Used Car of the Day: 1971 Volkswagen Transporter

by Tim Healey

Published: February 27th, 2024

used car of the day 1971 volkswagen transporter

As I've mentioned a few times when writing this feature, I try to pick interesting stuff, even if the vehicle needs to be restored.

That is the case with this 1971 Volkswagen Transporter.

It clearly needs restoration. There's a manual transmission and a 1,600 cc engine.

The seller says the title is in hand and the seats are in good condition.

There's not much else to the ad copy, but we can tell you the ask is $11,500 and the vehicle is located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 27 comments

RobbyG on Feb 27, 2024

"Seats are in good condition, covers on them for looks."

If you post the advertising pictures with blankets covering the seats that appear to have been made by the original owners "Nana", I wouldn't even want to see what this sellers' idea of "good condition" is.

Personally I have never understood the appeal of these. Never have been in one, but almost everyone is in agreement that they are noisy, dangerously unsafe, and slower than a pregnant turtle.

Shame about the undercarriage and all the rust. Still, this one will sell. It has always amazed me the prices that these things go for.

Like Reply
- Wjtinfwb on Feb 28, 2024
  
  If you've never been in one, you've missed one of the most exhilarating cars ever released to the public. I worked for a small daily rental car outfit by the Miami airport in the late '70s The owner was a car with a strong affinity for Mercedes but liked VW as well. His friend owned a VW dealer in Miami and somehow the two decided to fill the fleet with VW products in '77-'78. Mostly Rabbits, some Dasher's, a Beetle convertible, Scirocco and...a Transporter Bus for the airport shuttle. Dark Brown over brown "leatherette" interior with the flat 4, a 4-speed stick poking up between the seats and a huge sliding sunroof. Seated 7, if you could find 7 brave souls. One day I was dispatched to MIA to pick up a group and their luggage and take them to the Mutiny hotel in Coconut Grove. The Mutiny was notorious for partying and the group I picked up, a Brit Glam Rock band was already in the groove. I was advised to hurry them to the Mutiny, so we sped away from the terminal in the packed VW. Like most airports, MIA has a series of ramps and curves entering and exiting the airport, the loaded VW chugged up the ramps, but absolutely flew down them as the brakes were marginal. Entering the last gentle curve a bit too hot, I could feel the back of the van lift, get light and begin to come around. Drifting a loaded VW van with a loaded Brit band at the Miami airport was not in my plan for the day. As I sawed at the huge wheel to stabilize the bus, one of the ban members let out a hoot and accused me of trying to kill a band no one had ever heard of. The rest of the trip was uneventful, once at the Mutiny I helped the guys get their luggage sorted and tipped the doorman since that was not in the band's repertoire. With that, one of the members came to me, told me to leave the car and come up to their rooms on the top floor. The customer is aways right, so up I went. 90 minutes later I was gulping hot coffee in the VW on a 90-degree Miami day trying to get my focus back to head back to work. The VW Bus, Rocks! Find one and let me know if you agree.
  
  1
ToolGuy on Feb 28, 2024

T2 was 1967 to 1979 (I'm told).
My uncle had one of these (at a time; I think he went through 2 or 3) and a lot of kids.
At extended family gatherings when it was time to leave (but not really), he would make a pronouncement to 'load em up' and his kids would have to go sit in the 'bus' but the adults would keep jawboning for a quarter hour which left us (the other kids) standing around awkwardly looking upon our imprisoned relatives.
Story time over.
(Later he worked as a new car salesman and then a service writer. Make of that what you will.)

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Recent Comments

2ACL I have a soft spot for high-performance, shark-nosed Lancers (I considered the less-potent Ralliart during the period in which I eventually selected my first TL SH-AWD), but it's can be challenging to find a specimen that doesn't exhibit signs of abuse, and while most of the components are sufficiently universal in their function to service without manufacturer support, the SST isn't one of them. The shops that specialize in it are familiar with the failure as described by the seller and thus might be able to fix this one at a substantial savings to replacement. There's only a handful of them in the nation, however. A salvaged unit is another option, but the usual risks are magnified by similar logistical challenges to trying to save the original.I hope this is a case of the seller overvaluing the Evo market rather than still owing or having put the mods on credit. Because the best offer won't be anywhere near the current listing.
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Alan This will be overpriced for what it offers.I think the "Western" auto manufacturers rip off the consumer with the Thai and Chinese made vehicles.A Chinese made Model 3 in Australia is over $70k AUD(for 1995 $45k USD) which is far more expensive than a similar Chinesium EV of equal or better quality and loaded with goodies.Chinese pickups are $20k to $30k cheaper than Thai built pickups from Ford and the Japanese brands. Who's ripping who off?