In the summer of 2005, I did a 41 day cross-country trip in a '77 Westfalia with 2 of my friends from high school. We only broke down like 4 times, which I figure is pretty decent.

The final breakdown, however, was the end of the van. It ended up catching fire as we were leaving a parking lot on the final day of the trip. But hey, we caught it on video so that's pretty awesome.

Thanks for the post, it's brought up some awesome memories of that trip.

Hah, my mom's from Westfalia and she hasn't caught fire for years.

Volkswagen still makes a poptop - the California, which, I guess, isn't for sale in the actual California.
http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/california/

We have the previous model of that California and it's great, a bit small but so much better than a regular camper.

Damnit, now I want to bum across the US in a California for a year and "find myself". That does usually involve peyote and hippy chicks right?

My brother used to have a '61 23 window. That was a very sweet machine. 1641cc motor. Whitewall tires. We used to open the ragtop and cruise to the beach during the summer. Good times...

Goober got rid of it, because he didn't have the time to finish the interior. Grr....

Westy's elicit either nostalgia or romantic visions of freedom on the open road. Either way, you can't go wrong writing about them.

Since I got the Eurovan I've been toying with the idea of buying a fragged Bus/Vanagon Westfalia and stripping all mechanicals, etc and turning it into a trailer. In the end I think it would weigh too much for the EV to handle, but I love the concept of pulling a vintage VW Westy trailer.

I ran across this modern rendition of the Westfalia life on the 'Tex last month. I envy these people.

I just bought my 1970 Westy (my current daily driver) this summer in Ann Arbor, MI, believe it or not, for $3,500. They are out there (and not ridiculously expensive). Parts are super easy to get, too. Poke around on ebay to get a sense of the market, then jump in. The water's awesome.

Aaron - Wow, that is a clean Westy Bus, particularly the interior. Was it that immaculate when you bought it?

I had to wash it, but that's the interior the way I got it. The faucet was both not original and broken, but everything else was there.