nomuken
Active member
Just a little introduction to WHY we bought a bus. Early march my life has changed, my little boy was born. Ans as we soon found out my Volkswagen Notchback wasn’t exactly what you would call baby-friendly. I couldn’t get the child seat to fit and I couldn’t get the stroller in the trunk. After this disappointment my wife and I thought about how we could still combine the aircooled passion to our family life. And there was a simple answer. A bus! Since the beginning of our aircooled days we talked about having a bus one day. So my beloved type 3 named Otto was sold, so was her Mini Cooper convertible which left us with a reasonable budget for a bus.
So what should we buy? A bus, a T2, a camper, check. What else? Preferably a t2a or a t2a/b. And as we are buying this bus together, color was a criteria. So no green, no yellow, no orange. As my spare time is zero to none at the moment, it had to be something ready, get in and drive… Even though I would have loved to build it myself.
Because of the regional price differences I mainly searched in the Netherlands, Belgium and UK. I got contacted here on earlybay by Peter who was selling his stunning 1970 t2a. Checked his build thread and was absolutely delighted. But yeah, the westy was way over my budget, but Peter suggested swapping a stock engine and removing some goodies to approach our budget. Many mails, chats and weeks later all was planned. So off to UK. And just so you all know it, Peter (toffo24) went some serious lengths with the sale of his bus, super honest, genuine and sincere person!
Picked up 2 buddies and coupled up the trailer
Off we went to the Eurotunnel in Calais. There are always some nice things to see while waiting
Luckily Peter and his bus only live a few miles from the Eurotunnel in the UK. After about 15min we arrived at his home. What should I say? I instantly fell in love with it.
After a warm welcome, a bit of inspecting the bus, chatting I went for a test drive. Followed by some more chatting, inspecting,…
Unfortunately I’m like a little kid on Christmas when it comes to buy such lovely cars. It doesn’t help much when it comes to negotiations, but that’s how I am. After a few hours of chatting to him and his lovely wife Jil we signed the sales contract, counted some money and drank tea. Seller happy, buyer happy, perfect. Peter agreed to keep the bus and the trailer at his place so it wouldn't be knicked from the hotel parking spot.
In the evening we went to Folkestone, checked-in at the hotel and went for dinner at Googies (thanks for the advice Peter), some beers,…
Woke up next morning, drove back to Hawkinge, loaded the bus, selfie time and back on the road direction home.
Once on the train, into the bus and enjoying the channel crossing
After 5 hours of driving through France and Belgium we unloaded the bus and I drove the last leg home in Rocky. In the rain. Super happy about the outcome of this deal and about the new jewel in my garage!
So what should we buy? A bus, a T2, a camper, check. What else? Preferably a t2a or a t2a/b. And as we are buying this bus together, color was a criteria. So no green, no yellow, no orange. As my spare time is zero to none at the moment, it had to be something ready, get in and drive… Even though I would have loved to build it myself.
Because of the regional price differences I mainly searched in the Netherlands, Belgium and UK. I got contacted here on earlybay by Peter who was selling his stunning 1970 t2a. Checked his build thread and was absolutely delighted. But yeah, the westy was way over my budget, but Peter suggested swapping a stock engine and removing some goodies to approach our budget. Many mails, chats and weeks later all was planned. So off to UK. And just so you all know it, Peter (toffo24) went some serious lengths with the sale of his bus, super honest, genuine and sincere person!
Picked up 2 buddies and coupled up the trailer
Off we went to the Eurotunnel in Calais. There are always some nice things to see while waiting
Luckily Peter and his bus only live a few miles from the Eurotunnel in the UK. After about 15min we arrived at his home. What should I say? I instantly fell in love with it.
After a warm welcome, a bit of inspecting the bus, chatting I went for a test drive. Followed by some more chatting, inspecting,…
Unfortunately I’m like a little kid on Christmas when it comes to buy such lovely cars. It doesn’t help much when it comes to negotiations, but that’s how I am. After a few hours of chatting to him and his lovely wife Jil we signed the sales contract, counted some money and drank tea. Seller happy, buyer happy, perfect. Peter agreed to keep the bus and the trailer at his place so it wouldn't be knicked from the hotel parking spot.
In the evening we went to Folkestone, checked-in at the hotel and went for dinner at Googies (thanks for the advice Peter), some beers,…
Woke up next morning, drove back to Hawkinge, loaded the bus, selfie time and back on the road direction home.
Once on the train, into the bus and enjoying the channel crossing
After 5 hours of driving through France and Belgium we unloaded the bus and I drove the last leg home in Rocky. In the rain. Super happy about the outcome of this deal and about the new jewel in my garage!
