History: The Westy

Volkswagen has produced its fair share of iconic automobiles in its long and illustrious history. The Beetle was as important as the Model T, as it was mass produced at a cheap price, giving all middle income families the ability to own a vehicle. The Golf GTi ignited the hot hatch craze, dumping a high performance engine and suspension package into a small hatchback, nearly killing off the sports car as it allowed people to carry a fair amount of cargo and passengers in a fun to drive car. The VW Bus was the truly original mini-van, allowing large families to transport vast quantities of screaming and vomiting children over large distances. However, one of VW’s greatest accomplishments did not get produced in the tens of millions of units, but was a niche special edition of the Bus. That vehicle was the Volkswagen Westfalia.

The Westfalia was a special breed of vehicle that filled a small niche market that in reality, no one else really made any effort to fill - that of a camper van daily driver.

The story of the Westfalia starts at the end of World War Two, when the British were in charge of the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. At that time a Dutch VW importer named Ben Pon noticed that VW Type-1 (Beetle) chassis and running gear were being used to power make shift trolleys. After much napkin designing in 1947, he had come up with a van version of the Type-1, a design perfected by Heinz Nordhoff when he took over as CEO of Volkswagen. Dubbed the Type-2, the van bodied vehicle with Beetle running gear was put into production in 1950. Due to its trolley inspired beginnings, it became known as the VW Bus.

At this time, a company known as Westfalia-Werke, based in the Westphalia region of Germany, was busy designing and building trailer hitches and specialty trailers. The two companies got together to design a specialty version of the Type-2 that could double as camping accommodations. Only one short year later, the Volkswagen Westfalia was born, with Volkswagen sending Type-2 bodies to Westfalia for camperized outfitting, and the resulting campervan being available at local VW showrooms.

Standard Equipment for the early 11-window Bus Westaflia Campers included electrical hookups, curtains, screened Jalousie Windows, laminated folding table, birch plywood interior panels, ice box or cold-box, and laminated cabinetry. Some models even came equipped with a sink as standard equipment. Optional was a side tent, side awnings, camping stove, child sleeping cot, camping equipment, and portable chemical toilet, to name a few. In this first generation, Westfalia built a total of 1000 campervan units between 1951 and 1958.Then in 1962 the iconic fiberglass pop-up top was added that extended the main portion of the roof upwards and provided additional standing room inside.

As the years progressed, so did the amenities, features, and styling of the Westfalia. The second generation of the vehicles had lightweight marine plywood, cupboards, gas stoves, and a picnic-table style seating that could fold into a bed. As the costs continued to increase for all the new features and options, VW came out with second vehicle option, the “Weekender,” which was equipped with the Westfalia’s campervan interior, but did not offer the pop-top roof. During the 60’s the versatilities of the Westfalia made it a favourite of the hippy and surf cultures, allowing these nomadic peoples to wander the country and coasts in search of better things, giving them the ability to live out of the vehicles that transported them.

In 1979, the third generation of the van came along, this time dubbed the Vanagon. This new boxy designed body still came in both Weekender and Westfalia models, only now, customers had the option of get a Syncro variant, giving the Westfalia 4WD capability. Manufactured from 1985 to 1992, this opened up the range of the Westfalia as many owners equipped Syncros with slight suspension lifts and all-terrain tires allowing the Syncro to be able to reach well out into the wilderness.

However, the Westy we all know and love here in Canada would undergo massive changes in its fourth generation. Now dubbed the Eurovan with another ground up redesign in 1990, a VR6 engine was now mounted in the front. Around this same time, Westfalia would be bought out by DaimlerChrysler. As DaimlerChrysler is a Volkswagen competitor, this spelled the end of the Volkswagen-Westfalia partnership. To try and save the Volkswagen Campervan, VW turned to Winnebago to try to reproduce the Westfalia in the Eurovan.

They did a good job offering the popular pop-top roof with a bed, two fold-out tables, numerous cupboards and drawers for food and clothing, a two-burner propane stove, stainless-steel sink with electric faucet, 12,000 BTU forced-air furnace with thermostat, and a fridge that ran on propane, battery power, or external current. There was also a 45-litre fresh water tank with a rear-mounted spray nozzle, a 30-litre ‘grey’ water tank with a standard flushing outlet, a 22-litre propane tank, and an auxiliary 130 amp battery with auxiliary charger.

As good as the Winnebago version was, the writing was already on the wall at Volkswagon as the Eurovan would go the way of the Dodo in 2003. It ended an era that saw the Westfalia hold a monopoly over a small but passionate market. With the exception of a few short lived special camper editions produced by other automakers, no one else built an affordable, proper daily driving camper van that could be purchased from your local showroom. And unfortunately, since the Westies demise, there has yet been another vehicle step up to take its place.

Today if you want a camper van, you must either make massive and expensive alterations to a commercial van or purchase one of very few high-end custom built campervans from RV builders that rarely run less the $100,000. As a result, the Westy lives on as a symbol of affordable get-away transportation. As their numbers dwindle, the cost of a well used Westfalia easily tops over $10,000 for an un-restored model, while fully restored Syncro versions can run as high as $100,000. Its proof positive that not only was the Westfalia the only vehicle that answered this niche market, it was also an outstanding product that we miss dearly.

Feature: Retro Electro

 

The Steam Whistle brewery, like many small production breweries is always looking to get the good word out to the public, and one such way to do so, was to combine two passions. Company founder, Greg Taylor, while loving beer, also has a passion for vintage vehicles. As a result, the company boasts an extremely unique fleet of nine company sales and delivery vehicles that has everything from a 1956 Dodge Fargo to a 1964 Jeep Wagoneer, and everything in between.

The fleet is managed by Tim McLaughlin, a fellow classic car lover and a marketing manager. Each vehicle is painted in the breweries own “Steam Whistle Green” a rather loud version of the color for obvious advertorial reasons. However, the goal of the project was not just to find some old trucks and paint them in a loud color. These are car guys, and they wanted something different, something that stuck out in a crowd, and something that they could uniquely call there own. As a result of being on the constant search of such uniqueness, each vehicle has created a character of their own, each given nicknames as though they were fellow employees.

The fleet started off with 1949 International Stake Truck that was restored to original condition, with the addition of a more efficient diesel engine mounted in the front. This extra hauling power means that International, affectionately nicknamed Lumpy, can carry ¾ ton of bear, or 16 kegs to retailers.

Then there’s “Grande Verde” a 1964 Jeep Wagoneer based out of Edmonton, which has received a minor lift with heavy-duty suspension to handle the added weight of liquid refreshments. To get all that weight moving, the company dropped in a 360 cubic inch AMC mill.

One of the most unique members of the fleet is “Chuckles,” a 1956 Dodge Fargo that makes an ideal delivery vehicle with improved hauling power thanks to the addition of a 350 cubic inch small block. The old Dodge also boasts a great turning radius for narrow streets, so Chuckles makes an ideal vehicle for the home delivery department, and is used to deliver beer to private house parties.

Another interesting vehicle is the 1967 Ford Econoline nicknamed “The Steam Machine” that has been kept fairly stock as finding engines that would fit into it is hard to come by. However, what makes this vehicle special is the two taps that are fitted right the exterior of the vehicle. If the party won’t come to you, Steam Whistle loads up some kegs, and goes mobile, setting up shop where ever the action is.

The “Party Bus,” a 1965 Ford Blue Bird, you would think would also be a mobile bar on wheels, however, this once is strictly a shuttle, moving execs, VIP’s or thirsty drinkers to the brewery for private parties, tours and tastings.

However, one vehicle in particular caught our eye, that of Vancouver representative, Mike Kiraly. This, the latest vehicle to dawn the Steam Whistle colors, is not only unique in its shape, it has something you likely will never find in another hot rod. It’s electric, and uses no gasoline what so ever.

A dilemma had formed at the brewery, as these lovers of old classic vehicles, like a growing number in our ranks, were feeling guilty about the rather harsh pollution these vehicles emit. Not to mention the fuel bill that comes with hustling heavy beer kegs all over the city. The issue becomes even harder to bear as Steam Whistle has taken on a massive set of green initiatives in an effort to become the greenest brewery in the country. Everything from using natural products in the beer itself to using clean energy to power the brewery, and everything in between. Making their intentions quite public, the brewery was loosing some green cred when kegs were showing up in one of their many classic V-8 powered hot rods.

Kiraly came up with the perfect solution. Take a vintage Chevrolet Apache, rip out the powertrain and turn it into an EV, thereby keeping hold of a unique vintage vehicle, while holding true to the companies core social and environmental ethics. But turning this classic into a golf kart just wasn’t going to cut it, this hot rod needed to be electric, and do burnouts. And so, Kiraly pitched project RETRO ELECTRO to Greg and the team back in Ontario, who gave their approval. In November of 2009, Kiraly bought a 1958 Chevy Apache after the owners left a note on the windshield of the ‘57 Chev pickup he was using at the time. With the unique truck in hand, it was sent off to Vern Bethel of False Creek Automotive and Joe Mizsak to begin the restoration side of the build, with a complete ground up restoration.

Once the Apache looked the part, it fell to Azure Dynamics to supply the vital motor and electronics controller the Retro Electro would need for propulsion. Ironically, the same rules of hot rodding apply to hot rodding an EV. You want to go faster, put a bigger engine in it and dump more fuel into it. With the Retro Electro, Kiraly opted for a large motor, Azures massive AC90 electric motor, and fueled in with masses of powerful batteries. Using an AC motor meant that it is easy to hook up regenerating braking while peak torque, all 465 ft-lb, comes on between 200 and 300 rpm, staying strong up to 3000 rpm. However, a motor is nothing with out the electronics to keep everything running. Azure supplied the control unit needed to convert the stored energy into power for the motor in a civilized manner.

With all the goodies in hand, Kiraly was going to need help to put it all together and make it all work. He then turned to Greg Murray at Electric Autosports. Electric Autosports are EV conversion specialists in Vancouver, and set about making the Electro a working reality. To power that big motor, you need big power that comes in the form of 96 Thundersky Lithium-ion phosphate batteries mounted in series. These are very stable and safer than cobalt technology as they melt down instead of exploding when overheating, always a good thing.  In total, the 96 batteries put out 160 amp/hour cells that put out 3.35 v which weight about 1,100 lbs spread equally throughout the vehicle giving it an ideal 51/49 weight distribution. While making the handling ideal these batteries also give the Electro a range 150 km when Kiraly isn’t lighting up the tires.

Electic Autosports then went to work mating the motor right to the driveshaft. Unlike conventional vehicles, the Electro is direct drive with the only gearing being in the rear-end. For maximum acceleration and burnout photo ops, Kiraly runs a 6.3 gear ratio mated to a positraction differential courtesy of I.W.E. Rear-ends. However, for more relaxed driving in the city and the capability of 130-kmh top speed, Kiraly uses a 3.11 ratio for every day use. The truck looks a little barren inside as there is no need for a shifter with no gearbox, only a select drive switch mounted to the dash that either keeps the motor in neutral, drive, or a reverse setting which simply reverses the motors rotation, giving reverse drive.

Charging, as you might have wondered, is operated just like plugging in a clothes dryer at home. A 220 volt charging outlet mounted on the sidestep body panel simply receives a standard 220 extension cord, plugged into the garage 220 volt outlet. For the majority of Kiraly’s driving, he notes that the Electro never needs more than three hours charge.

With the truck up and running this spring, Kiraly lit up the tires for the first time in an impressive show of smoke and power. With the added weight of the batteries and the direct drive of the motor, this burnout was the equivalent to spinning the tires in fourth gear with about 600 lbs of cargo sitting in the rear bed of a conventional V-8 powered truck. All of a sudden, electric power doesn’t seem so golf kartish, as the AC90 definitely delivered on Kiraly’s expectations.

Today, the Electro is used as a daily driver for Kiraly, dropping off beer, making sales calls, and just used to attract attention for the brand when he’s driving around town, and attention he gets! While following Kiraly to the photoshoot location, nearly every pedestrian on the street did a double take when the Electro drove by. It wasn’t so much the uniqueness of the Apache, or the brilliance of the color, but the unnatural silence of the truck driving by. With most trucks like this, you expect to hear the rumble of the big V-8 under the hood, but with the Electro, all you get is the soft wine of the electric motor. Kiraly notes that he gets a lot of “why would you go and do something like that, why not put big power in,” but Kiraly always proves the haters wrong with a chirping of the tires at 30 kmh. The trucks performance is outstanding, and while Kiraly has yet to get out to the drag strip, his ability to power through traffic in impressive.

So while we are still torn dumping our beloved internal combustion engines out of our classics, Kiraly and his Retro Electro has given us some food for though. Maybe not the beloved classics, but possibly the daily driver, which will be more useful to the environment and our wallets. What ever our decision, there is no doubting that the Steam Whistle brewery is getting some very well deserved exposure for having the courage to built something so unique and forward thinking.

Review: 2011 Ford Explorer

Great explorers must overcome great hurdles in order to not only to achieve their goals, but in many cases, just to stay alive. Sir Ranulph Fiennes was the first man to reach both North and South Poles, but he lost several fingers and toes in the experience. Likewise, Robert Falcon Scott, who raced Roald Amundsen across the Antarctic to realize the dream of being the first man to the South Pole, only to loose the race by 35-days and later his life on the return journey due to improper preparations. In the cutthroat world of the SUV, the waters are not as warm and comfortable as the Caribbean; rather icy and treacherous like the Arctic. The once powerful SUV has had to give way to the surge in popularity of the Crossover, as the public demands a high cargo and passenger volume vehicle that handles like a car.

Enter the Explorer, the pioneer of the modern SUV, however, as of late, with all the Japanese competition as well as Dodge, Jeep and Chevy producing significantly upgraded unibodied utes, the Explorer had become a relic of out of date body on frame technology. Like most of Fords range of new vehicles, 2011 sees all change for the Explorer, with an all-new unibody stuffed with as much technology Ford could squeeze into it.

Other than body construction, the biggest step forward is how much greener the Explorer has become with the new 3.5L V-6 producing 22% better fuel efficiency, with at city rating of 11.9/100km and 8.0L on the highway. All this comes with an improvement in power as well, upping to 290 hp and 255 lb-ft. The upcoming 2.0L Ecoboost that is due later this summer is even more impressive offering up 237 horsepower and 250 lb.-ft. of torque. However, despite its name, fuel efficiency is actually worse than the V-6, with a 13.1L/100km city and 8.7L on the highway.

The new design is quite an eye catcher if I do say so myself, and sports some distinctly Land Roverish touches that really add to the refinement of the vehicle. Inside the same can be said as a stylish interior design is matched with high quality soft touch materials, while what few buttons there are, give off a very luxurious feel and actuation. However, the coolness factor gets cranked to 11 with both the gauge cluster and center stack satnav, entertainment and HVAC centre.

Like the Fusion, the Explorer utilizes an adaptable digital gauge cluster giving the driver just about any onboard information one could ask for. The Sony controls are all touch sensitive

Along with the cool displays the Explorer has a mass of new drive technology. The list of control system acronyms for the Explorer is large enough to make an Infiniti blush. The Explorer has benefited with a heavy influx of shared technology that has been developed with the specialists expertise of out-going partners Volvo and Land Rover, with excellent safety and off-road abilities.

Lets start with the safety side of the equation. The new Explorer stepped up to bat big time in the safety department with the usual suspects; traction control, ABS and stability control, while adding the BLIS blind spot warning system, cross traffic-alert, adaptive cruise control and collision warning with brake support.  However, if you don’t think that’s enough, Ford have developed an industry first with the introduction of inflatable rear seat belts found in the 2^nd row outboard seats. As a $250 option on XLT and Limited models, this system uses a compressed air container under each seat which fires air into an airbag folded into the seatbelt. The airbag tears through a seam in the belt, tripling its contact area in the event of a collision. Also debuting is Fords curve control system, which will detect if the vehicle has entered a corner too fast, and keeps it on the road by working with all the systems mentioned above, as well as roll over control, effectively controlling speed and skidding.

Land Rover faithful will know the multi-surface interface now found in the Explorer, allowing the driver to choose either snow, sand, rutted or normal driving conditions. Well, that system, known as the Terrain Management System, now makes the Explorer a formidable soft-roader. And just for good measure, Ford has added a hill decent function as well. With the Terrain Management controls in communication with the driving aids, it all combines to create a vehicle with incredible traction in any environment. Despite the Explorers independent suspension and relatively low ride height for an SUV, it performs beyond its mechanical disadvantages. However, that being said, the Explorer is missing one vital part of the Terrain Management System lacks the air springs found in the LR4 and Range Rover models, a feature that massively increases the off-road character of those vehicles. If Ford are smart, they will offer adjustable lift suspension in an off-road special edition, much like but not as extreme as the Raptor.

So, how does it all work in the real world, on roads slick with packed ice? With our tester wrapped with Continental ice tires driving in the standard surface setting already gives the driver a confident feeling on snow and ice as the Explorer is well planted and turns in well. With the multi-surface control set to “Sand” the explorer starts to get frisky as the computers start to allow the wheels to spin up, and the vehicle is allowed to slid around a little bit before traction and stability programs step in. In “Snow” mode, throttle response is cut and the traction and stability programs are working at the hardest to keep the vehicle on the straight and narrow. The result is a phenomenal amount of grip on even the slipperiest of surfaces.

Overall, Ford have done a wonderfull job bringing the aging old Explorer up to date, and none too soon as both Jeep and Dodge have also made eaqually impressive leaps with the Grand Cherokee and Durango. Until driving the Explorer, I was most impressed with the Grand Cherokee’s excellent new unibody. However, with Fords new design, and one of the most impressive interiors in the business, the Explorer just takes over as my pick for the segment. However, like I said above, if you are looking to do some off-roading, something old Explorer owner are quite fond of, I would suggest the Jeep, as they have the advantage of height adjustable air springs, the Explorers one let down.

SPECIFICATIONS:

MSRP: $29,999

Price as tested: $44,199 (LTD AWD)

Type: 4-door, full-size SUV

Engine: 3.5L V-6, 2.0L I-4

Horsepower: V-6 290, I-4 290

Torque: V-6 255, I-4

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Layout: Front engine, front wheel drive, optional AWD

Brakes: Four-wheel discs

Fuel Economy (L/100km): 11.9L city, 8.0L highway