Back when we first moved into our current house, the engine in my '84 vanagon blew. What with new house, lots of expenses, longer commute, the thought of paying for another engine rebuild and another paint job to battle the rust was just too much to justify. I sold off the van "as is". I knew I'd miss it, but at the time I just couldn't deal with it.
Fast forward five years: We've got two reliable economy cars for commuting. We have the mortgage paid down a bit, so we're not as stressed about money. And we miss not being able to run away to the mountains easily.
Late last month,
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Derien and I went down to NH and bought an '84 VW Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Edition. It is in good shape for its age, but has been mostly garaged for the last 20 years, had little use and little maintenance. It is pretty much stock as it came off the assembly line, which in a vanagon means you should only drive it if you have plenty of life insurance and just left confession thinking only pure thoughts. I will be doing extensive mechanical work on this van. There is a new engine in its future. There is a paint job in its future. I'm not sure which of those will come first, but neither of those will be by me. I'll be doing all the other stuff: clean everything in and out, pop-top canvas, carpet, brakes, suspension, electrical improvements/troubleshooting, awning(s), auxillary battery, headlight upgrade, horn upgrade, wheels/tires, led interior lighting, and lots of misc bits.
If we make it to retirement, this will be our retirement home. But right now, it's a project or a series of projects or a van sized black hole that money gets sucked into and disappears.
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