Practically Classics Forum

I fully appreciate that if if you are into campers - this is very nice - well presented etc etc but how the hell do they come up with a bonkers price tag of £65k !!!! for something which is just enjoying the moment of the classic car movement (Along with Escort Mexico's & very early Minis)

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C392978

Personally I'd prefer a later Devon Moonraker; I remember seeing a nice one for about £2800 in 1992 (In 1972 they cost £1900 new).

I think what we are seeing is people, who are not really car people, with a lot of money to spend on an image (Though why anyone would want to give the impression of being a dope puffing weirdo beats me). Perhaps it has a knock on effect on other classic cars but you must bear in mind, that after a boom, there often comes a bust.

I saw recently, that an ex Fangio F1 Mercedes had sold for £19.6 million. I expect that was bought more as an investment, than for want of the car (Not unless it was Mercedes buying it back). Not being a multi millionaire, perhaps I am not in a position to comment but I don't really think any car is worth that sort of money.

If I wanted something cool to convert in to a camper I would have this:

(google chasing classic cars BMC support vehicle for more pictures, etc)

I have thought about doing it to a route master bus before.

Isn't it something about the number of windows? I remember watching "Campervan Crisis" on Challenge some while ago and these were seen as the holy grail!

I've been looking at campers (and not just VW ones) among other classic vehicles and, although I don't mind modern VWs, the older campers don't excite me enough to pay "silly money" for one - why spend £10K or more for something that still needs work when a larger and more useable Transit will often cost a lot less?

I'm not looking for campers now - I have just written a much smaller cheque for my "new" classic!

If you fancy something a bit different in that line, how about this? It's a converted 1950s Magirus Deutz fire engine with their famous air-cooled V8 diesel, that I spotted parked near where I live in France a couple of years ago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64660965@N03/7648946838/

Mikey77 wrote:If you fancy something a bit different in that line, how about this? It's a converted 1950s Magirus Deutz fire engine with their famous air-cooled V8 diesel, that I spotted parked near where I live in France a couple of years ago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64660965@N03/7648946838/

quite fantastic that 1!

Ahh VAST!* It seems to be the scourge of many a classic, but not of some, and I often wonder how cars that were basically crap and outdated when new, are suddenly being valued at Ferrari prices? There's another Samba on there listed at £89,000!! I'd rather buy a house and a decent vehicle!


* Value added scene tax

£89k? There are old colliery rows around here where that would buy you three stone built, two bedroom cottages and they'd all be in move-in condition! But, he wrote in an attempt to sit on the fence, you couldn't tie your boards to the roof of a cottage and drive it to the beach. Not that you'd need to as said beach is about three minutes away.

I paid £300 for a rust-free(ish) loaf back in the mid '80s, a split would only have cost around the same and frankly, that was more than it was worth. Great social scene comes with but so do many, many calls to the recovery service, nasty smells and cramped conditions.
For a camper to use, buy a Bedford CA, Mercedes/Hanomag with FWD Landcrab transmission and MB Diesel engine, Transit (though Fords aren't exactly VAST exempt), Commer or Standard Atlas. Even a Tandy Fox is less unpleasant and much, much cheaper if you can find one.
Would I have another VW van if the price were more sensible? Yes, in a heartbeat, later loaves with suitcase engine and automatic transmission are actually not bad to drive. Who said car buying had to be carried out sensibly? I've a steading full of rusty crap that proves that one.

tractorman wrote:Isn't it something about the number of windows? I remember watching "Campervan Crisis" on Challenge some while ago and these were seen as the holy grail!

Your quite right the 23 window samba is a rare model,a restored one is even rarer and better still this one is a factory RHD so it is mega rare.

Your quite right the 23 window samba is a rare model,a restored one is even rarer and better still this one is a factory RHD so it is mega rare.

Ha - Maybe - but regardless of this fact there is no way that it makes it £65k rare !!!!