Well, I bought a 73 bus new with the promise from the salesman in Livermore,
CA that it could pull the Altamont Pass at 65mph. He drove and it damned
near did from the west side. I tried to drive it like the 390CID Ford wagon
I traded in on it. It made it to the Sierras, UT, OR just fine but running
from Bend,OR up to Mt Batchelor everyday for a week and trying to keep up
with the American iron resulted in a sucked valve on I505 near Woodland at
9:00PM on the way home - damn near as lonely as US50 in NV at night - 3 kids
and me - no CB, no cell (a cellphone in 1975?). We finally got towed (after
dawn) to a shop and a friend came to get us - skis and all - great neighbor.
It was the well known red body and white top - the Red Box.

I wasn't that pleased with VW but the SO, boss, wife, Gayle fell in love
with an 80 Westy in Durango, CO on a trip where we were delivering another
van to my son. That vehicle has become a labor of love as most of these do
for all of us on this list. We haven't tried to restore it but just keep up
with maintenance, seals, seats, brakes, rebuilt engine, etc. It's the
standard Yellow (Cream) from that era and she calls it the Westy which works
because we don't have a stable of vanagons - I, on the other hand, due to
its blazing speed, refer to it as the Banana Slug.

Pete
Murphys, CA