Meet ‘Leroy’, a 1989 VW Transporter saved from a life of rot by a dedicated owner, and given a new lease of life via Japan.
Very few vehicles transcend their status as transportation and seep into the world’s collective conscience, but the early Volkswagen van is one of that few. Transporter, Kombi, Vanagon, Samba – whatever you know it as, it’s an instantly recognisable silhouette around the world.
Obviously, it’s the first two generations that have made the biggest cultural impact, the T1 ‘split-screen’ and T2 ‘bay window’ now de facto symbols of hippie counterculture, the so-cal surf scene and countless family camping trips.
The boxy T3 generation – known semi-officially as the T25 in the UK – was introduced in 1979, and was the final Volkswagen to be introduced with the rear-engine, rear-drive layout that the company was built on in its infancy. For a long time, it lived a little in the shadow of its predecessors, but the seemingly interminable rise in T1 and T2 prices combined with a general renewed appreciation for all things embodying a sharp-edged 1980s aesthetic means it’s now having a bit of a moment.
Rory and Natalia have had plenty of VW vans over the years, but this one, a 1989 Transporter panel van affectionately known as ‘Leroy’, has been by far their biggest project, described by Rory as causing him ‘a lot of blood, sweat and rum.’
In a previous life, Leroy had been a parts delivery van for a VW dealer in Blackburn, but by the time Rory rescued it from the yard of a garage in the area in 2014, it was a sorry sight. Years sat rotting in Lancashire weather won’t do any car any good, especially one that was already 25 years old at the time.
Worse was that the original 1.9-litre water-cooled ‘wasserboxer’ flat-four had been cooked by the last owner. Rory found a replacement 1.9 and ran the van for a year or so, before deciding to park it and tackle the body. Having never welded before, Rory and friend Macky watched some YouTube videos then got the torches out, and quickly discovered that the rot ran far deeper than they thought.
By now it was 2016, a year Rory calls ‘very slow’ in terms of work on Leroy due to both him and Macky getting married to their respective partners. It was also during this year that Rory got to try Macky’s T3 camper, which had had the original engine swapped out for a Subaru flat-four. This isn’t an uncommon swap – since rear-engined Transporters were designed around flat-four engines, dropping in more powerful, reliable boxers from Subarus or Porsches is de rigour amongst restomods.
Rory was hooked, and decided that an engine swap was in order for Leroy, but he didn’t want to settle for a four-pot. Enter Subaru’s EZ30, a 3.0-litre flat-six that was used exclusively in the third- and fourth-generation Legacy and its Outback derivative. This is a beefy engine, producing a healthy 217bhp, but rare in the frugality-conscious UK market.
Rory was able to track down a 3.0-litre Outback in South Wales for £300 – an MOT fail on rust, but with a fully running engine on 79,000 miles. This engine is now the van’s centrepiece. Even the most powerful T3s to leave the factory barely crept over 100bhp (well, except for the Porsche-powered B32, but that doesn’t really count), so the 217bhp produced by the Subaru motor is quite the transformation. For some noise to match the van’s newfound performance credentials, Blackpool-based King Custom Performance fabricated a totally custom stainless steel exhaust. A new engine means a new gearbox too, and Leroy now has a Subaru five-speed manual and a limited-slip differential.
To handle the significant power bump, there are brake discs, pads and braided hoses from Black Diamond, and adjustable shocks front and rear. To allow it to sit as low as it does, it has airbags all round.
It’s not just in the mechanical department where Leroy’s undergone a significant transformation, though. Over four years of work, Rory replaced almost every panel, curing the van’s seemingly terminal rust issue, before a full respray brought the exterior back up to scratch. You’ll spot that Rory and Natalia have extended the black theme to nearly every bit of the body – if regulations will allow it to be black, then it’s black. Those steel wheels, by the way, are 17-inchers from a Mercedes Vito van.
Finally, the interior. Though Leroy is a panel van designed with delivery and not camping holidays in mind, Rory and Natalia fully intended to use it as an adventure vehicle. To that end, the cargo bay has been completely fitted out by Craftsman Coachworks in Haslingden. There are cupboards, a fridge-freezer, lights, insulation and sound deadening, and of course the requisite bed. Up front, the original seats have been replaced with comfier heated items from the same Subaru that sacrificed its engine.
By the summer of 2020, Leroy was ready for adventure. As you’ll remember, though, the summer of 2020 wasn’t exactly the best time for going on adventures. Eventually, when travel restrictions allowed, Rory and Natalia set out on the North Coast 500, covering 1600 miles all in all including driving to and from their home in Lancashire and making a diversion to the Isle of Skye.
Since then, with travel opening up again, Rory, Natalia and Leroy have been all over the UK and beyond, venturing to Belgium, Italy and the south of France. This is the fundamental principle that makes the campervan as a concept so appealing – all in one, it’s your little private vessel for adventure, and a place to sleep and a roof over your head when you get to your destination.
There are plenty of options in this space, but Rory and Natalia’s T3 has had hard graft, plenty of time, and lots of love poured into it. The result is something unique, deeply personal, and representative of them as people and their love for adventure. It’s also a deeply cool take on a vehicle that, finally, seems to be getting the recognition of its ancestors.
