One of the accessories the Vanagon lacks is front seat cup holders. All Westy owners have had to figure out a way to hold cups while driving. Many of us purchase small consoles that contain cup holders, but others find ways to add front cup holders to the Vanagon. We have featured our cup holder solution in the past, and here is another creative solution. The Samba user, freesurf, posted pictures of his arm rest/cup holder/bunk bed step table. Click through to see another picture.
Some Vanagon owners use a BEHR Air Conditioning System to get cold air in the van. The Samba user, presslab, posted this picture of a vent that apparently came with his BEHR unit. It mounts right in the ash tray. You can see his A/C controls just below his stereo. Some users have to remove the stereo to put vents in its place. Click through to see an example.
We installed a backup camera in the Vanagon last year, but we had several issues. First of all, the camera was big and more fitting for a large bus. We could not find a spot to mount it easily because the cable was too large. We mounted it under the bumper but the aspect left a lot to be desired. The camera stopped working all of a sudden, so we decided to replace it. This time, we went with a simple license plate backup camera. The installation was fairly straight forward, and the picture looks amazingly good. Click through to see how we did it.
This is a completely custom wood interior for the Vanagon. These owners obviously take pride in their van. It has a custom refrigerator, stovetop, and sink, as well as custom upholstery. These pictures came courtesy of Benplace.com which looks like a Vanagon shop in France. Click through to see more of this custom Vanagon interior.
One of the benefits of the Vanagon Westy is the passenger’s seat that swivels. Many people who have regular Vanagons would like that same functionality, and it’s not terribly difficult to accomplish. The entire project will set you back roughly $200, but will gain you maximum usable space in your van. One user from The Samba documented the process he went through to get his swivel seat installed. Click through to see how he did it.
Here is another Vanagon floor upgrade for you. This user went from a tile floor, to a vinyl “wood floor” and it looks great. The flooring planks are available at Home Depot. It’s called “TrafficMASTER Allure 6 in. x 36 in. Iron Wood Resilient Vinyl Plank Flooring.” If you want to full play by play, click through to see how he did it.
This beautiful 1984 Westy is gorgeous on the inside and out, but it is the interior that caught my eye. The owners put this beauty online to sell it and it caught my eye. At first glance I thought it was a bit hokey, and it is, but it’s beautiful. These are not the colors I would choose for my van, but we can all learn a lot about interior Vanagon design from whoever created this thing. Click through to see some amazing photos of this unique Vanagon.
As most Vanagon owners know, the Vanagon could use a few more gauges. Here is another Vanagon gauge placement idea. Samba user, tencentlife, posted this picture of oil pressure and temperature gauges installed just below the dash under the stereo. The installation looks perfect, just be sure to measure correctly before you cut the holes.
Many Vanagon’s door panels tend to warp over time. No matter how meticulously you care for your Vanagon, the door panels tend to bend and warp. Some Vanagon shops sell after market door panels, but they tend to be plastic and they don’t match very well. This Vanagon owner took matters into his own hands and created his own door panel out of wood. Not bad!
Vanagon owners are very familiar with making the most out of the limited space in a van. We can find all sort of nooks and crannies to store our junk. Although the Vanagon Westy comes with several cabinets, it is not always easy to fit everything you need into them. Check out this Vanagon spice cabinet by Rhino Design Studio. It’s a replacement door for your back cabinet that includes shelves for spices. What a perfect way to make more room for your knick knacks. Click through to see a real life example in action.
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