"I'm feeling very Olympic today!" - Sanka Coffie; Cool Runnings (1991)
In 1988 the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, Alberta. Team Germany chose the noble Vanagon Syncro as the vehicle they were going to use to shuttle their athletes around in. They commissioned 10 special edition Syncros from Volkswagen to produce for the games. Olympic Syncro's can be easily identified by their unique german flag pin striping, flash silver metallic paint, and stronger European market only 2.1L Dijijet engines. After the games were finished, the 10 vehicles were sold off to the public. This particular van found it's way to Salt Spring Island where it eventually sat for almost 20 years.
With only 34,000km (21126 miles) on the odometer, this van hadn't even been broken in yet. After it's nearly two decade slumber it found its way into Quentin's hands, and is now being converted into a highly capable, lightweight, expedition vehicle.
In 1988 the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, Alberta. Team Germany chose the noble Vanagon Syncro as the vehicle they were going to use to shuttle their athletes around in. They commissioned 10 special edition Syncros from Volkswagen to produce for the games. Olympic Syncro's can be easily identified by their unique german flag pin striping, flash silver metallic paint, and stronger European market only 2.1L Dijijet engines. After the games were finished, the 10 vehicles were sold off to the public. This particular van found it's way to Salt Spring Island where it eventually sat for almost 20 years.
With only 34,000km (21126 miles) on the odometer, this van hadn't even been broken in yet. After it's nearly two decade slumber it found its way into Quentin's hands, and is now being converted into a highly capable, lightweight, expedition vehicle.
The Engine
work in progress
The Transmission
work in progress
The Exterior
All Olympic Syncro's started out as modest tin-top model vans. While yes they looked undeniably cool, they left a lot to be desired if this van planned on doing any gnarly off the beaten bath travel. Inspired specifically by the way the Syncro scene in Europe styles their vans, Quentin chose to go with a minimalistic, functional, vintage Vanagon look while still maintaining that rugged appearance that comes with being a syncro
The Hightop
One of the most unique things about Quentin's van is its rare European market only hightop that we restored and installed. We sourced the roof from a friend who had imported a few tops that were salvaged off of vans in Ireland. Not much is known about this particular hightop, and you'd be hard pressed to find another one like it in North America. The hightop provides plenty of storage in the front and back bulk heads of the van, and gives 6'3" of standing room.
The Suspension
The Interior
Quentin has gone through three camper interior iterations since owning the van:
- The Minimalist era: Just the good old classic Z bed; nothing fancy
- The (Mis)Adventure Wagen era: A cabinet that lasted him 2 weeks before exploding after his Descend on Bend jump
- The Westfalia Renaissance era: Built by us to last and look good; our modern take on the classic Westfalia Interior