Somehow, I got stuck in the 70s without actually living through it. Maybe it was the my somewhat conservative-yet-liberal parents, dancing to the Bee Gees with my dad when I was little, or the fact that my first car was an old Volvo I adored. I remember reading old 70s magazines and cookbooks I would find around the house, picking up guitar in middle school just to play “Hotel California” (I wanted to be the “next” Joni Mitchell), and drooling at 70s architecture, fashion, and product design in my college Design History class.

It’s strange, I know. I’m not trying to be hip (it’s rather dorky, actually), or purposely try to live a generation I know very little about. To be honest, I’m not sure what it is about the 70s that is just so damn appealing. Was it the idealism? The counter-culture? Womens rights? Enviromentalism? The technology (or lack of)? Or perhaps, could it be that the uncertainty I feel about the world today is not so different from the uncertainty people felt in the 70s?

Whatever it was, I was addicted. And I thought, maybe…just maybe, one day I will live my dream and drive a VW bus. My parents, of course, refused to let me drive a VW bus when I got my license, and eventually gave me a used, safe Honda to drive – which was smart, because it could not be more reliable. But in the back of my mind, I still really, really wanted a VW bus.

Adopting Boris

Mike and I adopted a ’71 VW Bus this weekend, and fondly named it Boris (it looks like a stumpy old man). He found it as a great deal on Craigslist and we nearly flew to San Jose to get it. Our friends Thomas and Ruthanne are VW fantatics, so they came with us to take a look at it and make sure everything was ok before buying it. The body looked great, and there was hardly any rust. The engine sounded ok but the transmission needed to be changed.

And of course, there were about a hundred other little things that need to be fixed. I don’t think Mike can drive the car for 5 minutes before saying something like, “The _____ looks like it’s going to need some work. Oh, and that too. That looks like it’s falling off. And maybe we should add _____ for safety”. Lucky for me, Mike is a great mechanic, and loves fixing things. I’m perfectly happy with doing all the fun stuff like designing seat cushions. Ha.

If only Boris could talk.

There’s something special about driving something that’s much older than we are, and with so many stories to tell. Evidence of previous owners are tattooed on the car. “Love You” is written in spraypaint on the back door, there’s a “Roots Power” bumper sticker, skulls drawn on the doors, and a colorful fairy sticker hidden underneath one of the seats. The owners manual even has the names of original owners, “Murnan, C.E. & Lila J”. The ad you see here is the book cover from the Riviera line, which is where Boris is from. You can see more of the pages here.

We’re not going to make this a shiny show car, instead we’ll be making it a fun utility/camping car. And of course, we’ll be preserving some of the bus’s history, and adding onto it’s story with things from our generation (such as wifi and solar panels!). I can just hear someone buying this bus from us 30 years later and saying, “Wi-fi? Mp3 players? This car is ancient.”

What’s it all about?

The feeling of cruising down the highway in a portable living room is absolutely amazing. Even a trip to San Jose for dinner with Mike’s family was an adventure. Boris coughed for dear life as we got on the on ramp for the highway, and it putt-putt-putted at 65mph in the slow lane, getting thumbs up from older drivers, and smiles from kids in the backseats.

My life moves so fast, I actually appreciate being forced to go in the slow lane. And that’s what it’s all about.

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The Exterior

This is Boris! He’s an original, German ’71 VW Riviera pop-top camper van. Here’s how he looks when the pop top is closed. You’re probably wondering, “Is that a tee pee in the background?!” Yes, you’re right. But no, we’re not camping in my front yard (yet). My neighbors have kids who decided to build a tee pee one day.

I believe the cream colored paint is original, but not sure. I think we’ll paint the bottom half eventually. Not sure what color yet.

The back of the bus with all sorts of messages from the previous owners.

The Interior

The poptop is so cool! Look how open and airy it is. This was taken from the back seat.

So you can actually sleep two people in the pop-top comfortably. I’m not kidding. It’s a lot roomier than it looks. The seats below also fold out into a bed, so you can really sleep 4 people. The old VW bus ads usually show two kids sleeping on top and the parents on the bottom.

The view from above.

The backseat, and mattress on the top “floor”. Very roomy.

The poptop is actually pretty tall, and has a nice opening that zips up.

The fold down table. Mike is thinking about putting in a sink somewhere.

You know it’s a real bus if the steering wheel is flat, rather than upright.

Yes, that would be the gear shift sticking straight out of the floor.

The Details

The driver’s side. The dashboard is very basic compared to modern cars.

I LOVE the little details in the car, such as this knob.

The entire front of the car, is exposed on the inside. You see fluid containers, wires, switches…everything. The original cover for this area is gone. But I think it looks kind of cool. That dangling piece on the right is the broken blinker handle.

Electrical outlet! This is great, since we both have for laptops. You can bet we’ll be driving around 24hr donut shops to steal their internet and electricity.

A teeny closet. Mike will be pulling this out completely so there’s more light and space in the car. It’s blocking a few windows right now.

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