28th blog – date: February, 18th 2026
In March 2025, I had the pleasure of helping a friend pick up a 1965 VW T1 kombi. This time it was just a stone’s throw away – unlike our last trip to Sweden.
The seller, Raimund, had spotted the bus in a neighbor’s garden while serving in the Austrian Armed Forces and subsequently bought it. When he moved to the north of Vienna, he took the van with him, and since then it had been parked and covered up on a paved area in the garden.
The amazing thing was that, right there on the spot, we managed to get the Splitbus moving again. We freed the old, stuck brakes, put on new tires, and then Raimund even helped us get the engine running again. Using a Puch Maxi moped fuel tank, we bypassed the fuel supply, and so the T1 actually left its long-standing slumber under its own power, driving itself out of the garden and onto the trailer!
The bus itself shows signs of a long history. Various moose stickers and a Norwegian coat of arms on the windshield indicate that someone has taken it to Scandinavia.
In terms of condition, this vintage VW is a real project. The entire undercarriage needs replacing – and even the roof needs replacing, as it appears to have been welded at some point – yet it’s still extremely rusty.
Follow air.cool.ed on YouTube so you don’t miss any videos about this bus. It might take a while, though.
That same month, we were also in the south of Vienna. This time, it was just the two of us – father and son – to see a 1967 VW T1 pickup truck. The car, advertised online as a „garage treasure,“ immediately piqued our interest!
We’d been searching for ages for this exact model, in that exact year – and even better, an original Austrian, specifically Viennese, vehicle! The pickup would be a perfect match for our Splitbus (T1) – also from 1967, the last model year and the first to have a 12-volt electrical system instead of 6.
We were really excited about this T1, but unfortunately the deal fell through because, according to the seller, unresolved ownership issues were preventing the sale and would likely drag on for some time.
But that’s a story too long to recount here…
So, we’ll keep our eyes open for a VW T1 pickup! 🙂
