Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 23:28:48 -0600
Reply-To: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject: Re: Bay Window Westy Article in Providence Journal and
Website--tribute cars
In-Reply-To: <7.0.1.0.0.20070204094708.01a182e0@umassd.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Actually pretty cool. It's not the van's problem how much it get
driven. As far as the owner, this is obviously a tribute vehicle. Why
would the owner drive it any more than he has to?
My 83 diesel westy is a bit like this car. When I first heard about
it, my friend Kevin called up so excited about finding it. "It's
perfect. It's a diesel vanagon camper. I've been looking for one for
years. When I get back from my new job in China, you can help me get
all the camping stuff figured out and back in it. It's piled in the
floor right now. I just paid for it, but it's not tagged, so I just
need to store it at your dad's shop."
I drove a 90 Carat. I had absolutely no interest in the car that
Kevin was trying so hard to interest me in. I knew nothing about
diesels or westies, and no time to learn.
I groaned silently to myself and told Kevin that my dad's shop was
too delapidated by now to house the car. He took the bad news well
and asked if I could help his parents find a place to put it as he
had paid for it before he boarded the plane for his new job. I did that.
Kevin, who was older than me but who my wife, infant daughter and I
had been camping with many times in his Bay camper back in the late
sixties and early seventies, never made it back from his job in
China. He died on that trip. For his funeral, I found myself iced in
in New York City in the 24 inches of snow that shut down the town in
2003. I never saw him again and he never got to drive the camper he
wanted so badly. Through his parents, I ended up with it. they knew
me and they knew I drove a vanagon. I spent many hours trying to get
it running for them so they could sell it. But, like the "girlfriend"
in The Crying Game, it became part of my life whether I wanted it to
or not. By the time I got it running, Kevin's father had died, and I
corresponded with his mother about the progress on the car. It seemed
important to her then, as it does now, that the car keep going.
It was in pretty good shape mechanically, but Kevin had been deceived
about the state of the engine. I dealt with that by joining the
diesel vanagon group and learning to replace a head and a lot more.
Then the transmission. Then more stuff. Slowly over a year or so, I
thought about what Kevin would have wanted and made it into a great
car and a great camper.
You can see it at http://knology.net/~felder/Vanagons/
I camped in it to research the one of the first books I wrote and
designed, Alabama's Canyons <http://www.amazon.com/Alabamas-Canyons-
Bankhead-National-Forest/dp/0976725908/sr=8-1/qid=1170652734/
ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5797345-6256706?ie=UTF8&s=books>. I am using it
now in the development of another outdoor book.
Kevin's infatuation with this van certainly rubbed off on me in ways
I did not expect. I never thought I would be its caretaker. I never
thought that I, not he, would be traveling the country in this thing.
But here I am. I think about that fact that I am carrying out Kevin's
wishes with every mile I drive it and every night and day I spend in
it. I think about the miles of gravel and dirt roads we traveled
together so many years ago in his campers. If you live in the
Boulder, Colorado area and are in your mid-fifties or sixties, you
may remember Kevin Philhower. He drove an orange 68 bay at that time.
The camper is a tribute to him, in a way. It doesn't matter how much
I drive it. It only matters how much I enjoy it.
Jim
On Feb 4, 2007, at 9:01 AM, Richard Golen wrote:
> Greetings!
>
>
> This morning I took the 87 Westy to make a back-road trip to a local
> coffee roaster to pick up a couple of pounds of fresh-roast. While
> waiting for the coffee to grind, I noticed the car section of the
> Providence Journal sitting on the table. On the front page was an
> article about a restored 68 Camper. I snagged the paper and took it
> home.
>
> The article talks about the$10K to $12K restoration of a van that
> once belonged to an old friend, and was restored to honor the memory
> of the friend, nice sentiment I thought. The owner goes on to say
> that he uses it with his kids and when the urge strikes to go surfing
> with his buddies! Cool I thought, honoring a departed friend, having
> fun with the camper, etc...
>
> But then, for me the "bubble burst"....after reading all about the
> restoration, departed friend, kids, and other stuff I read the
> following: "He said he's only put on about 6,000 miles in the last
> four years....'Now it's nice and clean and it's a great day trip
> truck'.....he often takes his kids to the beach in the summer...."
>
> Maybe I'm wrong, but 1,500 miles a year as a day trip
> truck?? Gag! I feel sad for the van, to be relegated as a day
> tripper...I have much more respect for the couple who traveled for
> three years through Central and South America and Africa with their
> VW van, at least they are using the camper for the purpose it was
> made for...
>
> Oh well....maybe its just me.
>
> If you are interested in the article go to www.projocars.com
>
>
> Ric
>
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