Finding the Perfect Van
The first thoughts or idea that in the future we could own a VW van crossed my mind probably in the Fall of 2019. Initially I looked at T4 and T5 California busses. T4 busses seemed to have everything I looked for in a bus, but something about this model still didn’t sit well with me, so I dropped this idea.
The next time when the idea came to my mind again, that owning a VW camper van would be fun, I dived into T5 ads. Since I started to quite like the T5, I decided that it is time to introduce to Kelly the idea of having such member among our collection in the future. The promotional videos, that we watched together, fulfilled their purpose – we both fell in love with the idea.
Time passed and even though we both had agreed that the idea of travelling by bus in the future would be super fun, we dropped the thought of having the T5 as our choice of model. In retrospect, it probably would have been too easy and ready to use solution. Also, it lacked that special something what we were still looking for in our next project.
So what did we decide on? I don’t even remember exactly, but around Spring 2020 I decided that a VW camper should be rear-engined. The T3 was the last rear-engined VW bus and this was just the right vehicle that we had been looking for. I lined up the prettier pictures of T3s and started to pitch the idea to Kelly. After a brief presentation we both agreed that this model is just the right amount of quirky for us and it is perfectly suitable for our future travelling companion.
Next we decided to aim for rather cheap deals, since we were planning to rebuild the entire machine from tech to interior, according to our preferences. However, we preferred that the body would be in a rather good condition and also, the more intact and close to original, the better.
At the end of Summer 2020, we got the offer that met our criteria from a Facebook group. The vehicle was located near Tallinn but since we had planned a couple of days trip overseas, we decided to go check out the bus as well.
It was an 8-seated Transporter, initially meant for transporting German military staff. After researching the identification marks for a bit, it seems that the bus was probably used by Luftwaffe‘s radar crew. The condition of the vehicle met our expectations in general – the body seemed to be salvageable and the 1.6D (vacuum cleaner) engine still had enough power in it to start up by turning the ignition key and offer us a short test drive.
After a brief discussion among ourselves and a bit of calculation, we let the owner know that we were interested in making the deal and we’d be able to seal it after our return from the camping trip.
Back from the trip, we were ready to make the deal. When we arrived, the seller let us know that there was a small problem: “Seems like this vehicle does not want to leave by itself.” The problem was with the cooling system – even after the shortest drive the engine overheated and the coolant started to overflow. We decided to try changing the worn-out and easily slipping v-belt of the water pump and tried to bleed the cooling system again. It was a bit of a hustle, but our effort paid off. Then we loaded some spare parts on the bus, including a new 1.6TD engine that the previous owner had already started to refurbish. After signing the documents, our first 200 km trip to south begun. I do have to say that, since the start had been rough, the spare engine in the back of the bus did not make me feel more confident about successfully making this trip.
Kelly followed me in Audi, in case something goes wrong, but the drive went surprisingly smooth. We chose side roads in order to disturb the traffic as little as possible. Even though our speed was rather brisk 75-80 km/h, the noise that came with it was so loud that the industrial headphones I had taken with me came in handy.
Some details about our find
| Model | 253 Kombi |
| Model year | 1986 |
| Place of production | Hannover |
| Registration in Estonia | 04.12.1996 |
| Date of purchase | 19.09.2020 |
| Engine | 1,6D 39kW CS |
| Gear box | 4-speed ABF |
| Drivetrain | 2WD |
| Seats | 8 |
| Body color | RAL 6031 Bronzegrün |
| Interior color | QG9 Saiga (Beige) |
| Options | 186 – Dreipunkt Automaticgurte auf allen äußeren Sitzplätzen im Fahrgastraum 503 – Dachverkleidung des Laderaumes mit Hartfaserplatte (251) 528 – Außenspiegel konvex, Beifahrerseite rechts 542 – Spezialausstattung für Bundeswehr (247;253) 571 – Integrierte Nebelschlußleuchte 640 – Dauerunterbodenschutz PVC 666- Ohne Lackkonservierung (Dehler) |