Here's a great score I made a few years ago:
Here's an edited version of the story I posted on thesamba:
It's a long story, but the short version is that I found (or it found me!) a
brand new, never been fitted, original poptop tent for my 63 Dormobile!
That's right, a NOS red-and-white candy-striped vinyl tent for a split bus
Dormobile roof! How many of those can there be in the world?
And now for the long story. This is an out-take from my 2,000 mile round
trip in my 63 Dormobile from Johannesburg to Cape Town for the first-
ever Cape Town Kombi Owners Club camp-out earlier this month. [EDIT: May 2005]
The full story starts earlier this year, when I was considering that the
Dormobile, which I have owned for 10 years now, will one day need to be
restored. Right now it is patinaed and somewhat tatty, but there are some
rust issues that will have to be dealt with sooner or later. While thinking
about restoring the dormer, I wondered what I would do about the torn
roof tent. I didn't want to replace it with something non-original, but who
knows where one might find a material similar to the original textured,
candy-striped vinyl.
So my thoughts progressed into a fantasy, where a little old lady had a
split Dormobile in her youth. At some time she ordered a new roof tent,
but, for whatever reason, never fitted it. Later, she sold the Dormobile,
but kept the tent. And now, in her old age, she wants to get rid of it. All I
had to do was find her ... Hahaha. Nice fantasy! But I'd probably win the
lottery before finding a NOS Dormobile roof tent.
Fast forward to the KOC camp-out. Shortly after I arrived (unannounced!)
at the camp-out, in the grounds of the Brandvlei prison near Worcester,
and set up camp, which involved popping the Dormobile top, one of the
KOC guys, Hennie, approached me and asked how I intended to restore
the torn roof tent. I replied that I didn't know, but that I didn't want to use
canvas.
Then Hennie said that he just happened to know someone who could help
me. He explained that after an article about the KOC had appeared in a
Cape Town newspaper, a little old lady of 89 had telephoned him and said
she had some split bus parts to sell and invited him to tea. There she
showed him photographs of the 1964 Dormobile with Devon interior that
she had owned in the 1960s and 1970s, and in which she had travelled all
over South Africa, both alone and with her children. She then explained
that she had ordered a replacement roof tent in the 1960s, but had never
fitted it. When she eventually sold the bus, the new roof tent was lurking
somewhere in her garage and it did not go with the bus. She asked Hennie
if he knew anyone who could use such a thing. He replied that he had
never seen a Dormobile, and he really didn't think he'd be able to help her
find a buyer.
At least not until I popped my dormer's top at the KOC camp-out!
Two days after the camp-out I met Hennie and his wife at their home in
Cape Town and we all went to visit the 89-year-old Mrs Collins in her flat,
where she has lived for the past 37 years. She was like a bright little bird,
sharp of mind and eye, and she got very excited when she saw my
Dormobile, and told us lots of stories about her travels in her Dormobile,
and showed us some of her photographs.
And then she brought out the Holy Grail. It was wrapped, in true old lady
style, in about six plastic shopping bags, which only served to prolong the
delicious anticipation before I finally saw the prisitine red-and-white candy
stripes of the NOS Dormobile poptop tent, assembled to pattern, and with
all the correctly positioned tabs for the internal ribs. Even though I knew
this was what I had come to see, I could still not believe my eyes!
And Mrs Collins was overjoyed that the tent that she had carefully stored
for more than 30 years had finally found a home. She had already told
Hennie how much she wanted for it and I had the cash waiting. It was a
reasonable sum, but probably a fraction of what I could get for a NOS
Dormobile poptop tent on a web auction. But that's irrelevant, since it's
not for sale!
And I still can't believe that my little fantasy about the old lady and her
Dormobile tent actually came true in every detail!
Don't be afraid to dream!
Riaan, Im sure I do...
