When he hit the road for the first time, he received a wave of enthusiasm and admiration. An unusual shape, but a friendly exterior and incredible spaciousness were the trump cards that made surfers and many adventurers fall in love with it. Even today, after almost 70 years of its existence, the legendary "surf" van is worth thousands of kilometers driven, because it is the one that makes the road-surfing adventure truly memorable.
The surf van is by no means a novelty among automobile types, but it has become increasingly popular in recent years. Who on the road, when they see a beautifully made-up Volkswagen, does not exclaim: "Wow, what a nice surf van!"? Today's beauties, painted, painted, glued, converted into modern mini-apartments on four wheels or equipped with nostalgic vintage furniture, caused many sighs already in the 60s of the last century, when the interest in them was indescribable, although in reality appeared a little earlier. The post-war period was ideal for the ideas he got Dutch importer Ben Pon. He found inspiration for his sketch of the new vehicle in the boxcars that are around Volkswagen car factories transported cargo in Wolfsburg, Germany. "Bully" respectively the prototype of the Volkswagen Bus first introduced in November 1949. It received excellent reviews from the public and the media, who became aware of it in 1950, but not only because it was a welcome change among military vehicles, but also because of its unusual shape and novelty that the driver steered by the windshield, and the engine was located in the rear. In the same year, the so-called microbus was given another title due to the windshield divided into two parts - "splittie".
The first conveyors officially hit the road in 1956, from where they also found their way to South America. "Splittie" was joined by new models, modified in one way or another and with their own purpose. This is how he brought the model to the road Samba, which had another window on the roof. It was advertised as great for touring Alps, but they did not think that it would also be suitable for traveling in coastal oceanic places. Volkswagen Transporter he impressed and inspired. Model Van panel it had no side window and movable extra seats and served as a delivery van, model Westphalia could already boast of a furnished interior and a retractable roof, Dock (from the German word 'doppelkabine') was a "pickup" model with two rows of seats.
Surfers loved it
It appears to be the German car giant hit the nail on the head with these vans. It was precisely at that time, in the 1960s, that it experienced a boom surfing culture, which the young man, eager for adventure, took as his own. Surfers huge boards were carried on the waves from home to the beach, and nothing was more convenient than a means of transport Transporter – as big as a small studio apartment? They swung their boards onto the roof, strapped them on, and set off on an unforgettable surfing adventure with a group of best friends. In sunny California, hundreds of such vans drove along the highways along the coast. Up-and-coming creators have also made their work by reworking them. The interior was remodeled for maximum comfort, and the exterior was painted according to current inspiration. V Type 2, which followed To type 1, better known as Beetle, also fell in love hippies and other freebies, as this allowed them to comfortably travel around the world.
Vans that rule today's roads
On our roads, here and there we can still see some old ones Transporter, and many more are accumulating kilometers abroad, on coastal roads. There are also more and more providers that lend vans to adventurers, of one kind or another, of course, and most of them are vans of the Volkswagen generation, the T5, which are of course joined today by vans from other brands Mercedes, Fiat and Renault. Van Tripper Agency, for example, offers vans for rent specially adapted for surfers. We fit four boards into the van without any problems, carefully stored away from prying eyes, sunlight and safely away from the driver. We can sleep on a large double bed, on which we can carelessly park on the beach and lie down even in bad weather. So that we can eat well even during adventures, there is also a complete cooking set. If you were to bring friends with you, a slightly larger van with seats and additional camping equipment would be more suitable. They are similarly equipped PiwiWiwi vans, in which the roof space was also used, and it is also friendly to photographic, recording and music machinery, as it can be charged through four USB plug-ins, installed in the van. You can relax in the living room, equipped with armchairs and a movable table, which can easily be transformed into a comfortable double bed. At Indie Campers have divided their vans into three groups – sports, active and motordom. While the active one will only be available from July this year, the latter is ideal for families and larger groups, as it also has a bathroom, hot shower, toilet, and a modern kitchen with a stove and refrigerator. The sports car is smaller, but perfectly suited for driving around the city and to distant beaches. The interior, as the name suggests, is adapted to sporty souls, especially surfers, and it is ideal for four adventurers.
Ideas on how to recycle it
If we inherited from someone or if we accidentally bought one of the older generations of the Transporter, we can let our imagination run wild when renovating and converting. There is a small sea of ideas on the web, how to air out an old-fashioned van and head for the waves with it and a board. On the Internet, with little effort, we can find websites where we can find plans on how to tackle the renovation. On the website SurfKombi we find new cases of the old van, where we can read how the renovation of Žiga Pikša's vans is going. The SurfKombi page was initially dedicated to Žig's thesis, the restoration of the VW T2, which is otherwise based on the VW T3 chassis, but today it is much more, as it presents us with a unique insight into the revival of an old legend. This, on a much larger scale, excites lovers of conversions, especially abroad. On the website Build a Camper Van information is available to us regarding the financial plan, initial planning, insurance, electrical system, windows and (household) appliances we need in our new mobile home. Speaking of appliances, wouldn't it be crazy to have a small TV in the van that you can watch on rainy days like Lords of Dogtown, The Endless Summer and Thicker Than Water? Of course, not everything is inside. The more attractive the surf van is, the more attention and shouts we will attract, and at the same time, the trip will be that much more fun. And photogenic. Among the most interesting surfer vans are definitely the hippie-inspired vans, where colors, patterns, flowers and other symbols from nature are not skimped on. Some swear by seriousness and opt for a dark matte color, which gives the van real elegance. It is a good idea to use the roof part of the van - if not for the trunk in which to put the boards, but for the roof tent, which have been extremely popular among van adventurers in recent years. Still others have installed a swimming pool in their 'pickup', but those of us who cannot afford a legendary van in reality can build a dream one in the computer game GTA V.
Where to go for a surfing adventure with a van
And just as you can in GTA V we drive around, we can use a van, be it rented or owned by us, to discover remote beaches where the waves roll with many surfer riders and let's get it right a special adventure. Van rental in France it costs around 49 euros per night, but we can transport you during the day up to 150 kilometers, which means that we can visit all surfing beaches on north-west of France, famous for its sparkling waves. The beaches of Lacanu, Mimizan Plage, Hossegor and Biarritz will welcome vans crammed with boards with open arms; there is a way 350 kilometers long, we drive it without any problems on a good day. Of course, the route can also take us across the French-Spanish border. We wave her in Spanish with the van San Sebastián, Zarautz and Bilbao or even further to Portugal, perhaps further south to Morocco or the Canary Islands. New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Australia are also ideal for a 'road trip'... Only brave. The van and boards are ready, the road and adventure await!
