Last year, when my bosses moved to Sweden, M. and I bought their broke-ass 1974 VW Westfalia van that hadn’t moved from their driveway in years. My boss, J., had a sentimental attachment to the beast and so had resisted selling it to the great number of people who had stopped over the years to inquire about it, but faced with the reality of owning a non-moving vehicle parked in a country he didn’t even live in, he caved and sold it to us.
Looking at the pictures below, I’m sure you’ll ask WTF we were thinking when we took this project on, but let me explain.
First, Mexico is full of cool, inexpensive trailer/camping parks and we’ve dreamed of being able to travel around to see more of our adopted country. With two dogs, the VW Westy is a great choice, since they can sleep “downstairs” while we sleep in the pop-up tent.
Second, M. is kind of a hippie; well, at least he is the most hippie-ish dude I’ve ever loved. He likes the Grateful Dead. He’s going to kill me for writing this, but I will at least cop to looking WAAAAYY more like a hippie here than I ever expected I’d look. I wear peasant skirts, for fuck’s sake, something I wouldn’t be caught DEAD wearing in Chicago. So anyway, since we’re such hippies and all, we NEED a VW. It’s true, I read the handbook.
Finally, parts and labor for VWs are relatively cheap in Mexico and you’ll see a LOT of old, old VWs still tooling around. When we towed this sucker in to the mechanic, leaving behind a trail of rusted metal, he didn’t laugh us out of town, the way I expect we would have been treated by a US mechanic.
So after many months, many “amendments” to the original estimate, and thousands of pesos, this sucker is nearly ready to hit the streets again. We don’t have the dough, yet, to fix the interior, but we’re saving up for that. We’re picking up our brand new head-turner tonight, but for now, here are the scary pictures.
I presume you will be showing the after pics….and hopefully with at least one flower/and /or peace sign on the outside!!
By: mommy dearest on September 22, 2008
at 4:08 pm
Finally! I can’t wait to see it now. Even with the interior not done. I’m so jealous. First Lisa with her Vocho and now you!
By: islagringo on September 22, 2008
at 5:23 pm
It’s beautiful. (I like the Grateful Dead, too)
By: Joyce on September 22, 2008
at 6:38 pm
I would definitely file this under the “what were you thinking category”. But, I too look forward to the “after” pictures.
By: Stef on September 22, 2008
at 6:44 pm
you’re lucky you aint standing next to me hippie….
*throatpunchforheatherforevenwantingtobeseenNEARthatthing*
By: trucker on September 22, 2008
at 7:06 pm
M. was telling me and someone(?) about the van. It sounds like its gonna be awesome. Can’t wait to go somewhere in it
By: Amy on September 22, 2008
at 7:51 pm
Hippie.
By: Jerry on September 22, 2008
at 8:04 pm
Oh man, I want it ,,,, I would put the flowers an stuff on it with the uuuuugggaaah horn too.
i love you Heather. You a verynear and dear to me
love A. Bonnell
By: Aunt bonnell on September 22, 2008
at 8:09 pm
It’s all beautiful and shit.
And um….I’m sure Lisa Love is totally jeller (jealous).
By: Elizabeth on September 22, 2008
at 10:49 pm
I think you should definately paint it like “The Mystery Machine.”
Biggy B and M would get along great. The Grateful Dead. I bet Biggy B saw them in concert at one time.
By: Islaholic Trixie on September 23, 2008
at 5:17 am
My biggest thrill is that POS ain’t sitting down the street from my house anymore!
(well, now that it’s all that, you can park it there if you want …)
love, Caro
By: Caroline on September 23, 2008
at 11:09 am
That is soooo coool, Heather. I can’t get my hubby to do anything that even remotely resembles camping. You guys are going to have some great adventures in your Westy.
By: Michele on September 23, 2008
at 11:23 am
Heya Heather! I just wanted to say ‘Good on You’ for taking that classic VW and giving it a new life. Hubby and I dream of taking to the road in a classic VW. Just my luck…my hubby is a mechanic who has no problems with rebuilding engines.
We have been searching for just the right Westfalia for more than a year now. I am a baby of 68, my husband of 69; hippies from birth, or so we like to think. Just a few weeks ago, our dream of traveling in a VW Westie seemed to be getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.
Though, now…we have discovered that I am PG. What an unexpected surprise; however pleasant it may be.
Still, we want to carry on with our plans…baby and all!
So…my question is — how do you guys make your living in Playa? It may sound crazy, but we still want to follow our dream; live outside the box so to speak.
Any advice from someone who’s already dared to follow her dream? I really do admire what you guys have done, and your lifestyle choice. Maybe we’ll all meet someday and compare notes on our VWs.
By: Penny on February 24, 2009
at 2:11 pm