs pass to Kumara. The canters back when I was racing were 4 speed, diesel “bricks” on wheels. Equipped with lethal flying crockery , cupboard doors that were guaranteed to fly open on the slightest of bends and possibility the highest centre of gravity ever built into a motor vehicle, these babies were not for the faint hearted or inexperienced.

  It’s a good job we were all exhausted after day 1. The sleeping arrangements were not great; in fact the support crew were usually relegated to the pup tent. It was just better that way. I’ve seen them used as mobile communication centres, first Aid centres and even a mobile rave.

  Every year there would be a cyclist or kayaker left stranded due to an accident, NZ as some may well know is “the land of the long single lane bridge”. This amazing engineering feat was created because the bridges keep getting washed away in winter and it’s cheaper and quicker to put back a single lane instead of two! I have witnessed a camper misjudging a bridge and careering all over the road only to self right and carry on. I have also seen a Canter “parked” on a river bed with the driver thumbing a lift with a bike and paddle asking if anyone had a spare Kayak and could they get him to The Mount White Bridge before his runner!!!

  I seriously doubt that there is not a kiwi AR racer, MTB rider, trail runner, snowboarder or adventure minded person who has not loaded up a Canter on a Thursday night and taken back a well thrashed, much loved and maligned Canter on Sunday. They were most definitely the work horse of the NZ adventure scene.

  Derrick
• 

  Tim B July 9, 2010 at 2:30 pm

  Derrick, thanks for the comment! Love the ‘flying crockery’ description. So you got a picture of one of these bad boys. I think the rest of us need to see what we have been missing!

  I spent 6 weeks travelling around NZ in a beat up old Ford Lazer that we bought for $400 and sold to a buddist monk for $350 after driving 5000km. Seems I had the wrong vehicle.
• 

  Mark July 11, 2010 at 11:13 pm

  All,

  Slightly different beasts but the early LandRovers and Toyota LandCruisers are classics too.

  I know the Aussies favour the Japanese models, but I think you can’t beat a beat-up LandRover series II, with surf boards strapped to the roof, without windscreen!

  Mp
• 

  Lucy July 17, 2010 at 10:25 am

  No-one can deny the appeal of an old VW but it seems that they demand a fair bit of TLC. After a year of breaking down at the end of their road and being towed home from weekends away, my friends finally decided that they weren’t up to the challenge, so with heavy heart and teary eyes, they waved farewell to their old VW last week. Heartbreaking