Barbara Biography

Me and the fam in 'Babs the bus

On Friday the 9th of March 2012 i became the proud owner of this VW 'Early Bay' T2 Transporter, converted by Danbury in Chelmsford in '71 into a camper van after originally coming of the Wolfsburg production line in Germany in 1970.
 After studying the extensive paper work that came with the bus i have already learnt a lot more of its history but hope to do an exhaustive 'forensic' study of its history later (The parts invoices alone are the thickness of a telephone directory). 

Lots of reading material came with the bus, they all have a lovely '70's smell!

Very exciting to find all the original sales literature: handbook, original service books and hand typed layout plan by Danbury of the interior and its many lay out configurations.  

Babs in her raw, untouched state

Originally i had planned to buy a T25 VW camper which is the the eighties redesign of the classic VW Transporter (Affectionately know as 'the brick' for its blocky shape) as i thought that the classic 'breadloaf' or 'bay' camper was out of my budget ; Early Bay campers like this go for silly money plus and original right hand drives are increasingly rare as they tend to dissolve in the British climate  increasingly the only ones you see are 'dry' buses shipped from California where the climate means they last much longer.

The T25, more blocky than a T2 but still very cool, i still want one!

 However our wonderful neighbour Barbara (Hence the name change, Barbara called her Spitfire 'cos of the lovely noise she makes) who previously owned the bus kindly offered us a shared ownership arrangement....she gave me a set of keys, put me on the insurance and together we shared running costs. Was so excited when she was prepared to sell, i knew it was a difficult decision because she loves her so much, however we continue to share her and Barbara is looking forward to going to Latitude Festival and the Alive & V Dubbin VW club meet in her this summer so that took the 'sting' out of her decision!

16,000 GENUINE MILES, AND SINCE 1994 WITH A RECON ENGINE MEANS SHE IS ONLY REALLY JUST RUN IN!

BABS GOOD POINTS :
*Road Tax exempt 'heritage/classic' vehcile
*Untouched and unmolested. Not lowered or pimped up in any way ; original tape cassette stereo, Danbury interior with pop top roof. 
*Three owners from new. Original owner from Essex had her from '71
 to 2004, two more owners since then.
*Extensive paper work and all original documents prove she has been much loved.
*Instant membership of the 'cool club', grins of delight from schoolchildren and driving it very much acts as an anti depressant without any side effects.
*Always starts and has only broken down on me once and Barbara whose had her for several years has only had a couple of breakdowns and she has been used almost everyday. 
*Always got somewhere dry and a proper bed to sleep in at Festivals.

BABS BAD POINTS :
*She's a little crinkly around the edges, but for a 40 year old she's still pretty gorgeous and nothing a bit of welding cant fix. (See post : job list)
*25 miles per gallon, but with my heavy foot its probably more like over thirty. Could be improved with a new carb set up or LPG conversion, but she will always be thirsty. 
•Risk of turning into a vw bore/nerd (to late already perhaps)

*Er, that's it.
 

£1,484 new in 1971! Wish i had a time machine!

Below is Barbara's 'birth certificate helpfully decoded from the very handy site http://vw-mplate.com. Although wierdly it lists planned production date May 1972, however the reg docs all indicate she is from 1971.

M-Plate content

Model

Type 2 (T2) mod. 234(0) : - Kombi - Sliding door left - RHD

Chassis number

2323122282

Serial number

122 282

Modelyear

1972

Planned production date

Thursday, 25 May 1972

Number for production planning  (temporary serial number)

7507

Type of engine

Type 1 (AD) - 1584cc, 37 kW (50 bhp DIN)

Type of transmission

Manual 4-speed gearbox

Paint color

L90D -   Pastel White

Interior color (doorpanels and seats)

51 - Dark Beige Leatherette

Destination

England, Ramsgate

M-CODES

M-CODE Description Concerned models From chassis number To chassis number 191 With outer and center underfloor plates (belly pans) -  793 Trumatic SB2000 heater 231, Campmobiles 2x6 2 000 001 A41 Specifications for Great Britain Collection of M-codes: M 020/061/187 (1970-1972) -  2x0 2 000 001 2x2 2 300 000 020 Speedometer and odometer in Miles 211-274 061 Type labelling of seat mounting and identification plate for England and Ireland -  187 Headlamps for left-hand traffic (for countries with left-hand traffic) 211-274, Countries with left-hand traffic A41 Specifications for Great Britain Collection of M-codes: M 020/061/085/187 (1973-1976) -  2x3 2 000 001 2x6 2 300 000 020 Speedometer and odometer in Miles 211-274 061 Type labelling of seat mounting and identification plate for England and Ireland -  085 Filled in factory with double amount of petrol (used for driving on and off the train, for example) -  187 Headlamps for left-hand traffic (for countries with left-hand traffic) 211-274, Countries with left-hand traffic