1989 Volkswagen T2 Baywindow

This Type 2 was built in VW’s São Paulo plant in 1989 – just one of 24-million vehicles produced by the Latin-American factory to date. According to the vendor, it went on to live in the centre of the state of São Paulo, far away from the coast and its rust-encouraging sea air. It was therefore sourced already in apparently solid condition, but the decision was taken nonetheless to completely strip it down and rebuild it. The vendor reports that effectively everything has been replaced or refurbished and that this Type 2 is ‘as good as new’. He even zeroed the refurbished odometer to prove it, which explains why it’s now showing just 11kms.

Again, according to the vendor, the work involved in restoring this vehicle has been much more than a simple cosmetic overhaul. The engine is said to have been stripped and refreshed with new pistons, rings, seals, bearings, a new crankshaft, spark plugs, leads and wiring and even a new pair of carburettors. The transmission has also been stripped and selectively rebuilt (where needed). The rubbers throughout the vehicle have been swapped with new, supple alternatives and the wiring has also been comprehensively replaced. There is apparently an online gallery of images showing the full restoration of this handsome Bus, should further reassurance be required.

Clearly this colour isn’t a late-1980s favourite, but instead, this retro Mocca shade nicely matches the chrome hubcaps on those steel wheels. The overall aesthetic decision – reinforced by the two-tone split cream/brown finish – gives this Bus a much older feel than its 33 years would initially suggest. A choice that continues on the inside with that fabulous 1970s tartan trim, more on that later... The paint finish is generally good, though we did notice some orange peel on the engine lid. There’s also a tiny sliver of worn paint on the edge of the passenger door that appears to have been touched up, but that’s pretty much the only damage we could see. The paint was only applied this year after all.

Those aforementioned painted steel wheels look classy and understated and are wrapped in a new set of North American Falken tyres – considerably better than those supplied from the factory we’ll wager. The surfer-default accessory, a roof rack, has already been added and looks great in body-colour brown. A pair of fog lights – complete with Hella-branded covers – compliment the stock candle-like standard headlights. It’s all very appealing and ready for a trip to the beach, but be careful checking your blind spot on the way, as the passenger door mirror glass has fallen off. During our brief test drive, everything behaved as expected, other than the rear door that opened on its own. Though we’re convinced a bit of a slam or some simple fine-tuning will see it right.

What can we say about that tartan trim, other than it’s fantastic. If ever there was a fabric that better complimented a vehicle’s colour scheme, we’re not sure we’ve seen it. It feels remarkably familiar too, but we can’t quite place where we’ve seen it before. It’s a bit Golf GTi and a bit Porsche 928, but 100% brilliant. The centre of the seats and periphery of the door cards are bordered in a tan vinyl that’s also perfectly in keeping. The trimming seems to have been carried out to a very high standard and combined with a deep pile carpet set and a near unmarked headlining, really exudes quality.

This Bus does retain its original people-carrying three rows of seats, rather than the more popular camper layout, but the seats are easily removed. It also wouldn’t take a lot to put a fold-up bed in there and take it camping regardless. Though we think it’s nice to see a Type 2 still configured as the factory intended. The only deviations, in fact, are those chromed handles on the tops of the seats and the 12V adapter in the dash.

As for any signs of wear, clearly there’s not a lot to cause complaint as it’s so fresh, but we did spot that the winder handle for the passenger front window has snapped. There’s also some staining on the handbrake lever and a small section of metal damaged on the top of the offside sill (where the side doors meet). There are also a few light marks to the vinyl on the driver’s seat and some mild overspray on some rubbers, but generally, this cabin looks very sharp.

The underside of this Volkswagen has clearly been stripped and repainted as it now sports body colour paint over its stone chip protection, which we have to say looks surprisingly good. It’ll hide any mud for sure. The same shade of body colour (they must have mixed too much) has been used to cover the engine pulleys too. The bolt holding the pulley on to the crankshaft shows some signs of rounding, hopefully once it reached its desired torque… We were also a little concerned by the Fram push-on fuel filter as these aren’t known for their longevity or ability to retain their inflammable liquid! An easy enough fix.

Remedial work to repair the front crossmember is evident on its rearmost face but other than that, there seems to be little sign of any welding. The engine and transmission certainly appear to have just been refurbished as we could only spot one very small drop of oil on their shiny cases. The wheel arches and floors certainly look solid and we noticed that the axles, suspension and even the brake dust shields have either been replaced or repainted and look very smart. There’s also a lot of new wiring, clamps, bushes and general bits and bobs that all seem to confirm that this Bus has been subjected to a fairly comprehensive rebuild.

There isn't very much in terms of history of course.

The V5 states zero former keepers, and the MoT expires on 23rd February 2024.

There are copies of a Brazilian registration form and a note from HMRC to prove all duties were paid when it came into the country.

It doesn’t come with any further history but does have a pair of keys!

Heralding from a hot climate in the first instance is box number one ticked for any imported vehicle. This VW might have already been a great base for a restoration, yet it seems that the extra hard work to bring it up to top standard has also been carried out. The quality of the trim and the paint appears good and the underside shows all the right signs of a thorough going over.

The vendor is keen to point out that he’s been restoring these machines – as well as other classics – for nearly a decade and has plenty of photo evidence to show things have been done properly with this one. The Bay window Type 2 might not command the same premium as its more characterful Split-screen predecessor, but the model is rapidly finding wider appreciation. With £50k+ the prospect for a good Splitty, the £25,000 - £35,000 we’re expecting this Bus to fetch seems eminently reasonable by comparison.

Viewing is always encouraged. This particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays between 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.