is this too expensive ?

I'm tempted to say f*ck yes! I certainly wouldn't/couldn't touch at at that sort of money, even if it is immaculate and sort of well modded!

Here we go again. This has been whinged about on at least 3 forums so far, I see. (No diss to greaz1989 here, just a bit fed up of it popping up everywhere today so I thought I might as well have a rant here rather than anywhere else... you lucky people, you...)

Right, I can see at least £7500 in those parts he's listed (just adding up approximate prices from when I did my van), not including the £6000 stereo or whatever it is. Then add the cost of the base vehicle, at least £5000, probably more. Then the rust repair it'd probably have needed - let's be really generous and say £1500 including panels. Then the paint, £2k? I doubt it would be much less. Interior? Got to be a couple of grand in there. So we're already well over £20k and we've not even started to put it together.

Splits are not cheap to buy or restore. Them's the facts - I don't like it more than the next person but it's not a fair world. No, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for it, it's not my style at all, but I doubt I could build one myself to that standard/spec for much less with me doing all the labour.

If they've paid out for pro work during the build I can imagine it have costing well over £30k (I know a couple of non-Sambas built by so called VW specialists to appalingly shoddy standards, and one of those ended up costing the poor sap well over £20k) so if this one is as good as it looks and someone with an awful lot of money fancies a short cut to instant Jamie-itis then fine.

Meanwhile the whingers can continue to pay £6,000 for stripped out wrecks with "patina" shipped in from Texas, or a whole load of filler and 2K paint if they want the wheel on the right hand side... or £2000 for deathtrap, chassis-less Bay Windows with the name of the van written on the spare wheel cover on the front (usually Betsy or Dilly or Chuffchuff or something equally stupid), and revel in their inverted snobbery...

I know of a guy who paid nearly £9,000 for a '59 23 Window from a local "specialist" which looked pretty good, and he ended up having to replace the whole floor from back to front and most of the outriggers and stuff before he could even think about getting it on the road, let alone looking nice. Who's the mug? I'd love to know what his current tab stands at.

If the van is a bogged up heap with wonky sills, then feel free to forget everything I just typed... it'll be on display at Bristol, it seems... an ideal opportunity to gasp in amazement or laugh in the bloke's face...

I remember when I saw the first Samba ever advertised for ten grand in the UK, around about 1995 I think... Jon Deveraux's old lobster coloured one... I baulked then - and certainly never saw all this coming. I'm waiting for the market to crash totally, although I hope it never does 'cos I'm about to shovel 6 month's work and god knows how much dosh into my own 21 window basket case... I've got my eye on a nice little Carribean island when I sell it...

here is a RHD 23 window in good nic near me and it is for sale for 40 somthing AUD. The bloke who owns it is a car dealer and has quite a collection and is in no rush to move it. A bloke here in Melbourne sold one a year or 2 ago to Japan for a rumored 50k. I saw this van and it was pretty good I promise. They are for sale on the Samba.com from time to time and always seem to be around 30kUS. If this thing is the real deal it is probably worth it,but I reckon only just
They are only getting rarer aren't they?
And if some one buys it then that is the market setting a price isn't it.
I did the conversion at todays rate and it works out at
72,649.97 AUD..
That is a lot considering it is still LHD.
My verdict is....Borderline..

Splittys are generally overpriced IMHO, when I bought my first one it cost me £1,500 and that was for a fairly decent Devon with 80% complete interior (missing fridge and a few other minor bits). You look today and if you can even find a RHD Devon it will be somewhere in the region of £7,000. I nearly curse word myself when I started looking or another one last year, but thankfully I didnt just jump in and managed to get what I think was a decently priced low-milage split
Samba prices are the same but on a slightly different scale, Ive seen one go for 32K another went for 23K but then again I seen one up for about 13k but that one hasnt sold. No doubt that one will sell and probably for about that asking money, I just hope it doesn't end up with someone who gets it as a 'fashion accessory'

I'm preparred for the stoning and genaral sendind to coventry ill get for this but, i don't like it,looks like a stick of candy rock and ive got to say, 30k , for a vw? so much for the peoples car eh!!!the worlds gone mad.

thing is , even in such beautifull condition as that, turn up to rtts or the big bang or whatever in a BARKAS and the splitty wouldnt even get a look in. ;D

and for the rarity value, theres more splittys on the road now than say ten years ago, when was the last time u heard of a splitty van going to the crusher.

for 30k id want more bling than liberace;s jockstrap!!!

Show me one that isn't bought as some kind of style (or anti-style) gesture and I'll give you the moon on a stick. ]

Sure, a type 2 can be a fairly practical device... but for the amount you're coughing up (even for a rusty bay) there's a whole raft of (better?) alternatives. The main factor for anyone, surely is that they're percieved as cool. And in owning one you will be cool by association. QED.

I looked at a few type 2's at the lower end of the market and decided it was all a bit of a wastw of chops. Yes I might still like them / want (? ) one... but I'm not daft or rich enough to yog a stuuuupid amount of cash on one that would buy me a whole raft of other fantastic vehicles to curse word about in.

If I was in the market for a 21 Window... I'd have to seriously consider this one...

www.volkszone.co.uk/VZi/showthread.php?t=168914

If the ebay one is worth 30k, then this must be worth 35 at least....

I think you can apply that to virtually ANY old vehicle, including all the ones that people on here own. I've got a Split, and a couple of Beetles, and a Merc, and a R12, and a 2CV, and have owned everything from a Fiat 126 to a VDP 4-litre in the past - all owned because I like them, and yes I like to be seen in them. If there wasn't any personal pride in what we drive we'd all have beige Mondeos.

As for the £20k stock 21 window above, yeah I'd personally rather have that (after severe lowering, IRS, bigger engine, front discs, stereo... oops, it's not £20k anymore) but you're comparing two totally different vehicles that just happen to be the same shape.

No, we can't often get our resto costs back when selling a vehicle, but I see nothing wrong in someone trying to. If it is overpriced, then nobody will buy it. Simple, no? It's a very personalised van, but you can bet your that it'll click with someone.

We sold a 1979 bay window Westie over the weekend for the thick end of £9000 - it's not concours by any stretch of the imagination but it is a damned good, rot free, original van with all the bits. 3 years ago we were knocking them out for about £5,500 - it's frightening stuff but it's out of our hands. Market crash? It's bound to happen, it always does - same as classic cars, housing etc. However, top notch vehicles will always command big money in the future (until we can't drive them anymore), purely for the fact that there's so much average and below average curse word floating about now - either worn out scuffboxes from the US or hastily plopped up UK vans.

Jesus H, stop typing man... not sure why this has wound me up so much, probably because I've had to deal with so many bell-end "dubbers" in real life over the last few years... Happily there are enough serious people with their heads screwed on out there to stop me from reaching for the valium too often!