The story starts with the usual old tale (for those familiar with VW Type2’s) of trying to find a decent, British right-hand-drive example whose structure comprises mainly of steel as opposed to a combination of rust, holes and body filler. No mean feat in today’s crazy Bus market! As with every Bay Window Bus I’ve ever bought, the seemingly compulsory viewing of many other examples prior to purchase was accomplished with the greatest indifference, much to the dismay of my other half. (Rule 1: When trying to find a bus with genuinely good bodywork, always realise that a) People’s definitions of the adjective ‘excellent’ may differ widely from your understanding of the word. b) You will spend the equivalent of Bolivia’s national debt in fuel trying to locate the right bus and c) You need to be able to cope with disappointment and not vent your anger verbally or physically in the direction of the vendor.) As I’ve discovered before, the right bus is out there and when it comes along, it is (usually) worth the effort. My remit was simple: it had to be an original, untouched pre-1973 (tax exempt) bus and it had to be a ‘genuine’ camper interior conversion and not something knocked together using re-claimed pine, drawing pins and Blu-Tack.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Let’s see what the search turned up……