Well, it does say readers rides and even though I cant find any Stag, let alone Triumph badges on it anywhere, I thought I would post up here the 're-commissioning' of a T4 campervan that I bought in May 2016. You never know, I might get away with it.....................
I have always fancied a campervan but until last May had no experience of them and had never even owned a caravan either. So, after lots of reading up I decided to go for a VW on the basis that if I did not like the concept, it would be easier to sell due to the large amount of nutters, sorry, enthusiasts who are into the 'Vdub' scene, man. I was averse to the earlier models with their silly air-cooled engines so went for a LWB T4. The later T3's had a water-cooled engine but seemed a touch on the small side and lacked the all important proper WC
.
After reading about people spending £4K on welding their T4, I soon hit upon the idea of buying a Japanese import. Apparently the Japs only use salt on roads in mountainous regions. There were quite a few T4 Autosleeper Jap imports on sale darn sarff but they were around the £15K mark and way above what I wanted to spend. I ended up buying a Swift T4 from a dealer near Wigan at a great price, in fact he assured me that he lost money on the deal! He'd had it on his books for some months and could not shift it due to being unable to show that anything inside it actually worked. This, combined with broken or missing bits plus the horror show of its interior décor, had put people off. I guess the 2.5Ltr petrol engine and automatic gearbox did not appeal to many buyers either! The high top 'ice cream van' look was another no-no for lots of Vdub scene types.
All of the above did not put me off, quite the opposite as there was no way I was going to buy a stinky diesel and it had to be an autobox so the wife could drive it. The main reason for buying though was its 'rust free body'. Advertised as such by the dealer and to be fair to him, he was pretty accurate. Only a couple of rust spots have come to light since the purchase :-) I am in fact still amazed at the lack of rust on it!
Anyway, here are a couple pics from when I bought it in May 2016
Cheers
Keith ............. with more to follow!
1996 VW T4 Swift Carrera Classic 4 Berth.
2.5Ltr - 5 Cylinder Petrol - 4 Speed Auto Gearbox - 81,000 miles - 1 previous Japanese Owner.
2.5Ltr - 5 Cylinder Petrol - 4 Speed Auto Gearbox - 81,000 miles - 1 previous Japanese Owner.
I have always fancied a campervan but until last May had no experience of them and had never even owned a caravan either. So, after lots of reading up I decided to go for a VW on the basis that if I did not like the concept, it would be easier to sell due to the large amount of nutters, sorry, enthusiasts who are into the 'Vdub' scene, man. I was averse to the earlier models with their silly air-cooled engines so went for a LWB T4. The later T3's had a water-cooled engine but seemed a touch on the small side and lacked the all important proper WC
. After reading about people spending £4K on welding their T4, I soon hit upon the idea of buying a Japanese import. Apparently the Japs only use salt on roads in mountainous regions. There were quite a few T4 Autosleeper Jap imports on sale darn sarff but they were around the £15K mark and way above what I wanted to spend. I ended up buying a Swift T4 from a dealer near Wigan at a great price, in fact he assured me that he lost money on the deal! He'd had it on his books for some months and could not shift it due to being unable to show that anything inside it actually worked. This, combined with broken or missing bits plus the horror show of its interior décor, had put people off. I guess the 2.5Ltr petrol engine and automatic gearbox did not appeal to many buyers either! The high top 'ice cream van' look was another no-no for lots of Vdub scene types.
All of the above did not put me off, quite the opposite as there was no way I was going to buy a stinky diesel and it had to be an autobox so the wife could drive it. The main reason for buying though was its 'rust free body'. Advertised as such by the dealer and to be fair to him, he was pretty accurate. Only a couple of rust spots have come to light since the purchase :-) I am in fact still amazed at the lack of rust on it!
Anyway, here are a couple pics from when I bought it in May 2016
Cheers
Keith ............. with more to follow!
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