Volkswagen LT is 40!

[Asimo]

Sometime this month is the 40th anniversary of the 'shiters favourite VW van, the LT.

Apart from a few hundred miles as a passenger in a minibus (6 cylinder petrol, since you ask) I have had nothing to do with them at all.

But I am a van fan and have always had the itch for one........

 

 

 

 

 

Famous for sharing it's engines with Volvo,

 

 

Porsche and Audi,

 

 

less famous for (initially) using a 65hp Perkins Diesel. Must have been awful. 

 

 

Shared it's cab with MAN to make the VolksTruck.

 

 

The fate of many

 

Share your LT love, fantasies and experiences here.

 

[CYANIDE STEVE]

Funnily enough, I have been spending my spare time rebuilding the Diesel engine in my Volvo 940, which shares the same engine as the VW LT. I love the sound of these engines. I've always be a fan of the early LTs.

[stripped fred]

Does that mean no road tax too?

[Coprolalia]

My old man had a tipper Lt35 2.4 in derv shape when I was growing up. Ate two gearboxes on it's way to 250+k miles and just kept going. Often overloaded on grossweight, shifting 3+ tonnes of rubble. Good memories of being sat high up in that cab. 

[wuvvum]

I've had two - a LWB high top LT40 with the 2.4 6-pot petrol and a SWB low roof LT35 with the 2.4 NA diesel.  Loved them both and would definitely have another if scene tax hadn't kicked in.

[PiperCub]

A now sadly deceased mate had one, I borrowed it about ten years ago, great load capacity (& despite being unfashionable, I liked the looks) but it had the smallest diesel engine in the range so it was the noisiest and slowest thing I've ever driven! Probably alot better with a more powerful motor in it.

[Timewaster]

My dad had a terrible home converted camper.

 

Even he said it was slow, And he used to drive a 1.6 pinto transit.

 

Packing for a holiday early one morning the sliding door fell off.

 

Not his best purchase.

[wuvvum]

I'd like to try one of the early ones with the old Perkins diesel.  I reckon it'd be proper dire.

[Junkman]

I used them frequently when they still were nothing more than current work horses.

I found them depressingly good and thus didn't like them. I much preferred my mother's H van, which was a delightful shower of shite.

[Shep Shepherd]

The styling has aged really well

[inconsistant]

 

[Timewaster]

The styling has aged really well

What styling?

[mercrocker]

It was one of these I wanted when I ended up with my T25. Limited space at home meant the smaller van unfortunately. These really are as modern as any van needs to be.

[Junkman]

I later used predominantly septic vans, which were superior in every aspect.

[worldofceri]

Back when I was idle student our giffer next door neighbour replaced his VW Type II 'Bay Window' (yes, they were giffer owned as recently as 1999 and, come to think of it, had I had a crystal ball I could have spent my student loan on buying it off him and paid off my mortgage by now) with an LT28 camper on account of it having power steering;  Not sure if the camper conversion was home brew or not.  He brush painted the whole damn thing - including blacking up the window rubbers - and it looked pretty good in a shonky sort of way.

 

Regrettably no pictures as I didn't even own a camera in those days, much less a camera-phone, so have a picture of an MAN Volkstruck I saw in Hemel Hempsteadcestershire once instead.

 

[mat_the_cat]

An excuse to post up a photo of mine?

 

 

Not forgetting the Worker...

 

 

 

...or the L80

 

 

 

[sierraman]

Saw one yesterday in Rotherham, a yellow camper on a driveway, didn't look like it had moved in an age though. They didn't seem to rot as quick as the Transit or Sherpa

[John F]

I'd have another LT like a shot... just need to clear some other projects first,

 

So I'll probably never get round to it

[Asimo]

I'd have another LT like a shot... just need to clear some other projects first,

 

So I'll probably never get round to it

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/20284-oh-no-drunken-ebay-purchase-impending-live-collection-thread/page-4

[John F]

Yeah, I know...

 

[Felly Magic]

The VW LT55 provided the oily bits to the revolutionary breadvan, the Optare City Pacer. Optare raised the driving position, and fitted a mahoosive gear lever. They were noisy and quite unrefined, and had a nasty habit of overheating, and getting stuck in 5th, and they were really slow, down to them weighing several tonnes. The straight 6 diesel really struggled, especially on hills with anything near a full load.