As you all know and could probably guess from the title of the site, Lola is a big part of our lives. For good reason, we get a ton of questions about her.
When we made the decision to consider traveling for long periods of time, eventually full time after Cora graduated from university, the next conversation was what kind of van we thought would suit our needs and lifestyle. By this point in our relationship, we had been sending cool vans and overlanding vehicles to one another on facebook marketplace and forums for years now. We had a general idea of what we liked, but pulling the trigger on a vehicle and home on wheels is a big choice. Every first choice for a full time van lifer is a high top van of some sort. In that first week, we looked at everything from promasters and e350’s to skoolies and truck campers. Luckily for us, being semi self contained, tight finances, wanting to park anywhere, and wanting to sleep without “setting up” camp narrowed our vehicle choices.
PROS of a Westy:
– cheaper than sprinter builds
– semi self contained
– more space efficient than sprinter builds
– already built out
– not as flashy as a sprinter build
– we can sleep anywhere
– non RV registration
– classic and aesthetic
The more we looked into how other people used the Westfalia platform, the more we saw how it would work for us. We took the plunge and purchased Lola on February 16th, 2021.
Lola’a History
Our van is a 1986 VW Vanagon Westfalia. After some initial research, we learned some other name for her: Westy, Type 3, T3, T25, Bus, a WaterBoxer, or as we call her: a money pit (more on that later).
Back in 1986, VW produced the van and Westfalia-Werke was responsible for interior conversions. When we bought our Westy, she was rocking an all original interior with 78k original engine miles. The thing that makes a Westy a Westy— a pop top and camper interior.
The pop top is the highlight of Lola, creating more headroom for maneuvering throughout the van AND it holds an extra sleeping area for 2 (or storage space while camping). Our pop top came with a small tear in the fabric, so the previous owner patched it up, giving the van a much appreciated touch of color.
Some selling points of our stock van: INTERIOR
– Front bucket seats with swivel feature and arm rests
- Original rear bench seat (folds into bed, cushion over engine)
– Removable carpeting
– Cargo capacity: 40 CU FT behind rear seat
– Propane stove
– Built in propane tank
– Sink and water storage tank
– 3 closet-esque spaces
- Overhead storage cabinet (the headbanger, appropriately named)
– Sliding privacy curtains
– Skylight (perfect place for a fan)
– 3 Way fridge (propane, 110ac & 12v)
- 1 stow-away table (originally missing the front table)
– Center swivel bucket seat with storage (in storage)
Cons:
– poor handling at speeds over 60mph especially in moderate-strong winds
– loud at speeds over 60mph
– poor gas mileage
– temperamental engine when starting or when running cold.
– HOT (driving or parked) when over 80F (roof vent inadequate)
– extra cramped when the top is not up
– very poor headlights when driving at night
Overall, Lola’a pros outweigh her cons, here. Everything is fixable with some elbow grease, a youtube mechanic, and a solid van community to help us along the way. Do we regret Lola? No. If a stranger walked up and asked us to name a number, anything for a price 🙂
Next post, we will talk about some of the many many projects we have don to make our van run smooth, more comfortable, and as ready for long term travel as she can get.