15 original photos
Editorโs Note: We love scouring the internet for reasons to spend money we donโt have on cars we daydream about owning, and these are our picks this week. All prices listed are bid amounts at the time of publishing.
When it first hit the road in the late โ50s, the Volkswagen Westfalia Camper immediately stood out for aggressively going after the adventurous and outdoors-loving customer base. Today, that market has absolutely exploded into an entire industry centered around light off-roading and camping. (Do a quick search for #vanlife and Westfalias will be your top hit.) However, like a lot of classic and vintage off-roaders, an old Westfalia can seem appealing but can give any new owner a rude awakening after just a few miles.
Throughout the years, Westfalias did a lot of things wonderfully. VW saw fit to give later models bigger tires, taller suspension and optional Audi-derived 4WD on top the fully kitted-out interiors but the vans were always short on power. Brand-new, top-of-the-line Vanagons were making just over 100 horsepower and featured torque figures more common in the motorcycle industry. For that reason, youโll see a lot of old Westfalias with engine swaps. When you daydream of an overlanding van camper, this is the one you picture: it has the power and few other necessary modifications to make life easier.
What We Like: Most vintage off-roaders like Defenders and Scouts, although decently adept in the dirt, make terrible everyday cars. After all, they were originally built for farm work and are subsequently very spartan (making them easy to work on when they break down). This Westfalia, on the other hand, can not only tackle a fire service road or two but is essentially a mobile campsite. The original Westfaliaโs biggest problem was the engine and lack of power โ this example fixes that and then some.
Pushing this Vanagon is the 3.3-liter flat-six engine from a Subaru SVX sports car, which, at 230 horsepower, more than doubles the VWโs original output. In addition to the engine, the previous owner also bolted in Fox Racing shocks, lifting springs, differential locks and bigger-than-stock BFGoodrich All-Terrain tires. You can take off your vintage rose-tinted glasses now; this is the real deal.