Date:         Thu, 09 Feb 95 15:12:11 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Story: Most improved vw bus (1966)


MOST improved VW-Bus
   Dean Oster's $12,000 VW Bus/Camper sports ideas you can use to
   improve any VW Bus - be it plain or fancy
Foreign Car Guide, December 1966
By The Editor

The contest for the Most Improved VW Bus is sometimes even more
interesting than that for the Most Improved Sedan. At this year's
VW Club of America Convention in St. Louis this was the case, but not
because the sedans were uninteresting. It was just that the winner and
runner up had been seen in other contests. But most of the buses
entered in this year's contest had not been at the New York convention
while many of the last year's top buses stayed in the far off if not
mysterious East.

The winning bus was the most expensive on display, but it was not money
($10,000 - $12,000) invested in this winner that earned Dean Oster his
cup - it was the thought and design that he employed.

Outwardly this looked like a normal VW Station Wagen converted into a
camper or perhaps equipped with one of the fancier camper kits now on
the market. However, looks can be deceiving. The empty shell of the
bus was built to Dean's specifications after a two-year struggle to
get VW to build the bus he wanted. Non-stock items include such things
as the fire engine (yes, the VW truck can be had as a fully equpped
fire engine) under body supports and extra framing plus the ambulance
springing and shock absorbers. In the right rear corner of the engine
compartment he has a large extra battery to help handle the added
electrical loads, but otherwise the basic machinery has been left
strictly stock.

Where things get completely unstock is in the design of the camper
inside the bare shell they received from Wolfsburg. Dean and his family
designed and redesigned to make room in this standard-sized VW bus for
sleeping accomodations for four, hot and cold running water,
refrigeration, a shower, flush toilet with holding tank, two way radio,
television, high fidelity, air conditioning - in short all the comforts
of home and some that most homes do not yet boast.  Yet all this
equipment fits in and on the bus which is far handier and more
maneuverable than a trailer or one of the larger Motor Homes as some
are called.

On the roof, he has his fuel and water supply. This comes to almost
400 pounds of extra weight mounted high at the back. When I first saw
this vehicle, I was frankly frightened by what I imagined its handling
characteristics might be. But when i got a chance to drive it for
perhaps 10 miles, I found that this is in deed a usable machine. At
very slow speeds on narrow back roads with a high crown, you can feel
the weight. It sort of throws the bus from one side to the other as
you cross the crown of the road and gave me the same unstable feeling
as a bicycle I had as a boy: The basket was mounted on top of the rear
fender which gave it much the same unbalanced feeling when loaded with
papers. But once on the highway, this feeling departed and I was
amazed by the general steadiness and well controlled road behavior.
Taking a sweeping off-ramp to another expressway, the bus would settle
into its turn and simply hold on without the least bit of skittishness.

I had also thought that the greatly increased weight might make this
a slow menace on a high speed road. In this I was also wrong. As with
all the Kombi family, it was no speed demon, but it would cruise easily
at about 55 mph and on a grade it would hold 50 mph if you pushed the
accelerator to the floor and held it there. Getting started was also a
matter of flooring it and building up the revs in each gear so you
could hit the torque peack for the upshift.  But this vehicle has a
truck in its ancestry, and it was designed to handle heavy loads.
Perhaps it was not meant to handle loads quite this heavy, but it can
and does it competently. A sports car it is not, but a useful vehicle
it most certainly is.

Even more impressive than the fact that it drives and rides pretty well
is the way it is organized so you can live in it as you drive. This is
not a camper that merely goes along for the ride, it works all the way.
You can even cook while driving though I, for one, would not care to
juggle a hot pot on a bouncing stove, but Mrs. Oster has mastered this
art. A thin sheet of sponge rubber on the table top keeps plates from
sliding around during meals.  Canned goods stored on the doors are
retained by brackets along the edges of each shelf like those on a boat.

One particularly clever gimmich has been adapted from the cardboard
boxes used to carry drinks at drive-in theatres. This is simply a box
with round holes to support a glass, a coffee cup, or a bottle of soda
cut in the top. When not in use it slides into an under-dash rack, but
when you want it you can set it neatly into a fenced-in flat area
between the seats. The fence keeps the box in place when you're using
it. The box and its mounting are beautifully made and neatly finished in
formica so spilled food can simply be washed off. While this is the
deluxe way to to this job, the idea can be used in less fancy materials
in almost any car. All it would take would be some simple work with
plywood to build the box and make some kind of a temporary platform on
which to place it for use. When not in use it could be tucked away in a
corner out of the way.

It is ideas like this that make Dean Oster's bus so impressive. Every
corner has some use and every use is both clever and worthwhile. Seeing
a vehicle like his on display is one of the prime attractions of the
VWCA Convention. While you or I may never decide to build ourselves a
special $10,000 camper bus, we just mightg get around to adapting one
or more of his clever ideas to our own use. And isn't this one reason
why you go to a car club convention in the first place?

<various pictures, showing some of the neat stuff>
* All of the comforts of home include stove, refrigerator, sink, and
  full bathroom facilities including shower.
  (stove is mounted in cabinet behind front passenger seat; refrigerator
  and sink are behind driver's seat).
* Ready for the day, bedding fits in space over engine with flares and
  fire extinguisher on the side.
* Inside driver's compartment, you begin to see the extent of
  modifications. Belts and harness aim for safety while CB radio and
  soft drink tray between seats with under-dash rack add interest and
  convenience for trips.
* Every switch and control is neatly labeled, a necessity for any driver
  not familiar with them.
* The line of the air conditioner matches bus roof line tumblehome so
  you have to look twice to see raised area.
* Three-quarter rear view shows fuel and water tank on roof-rack reached
  by ladder. Hump under rack is air condtioner, round tank holds air
  supply for hors mounted on rack, and vents behind driver's door are
  for gas operated refrigerator.
* Ready for the road, "Dog Patch Express" has furled awning, full water
  and propane tanks in box on roof-rack and three antennae for radio
  (center nose), CB radio (left nose), and TV (roof).