Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
As I continue on my van kick, today we’ll look at a couple of clean Eurovans that have a lot of life left in them but won’t break the bank. Maligned as the lamer, less-fun, front-engined descendent of the Bus and Vanagon. They’re a heck of a lot more authentic and European than the Routan, that’s for sure.
The first option is from the final year of the Eurovan, and it comes in the great, Estoril-esque Techno Blue.
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.
I’ve been getting pretty into these non-pop-top Vanagons recently, and today’s is an interesting case. It comes with tons of miles and a rebuilt title, but has clearly been cared for and gone through a thorough mechanical rebuild. While normally title issues raise huge red flags for me, most older Vanagons are inherently going to be projects, and it’s nice to know that someone has done a lot of the important stuff here. Most of all, if you didn’t know about the title this would just present as a clean, excellently 80s gold-on-tan van. The few issues will keep it affordable, turning this versatile vehicle into a good deal.
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.
The Eurovan may be the least-loved generation of VW vans, but it’s grown on me. Similarly, non-poptop campers have become a new object of desire, bringing simplicity and sleek looks while still providing significant capability. This teal van has a convertible bed out of the rear seats as well as a table in the middle, with a rare drivetrain combo in the inline-5 and manual. All told, it looks like a great deal to be able to tackle all kinds of adventures for well under $10k.