Date:         Mon, 25 Sep 1995 09:43:28 MST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Mike White" <MIKE.WHITE@law.utah.edu>
Subject:      Found 6 Splitties in a barn!

Well, just sit right down and I'll tell a tale, a tale of a beautiful 
VW trip (Sing to Gilligan's Island tune):

Yes, I found a barn with the following yesterday:

6 Busses!  2 are Barndoors!!!

Earlier this summer a friend of mine (who owns a '65 Westphalia) was 
riding the "Heber Creeper."  This is a little open-air passenger 
train that runs about a 10 mile track up and down Provo Canyon.  At 
the top of the canyon in a big reservoir and a beautiful alpine 
valley named Heber Valley.  The little town fills most of the valley 
floor with farms and ranches which border the reservoir.  Running 
across the valley near the edge of the lake are the tracks for said 
railroad.

Anyhow, earlier this summer he was riding along with his 
fiance and he spotted a barn with 2 busses in it aways off the 
tracks.  He wanted to check them out, but alas couldn't stop the 
train.

He told me about it sometime later, and when I was staying at my 
cousin's cabin near there, I chanced to look around the valley for 
the busses.  I didn't find anything other than a lot of cows, and 
some hay.  (Oh, and a '7x Convertable Bug . . . rather uninspiring.)
So I gave up that time.

Well yesterday after church I was lounging around the house and 
decided to again try to find them.  I got some vague directions from 
the friend, and called another buddy ('64 Kombi) and decided to go 
find the busses.

We drove up the canyon and commenced the search.  After about 15 
minutes, we were going to get out of the car and walk the tracks to 
cover the areas that we couldn't canvas by car.  But just then the 
heavens opened and we saw them.

A barn that I'd just whipped by previously, there we saw two busses 
visible.  Luckily there were people in the yard at the place with the 
barn.

So we stopped, and as we were asking a lady about them, a guy in a 
truck pulling out started yelling.  "Nothing's for sale.  I'm NOT 
SELLING ANYTHING!!!"  His wife was of a different opinion though. 
<grin>  Anyhow, she said they had a '66 Sundial (Anyone ever heard of 
this conversion?  Supposedly from California.  Made from a panel 
van) that she'd consider selling for $1200 (in working condidtion).  
But she wouldn't take us back to the barn to show it to us.
So we sat there and talked to her, trying to build up a little 
relationship of trust to get back to the barn.  After a couple more 
failed attempts to "please can we just _look_ at them," her husband 
returned.

He was less than cordial at best (as their horse had just died, and 
they were getting a backhoe over to dig a hole to bury it).  We asked 
him about the one for sale and he said $2k, $1800 at the minimum.  I 
asked to check it out, and he at first wanted us to come back at 
another time.  We were more than happy to come by some other time 
(due to the circumstances), but when he found out that we came an 
hour to see them, he said come on back.

And there they were:


'54 Barndoor
'55 Barndoor
'66 Sundial Conversion (camper)
'60 European Kombi (W/ Semaphors),
'67 Kombi, 
'62 Double-cab.

I DIED!!!

The fellow was VERY nervous about showing them to us.  He said that 
we were the first people to find out about them, and was/is worried 
that if word gets out, people will steal parts.

Anyhow, the '54 was pretty much just the shell.  It was still 
beautiful.  The nose was bashed in pretty good, and a tire was 
mounted to the font.

The '55 was totally clean, with minor rust.  It looked like the 
original paint, very faded and splotchy.  Most of the hardware was 
missing, but it was FABULOUS!

The '60 European was all restored.  It was a ways off, and I didn't 
go look at it.

He seemed alarmed that I was even looking at the other busses.

The '66 Sundial was pretty beat up.  The interior was in good shape, 
but the nose and a corner were bondo-supremo.  $1200 maybe, $1800 no-
way.

The '62 Double-cab was great!  He'd done some sketchy body work on it 
himself, but it looked good.

He said there was NO WAY he'd sell any of the others.  Too bad.  

I was so hoping for the 75 year old grandma that would be glad to 
unload a couple of busses for $500.

Anyhow, we left, and he was a _little_ more chilled out by time we 
were getting ready to take off.  We exchanged numbers and left.

We drove back to my friends house and were getting some dinner there 
when the guy called.  He apologized for being really un-cool.  You 
know 95% of VW people are really cool!!!  Just that other 5%, and 
told us that the next time we are in the area, he'll show us all the 
busses, and explain their various stories.  The '55 Barndoor, he said 
it took him 8 years to talk a guy out of it.

So that's my weekend story.

Beautiful find, but no sale...  <grin>

- Mike White 

[Mail: mike.white@law.utah.edu   -   mwhite@eng.utah.edu]
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