Bay Window to Cali?

Pineweasel · Mar 5, 2013

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, and it's great to find such a wealth of information and wisdom. We (myself, wife and 8 year old daughter) have enjoyed four years of travel and festivals in our 1973 VW Westfalia Continental but are now seriously thinking of moving into the 21st century by buying a Cali.

The advantages of the Cali are obvious, but we'll be sad to say goodbye to our Westy when the time comes. I expect quite a few here have done the same - does anyone have any observations, pros & cons, or regrets?

- pineweasel

choplee · Mar 6, 2013

I went from early westy bay to my Cali and don't regret it overall ... Would be nice to have both ... Lol
The only thing I miss is the sound of the air- cooled engine and its alittle prettier

I've had others ,but this was my last transition of vw campers .This one will be with me for along time i hope and its been all the things people say it will be and more ...There are others on the forum that have done the same going from a split or bay to a Cali and I don't think any have regrets apart from the same as me wanting to have both ... Lol

SimplyDubs · Mar 6, 2013

Did the same... Moved up from our '72 Westy to the California after looking at man other conversion options.

Helen wanted something that was guaranteed to get us where we are going and also kept the Chardonnay at the right temperature

Difference from my perspective apart from the reliability and the comfort is that it's just another van to most "normal" people and doesn't have the "cute" factor of the bay... Not as much community spirit... That being said, in recent times this has changed as the Cali now has a pretty big following in it's own right... As proved by this forum.

Experience tells me that around 50% do Cali owners are to enthusiasts and simply have it as a small motor home and look a little bemused when you wave or try to say hello. ALL aircooled owners are enthusiasts... They have little choice

That being said, love the Cali and use it all the time... But couldn't bear to get rid of the Westy... Keep both... It worked for us.

shambly · Mar 6, 2013

We swapped from a 1964 11-window split-screen camper van.

Do we miss it for camping? Not a bit.
Do we miss peoples waves? A little
Do we miss the unreliability, lack of aircon, lack of heating, lack of space, lack of luggage space? Funnily enough no.

With the T5 we love the luggage space, the fact that we don't _have_ to put an awning up to have enough room for everyone to sleep, the lazy cruising at the speed limit, and the fact we can use it as one of our everyday cars too.

But it would have been nice to keep the split screen as well, just for days out mind (when it doesn't matter whether you have to get somewhere or not!). But that was impossible to justify, especially as we have a Chesil Speedster too.

Simon