Here is the 72 that my brother gave to me one Christmas.
This van was the ultimate vehicle for me at the time. I was away from home (and surf) at University and up till this point I had been bumming rides to Wesport, Washington just about every weekend to get my fix. We were staying at this very sketchy house that basically a horde of people from all over Washington would descend on each weekend. It was a free place to stay but pretty sketch.
Well this van opened a whole new set of opportunities for me. I could head for the coast when I wanted to, sleep where I wanted to, and eat where I wanted to, you know all the beautifull things that come with this type of vehicle.
There were adventures galore in this van. Like the trip from Aberdeen Washington back to Langley with an broken clutch cable. Thats right, no clutch for about 400kms. Imagine if you will the Seattle traffic and the border crossing with no clutch. Yikes, but we made it!
There were other adventures but I will spare you the details except of course for the final adventure!
The van and I had some great times but now I was all grown up and getting married. In fact my wife, to be, had lived in the van all summer long on my parents property and it had been a sitting even a little while previous to that. Somebody else gave me a nice little fuel efficient Honda Civic that was just a tad more reliable! Anyhow I had been starting the van about once a week to make sure everything still ticked over and such. What I failed to do was any sort of actual driving.
My new wife and I were planning to honeymoon in the van (hey, I am not cheap, it was a big part of our courtship), and on the day of our departure I've got the "I just want to get out of here" mentality. This means that we are happily on the road for 45 minutes before I decide we are far enough from parents, relatives and all the other wedding stuff, which is great but its over already, to actually stop and put gas in the van. So there we are a couple of newly weds in the first gas station together as a couple, me fueling the van, my new wife washing the windows ( isn't she great, isn't life great, la la la.......................)
Now a little smoke from the rear vents of VW is pretty normal (well it was for me) but when I started to see billows of black smoke along with the loud yelling of FIRE from my new wife I knew something was amiss! I took off running looking for extinguisher and realized that there should be one right by the actual gas pump. Sure enough, and I rip it off the wall ( three mounting screws and bracket as well) and return to the scene.
In retrospect the next few details are a little odd to me and I actually chalk them up as divine intervention. It has taken me seconds to return to the flames erupting from the rear of the vehicle and as I arrive I notice there is another guy there as well with a fire extinguisher. He discharges his a moment before I do and as I do I realize the guy has gloves on. This strikes me odd because I can't figure out how he had time to put on gloves, get an extinguisher (without the screws and mounting hardware), and start spraying before I do. This same guy is also the one who notices and reprimands the idiot who is smoking next to van after fire has been put out but there is still gasoline pouring out from the engine compartment. Divine or not this guy really helped out and we got the van pushed away from the pumps in case it decided to ignite again.
After some inspection and a hour or so waiting for some help to arrive we get the offending fuel line blocked ( it was the gas heater line, of course the only line not replaced in the engine overhaul from two years previous) and we are on our way.
To fast track this story a little let me tell you that this was not the only problem the van had on this trip. The following day one of the old tired engine mount, gave way and the movement caused the transmission a little grief. First I lost the clutch and then every gear except third. At about this point of the trip we spotted a sign for a VW garage and I crossed four lanes of traffic on a blind corner with only third gear to get there.
After a quick diagnoses from "Volksy" I made him a gift of the van with a promise to return for our stuff within a week.
My new wife (amazing women not one shed tear) and I hitched a ride to meet my parents and then spent the next two nights of "the rest of our lives" in the room I grew up in, down the hall from my parents!
I have always wanted another van!
We are two years and counting fire free in our Delica.
Andy
One more picture of the vehicle that made me love toasters on wheels.
"I could be just around the corner from heaven, or a mile from hell." -- Jackson Browne, "The road and the sky".
