Our's can't come soon enough!!

[aBusAndBeyond]

Well our dealer was very kind and lent us a California Ocean for a few days before ours arrives in the new year. I headed over to collect it and could not believe our luck when I saw it was Blackberry, just like we have ordered. The colour looks great but it was a bit wet so didn't get chance to take any pictures. I drove it home so we could quickly load up and get on the road to our first site.

We arrived just on the cusp of darkness at Cirencester Park Caravan Club Site. We quickly set up, took the pooch for a walk and settled in for our first night. We slept up top and had the heater set to '2'. Halfway through the night we had to turn it down because it was so warm! We were both so pleased that it was warm and comfortable.

The next morning the weather was beautiful.

Bentley our Golden Retriever loved watching the world go by.

We took him for a walk around Cirencester Park which is fantastic for dog walking and had our first breakfast in the Cali. Bentley loved it...

We packed up and headed to sunny Skegness to visit family. The relatively unknown beaches to the south of Skegness are vast and fantastic and often overshadowed by the fish and chip and arcade 'tackiness' of Skegness itself. I'm happy for it to stay that way if it keeps the beaches as empty as this...

After a couple of days in Skeggy we headed back south to Harbury Fields Farm Caravan Site. This was a lovely site just South of Leamington Spa. Again it was damp when we set up but we were soon sorted and taking Bentley for a walk.

Bentley and I made dinner and we settled down for another great night's sleep

We awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine and we couldn't wait to get out with Bentley for his morning walk.

Bentley 'helped' with breakfast again and despite being the middle of November we were actually able to test out the outdoor table and chairs.

There was also a white '66' plate Ocean on site this morning with the club sticker in the window, it looked lovely. They also left today too.

We are now back home and gutted to be giving it back tomorrow. We've had an absolutely fantastic few days. It was great that this Cali is so so similar to what we have ordered. The only difference is that we have ordered cruise control, rear camera and the shower attachment. This one had sat nav but I didn't come away wishing I had ordered ours with sat nav, which is good. This one also had the standard (non multifunction wheel) which is the same as we have ordered and I can live with that. If this one had cruise control and a reversing camera I'd be tempted to try and buy this one as we really can't wait!

Well if you've got this far well done and sorry for the essay! Roll on 2017!!

 

[calikev]

Great pictures and story enjoy your new cali when it arrives it looks like Bentley is

 

[Meoncoast]

Great stuff

 

[Swissian]

It's a face-off priceless!

 

[T6 CFO]

Cracking picture. We had a retriever, so easy to train as would do anything for food. Her party trick was to sit with a treat on each paw and look at you with those doleful eyes.


Mike

 

[SpikeMcBike]

Ha, I borrowed that exact van, too, back in September whilst the dealer rectified what they should have done prior to delivery of my van. I think somebody had just taken it on a long trip before us, as it stank! I hope they cleaned it up for you.

Nice van, though, and the colour is great. Funny, the one thing I felt was missing in it was the MFSW. Otherwise it has a nice spec.

We didn't go away in it but we did a day to the seaside and it was nice to compare against my Beach. Without getting into an Ocean v Beach debate, they are very different vehicles in terms of what they offer. I love the space of the Beach but it would be nice to just stick the kettle on sometimes.

Enjoy your new one when it arrives, I am sure you will.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Great post, and fantastic pictures, the bacon sarnie stand-off pictures really made me laugh!!

And, love the snoopy shirt as well, are they PJ's?

 

[aBusAndBeyond]

Cracking picture. We had a retriever, so easy to train as would do anything for food. Her party trick was to sit with a treat on each paw and look at you with those doleful eyes.

They are great dogs aren't they! He'll do anything for food.

Ha, I borrowed that exact van, too, back in September whilst the dealer rectified what they should have done prior to delivery of my van. I think somebody had just taken it on a long trip before us, as it stank! I hope they cleaned it up for you.

Thankfully it didn't smell but it does need a thorough clean. It wasn't dirty, but it wasn't as clean as I would have mine.

Great post, and fantastic pictures, the bacon sarnie stand-off pictures really made me laugh!!

And, love the snoopy shirt as well, are they PJ's?

Yeah it's cool isn't it. I don't think they are PJ's. I often see Lizzy leaving the house with it on so I assume it's just a sweater.

 

[Hotel California]

Great stuff , don't know what made me laugh the hardest ....the expression of the dog or the wife's face....
Both cute.....

Ps did the heater not work , the woll hat says it all.

 

[aBusAndBeyond]

Great stuff , don't know what made me laugh the hardest ....the expression of the dog or the wife's face....
Both cute.....

Ps did the heater not work , the woll hat says it all.

Ha ha yeah it worked brilliantly. It's a new hat so she wears it all the time.

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Ha ha yeah it worked brilliantly. It's a new hat so she wears it all the time.

I get that

 

[Jabberwocky]

Its that face off look again! Excellent

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Well our dealer was very kind and lent us a California Ocean for a few days before ours arrives in the new year. I headed over to collect it and could not believe our luck when I saw it was Blackberry, just like we have ordered. The colour looks great but it was a bit wet so didn't get chance to take any pictures. I drove it home so we could quickly load up and get on the road to our first site.

We arrived just on the cusp of darkness at Cirencester Park Caravan Club Site. We quickly set up, took the pooch for a walk and settled in for our first night. We slept up top and had the heater set to '2'. Halfway through the night we had to turn it down because it was so warm! We were both so pleased that it was warm and comfortable.

The next morning the weather was beautiful.

Bentley our Golden Retriever loved watching the world go by.

We took him for a walk around Cirencester Park which is fantastic for dog walking and had our first breakfast in the Cali. Bentley loved it...

We packed up and headed to sunny Skegness to visit family. The relatively unknown beaches to the south of Skegness are vast and fantastic and often overshadowed by the fish and chip and arcade 'tackiness' of Skegness itself. I'm happy for it to stay that way if it keeps the beaches as empty as this...

After a couple of days in Skeggy we headed back south to Harbury Fields Farm Caravan Site. This was a lovely site just South of Leamington Spa. Again it was damp when we set up but we were soon sorted and taking Bentley for a walk.

Bentley and I made dinner and we settled down for another great night's sleep

We awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine and we couldn't wait to get out with Bentley for his morning walk.

Bentley 'helped' with breakfast again and despite being the middle of November we were actually able to test out the outdoor table and chairs.

There was also a white '66' plate Ocean on site this morning with the club sticker in the window, it looked lovely. They also left today too.

We are now back home and gutted to be giving it back tomorrow. We've had an absolutely fantastic few days. It was great that this Cali is so so similar to what we have ordered. The only difference is that we have ordered cruise control, rear camera and the shower attachment. This one had sat nav but I didn't come away wishing I had ordered ours with sat nav, which is good. This one also had the standard (non multifunction wheel) which is the same as we have ordered and I can live with that. If this one had cruise control and a reversing camera I'd be tempted to try and buy this one as we really can't wait!

Well if you've got this far well done and sorry for the essay! Roll on 2017!!

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Great story...the Blackberry looks really good.
Looking at the pictures did it have a Topper over the roof and canvas? If so that could be why you got so warm...unless you pinched your wife's new hat!
We are getting our Cali early next year so I'll be posting details very soon, and like you we can't wait.
Have you thought about how to keep the seats clean, especially the rear bench, with Pooch on board?

 

[aBusAndBeyond]

Great story...the Blackberry looks really good.
Looking at the pictures did it have a Topper over the roof and canvas? If so that could be why you got so warm...unless you pinched your wife's new hat!
We are getting our Cali early next year so I'll be posting details very soon, and like you we can't wait.
Have you thought about how to keep the seats clean, especially the rear bench, with Pooch on board?

Yeah I assume the Cali Topper helped a lot, it covered both the roof and canvas. We never tried it without so I have to compare it to but it was lovely up top.

Yeah we just used a blanket but we are going to have to get some sort of seat covers. Lizzy is quite handy with a sewing machine so she is tempted to try and make some so we will see.

Can't wait to see yours when it arrives. What colour have you gone for?

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Yeah I assume the Cali Topper helped a lot, it covered both the roof and canvas. We never tried it without so I have to compare it to but it was lovely up top.

Yeah we just used a blanket but we are going to have to get some sort of seat covers. Lizzy is quite handy with a sewing machine so she is tempted to try and make some so we will see.

Can't wait to see yours when it arrives. What colour have you gone for?

If we had gone for a single colour then it would have been Blackberry...but we saw a two colour Red and White Caravelle limited edition in the showroom and thought it looke really good...but after checking with VW in the UK and Germany it could not be ordered here.
So...because we really love the original T2 campers and wanted ours to be a fun holiday vehicle with a different retro look....we have ordered it in Candy White and as soon as it arrives at the beginning of March it is booked in to a VW approved body shop to have the lower half sprayed in original VW light green paint that was used on the Type 2 Split Screen models.
We will keep the bumpers white and add some thin chrome strips along the T6 lower body crease line.
We think/hope it will look really good. Here's a picture of the colour combo that we are going for:

 

[Teejay]

If we had gone for a single colour then it would have been Blackberry...but we saw a two colour Red and White Caravelle limited edition in the showroom and thought it looke really good...but after checking with VW in the UK and Germany it could not be ordered here.
So...because we really love the original T2 campers and wanted ours to be a fun holiday vehicle with a different retro look....we have ordered it in Candy White and as soon as it arrives at the beginning of March it is booked in to a VW approved body shop to have the lower half sprayed in original VW light green paint that was used on the Type 2 Split Screen models.
We will keep the bumpers white and add some thin chrome strips along the T6 lower body crease line.
We think/hope it will look really good. Here's a picture of the colour combo that we are going for:

View attachment 17746

I would be tempted to replicate the above on a T6 but wouldn't go half and half. I think I'd move the paint line up to just below the windows as in the above. Are you planning on replicating the V shape at the front.?

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

I would be tempted to replicate the above on a T6 but wouldn't go half and half. I think I'd move the paint line up to just below the windows as in the above. Are you planning on replicating the V shape at the front.?

We are going lower half in Green up to upper crease line which ties in with the bonnet line above the lights and grille on the T6.
We are leaving the bumpers in White similar to the picture and then having the chrome strips fitted along the lower crease line and the rear door lip to "lift' the look.
It wouldn't work visually to try and replicate the V shape...even though we love it...because the front area on the T6 is wider and squatter and you would either need to go down through the grille bars or fit a new front end which we don't want.
We are leaving the front roundel chrome VW on black background and having the background on the rear door roundel painted in matching green with chrome VW.

 

[aBusAndBeyond]

If we had gone for a single colour then it would have been Blackberry...but we saw a two colour Red and White Caravelle limited edition in the showroom and thought it looke really good...but after checking with VW in the UK and Germany it could not be ordered here.
So...because we really love the original T2 campers and wanted ours to be a fun holiday vehicle with a different retro look....we have ordered it in Candy White and as soon as it arrives at the beginning of March it is booked in to a VW approved body shop to have the lower half sprayed in original VW light green paint that was used on the Type 2 Split Screen models.
We will keep the bumpers white and add some thin chrome strips along the T6 lower body crease line.
We think/hope it will look really good. Here's a picture of the colour combo that we are going for:

View attachment 17746

Wow. Can't wait to see the finished product. What wheels are you going to use to give it the retro look? Are you going to use the ones that are on the two tone T6's that are available on the continent?

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Wow. Can't wait to see the finished product. What wheels are you going to use to give it the retro look? Are you going to use the ones that are on the two tone T6's that are available on the continent?

Really loved the retro ones on the limited edition Caravelle so investigated getting them (can't be ordered on a UK California).
Unfortunately they are £650 PER CORNER incl tyres so managed to get the Cascavel alloys in silver FOC and will explore getting the silver painted parts of them re-done in white (possibly powder coated) leaving the diamond turned spokes to give a bit of a chromey lookey likey effect

 

[Smiffy4bikes]

Great colour combo

But then I would say that as I had a splitty (see left!) in exactly those colours, bloody gorgeous.

Have you considered vinyl wrapping as opposed to a paint job?

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Great colour combo

But then I would say that as I had a splitty (see left!) in exactly those colours, bloody gorgeous.

Have you considered vinyl wrapping as opposed to a paint job?

Not really Smiffy...want it to look very genuine/painted and retro and also have good resale eventually.

Did you see my thread under " - My VW California"...Soooo excited with the spec of my Cali when it comes?

 

[CaliCrazy]

If we had gone for a single colour then it would have been Blackberry...but we saw a two colour Red and White Caravelle limited edition in the showroom and thought it looke really good...but after checking with VW in the UK and Germany it could not be ordered here.
So...because we really love the original T2 campers and wanted ours to be a fun holiday vehicle with a different retro look....we have ordered it in Candy White and as soon as it arrives at the beginning of March it is booked in to a VW approved body shop to have the lower half sprayed in original VW light green paint that was used on the Type 2 Split Screen models.
We will keep the bumpers white and add some thin chrome strips along the T6 lower body crease line.
We think/hope it will look really good. Here's a picture of the colour combo that we are going for:

View attachment 17746

Can't wait to see photos when you get it done!

 

[Days out]

We are going lower half in Green up to upper crease line which ties in with the bonnet line above the lights and grille on the T6.
We are leaving the bumpers in White similar to the picture and then having the chrome strips fitted along the lower crease line and the rear door lip to "lift' the look.
It wouldn't work visually to try and replicate the V shape...even though we love it...because the front area on the T6 is wider and squatter and you would either need to go down through the grille bars or fit a new front end which we don't want.
We are leaving the front roundel chrome VW on black background and having the background on the rear door roundel painted in matching green with chrome VW.

Dear W. Ninja...

I like your idea of doing a two tone paint job in light green, but I'm a little concerned about the way you are thinking of realising your idea. I would recommend that you make a few print outs of a white van and you try colouring the panels you describe to see the end result. (Even better if you have photoshop and can use it...).

It's a tricky one to get right and before you spend a fortune of paint I would definitely mock up your idea first.

I also was going to recommend the route of applying a wrap. Two reasons. 1) you can try out your preferred scheme and live with it before commmiting to paint. 2). You can modify it if you aren't happy when you see it in the flesh.

3M make "knife on a roll" (search for it on eBay) so you can draw with tape on to you van the design, wrap it then remove the excess without any damage. Even just try one side to get the idea. I did this when I was trying to decide on black B pillars. I just mocked up one side with black insulation tape and stood back and compared to the other side before I committed.

So the next problem I can see you might have is the bumpers. You want to avoid painting them but on a T6 they are integral so leaving them in white will look weird IMHO. An alternative that is easier I think would be order the van in say bamboo garden green and paint or wrap the upper to white. That way your plastics will be perfect colour match and any stone ships or scrapes won't show through to the original colour. The wrap is on the upper so it's less prone to damage and the surfaces are less complex to wrap.

Unfortunately I don't have photoshop at home, but I did this image below for you on my iPad. I'm thinking this is what you are talking about. If you like I will try to do a proper photoshop for you so you can see the options. Alternatively I'd try colouring in a few photocopies yourself...

Hope you don't mind me giving you my opinion.... but I do admire you for doing this as it will look cool if you get it right.

 

[Days out]