the great debate: T3 Kombi - is there such a thing?

hey all
this debate will prolly end in tears and howls but I've been hearing lately of T3 transporters being called kombis..
can this be true?
I only ever learnt in Sunday school that kombis are type 2 buses not T3 buses
I might not have drunk the cool aide of late but is this the new black in brain washing??
any enlightenment appreciated so I can sleep better at night
this issue needs clarification for the unbelievers
cheers n kombi on 👍

yes it's true

Yes, I heard some of those whispers too.

Carrrnt be true could it?

Surely a transporter may want to be a kombi

If i remember correctly, my t3 caravelle has kombi stamped on the compliance plate, i will have to check and take a pic.

Doesn't Kombi just mean Kombinationkraftwagen... as in the one that's between a panel and a bus ???

❓

They will never ever be a Kombi! Transporter yes, but Kombi, no!

the great debate: T3 Kombi - is there such a thing?

WHO CARES?
😊😊

^ Mitchell I can't concentrate due to your avatar.. what were we talking about 🤪

Boobs

Special Air Service wrote:yes it's true

Amen to that.
They were all officially called transporters, hence the "T" designation meaning transporter rather than "type".

Kombinationskraftwagen, (combined-use vehicle), was a designation for the German market that just happened to catch on as a nickname virtually everywhere else.

Here is an Australian brochure from the following site:

http://www.syncro.com.au



Regards,

Matt.

And here is another pic from the same site, just because I like it.



Regards,

Matt.

....and here is one from Port Macquarie

Oh what a feeling back in 1990 Hmmm.

Just a bit of trivia on the last 2 pics.

That was me driving the dual cab over the finish line on the beach at Darwin after a nine day Australian Safari from Sydney.
My late brother, John, can just be seen in the navigator's seat.

I took the pic of the Tristar with Dave Berry (Trakka) in the driver's seat.
We were at Oran Park on a VW test day and wanted to get a few good photos.
I sold the Tristar to Hartmut, who still has it, as a new vehicle from Northshore Volkswagen and yes gave him a poster size mounted print at the time so he knew what it was capable of.

The good old days!

Grazza.

Now if you really want to confuse things


call them T2.5 like the pommies do 🙅🙅

at least theres no SAMBA model in the that range 👍👍😀😵‍💫🥲🤖😂😘😬😎🙅📝🤘👍👍👍

erm no a T3 or the pommie speak is not a kombi to me
a Transporter or bus yes but not a "kombi"

c'mon off the cool aide, so my old T4 n my T5 are kombis then = fail
maybe a Kia kombi more like
a cheap as marketing campaign doesn't quite sell it or if it did we would not be having this great discussion 😀

its pretty simple,
It doesn't look like chicken, it doesn't smell like chicken, it may have the same feet as a chicken, but it ain't chicken

I remember when these buses were like being sold new in the showroom and I was buying cars from the vehicle auctions, these T3 buses were there without fail every auction being pushed through as they didn't run, n most would have their engine pulled out n in bits in boxes on the back floor, as they always blew up n had more issues than a woman's weekly
many ex telecom ones as they were a primary buyer
I've never forgot seeing so many going for nothing and many being sold to the wreckers
as VW had no idea had to fix the myriad of problems they had as I nearly bought em,
but I stuck with kombis and beetles 👍

the saving grace back then was throwing a Subaru up it's ass, and glad peeps did hence so many today have them

I wouldn't mind a subi syncro bus tho with air con, but I've never seen one

great pics especially the vertical model 😉

When I had my T3, I didn't call it anything.😏

vw54 wrote:call them T2.5 like the pommies do

The factory called them T25 until they renamed the model range around 1991.

the great debate: T3 Kombi - is there such a thing?

Yes of course there is. EVERY generation of VW Transporter has a 'Kombi' version, including the T3, the T4 and the current T5. http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de/de/models.html

When it first appeared in the early 1950s, the VW Commercial range was designated as the Volkswagen Type 2, to distinguish it from the Sedan (Type 1). Within the Type 2 designation were the different Transporter categories - the basic Panel Van (Type 21), the Microbus (Type 22), the 'Kombination' (Type 23), the Deluxe Microbus (Type 24), the Single Cab and Double Cab Pickups (Type 26), and the Ambulance (Type 27). Within these categories there were further sub-categories. For example, a LHD Panel Van with loading doors on the right was a Type 211; with loading doors on the left was a Type 213; or loading doors on both sides was a Type 215.

For whatever reason, Australians took to referring to the whole range of VW Commercials as 'Kombis' in a colloqual fashion, even though technically only the Type 23 (a window van with removeable seats - the 'Kombination') is actually a Kombi (and still is). This is endearing, but not so unusual as other countries developed their own particular nick-names for the VW Commercial. Americans call them the 'VW Bus', but they were sold there as the 'VW Station Wagon', or the VW Vanagon, or even the VW Eurovan. To us they're all still Kombis.

VW renumbered and consolidated their model categoriies for the second-generation (T2) in 1968, so there weren't quite as many subcategories as before, but the basic categories were the same.

In 1980 VW switched to the new VIN numbering system. The 'model code' was still indicated in the VIN, in digits 7 and 8. The new 'third generation' T3 Transporter was now a Model 25 (Vans, Kombis, Microbuses and Caravelles), while the Pickups were Model 24. The larger LT van was a Model 28, and later a Model 2D, so technically you could still call them a 'Volkswagen Type 2'.

However for the T4 the VIN model code became 70, so it was no longer a Type 2. Likewise the current T5 is a Model 7H.

BUT - the VW Crafter is a Model 2E, the Amarok is a Model 2H and the Caddy is a 2K, so you could actually say they are still 'Volkswagen Type 2's...

We all understood it 'til the letters got involved.

f*****g letters!😬

I just love Hartmuts tristar, can't see it around Port often enough. It's one very, very special vehicle.

Regards,

Matt.

h wrote:I remember when these buses were like being sold new in the showroom and I was buying cars from the vehicle auctions, these T3 buses were there without fail every auction being pushed through as they didn't run, n most would have their engine pulled out n in bits in boxes on the back floor, as they always blew up n had more issues than a woman's weekly
many ex telecom ones as they were a primary buyer
I've never forgot seeing so many going for nothing and many being sold to the wreckers
as VW had no idea had to fix the myriad of problems they had as I nearly bought em,

Yes, the incompetance of Australian mechanics never ceases to amaze me!

I remember when the type 4 motor first came out in the Kombi and people said the same thing.

^^ Yep, amazes me everyday..

T3 Wbxr is a beautiful engine if maintained properly, and that's not hard.

t3 came out air cooled engine mounted in the rear . KOMBI sure is the last of them !

No, the last T3 Kombis had watercooled engines - the air-cooled was discontinued in 1983. The last T3 Kombis ('Volksiebus') were made in South Africa in 2002 - with five-cylinder engines.

Let the T3 owners call it a Kombi. I used to get annoyed with it, and the poeple that spell it 'combie' and 'kombie'. Then I realised it's because they don't have one, and I do. I love my bay window, and people want to call their T3's Kombis, let em have it. They know the truth.

Yes, the truth is that the T3s are Kombis too. I agree with you about the spelling - and we also still see people spelling VOLKSWAGON. Aargh!

My brother drives his kids around in a '96 T4 Caravelle - we still call it his 'blue Kombi.' It's just a newer one. Same with the T5 vans here at work - everyone calls them Kombis. And when the new T6 comes out in a few years time, it will be a Kombi too. Hooray!

I'm disappointed with people calling the '68-'79 Kombis 'Bay Windows' - a made-up name Volkswagen never used in any way, shape or form. UK journalist Laurence Meredith made it up in the mid-'90s; he must have never studied architecture as real 'bay windows' are multi-paned and multi-sashed. Do a Google Image search on 'bay window' and see for yourself. T2 Kombis actually have 'panoramic' windscreens. Thank God his nickname for the T3 - the wedge - never caught on.

I call them wedges. But then I also call them Kombi's which sparks debate between the missus and me every time.
I figure they are a lifestyle choice bus that is getting on in years, prodimiately air cooled in a hot environment. To buy it you must be crazy and you should never argue with a crazy persona bout what they call their bus.

I would never call a syncro a kombi though as I think Syncro has much more clout. Apart fromt eh redneck delica there are few affordable 4wd busses about.

Unfortunaltely Pauly, you are gonig to have to turn to the ginseng and horlicks for sleep as I think this debate will continue long after all our busses have returned to the ground.

Wow! I didn't even know the T3 was a Volkswagen?
Thought it was made by Renault or something.
Learn something new every day... I'll stop putting Shit on them now.

What else did they tell you in that Sunday school Pauly?

I don't know if many/any T3 owners actually call their T3 a Kombi? Their usually the enlightened few who know that a T3 is a better thing to use than a Bay which is marginally better to use than a Split. Nah ... take that back... Splitty's a better drive than a Bay.

WGAF. They're all Volkswagens. Don't be confused by fashion.😉

They're ALL Hippy Trucks or Transporters.......😘 I called my 74 T2 Transporter a Kombi, T2 Dual cab a Kombi,my T3 Caravelle a Kombi and my (gone tomorrow) 88 dual diff locked Syncro a Kombi, but they were ALL Hippy Trucks......i also swore at them all a lot....👍 The 58 Split screen i called a mutha^5$#er useless sonnofabiatzsch ^&nt of a thing,but never a Kombi...😬

65busser wrote:What else did they tell you in that Sunday school Pauly?

I don't know if many/any T3 owners actually call their T3 a Kombi? Their usually the enlightened few who know that a T3 is a better thing to use than a Bay which is marginally better to use than a Split. Nah ... take that back... Splitty's a better drive than a Bay.

WGAF. They're all Volkswagens. Don't be confused by fashion.😉

And considering most splits these days are running a bastidised bay setup underneath they are better again!

I spose it all comes down to how much they leak - the more they leak the more 'Kombi' they really are.

65busser wrote:What else did they tell you in that Sunday school Pauly?

I don't know if many/any T3 owners actually call their T3 a Kombi? Their usually the enlightened few who know that a T3 is a better thing to use than a Bay which is marginally better to use than a Split. Nah ... take that back... Splitty's a better drive than a Bay.

WGAF. They're all Volkswagens. Don't be confused by fashion.😉

haha, don't worry I call em all wrecks n POS
you know me n fashion brad, they gel like oil n water

I'm having to down more pills to sleep lately as a T3 surely can't be called thy name - kombi
it's an abonomation as never seen in the teachings of the rule book in ye olde Sunday school days of the trading post fortnightly paper editions for 80 cents.. 👍

it seems fashion has tried to make something quite fugly, beautiful, even in the dark.. without adding alcohol or it being to cold n have to get inside of it one way or another..
where have I heard that story before.. 🙄
however the next morning in the bright sunlight the true horrors revealed 😵‍💫
yeah but no but no but yeah but yeah but no but no

It's funny ya know kombi drivers always wave n smile to each other as they pass along the road.. in all my kombi cruising times about this great land a T3 bus driver has never waved funnily enough, n I suppose if they did they were pointing at my bay showing their kids what they might aspire too.. 😂

fark - an all this time i was calling it a Vanagon

^ 😂

Transporters, Kombi's in disguise.

well in our local paper it says Volkswagen is going to cease production of the kombi in 2013

THE PIN HAS BEEN PULLED ON A VW LEGEND

AND so it goes. Another automobile icon fades from view because of 21st century safety regulations. After 63 years of production, Volkswagen (VW) has announced they will cease production of the much loved Kombi in 2013. What started out as an idea on paper for the war-ravaged VW to make some much-needed money, the Kombi is now one of the few cars in the pantheon of true classics. More than any other automobile, theVWKombi is an enduring image of the flower-power hippy era in the 1960s and of the wider surfing culture across the world. Cheap, plentiful and able to carry big loads with ease, it was an ideal vehicle for a newly mobile, baby boomer generation. The first series Kombi was released for sale in 1950, after its appearance at the November 1949 Geneva Motor Show. Its heritage goes back to when the British Army occupied and ran the VW factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, after the end of Second World War. There are various versions of how the Kombi came to be, but the main facts are agreed. Needing a vehicle to move parts around the VW factory, the Army cobbled together a strengthen Beetle chassis, surrounded it with a utilitarian panels and created a small truck.

In 1947, a Dutch VW dealer, Ben Pons, saw these little trucks when he was on a visit to the factory. He thought that with some improved body panels it would make a cheap, sturdy and light truck to be used in the rebuilding of the war torn Europe. He sketched a design for VW managers and went back to Holland. Heinz Nordhoff, who was ex-Opel, and been installed by the Army to run VW, took up this idea and made it happen. The rest of the story is legend. Kombis have a strong fan base and devotees of the marque have their own language to describe the ‘‘buses’’. Those built between 1950 and 1967, are known as splitwindow buses or ‘‘splitties’’ because of the divided windscreen. Those built after 1967 have a one-piece screen and are known as the ‘‘bay window’’ Kombis. Prices for early models continue to rise, across the world. In Australia models from the 1950s can run to $45,000 and above, particularly ‘‘barn door’’ versions.

h wrote:

65busser wrote:What else did they tell you in that Sunday school Pauly?

I don't know if many/any T3 owners actually call their T3 a Kombi? Their usually the enlightened few who know that a T3 is a better thing to use than a Bay which is marginally better to use than a Split. Nah ... take that back... Splitty's a better drive than a Bay.

WGAF. They're all Volkswagens. Don't be confused by fashion.😉

haha, don't worry I call em all wrecks n POS
you know me n fashion brad, they gel like oil n water

I'm having to down more pills to sleep lately as a T3 surely can't be called thy name - kombi
it's an abonomation as never seen in the teachings of the rule book in ye olde Sunday school days of the trading post fortnightly paper editions for 80 cents.. 👍

it seems fashion has tried to make something quite fugly, beautiful, even in the dark.. without adding alcohol or it being to cold n have to get inside of it one way or another..
where have I heard that story before.. 🙄
however the next morning in the bright sunlight the true horrors revealed 😵‍💫
yeah but no but no but yeah but yeah but no but no

It's funny ya know kombi drivers always wave n smile to each other as they pass along the road.. in all my kombi cruising times about this great land a T3 bus driver has never waved funnily enough, n I suppose if they did they were pointing at my bay showing their kids what they might aspire too.. 😂

Nah the fashion reference was in no way directed at you Pauly.

Funny you mention the wave. T3 owners wave to T3 owners. Lonely bunch. There's less than 4000 came to Aus v's 64,000 Bays so the odds are against them.

Re the styling ... Classic late 70's - 80's square. Evolution.

Best thing is they drive like a Kombi but they go and stop and steer without any mods.

I hope this thread isn't going to drive a WEDGE and SPLIT you people!
I think h is just BAY'tn you all

oh stop it labia driver 😂
warm enuff inside 😀

Leave my labia out of it.

It's my Labia, I just let him climb inside and enjoy when he wants!

It's funny how posting this picture will make T3 owners snob you at car shows... 😂

L469 wrote:funny a vw forum that divides fellow vw owners .
only in Australia 👎

It's amazing how emotional people get over a sticker, frankly i couldn't give a toss what people drive. The difference is.... i have a sense of humour.

I cop grief for driving a lefty with a bay front end.... WHOOPDEE DOO!! do you see me reaching for the Kleenex?

L469 wrote:

DakDak67 wrote:

L469 wrote:funny a vw forum that divides fellow vw owners .
only in Australia 👎

It's amazing how emotional people get over a sticker, frankly i couldn't give a toss what people drive. The difference is.... i have a sense of humour.

I cop grief for driving a lefty with a bay front end.... WHOOPDEE DOO!! do you see me reaching for the Kleenex?

read what you write before you post .
not getting all upset just pointing out what you may not
of bothered to consider. oh and the word you are looking for is snub not snob

I was speaking in general, not at you. Why so defensive? maybe you should read your previous post. And thanks for the English lesson.

L469 wrote:not defensive you quoted me first. not as you claim speaking in general .

Look mate, i don't know what's going on, my point was , everyone needs a laugh. Like i said, i get my fair share, it's just sh*ts and giggles. We can have a laugh from time to time yeh? anyway, I'm not going to argue on the internet. Cheers..

Hang on to your sense of humour, DakDak.👍

I rely on my SOH a lot. Life is a bit like TV.....when the 'horror movie' gets too much, just switch over to the 'cartoons'. 👍

L469 wrote:funny a vw forum that divides fellow vw owners .
only in Australia 👎

it is a simple debate about the obvious touchy subject
there is no way that this is divisive, it is simply a debate and at the end of the day we drive a VW and that's that

if your interpretation of such, leads you to beleive that it divides fellow forum peeps.. oh pleeeeeeze where is that box of Kleenex
so yeah I should of put a 'disclaimer' at the beginning requiring a box of tissues at hand and a SOH.. ffs

if you don't like don't look
great thing about Australia we can do this and still all get on 🙄
so have a coke and a smile and . . . . 😀

now back to the debate
I'm still not convinced n chris where do we get those stickers from 😂

We will have to get some made up h , along with "I'm an Elitist Splitty driver" 👍 . All jokes aside, i would love a DOKA, Baja'd off its tits , with a small block Chev of course..

Pod those press releases about the end of the Brazilian T2c appeared, in one form or another, in almost every newspaper a few months ago. Full of mistakes!

'After 63 years'. No. Brazil didn't make the Transporter (T1) until 1957, and didn't make the T1.5 until 1975. The current T2c dates from 1995, and with its current Polo engine only since 2003. The Kombi only became a 'hippy' icon in recent years and from US culture; most Australian-sold Kombis were actually work vans. Only 12,000 of the 120,000 sold here up to the T4 in 1993 were Campers, for example. Microbuses were VERY expensive here, explaining why less than 2,000 Microbuses have been sold here. 'Cheap'. No. Anyone who was around in the late '70s and early '80s would remember that VW Kombis were almost twice as dear as the Japanese Hiaces, Urvans and L300s. 'Geneva Motor Show' No. The Transporter was first revealed to the press on 12 November 1949 at Wolfsburg. The Geneva Auto Show is in March. 'Models after 1967'. Only German ones. Australia didn't see the T2 until halfway through 1968. Brazil only got the T1.5 (T1 shell with T2 front and back) in 1975 and the complete T2 in 1995. And the Kombi isn't dead - VW still makes them today, but now they are T5 models.

A proper tribute to the end of the Brazilian T2c was in the December 2012 issue of Zeitschrift (page 19). Download it here:

http://www.clubvw.org.au/december-2012

Meanwhile you can download the brochure for the current Brazilian T2c at the VW Brazil website:

http://www.vw.com.br/pt/carros/Kombi/informacoes.html

Sorry H. I am going to digress as Chris has weighed in with his LHD.
I nearly bought a LHD ute and I was so excited cause I wanted to keep a spare steering wheel in there for RBT's so I could cover mine and play stupid with the drunk passenger.
It would no doubt end with a roadworthy check which would stuff most of us.

So Pauly, maybe you should have started this thread with a Poll.
Can any Mod's put a poll in after the fact? It would be very interesting to see some numbers put up.

Who cares really. Its still a VW and still does what it was designed to do.

66deluxe wrote:Who cares really. Its still a VW and still does what it was designed to do.

Yeh......the earlier ones leak OIL and the later ones leaked WATER.............either way they marked their spot!!!😂

68BUS wrote:Sorry H. I am going to digress as Chris has weighed in with his LHD.
I nearly bought a LHD ute and I was so excited cause I wanted to keep a spare steering wheel in there for RBT's so I could cover mine and play stupid with the drunk passenger.
It would no doubt end with a roadworthy check which would stuff most of us.

So Pauly, maybe you should have started this thread with a Poll.
Can any Mod's put a poll in after the fact? It would be very interesting to see some numbers put up.

I could write a book with all the stupid shit people say at the traffic lights..." Is it a LHD" is a fave.. dickheads.😂

okidoki everyone.. I think we are steering off course about what this thread is about
let get the train back on the rails n start moving forward with why or why not tis a kombi

I still call em transporters as I have had a T4 n now a T5 n it just doesn't feel right to call em a kombi
I have absolute no hesitation in calling my split or past bays kombis but it just doesn't feel right calling T3 transporters n beyond anything but a transporter..

fark - an all this time i was calling it a Vanagon

didnt realise u live in the US Bazza ????

yep get back on track its a KOMBI

^ 🙅
transporter 👍

Okay. My final vote is it is a WEDGE.
Not a Kombi.

There are a lot of people getting involved in this debate.....seems like it's now a mass debate.😊

gimme a V

gimme a A

gimme a N

gimme a A

gimme a G

gimme a O

gimme a N

and what have ya got???................................ A KOMBI!!! 😂

vanagon yep, it even sounds ugly 😵‍💫
it will still be a bus
so yep, transporter in my book
wedgie is just piss funny
😁

Yeah the Yanks called their T3s 'Vanagons.' But remember they only got the Caravelle passenger and Westfalia camper versions, not all the commercial vehicle versions (due to the chicken tax). So technically the van, Kombi and pickup T3s aren't Vanagons.

Use the UK nickname 'wedge' if you wish but I won't be. Why not alternate with the other pommy nickname for the T3 - the LOAF? Just as ridiculous.

I think the way Aussies call ALL the pre-1980 ones 'Kombis', whether they Microbuses, Pickups, Vans or Campers, is endearing and something we should be proud about. It's a natural fit to keep using it on the T3, and later T4 and T5 models too. The Yanks, Poms and Germans have their own different nicknames - let's leave them to theirs.

Love the T3 Kombis!

there are 2 types of 'kombis': classic and plastic, T3's obviously fall into the latter catagory. a bit like fat chick, they drive nice but no-one wants to be seen in one...

the WEDGE can i have sour cream n sweet chilly with that

We are all different.
I love my T3 Doka and wouldn't swap it for any T2 or T1 even though they are allegedly worth more.
I have driven them all over the 40 years of having a licence and the T3 wins my vote, even including T4 and T5s.
Happy to be seen in it!

dutchyvan wrote:there are 2 types of 'kombis': classic and plastic, T3's obviously fall into the latter catagory. a bit like fat chick, they drive nice but no-one wants to be seen in one...

haha yep,
let's not raise the dreaded 'fat chicks' in these parts
as peeps will be necking themselves.. again 🙄

is a 2013 corolla the same thing as a 1967 corolla? Naaah no relation but you still call em corollas.

I know I had a very difficult time coping with Volkswagen selling that golf derivative as a beetle in the 90's. Time has healed those wounds. I dont ever intend to buy one but they dont make me angry anymore. Besides, they gave me great pleasure when I taught my then three yr old to call the piles of junk. Now an FG falcon is probably quite entitled to be as much a falcon as the XK. Is a 2013 Golf really a golf? A MkI Golf looks smaller than a 6R polo.

Depends who my audience is. To VW people I call em splitty, kombi, T3, T4, T5. To non VW people I call em splitty, kombi, later model vw vans. I'm quite happy calling T3's kombis. Not the T4 and T5 though. The last of our T3's had the same engine as the first of our T1's only with water jackets around it.

pretends to be chicken, but it still ain't chicken

stop waving at me ok 😂

matberry wrote:^^ Yep, amazes me everyday..

T3 Wbxr is a beautiful engine if maintained properly, and that's not hard.

yep it amazes me too matty 😂

WOW! I've seen a few T3s but no kombis whilst I'm currently here in Europe n funnily enuff not referred to as a kombi..
Locals asked and survey says - it's just called a 'transporter'..!
hmmm there's something in that for all of us..

T3's are everywhere in Europe
Mainly campers from what I saw

I spent a couple of weeks in Sth Germany and Austria

Reckon I saw 50 T3's 2 late bays, 2 splits a handful of beetles 1 KG and 1 Hafflinger

h wrote:WOW! I've seen a few T3s but no kombis whilst I'm currently here in Europe n funnily enuff not referred to as a kombi..
Locals asked and survey says - it's just called a 'transporter'..!
hmmm there's something in that for all of us..

Uhhmmm, didn't Phil say earlier that calling them a "Kombi" is an endearing Oz term for them, and that other countries have their own terms for theirs?

Oh, and I want another one, but after the last fiasco of taking 10 hours to travel 290km with my now-wife, and trying desperately to find running creeks or dams in paddocks along the way, SWMBO hates the sight of the things with a passion! 😂

T2 is a lot more solid than the T3 etc

Much thinner steel on a T3. Not as strong.

Don't ask me how I know this😀

pfillery wrote:T2 is a lot more solid than the T3 etc

Much thinner steel on a T3. Not as strong.

Don't ask me how I know this😀

Seriously??? what a ridiculous argument to have on a VW forum. Only on an Australian VW forum would such a ridiculous argument, full of unfounded claims (like this one) be allowed to continue.

T3 sheetmetal steel is not thinner at all. In fact as well as being thick guage sheetmetal, the bodies were also galvanised before painting, which prevents a lot of the corrosion seen on T2s.

Try spouting this rubbish on an international forum and you'll be torn to shreds.

It's actually based on practical experience. It has to be thinner/weaker/poorer grade. We are talking cars and technology that is 20 years apart.

I've cut up one of each and the t3 was far easier to cut, took only a handful of grinder discs compared to the larger quantity the last bay body took. Plus I blunted a new pair of dual saw cutting blades cutting several side panels from the bay whereas the t3 did far less damage to the same style of blade.

So unless there's another explanation for that.......

I didn't get the impression they were galvanised based on what I've seen. They seem to rust like anything else.

DOKA Dave wrote:

pfillery wrote:T2 is a lot more solid than the T3 etc

Much thinner steel on a T3. Not as strong.

Don't ask me how I know this😀

Seriously??? what a ridiculous argument to have on a VW forum. Only on an Australian VW forum would such a ridiculous argument, full of unfounded claims (like this one) be allowed to continue.

T3 sheetmetal steel is not thinner at all. In fact as well as being thick guage sheetmetal, the bodies were also galvanised before painting, which prevents a lot of the corrosion seen on T2s.

Try spouting this rubbish on an international forum and you'll be torn to shreds.

😂👍
well I'm ACTUALLY in the 'international' sphere and not in the land of make believe inter-webs,
that aside, I'm certainly not 'torn to shreds' whilst being 'actually here' n not in some far far away galaxy ie our home land..
that aside it's called a 'transporter' here.. well surprise surprise 🙂
better save the coins, hop on the biggest silver bird n get ya ear on the ground to feel the Braille..
happy new year everyone xx

pfillery wrote:It's actually based on practical experience. It has to be thinner/weaker/poorer grade. We are talking cars and technology that is 20 years apart.

I've cut up one of each and the t3 was far easier to cut, took only a handful of grinder discs compared to the larger quantity the last bay body took. Plus I blunted a new pair of dual saw cutting blades cutting several side panels from the bay whereas the t3 did far less damage to the same style of blade.

So unless there's another explanation for that.......

I didn't get the impression they were galvanised based on what I've seen. They seem to rust like anything else.

You didn't get that impression?... That's the scientific basis for your claims? If you do some research into T25s/T3s, you will discover they were in fact galvanised, and the steel is the same thickness.

Instead of using a Chinese made dual saw piece of crap to gauge the difference, find some good quality (Mitutoyo) vernier calipers and take a measurement. It's all high quality German steel, from Germany, a country not really known for cutting corners and using inferior grade materials in their products.

You dont have to like 79 onwards VWs, that your perogative. Maybe just do some research next time, before you make completely incorrect, unfounded, and poorly justified claims. In other words, refrain from telling bullshit.

IN MY OPINION: (seeing as that is the basis of this thread) having owned both vans and done many kms in both. The T2 gets alot more attention and if you are one of the cool kids with a beard and are driving to your nearest paleo cafe on a Sunday morning, or like your collectibles you are a T2 boy or girl. Been there and done that by the way 😉 The T2 is a nice car, BUT! As a true daily driver you have to be little mad this day in age, lets face it most don't even have heating anymore.
The T3 is by no means the height of modern technology but is much more drivable and importantly, bearable come rain, snow or shine. The T3 sure is alot safer, having unfortunately crashed mine reasonably hard you can see the way thought has been put into the way the panels interact with each other to draw away the impact energy. My original plans where for a T2, if I had been driving one for this impact the girlfriend and I sure would have been worse for wear than we where.

T2 - cool kids
T3 - practical/safe

Just as an interesting note - number of T2s imported/assembled in Australia 60000ish, T3s 8500ish..... now which is collectable?

WOW! I thought I'd spend a bit of time reading this thread, as there ain't much else going on, here especially, and now understand why there is bugger all people left on this forum.
Everybody has the right to their own opinion, but is it necessary to shove it into everybody else's face?
This, I am afraid to tell you is not "the great debate".
Dave
PS T3's were galvanised from sometime in 1985.

ragged wrote:WOW! I thought I'd spend a bit of time reading this thread, as there ain't much else going on, here especially, and now understand why there is bugger all people left on this forum.
Everybody has the right to their own opinion, but is it necessary to shove it into everybody else's face?
This, I am afraid to tell you is not "the great debate".
Dave
PS T3's were galvanised from sometime in 1985.

WOW :O
lighten up 🙂
where is the sense of humour gone from everyone's lives..?
oh to be so politically correct blah blah prolly soon the fat chick debate will be back so sharpen them axes
just a bit of banter to keep the purists engaged 😂

glad to learn of the galvanised bit though 😉 thanx
cheers

nils wrote:Just as an interesting note - number of T2s imported/assembled in Australia 60000ish, T3s 8500ish.....

At least all of the 8500 T3s were quality made in Germany.😂

I have owned both [ T2 & T3 ], and I found my T 5 the best. 👍

A Ducati Monster street/drag bike fits into a T3.

I think there's something in that for all of us.
🙂

Apart from the obvious better drive and safety points I just love the T3 for the cool factor!
Nothing like pulling into a servo in a T3 and have everyone come up and want to talk to you about it.
They just have so much character 😉

HappyDaze wrote:I have owned both [ T2 & T3 ], and I found my T 5 the best. 👍

Ive owned T1's, T2's , T4's and the best is my T5

kombibob wrote:Apart from the obvious better drive and safety points I just love the T3 for the cool factor!
Nothing like pulling into a servo in a T3 and have everyone come up and want to talk to you about it.
They just have so much character 😉

BAM!!! 😂😂

Happy new year boys and girls.

Seems the "T3 Kombi" has touched some "cool cats" T2 owners nerve, it's ok fellas the truth sometimes hurts until you've owned and driven both.

^^^ 😂😂😂