Early split under a tree

I found this under a tree but with my limited knowledge, I have no idea what to call it, or what year it is. Looks in reasonable nick, some rust but I would still love it.





Pitty the farmer will not sell it.
Brett

looks like a 57-59 model splitty. make a nice project. damn shame when the farmers wont part with em. they end up jsut sitting there and wasteing away or going to the crusher in the end. there is a guy up this way who has one, had it forever till it couldnt drive, and now being used as a waterpump for the dam. it sits on the river bank. he rather it do this job and continue to rot, than let someone else save it.

looks like a good'n. even has the rear bumper!

Awsome find mate, just awsome, to find one as complete as thet, its even still got the badge, bet the motors still there, go get, and go restore or rat that baby, welcome

Andy

offer the farmer a hiace or some other van to put in its place :thumb

yep the motor still there. Original, but maybe the dissy is after market.




This one was driven to this spot. Is now used to store drums of oil. We can only hope they leak a little a protect the floor.

Brett

go down to the hardware. get a 3x3meter colourbond shed. offer to errect it for him in leiu of the kombi, and youre done. $395 for the shed, afternoon of work, priceless kombi. 😎

Shit, thats awsome, i love it, you are one lucky man...i have also had my find of precious metal but no where as complete as this one, cool,

Andy

Grab it young man! Opportunity only knocks once, then you spend the rest of your life banging your head saying "why didn,t I......." Looks to me like a slammed 1960 low rider with option/delete sills and character/rat option duco. What are you waiting for.......a gold plated one?

would be very Kool indeed😎😎
and welcome to the forum too

Its not mine. Apparently his wife is still attached to it. It was her fathers, traveled Australia, took the pigs to market. Multi purpose. I see it 2-3 times a week, I will ask again soon.

brett

same story as mine. when i found it, it had been sitting in this guys back yard for 24yrs and 11 months.
he and his departed wife had it forever. shes dead and he didnt want to part with it. his son drove it in the seventies, and since then he had it sitting waiting for repairs or restos.
i basically said that it would be better to have it go to the next generation who would love it and enjoy some of the experiences it gave them.
took me all day to convince the guy who was then about 70odd. finally he could see i was genuine, and wasnt going to strip it for an ultralight plane ( his biggest fear) and the rest is history.

Great story twoguns, this couple are not so old, and I have planted the seed. But I am not first in line if he does decide to let it go.

The shed is a good idea, ill think about.

Thanks for the welcome robnjo.

So it seems it is late 50 early 60s. Are those doors standard kombi or is it a barn door type. Would it be 1200cc

Brett

Motor is normal, a little dusty, but normal.. including distributor.
Sweet find.

The back



[Edited on 24-2-05 by Brett]

cargo doors on the side are standard. the 'barn door' you refering to is for pre 55 models. it is hte size of the engine lid. this is not a barn door. and yes being a pre 60 model, it would be most likely a 1200 unless theve had a motor change.

man jsut saw your back shot. nice early third brake light. this baby is looking sweeter and sweeter. complete, ribbed bumpers front AND rar. complete...man i would be sorting the transport for sure.

[Edited on 24/2/2005 by twoguns]

Thanks for the information twoguns and BenettonVW. The more I seem to know and the more interested I seem, The better my chances of changing his mind, hopefully. :duh

57 is my guess...

At least the ride height at the rear is correct.. 😉

Brett wrote:Thanks for the information twoguns and BenettonVW. The more I seem to know and the more interested I seem, The better my chances of changing his mind, hopefully. :duh

maybe too, if you seem to know a bit about them. show some enthusiasm, but not too much tath you have to pay thru the teeth for it. gotta put it nice and explain that you wanna bring it back to glory. come on man, you know you want to, and you know you can do it. go get it... NOW!😉

BenettonVW wrote:At least the ride height at the rear is correct.. 😉

LOL! tis about where they should be. :thumb

what a gem.....sweet find, hope you can save it for yourself......the shed idea is a good one i reckon....priceless

Me thinks the rear ride height might be an inch too low.

If you look close at the rear photo, ther are two holes half way up on the left. Would these be for an oringal badge or something

nope. they aint suppose to be there. but dont worry bout that.

The Front



Gota go my 1yold not to keen on sleeping for some reason. I will keep you all informed.

Brett

Your mad if you don't hassle hassle hassle to get this. The condition is unreal for what it is. Mate if you are unsuccessful in getting this make sure you pass on the details. Maybe some one eventually will convince them to sell. Better to see it on the road that rotting into the ground.

what a cracker of a split..
good luck and don't give up on em.. you'll get there
😉

This was ours when we found it under a tree, had been there for aruont 15 years, minimal rust and now in on the road, dakdak..

Andy

This is 55 - 57 the rear lights changed as of 58 and the front had no peak(barny) before 55.
Nice bus.
Very rare that you find them complete, that rear bumper is worth quite a bit, you hardley ever see them on original buses.
The ribbed rear bumper was an option until 55 and they were only fitted as standard from 55 till 58.
Grab this bus. do what Wes said offer him a shed.

Cheers
Dave

if you don't try your best to get that you should go poke yourself in the eye with a sharp pencil...

seriously, that thing is complete, all the hard to get bits are there, there are alot of $$ and time ahead for the resto, I doubt the current owner will ever restore it...

maybe a patch/rat job will do.. just get it 🙂

mmm that split looks fantastic.

fantastic! You have to do everything you can to get it.

Seems that it is quite the find. I will not pressure the farmer but I told him I was going to post it hear. I will let him now that it created some interest. I will tell him that if he does come around, I could do the shed option, or offer some cash. I am limmited in that department, damn babies seem to eat it all up. But what would be a price to offer.

Brett

have seem people pick them up form between nothing and qute a few grand, offer what you think its worth to you...

What ever you do , dont let him know that people are interested.
His price will go up.

It is worth up to about $2000, nothing more.
Others might say its worth more, but
They dont realise how much it will actually cost to restore it.

Offer him a couple of hundred and go from there.
Best thing would be to tell him that you will replace it with a new shed and also say that you will bring it round to show him once its back on the road, they love that sort of stuff.

Good Luck.

Cheers
Dave

Offer him a couple of hundred dave, i recon thats sure to insult the guy an jepodise the puirchase, go in for $1500 plus a shed, thats well worth it..

Andy

No way can I afford 1500 and a shed, sounds like I might have to become a broker, get the splity into a good home, and make a little cash on the side as a finders fee.

Brett wrote:No way can I afford 1500 and a shed, sounds like I might have to become a broker, get the splity into a good home, and make a little cash on the side as a finders fee.

sorry but this is my pet hate. this is how the prices get driven up, so that people/ enthusiast such as you , me and others, cant afford to fix em and appreciate em. piss off the finders fee. try as hard as you can to get it for yourself. i got mine for 800 bucks. i know of people who got em for less. i know of a ute im atryign to sort at the moment. but dont do the greed thing. live the vw experience instead.

now your calling people greedy for takin time out to pass on a cracker of a kombi and make a dollar

I believe Wes is saying do not offer silly money, the thing has sat there for years and the owner did not intend to get rid of it and would have no idea of its worth, it is worth how much someone is prepared to pay.
It is worth $40 at Sims metal as scrap.
It is worth as much as Brett wants to pay to have it and restore it.
It is worth $1500 if Brett can afford that much.
I would offer $200, and go up from there, There is no way you would start at $1500.

Why start at $1500 if you can get it for $200, ?????????

Cheers
Dave

no i was suggesting, someone do kind and pass on a deal rather than jsut try to mark it up some more, but thanks dave.

anyway, i actuallyhope you score this one for yourself brett. it would be a good find, if youre into splits. sounds like youve got kid/s. they make great transporters and a damn fine bus to go to the wineries wihta bunch of mates.

Its funny but I have found that most bus owners do pass things on at no extra, they would rather see one on the road that try and make a couple of dollars themselves.
I have dealt with quite a few who are on this site who feel that way. I have also given parts away just to help people get their bus on the road.
That is what I thought the scene and this site was about, helping each other ,not just to make as much money as we can!!!

Brett, buy it yourself and do it yourself, get it for as cheap as you can.
Cheers
Dave

and brett. we are here to support ya mate. bring on another splitta! 😎

As everyone here has said, you'll regret it down the track, when the kids have grown up, that's when you'll be thinkin....shoulda got that splitty.

It's too complete to store drums of oil in!

brett ,just to add my 2 cents worth, grab it! being a 55 model (black semaphores, crank handle start, early vw logo bezel tailights etc)u wont regret it! as for what to pay, anything from $200 to $2000, depending on what the farmer says. i drive a million miles looking for buses like that. definately the find of the month!

Hey Andrew, you still got that 2 litre you had f/s before the forum crash?

i didnt think its a 55 model. is that what you think it is pmgbus? i woulda thought 57ish. but still id grab it, do the basics, and save it from a certain death under that tree.

I have to tred softly on this one. It is complecated, It was his wifes parents car, they are still around and might be attached. She is certainly attached and would not let it go in the past, not even to her nephew. The shed offer or an offer of money might help. I will also have to ensure that they know I will eventially bring it back to better than new.
I am not holding too much hope though. Sentimental people are hard to deal with.
Brett

youre on the exact right track brett. you never know, the nephew might not be regarded as responsible enough, or maybe wants it for nothing and they think he wont appreciate it. think you approach and demonstrate your genuine appreciation of what it is and the history. and jsut chat with them, so that they can get to know and understand you. as i said it took me 8hours to convince the old guy who had mine. and once agreed i rang a mate to come now rather than leave and come back and finda rethink.

if i was in your situation i would definately try to buy it...

even if they won't sell it to you, try to talk them into moving it under cover so it won't rot, plus find out where these things rust out from people on this site and what can be done to stop it (ie waxoil/fish oil or alike in sills, door bottems, the nose, etc.) and offer to do this aswell. this might help convince them that you are serious about looking after it and help them change thier mind. even if it doesn't it might mean that the kombi is still be restorable when someone does talk them into selling. plus leave your number in case they change thier mind.

i have never bought a complete car off a farmer, but have bought plenty of parts, when it came time to talk money, i generally said "what do you want for it. i don't want to insult you by offering to little, or pay more than i have to." this approach generally went down well and i ended up leaving with the bits, often at a good price.
if they asked how much it was worth, i'd give a fairly straight answer (probably dropping the value by 10 or 15% but still in the actual price range) even if it meant having to pay more than i'd wanted to, or not being able to afford the stuff at all. this aslo worked as sometimes they had an idea what the stuff was worth and they appreciated the fact i wasn't trying to completely rip them off, plus sometimes they would sell me the stuff for less than what i had told them it was worth just because i had been honest.

anyway, just my 2cents on the subject.

good luck, i hope the car is soon in your garage.

henry.