It’s been a while since we’ve gone full-meal-deal on a Westy Syncro, but today is our lucky day. As the ad is subtitled, this is indeed Bad Ass Syncro. It is more than the Westfalias I’ve written up recently, but also has the coveted 4WD system. The owner is not joking when he mentions spending $65k on upgrades – that’s a real thing on these vans. I’ve seen them listed over $100k, so compared to that, the ~$40k asking price is downright reasonable.
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Westies have been showing up with a wide range of prices recently, from “what are they thinking?” $15k examples to “WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!” decked-out $80k specialties. Today’s has had a beautiful restoration and a rebuilt 1.9l diesel swap, resulting in a beautiful and original-looking van. The original vehicle only had 52k miles to begin with, and a more powerful and like-new GoWesty engine means this van is ready for the next few decades. All work and modifications are subtle and well-chosen, with a price that seems surprisingly within reason.
Click for details: 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia on eBay
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The Westfalia rollercoaster continues with today’s 1987 model looking like an outstanding value. With many Westfalias reaching above $30k (way above, in some cases), this one comes in at about half that. It’s done its share of roadtripping, with 200k miles on the van, but the engine was rebuilt just 12k miles ago, indicating tons of fun yet to come. Despite some questionable wheel covers, it looks very clean inside and out. Bidding is hot, reflecting a market hungry for affordable Westfalias.
Click for details: 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia on eBay
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Most German car enthusiasts are no longer familiar with the name “DKW”. It’s a shame considering the long history of DKW, whose name originates from the German words for “steam powered vehicle” – just to give you a sense of the time period they started out. DKW reached its zenith in the 1930s, a time when Germany was experiencing massive growth in its economy and Hitler wanted to turn the Fatherland into a nation of drivers. Ironically, despite his notable efforts supporting Grand Prix racers and the development of the Beetle, pre-War automobile ownership in Germany was amongst the lowest in all of Europe. They were, rather, a nation of riders – motorcycles, to be precise, buying more of the two-wheeled transport than anyone else in Europe. It was what gave companies like BMW a start, for example, but the most successful of all of the pre-War motorcycle companies was DKW. Upon joining the Auto Union in 1932, they began experimenting more with small cars. But the aftermath of World War II meant that the area that DKW, Audi and Horch – 3/4 of the Auto Union company – were stuck in Soviet controlled areas, most of the factories being disassembled and sent back further behind the Iron Curtain as war reparations.
The result was that in the late 1940s and early 1950s, new efforts to resurrect these names was attempted. It’s not very surprising that the attempts were made; after all, imagine if Chevrolet went out of business due to a War; you can bet once things were cleaned up, someone would try to make a Corvette. And sure enough, based upon some pre-War designs the F89 was born. As with most post-War cars in Germany, it was small, affordable and versatile. DKW utilized the platform to create what was, in essence, the first modern minivan. With a space-saving transverse motor driving the front wheels, there was ample room for flexible seating in the rear. Outside was a reasonably aerodynamic, compact design and the small motor ensured reasonable fuel economy – though no promise of speed. Today, nearly 70 years after the design was first sketched out, finding these vans is extraordinarily hard – and when they surface in the U.S., they’re typically not in particularly good shape:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1958 DKW 3=6 Van on eBay
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I’ve been writing up quite a few Vanagons over the last few months that are more affordable options, meaning they lack the Westfalia or Syncro options. Today’s is one of the great ones that has a very long name and a longer list of upgrades. We’ve seen some of this variety edge towards the better part of $100k, but this diesel-swapped and fully repainted Westy Syncro can be yours for less than $40k. It’s not a modern TDI but a rebuilt Audi 5000 turbodiesel, coming together for an efficient package that can take you anywhere. It’s still a lot of money, but a very cool Vanagon and a deal compared to some out there.
