Tag: DOKA

1989 Volkswagen DoKa

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This DoKa was recently brought over from England by an importer that specializes in turbodiesel of all sorts. This 3-door pickup, originally some light-duty military vehicle – has been upgraded with the venerable 1.9-liter TDI, giving it a good amount more oomph than stock. The interior is all business, with seating for 6, a table, and and a stereo representing the luxury highlights. The exterior looks like a well-used military vehicle, with a few different drab greens and a serious canvas top that needs some work on its frame. Custom-fit gear boxes have rails inside to hold them, underscoring a T3 that is built for neither speed NOR comfort – just business. My eye is always on potential when I approach Vanagons/Transporters, however, and this TDI truck looks like it could suit a lot of different needs in its next life.

Click for details: 1989 Volkswagen Doka on eBay

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Double Take: Volkswagen Transporter Diesel Pickups

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I’ve seen a few DoKas running around this area recently, and can’t help but smile every time they rumble by. My affinity for Vanagons is well documented on this site, but the truck versions are a great mix of funny proportions, classic style, and no-nonsense pragmatism. With that combination, any engine other than a small four-cylinder diesel would seem excessive. Luckily we have two clean examples coming from the same seller in New Jersey that – considering how small the niche market of T3 Diesel Pickups is – provide interesting options for the buyer to decide on. Double cab or single? All-original or spruced up? Turbo or no? Crazy-low mileage, or just very low? Tough choices in this Transporter Pickup Showdown!

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Click for details: 1990 Volkswagen T3 DoKa Diesel on eBay

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1989 Volkswagen LT45 DoKa

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The LT45 is Volkswagen’s Sprinter-like, light-duty van/truck that was sadly never officially sold here. Like the seller says, however, it serves as a great “Goldilocks” between the Syncro T3s and Unimogs we love to feature here – not too big, not too small, but just right and with all of the capability. Featuring two locking diffs, diesel power, seating for 6 AND a multi-use truck bed; sounds ready for whatever kind of adventuring you can throw at it. Exterior framing and a snorkel look tough but mean heading into the jungle is possible too. The canvas-covered truck bed means its only achilles heel may be winter camping, but I do love that it looks like there’s some suspended-bed contraption back there currently. A little easier to park than a Mog and certainly more space than a T3 van or DoKa, this Goldilocks means business.

Click for details: 1989 Volkswagen LT45 on eBay

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1985 Volkswagen DoKa VR6 Swap

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In America, DoKas are so rare that even mediocre examples (albeit with a GoWesty engine) can go for almost $40k. In Germany, you can get this amazing VR6’d DoKa for less than $10k. The matte/murdered-out look is a bit past its prime, but if any sleeper deserves a mean rattle-can job, it’s a crew-cab VW van-truck with more than twice its original horsepower. The seats have been nicely recovered, highlighting an interior that is functional if not cohesive. Double bonus points for the home-brew see-through engine cover. Like a Ferrari, but with a window from West Marine! All told, this is a Vanagamino that isn’t clean or perfect, but it’s not trying to be either. It’s made to blow minds and scare children.

Click for details: 1985 Volkswagen T3 DoKa on mobil.de

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1988 Volkswagen T3 Tristar DoKa

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It’s always a fun day when you see a DoKa in real person. These funny Vanagaminos definitely cut a unique profile, always looking like they should be a commercial vehicle delivering for a home-made hipster artisan honey and hand-hewn furniture outfit. Today’s example was imported from Germany and given a full mechanical restoration along with a new GoWesty engine. That all sounds pretty great until the seller comes right out and says he’s going to break the cardinal rule of used-car pricing: ask for exactly what he put in. It was clearly quite an undertaking to ship this thing from Germany and then get all of its moving bits redone, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to get all of that money you spent on labor, shipping, etc. back in your pocket. Exterior blemishes underscore the point, showing that this is a nice but imperfect DoKa proposition.

Click for details: 1988 Volkswagen T3 Tristar DoKa on eBay

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1985 Volkswagen Transporter DoKa

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Earlier this week I posted a DoKa of such questionable taste that I would have posted it in our Friday Fail series if the auction had lasted long enough. Well, today we’ll right those wrongs with a Friday Win in the form of a gorgeous but barely-modified DoKa. It comes one owner removed from GoWesty, who, for all my gripes about their ludicrous prices, certainly do things right and take excellent care of Volkswagen vans. This one has been repainted in the Playmobil-perfect and T2-correct light blue with black bedliner on the lower portions as well as the bed and hinged sides. With just 95k miles, it has decades of life left in it. It may be on the utilitarian side of things with no frills inside or out (not even a Euro-map GPS!), but you can bet that the condition and GoWesty history will help it collect some serious interest.

Click for details: 1985 Volkswagen Transporter DoKa on eBay

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1989 Volkswagen Transporter DoKa

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Most of the DoKas we see come with a healthy patina and air of “roughing it.” Today’s is more an exercise in German modification, and wouldn’t be out of place carrying some baddies in Run Lola Run. With a redone interior, pickup bed cover, and newish black paint over late-model Jetta wheels, there’s nothing utilitarian about this. The interior does look decent (if you can handle the orange accents), but the GPS system currently only has European maps on it. That kind of caveat seems to be a theme here, making it funny in a very German way.

Click for details: 1989 Volkswagen Transporter DoKa on eBay

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1982 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416 Doka

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My wife and I have recently had discussions about what is the perfect Providence commuter vehicle once again, with mixed results. You see, we’d like to own something nice and high performance such as a E46 BMW M3. But there are several things counting against that; first, driving a low slung, high performance car around the “streets” of Providence is akin to entering a Group C prototype into the Dakar Rally. Second, you gain attention of the wrong characters in the city. Third, you can never realize the performance of the car in a city setting. Sure, it looks great parked, but why go through the bother? My wife’s solution is something like the 250GD Nate wrote up yesterday. Indeed, it’s the first car she’s commented on in a long time in a positive manner. She likes the rugged simplicity of the G-Wagen, the understated aggression, and the upright, go anywhere, in your face attitude. “Just wait until tomorrow”, I said, “I have something even better”:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1982 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416 DOKA on eBay

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1986 Volkswagen Transporter DoKa Syncro

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I wrote up a cool-but-quaint light blue Syncro Doka last week, and while they are very cool and unique cars, it wasn’t quite the look I’d go for in a Vanagon Truck. Today’s Doka wears the same Vanagon Carat Cafe wheels that I took issue with on the Baby Blue, but brings a badass orange-and-black paint scheme to liven things up. It also has the Bostig Ford Zetec shared with another Vanagon I wrote up recently, making it a tasty proposition indeed. The reserve is probably considerable, but bidding started pretty low, giving hope that this could be a great chance at a rare and awesome truck.

Click for more details: 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon DoKa Syncro on eBay

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1986 Volkswagen Transporter Syncro Doka

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Here’s a lovely little Doka (double-cab) Transporter to throw a curveball at my usual Westfalia love. I’ve always loved Transporters for their rarity, funny proportions, and eminent usability – exaggerated when they come with Syncro. That bed is pretty tiny, but I’m already thinking of ways to extend a small platform and sleep in the back… maybe not quite the RV-status of a Westy, but it could certainly take you anywhere with aplomb and be a great continental adventure vehicle. This example comes with a baby-fresh 56k miles and a decade-old Baby Blue repaint. Asking price is hair under $30k, which is a lot, but it’s a lot of Volkswagen and if it had a pop-top they’d be asking twice that amount.

Click for more details: 1986 Volkswagen Transporter Syncro Doka

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