Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2003 09:35:09 -0700
Reply-To: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Earl <jefferrata@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Serious Saturday Potta Potti Question
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Bob Elliott wrote:
I've got a photo of a Porta Potti Storage box that was
supposedly sold as a VW option when Vanagons were new
... It's upholstered and padded on top in matching VW
seat material. Does anyone on the list have one of
these or has built their own?
Jeffrey wrote:
Indeed, I have one of these original(?) Westfalia
toities. The original owner of my 1983 van took
delivery of her at the factory in Germany (can there
be a greater joy in this world than tooling a shiny
new Vanagon thru the gates of Hannover?). As legend
has it, there was a Westfalia Store just around the
corner where new owners could swing in and purchase
all manner of special Westfalia accessories with which
to outfit their new campers, including the
abovementioned potty-box.
I do not know if it originally included the
porto-potty itself, or if it was only the enclosure
cabinet; I seem to recall that the toilet mechanism
itself was US-made. The cabinet certainly does match
the Westy interior very nicely, with the same laminate
sides and a cushioned seat-lid upholstered in the same
enchanting early-80's fabric we all know and love. I'd
be happy to take some photos and measurements for list
members interested in building their own, or simply
for the scatalogically curious.
On your typical Interstate/National Park/crosscountry
road trip, you'll usually find yourself not far from a
truckstop or convenience store, so I think the Westy
watercloset would best be used for backcountry trips
with female traveling partners, who understandably are
more inconvenienced by certain aspects of the outdoor
experience.
We have not yet used ours, as it was only last year
that I was finally able to bring myself to empty its
contents and hose the thing out. I do not yet feel it
is entirely 'mine'. So for now it lurks in a dark
corner of the garage, waiting, beckoning, calling me
to come and do my dirty business ...
Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"
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