Why do I keep following what Kit Lacey at eDub is up to? Because the honesty of his passion is shining through. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of very passionate builders out there that I watch too, but because Kit is so easygoing and not in a rush, I kinda find it soothing to follow his endeavors. Also, his electric conversions of old VW campers are epic. As much as I love the T2s he has been working on, I love the T1 even more, and he finally got his hands on one! What a beauty…
Photo by eDub services
This time around his conversion starts with a restored T1 camper in mint condition, and this will probably get some enthusiasts rather hot headed. I can already hear them cry sacrilege! But listen to Kit in the video below. He acknowledges the beauty of the original with all its quirks. He even loves the smell of the engine! But he also points out its shortages, like the vastly underperforming drivetrain for a vehicle this size.
A beauty like this calls to be driven as much as possible, so why not try to make it more comfortable, by making an electric conversion that is as subtle as possible, so that the legacy does not go away, but instead elevates the whole experience of the vehicle? The drivetrain of the 1950s was what was possible at the time, but let’s be honest, had a similar electric option been available then, it would have been electric from the get-go.
No really, think about it. If you don’t believe me, read my story on the 1913 Detroit Electric which utterly blew my mind, and then think almost 40 (yes, forty) years of development from that to an elusive original electric 1950 VW T1. Kit Lacey is not destroying anything, he is doing what should have been done more than 70 years ago.
In this first part of the conversion series, we get to know Daisy the original Split Screen VW T1 Camper with its original drivetrain. Feel that engine, smell those fumes. Take it all in, because it will soon be gone…
Read more on eDub’s dedicated Camper page. Stay tuned and see for yourself that this conversion is done with love.
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