Doppelkabine: Down By The Sea

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Down By The Sea

April, 2007. The DoKa meets the blue Pacific while cruising the local shoreline. It was a beautiful day along the coast for cruising on the sand. After I got home I spent way too much time washing down the undersides to hopefully keep things from rusting away to nothing due to the agressive corrosion saltwater can bring.

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Doppelkabine...... Doublecab in German

I own a 1987 VW Transporter DoubleCab pick-up truck, also referred to as a Doka (a shortened form of the German term - DoppelKabine). It's a truck, according to the DMV, because it has a cargo bed. It's rare because these were not sold on the U.S. market. Mine came from Canada. It was from British Colombia, brought in to Washingtan state, then to Oregon.
After seeing one of these, maybe, once a year, I started looking for photos on the internet which eventually led me to TheSamba - a VW related website - which led to finding this one for sale in Portland, Oregon. I flew up there and was fortunate enough to purchase this from Bob P. He has a nice assortment of 4 wheel drive Syncro Vanagons - including a single cab syncro and an extremely nice and rare TriStar. This was his only 2-wheel drive model and he's asked me if I ever decide to sell it, he wants first dibs on buying it back from me. I guess he misses it.
As you may have surmised, I like it. It's rare, it's fun, and it turns heads wherever we go. A typical scenario is something like this. You go to a restaurant for dinner, and when you come out there's a note on your windshield with a name and address of someone asking - 'if you ever decide to sell this vehicle would you PLEASE call me as I would like to buy it'.
I've been told these weren't sold in the U.S. because, at the time, a duty was placed on light trucks that VW didn't want to pay, so they didn't import this model, leaving them to be sold on the European and Canadian markets. That explanation could be a bunch of hooey but it sounds logical to me.
In Europe these are considered work trucks - nothing too special. So they end up being used and abused. To find one in really nice shape is difficult. Then, if it is intended to be brought here, it has to be purchased and imported into the U.S. There can be a lot of hoops to jump through during this process.
Even a bit rarer are the 4-wheel drive or SYNCRO versions of the Doka, the Syncro DoubleCab. And rarer than that is a version known as a TriStar, which usually comes with 4 doors, 4-wheel drive, and is fully carpeted. There are some TriStars that are 2-wheel drive. Then there's the Syncro 16. It has 16-inch wheel wells to clear larger 4-wheel drive tires, as opposed to the 14-inch wheel wells on most Vanagons. Even rarer is the Jagdwagen or Hunters Special. A 4-wheel drive doublecab pick-up with 2 swiveling rear seats, a refrigerator between them, rifle racks in the locker below the rear bed, and full-body-enclosing rollbar on the outside.
I have converted my Doka to SUBARU power. A 2.2 liter Subaru engine now resides in the rear of my truck giving me about 125 to 130 horse power as compared to about 90 from the stock VW powerplant. Now when I start up a grade, the speed doesn't fade. I don't end up in the slow lane in 3rd gear at 45 miles per hour.
Since I also enjoy photography, I thought I'd post some images to share and see what shakes loose.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER OPTION

I jokingly refer to this as the Neighborhood Defender Package. Your DoubleCab combined with the optional nuclear-tipped ramjet-powered early model Bomarc supersonic cruise missile can be used to help keep undesirables from entering the no-fly zone around your neighborhood. Keep those pesky aerial invaders at bay and enjoy the peace and quiet you deserve. You can contact the Department of Defense for more details, but they will have no idea what you're talking about and may send some gentleman out to investigate all of your recent activities.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Down By The Sea

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Doppelkabine...... Doublecab in German

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ON THE ROAD TO HOLLISTER RANCH

RARE BIRDS

SELF PORTRAIT - HIGHWAY ONE - 3 A.M.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER OPTION

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