1971 Volkswagen Transporter Pick-Up

As an ex-South African T2 Transporter Pickup, this is a well-used but utterly solid example of one of the hardest working commercial vehicles in the world.

Imported around a year ago, it might be in need of gently recommissioning but it does not need welding, which is not a sentence you’ll read with any great frequency. It also starts, runs and drives fine but it is not MOT’d and so will need trailering away until you’ve established for yourself whether it is safe to be used on the public road.

You might be tempted to stop reading at this point and skip to something else, but to do so would be a mistake because this is a rust-free example of a very popular classic commercial vehicle and the lack of rot and corrosion means that restoring it would largely be a bolt-off, bolt-on job. Y’know, like a British mechanic’s version of The Karate Kid.

Best of all though, it’s being offered with no reserve, so it’ll sell from the very first bid…

The light blue and white colour scheme is very cheerful, so the Transporter looks good as you walk up to it, most notably for the almost complete absence of the extensive rust the model is prone to. Coming from South Africa, a country not known for its harsh winters or widespread use of salt, helps as does the fact that it comes from the mid-country city of Pretoria, which means it has lived its life well away from the salt-laden air of the coastal regions.

That said, the body panels are a bit wobbly in places and the sides of the pickup bed fit where they touch – and the latter have got a light sprinkling of surface rust near the hinges, too. That’s the bad news. The good is that there is an almost complete absence of rust everywhere else.

And, better news comes from the fact that the doors are neatly aligned, the load bed looks to be solid, and the front end is much smarter than it has any right to be on such an old working vehicle.

This means that a rolling restoration would be a job that involves only WD40 and a set of spanners rather than an angle grinder and a welder. That alone makes this South African example worth buying – and this is, you will recall, a vehicle that has covered more than 212,000 miles and is in its 50th year.

The rear bumper has two distinctly utilitarian rear steps rivetted on, and while they aren’t original, they’re an important part of the car’s history and provenance and so we’d leave them alone.

Speaking of which, if it were ours, we might be tempted to make some wooden folding sides for the rear bed and leave the rest of the bodywork alone. It’s beautifully patinated and really does add to the whole classic-working-vehicle vibe.

The front indicator lenses will need replacing, and you’ll need new tyres too. But the steel wheels are okay, so swings and roundabouts, yea?

The grey vinyl seats aren’t bad at all, and nor is the headlining or dashboard. The door shuts are way above average too, as is the floor; have we mentioned that there is an almost complete absence of rust?

The instruments are all there and seem to work, and while the door cards are missing their door pulls and have the odd hole here and there, recovering them would be a doddle. Always assuming that sort of thing bothers you, of course.

Sure, the driver’s door can’t be opened from inside, and we’ve no doubt that one or more of the switches and minor controls will prove to be recalcitrant when you start using it in anger too, but it’s an easy vehicle to work on and would make a lovely winter project or a rolling restoration that you restore as time and money allow.

The engine is a bit reluctant when it is cold but starts well when it is warm, so probably just needs a service and tuning. In fact, the whole things drives okay but we would respectfully suggest that it really needs trailering away until you’ve gone over it yourself to check that everything works as it should. And got an MOT on it, obvs.

The engine bay is fairly well organised, and is home to what we know to be a new battery – the seller bought it yesterday en-route to delivering it to us.

The underside is very strong, being as free of serious rust as you’d expect of a vehicle that’s lived almost all of its life in the South African sun.

Because it doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

The Transporter’s paperwork consists of a V5 registration document. Sadly that’s all there is, so potential bidders must set their budget according to its current condition rather than being able to rely on an extensive paper trail.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Or, even better, why not contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call? You get to direct us in real-time, giving you a virtual personal viewing experience while maintaining the lockdown. We like to call it ‘The Market’s 2020 Vision’…

Yes, it’s a bit scruffy, and yes, it’s going to need some mechanical recommissioning before it can be used safely but it’s almost completely rust-free and utterly solid, which puts it ahead of 90% of the stuff you’ll have been browsing while trying to convince yourself that a Halfords’ welder and thoughts-and-prayers will enable you to stitch it all back together…

This one, on the other hand needs anything but welding, making its restoration a simple case of bolting on mail-order bits in whatever order you like until you are happy with the result – and that’s got to be the best way of restoring a cheap classic car, surely?

And it will be cheap. We think it’ll sell for somewhere between £3,000 and £6,000 but the vendor has such confidence in you lot that he’s happy to let it run with no reserve and let your good taste be the ultimate judge of its worth.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; 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’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.