VW Camper & Bus – June 2019

12 CAMPER&BUS

Readers’

mail

CAMPERSCENE your views

CHOPTOP?
HiCamper&Bus, I’mina bitofa pickle.
MywifeSueandI havea lovelySplit
ScreenCampercalledBasil.Welovehim
dearlybutwouldreallykillforsomemore
headroomashe’sa tin-top.Justbeing
abletostanduptoputmytrouserson
inthemorningwouldbeblissbutwe’re
tooattachedtoeversellhimandliterally,
don’tknowwhichwaytoturn.Whenwe
wereonlygoingawaytheoddweekend

it wasfine,butnowI’mretiredwewant

toventurefurtherafieldandspendmore

timeinBasil.A friendhassuggestedwe

fit a pop-topbutI’mreallyunsureabout

that.Whatwouldyousuggest?

AdrianandSue,Kidderminster.

HiAdrianandSue,you’refriendis offering

theonlyrealsolutionif yougenuinely

don’twanttosellBasil.Luckyforyou,and

Basiltherearea numberofreproduction

pop-topsyoucouldfit. If youwant

somethingfairlydiscreetandin-period

youcouldalwaysfit a Westystyleturret

top.They’reavailablefroma varietyof

sources,likewww.poptoproofs.co.uk

orwww.spaceroofs.co.ukOnethingto

beawareofis thatthere’snogoing

backonceyou’vedecidedtocutinto

themetal,sobe100%surethatit’s

somethingyouwanttodotoyourBus.

Andwe’dsuggestyouhavea specialist

dotheworkif you’reunsureaboutyour

ability.Oh,anddon’tforgettofactor

inthehiddencostsofthings,suchas

replacing your headlining or adapting it to

fi t your new found headroom. Good luck. JP

INSPIRING STUFF

Hi Camper&Bus, as a fairly new reader

I thought I’d write in and let you know

how much I love the mag, my favourite

features are always the road trips. So

inspiring. They’re the fi rst thing I read

in the mag every month and reading

everyone’s stories is giving me the itch to

make a similar long journey in my Type

25. I’d love to take in the Alps in summer
    time so maybe when I’m feeling braver
    and my Bus is in better shape I will, and I’ll
    share my experiences with you. What do
    you say to that? Keep on truckin’.
    Jim Murray, via email

Hi Jim, that would be fabulous. Half the

point of these features is to hopefully

inspire others to follow suit. We’re always

looking for road trip features so please take

a ton of pictures and share your experiences

and who knows, inspire someone else to

follow in your footsteps. JP

YOUR

VIEWS

james.peene@

kelsey.co.uk

Got something to

say? Email us at

Got something you want

us, or the rest of the VW

community, to know?

Then this is the place for

you. Email or send it snail

mail and we’ll share it here

Hi Camper&Bus, I have a

quick question for you I’m

hoping you can advise on.

A good friend of mine is

looking to buy a VW Camper

and has been looking at

refurbished ones but has

decided she wants to buy an

original Camper.

Do you have any

recommendations of where

she should go, or do you

know anyone selling one?

She would appreciate any

pointers as it’s a dream of

hers to own one and she’s

keen to get on the road.

She’s a head teacher and

has two young boys so is

looking to go off on her

travels in the summer. She

lives in Bromley and would

really like one that is right-

hand drive and automatic.

I’ve told her she needs to

read Camper&Bus!

Many thanks,

Nicola Pollard, via email

Hi Nic, time for a not so short

reply. Bromley is cool, but

I’d say your friend is best off

travelling a bit to fi nd the

right company rather than

worrying about staying local.

The big factor is going to be

how much she wants to use

it/travel in it and her budget.

Splits are pretty but we'd take

a Bay over one any day if you

want something that’s a little

easier to live with.

If she insists on automatic

then she’ll have to go Bay but

they’re rarer to fi nd as they

were expensive new and used

more fuel.

Looking at her criteria we

wouldn’t discount a Type 25

either, as there are lot more

Auto Type 25s than

there are Bays, and

they’re even easier

to live with. Also,

if she really wants

to zoom about

this summer and

not worry about

anything, we’d

suggest widening

her search to

include the later

water-cooled

models as

they’ll tick all

of her boxes, bar

the styling of course.

She should try and get

herself along to a few

VW shows and check

some out in detail and

get some real world feedback

from the owners. At the time

of writing it’s Stanford Hall

next weekend

and that

would be a

fantastic show

for inspiration

and to talk to

owners and

specialists alike.

Hope some of

that helps. JP