Junkyard Find: 1971 Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi
The early second-generation Volkswagen Type 2 bus is one of those vehicles that’s supposed to be so suffused with sacred nostalgic vibes that any example, no matter how trashed, will sell for tens of thousands of dollars. As we can see here, the presence of this reasonably complete 1971 Kombi in a wrecking yard near Pikes Peak indicates that real-world values for these vans may differ from the values quoted in online diatribes angrily banged out by Internet Car Experts.
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What A Short, Strange Truck It Was - Air-Cooled VW Pickups

It’s funny how it sometimes takes a while to recognize something familiar. In the mid-1980s, when my daily driver was a slightly hi-po’d 1972 VW Type 2, I was driving a work vehicle from the Detroit area to Toledo to pick up a part. As I drove down I-75 and got closer to Ohio, I noticed one Volkswagen Bus traveling north in the opposite direction — and then another. “That’s unusual,” I thought. By then air-cooled Vee Dubs weren’t terribly common, and *Transporters were less common than Beetles. Then a Vanagon passed by, but, as I said, this was the 1980s and Vanagons were still being sold new and didn’t think much about it until I saw a few more Type 2s, including some older split-windows. Was there a VW club convention going on? I once drove to Cincinnati and I passed a large group of MG enthusiasts on their way to a meet.

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  • SCE to AUX I wouldn't take it for free; you could spend as much in the first year's repairs.
  • Master Baiter "One of the most significant selling points for Tesla vehicles is its advanced driver assistance tech" I would disagree. Even their basic camera-based adaptive cruise control is prone to false braking. My cars' radar-based cruise control systems work better, from my experience.
  • SCE to AUX I'd rather have turn signal stalks.
  • EBFlex It had a good run. But personally I wouldn’t want a truck that dates back to 2009ish when it was introduced. Still better than a new Ford though
  • Arthur Dailey Still prefer the 59's. Auto styling as mentioned was in the 50's derivative of military aircraft styling, and the 'space age'. The '59 Caddies 'nailed this' in an in your face manner. If you are going to put fins on a car, why use small, vestigial, almost apologetic fins, like M-B did with their 110? I did have an appreciation for Dagmars, but the front end/grille of the '59 is so much cleaner and more modern than the '58.As for the back/trunk of these vehicles the '58 appears to me to be clunky and cluttered. Corey what about a column on the Eldorado Biarritz Convertible from 1959? I need to see if my memories are correct or have been tainted over time.