I had one of these VW Vanagons and lived in it out in San Francisco from 2000 to 20002. I just finished writing a book about the experience and am including pictures of my time living in the van with my dog, Jesus. I know, it sounds too crazy, but it's true story and that's why included pictures inside the book.
Here is an excerpt from my book:
Jesus and I lived in a tie-dyed psychedelic 1979 VW Westfalia Vanagon. It was our living room, space shuttle and muse. Her name is Miss Vanagon. We’ve been living in Miss Vanagon for 4 years now. Before that, we lived in another VW bus, “Miss Free Love of 69’, for two years before she broke down and left us stranded in Joshua Tree National Park.
Miss Vanagon can be temperamental. She over heats if pushed hard, and sometimes gets angry and refuses to move until I sweet talk her and calm her down. Sometimes she needs caressing, massaging, and a little sweet talk in order to get her to move up steep hills. She’s very temperamental and has some monthly periods where she leaks all over the place. But recently, she has gone through some extensive, meticulous, and pain staking restoration involving mostly shag carpeting, but I did a lot of other small but essential stuff as well.
With a little tender loving care--and maybe winning the powerball lottery--she could be put back into showroom condition again. But as she stands right now, she’s damn near perfect and always ready for a new adventure.
She has some minor wrinkles on her body from years of use, but overall, she is beautiful and still possesses a curvy figure and can be flirtatious if spoken to right. Recently, I’ve taken the liberty of applying some new make-up and jewelry on her. Hundreds of dollars later, she now sports a new psychedelic colored wavy gravy painted rainbow across her beautiful body with three layers of clear coat.
But I wasn’t done there. Nope. Not remotely. I decided to give her a facelift as well. I super glued thousands of sea shells onto her hips and thighs--in the design of the mythological God Neptune. I wanted to extenuate her lovely figure and demonstrate to the city of San Francisco just exactly how beautiful she is.
Her front was in need of some polishing as well, so I added some new jewelry to her mouth: a shiny chrome Peace emblem that I found in a garage sale. She also sports rear side marker lights to keep people around her alert as she prances down the catwalk and runway. I shampooed her head and gave her a new gravity defying hair-do--complete with pop-up top and a new luggage rack. And then I super glued seashells to the sides of her body in order to replicate a rolling ocean wave.
Her sunroof is also a nice added feature that Jesus loves sticking his out of as we drive down the road. Dogs love sticking their heads out of vehicles. It doesn’t seem to bother him that insects pepper his face and eye balls like bullets at 55mph. Not to worry, he has sunglasses on--tied back behind his ears. He looks like Snoopy flying down the highway.
I’ve recently added some more seashells here and there to make her sparkle. I’ve also strategically placed some Velcro in select places, which helps make tighten things up and complements her curves.
No expense was spared with installing a brand new pop top hair-do. The fabric is nice and taught when her top is up and her bra and wig is showing. She’s not shy about showing off her curvaceous body and hair-do either. What beautiful woman--who has just had her hair and nails done—doesn’t want to be noticed?
She still has her original front windshield. But I’ve integrated a tint strip at the top of the windshield with my Horoscope sign, Libra, written across it. There’s nothing wrong with displaying a little flirtatious personality trait here and there. I also replaced her eyelashes with new pair of wiper blades that help keep her face clean and bug free.
All of her windows are tinted to help keep the sun off of her upholstery—this is also to help keep her from prematurely wrinkling from the intense California sun, but also to help keep Jesus and I cooler inside. All of her door-handle seals, power mirror seals, and door seals are brand new, and all her door handles were completely stripped and refinished in chrome, because, well, what classy lady doesn’t look good in a nice shiny sequence dress that sparkles when she cat walks and sashay’s down the street.
Her kitchen area is nice and clean…as any woman’s kitchen should be. Jesus and I like to step into her kitchen and make our daily lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches here. Both burners work perfectly and water pours out of the faucet with a simple twist of her nipples. Like all women, she has two shiny knobs that dispense refreshing clear water. Her propane tank was completely dismantled and then powder-coated. Her tank is a work of art now because I’ve taken the liberty of super gluing sea shells onto her propane tank with a replica of Poseidon—another Greek mythological figure I admire.
I treat every free space on her like an artist canvas. I’ve also added brand new mud flaps with Ben & Jerry Wavy Gravy design on them. Mud flaps are important…they help keep debris off her body so that people can get a glimpse of her new voluptuous figure and peer under her dress into engine bay.
There is pages of more detailed descriptions, but you get the idea.
Frank