AIR-COOLED DICTIONARY
76 CAMPER&BUS
giving taller Volkswagen owners something to
properly stand up and shout about. At fi rst, the
extendible ceiling was only an option, but soon
became a standard fi tment because it made the
otherwise somewhat claustrophobic interiors feel a
lot more spacious and light inside.
The more luxurious and better-equipped
Westfalias sold particularly well in the United
States, thanks to Volkswagen’s endorsement.
In fact, so popular were they that unauthorised,
poorer quality copies soon started to appear from
less scrupulous companies. Such machines soon
earned the dubious nickname of Westfakias.
While Westfalias used, in general, standard
Volkswagen colour schemes from 1958, earlier
vehicles did occasionally have some striking shades
all of their own, such as two-tone yellow and tan in
1952, often coupled with red or white pinstriping.
Some of the results were certainly eye-catching.New generation
Things were much more muted by the time the Bay
Window came along in 1967. Westfalia at this point
was converting around 18,000 Campers a year, so
doing rather well for itself. It adapted well to the
new model, even going so far as to offer a new
roof - a large front-hinged one with bunks inside -
in addition to the existing Dormobile side-hinged
and pop-top options. Echoing Blaupunkt’s naming
policy for its radios, Westfalia started
christening its models after European
cities in 1969, choosing locations such as
Oslo, Zurich, Stockholm, Brussels, Paris,
Rome and Amsterdam. The 1970s saw
further urban themes such as Luxembourg,
Helsinki and Madrid, along with ones to
appeal to American tastes in the forms
of Los Angeles, Houston and Miami. In
Britain, there was the Continental, which
equated more or less to the Helsinki and
rivalled the home-produced Devons,
Danburys and Dormobiles.
Westfalia’s obsession with openingroofs grew even more intense in 1973 with yet
another elevating option, this time hinged at the
rear. But the year marked the start of a decline
for the company. It had celebrated building its
landmark 100,000th model in 1971, but
1973’s fuel crisis badly affected sales. They
fell by 35 per cent, prompting Westfalia to
slash its model range; for 1975, there were
just models, the Berlin and Helsinki, both
of which were fresh introductions.
Although the layout of the Berlin was
different to previous Westfalias, its
most notable aspect was its swivelling
passenger seat. Meanwhile, the
Mosaic kit programme - which had
originated as the Camping Box almost
a quarter of a century earlier - had
been rechristened with the rather
unwieldy ‘Baukastensatz’ moniker
instead. Its declining fortunes could
well have been down to nobody in
English-speaking markets being able to
pronounce it properly to ask for one.V Much was made in advertising of how Westfalias
were useful even when they weren’t being Campers.V
Some call
me the Joker.
Even in Italy.V
The Joker name
was introduced
with the T3 model.