Now You Can Rent a VW Westfalia to Tour the Pacific Northwest
Your delightfully boxy hotel-on-wheels awaits.
If you’re itching to reconnect with nature by embarking on a summer camping trip, you could march into your nearest RV rental facility and select a modern unit, decked with fineries like flat-screens and granite countertops. Or you could eschew the norm and go for the ultimate camping tool: a vintage Vanagon Westfalia. Durable, reliable, and boasting smartly engineered interiors ahead of their time, the Westy is coveted for a slew of reasons—chief among them is the lustful adoration you’ll receive as you wind around wooded back roads and campgrounds.
Odds are you’ll not want to undertake locating a running Westfalia, breathe new life into it, and prep it for wilderness excursions. Enter Peace Vans Rentals, a new Seattle-based outfit that’s done the hard work for you. With a fleet of four restored VW T3s, each named for a Pacific Northwest river, merely chose your chariot and head west. Each Vanagon hails from somewhere between 1987 and 1991 and all have been meticulously refurbished, both in the living area and under the hood. The Nisqually, the only manual available, is the recipient of a new 2.0L ABA engine. The others feature the mainstay, a four-cyl 1.9L Wasserboxer powerplant. Supremely powerful, no; capable, absolutely.
Each interstate legend can sleep two adults plus two kids and comes with a sink, stove, camping accoutrements—including chairs and firewood—and even some spices to help with the cooking. The sleeping quarters, both upper and lower, are ample and comfy. For an extra fee, two mountain bikes will be strapped to the rear. The minimum rental period is six days, costs about $1,400 and includes an allotment of 100 miles per day. That means plenty of the area’s idyllic camping spots are within reach.
Lastly, all the Westies receive a 50-point safety inspection, though if a mechanical mishap springs up, Peace Vans thinks that’s all part of the magic and claims it would be a “memorable part of your journey.” We trust Bowman agrees with this sentiment.
