I have a Superbeetle. I should have a Superteardrop.

[freebeard]

https://www.nextissue.com/magazines-issues-summaries/sunset-magazine-may-2015-edition/

If you get the magazine or go to the library, you can see the interior shot. Best teardrop ever. It has a translucent roof and that vertical seam at the back end of the driprail suggests—double doors!

This is now at the top of my priorities. The commercial product is $53K, or so I hear (I didn't read the text), so I wouldn't consider building one for re-sale because that wouldn't be right. But the one I build for myself, with a second hand Harbor Freight frame and VW bearing, wheels and hubcaps should be no more than $1500, plus the (modified Type III) hitch.

I have a lot of redwood benderboard so the side rails will be a laminated beam, and the sides will have some plan taper.

[rumdog]

Something like that would look great behind your aero beetle. Be light weight too

[freebeard]

Yup. I've got a bolt of burlap that would cover the roof, with sprayed on polyester resin to waterproof it.

And I can buy a 4x8 piece of swing-door material at a truck parts place down the street for $100. Swing-doors are the rear doors on truck vans. They're made of plywood with aluminum laminated on one side and HDPE plastic on the other. Bottom and top, respectively. About all that's left, excepting appliances and infotainment, is the side doors and boattail.

What I'd been thinking about before was a VW Beetle convertible top (that would fold forward), but this would be lighter. Usually a teardrop has you crawl thought a hole into a dark place. I think it's worth looking at the 2 page article at a magazine rack.

[redneck]

.

You don't have to buy the magazine...

http://hüttehut.com/

http://hüttehut.com/gallery

http://hüttehut.com/specs/

All numbered edition Hütte Huts are made in Santa Barbara, California. The first production run consists of made-to-order units, with base models beginning at $63,900 USD.

>

[freebeard]

I'm sure they will fly off the shelf at that price. For $100K you can have a 24' Bowlus Road Chief:


Overview - Bowlus Road ChiefBowlus Road Chief | Inspired by timeless American style

My price range is more like:

[War_Wagon]

Maybe it's the fact that I am Canadian and have been to the town that they are made in. Or maybe it's the fact that $63k for a lil trailer is totally off the rails, but I'll stick with Bolers as the trailers I lust after. My buddy picked one from the '70s up at an insurance auction for $1500. The insurance company wrote it off because it got caught in a hail storm and a couple windows got broken...$1500 gets you a project, $5k gets you a nice one. So by my math you could have a fleet of Bolers for the price of one of those hipster trailers, keep one for yourself and rent the others out in the summer to pay it all off! I appreciate the workmanship in that Hutte, but $63k?? I have a friend that makes amazing handmade leather goods, they are just as much artwork as they are durable goods that will last the rest of my life (cough *shameless plug fiveleft leather goods * cough). Uses all the most eco friendly dyes on leather from England that is all the most eco friendly stuff you can get. I paid good money for several of his bags, so I get that good stuff costs money, but I say again - $63k?? I can see it working as a one or two off, but find it hard to believe that there are that many people out there with $63k in their pocket for a small trailer with nothing in it, that can be replaced with a $5k vintage Boler that weighs 900 pounds so it can be towed with anything, and has way more to offer. Am I missing something here? (Besides the $63k that is)

[freebeard]

It's looks like the Boler and Scamp are the same thing. The Sunset article had a sidebar that showed one or the other. It also showed the Dubbox. It's a based on the VW microbus, and manufactured down-river from me at Oregon City. They have a new model called the Dinky Dub. It's base model is $8K new:



We'll see how my enthusiasm holds up. I'm hoping I at least get a trailer hitch installed. Here's the design I'd worked up previously:



It's sort of a reverse Bowlus, with the door at the other end and the gores running vertically instead of horizontally.

I've only ever seen one Bowlus, back when I was in college.

[niky]

I super-approve the idea!

Will you use giant bottle caps, or plastic trash lids for the full-sized one?

-

Seriously, though, cool way to reuse Beetle parts

[freebeard]

The Dub Box is fiberglass, the only VW parts would be the door latches and hinges. But they have an option for a full pop-top. The high end are the food trailers (@ $25K) because they have commercial flooring and counter-tops.



Here's one made from VW parts:



Twelve windows, with 'jail bars'.

[War_Wagon]

I may be totally wrong, and I hope someone can correct me if I am as I'd like to know, but Scamps are a US knockoff of the Canadian design from 1968. I think Coleman made a pretty close copy of the Boler as well, I have seen a few of them, they are so close to the original that I find it hard to believe that Coleman didn't get sued for making them!