Many a time I have seen someone driving a VW kombi (microbus/camper van) and thought to myself, ‘It would be cool to have one of those.’ I would day-dream about the chance to take off whenever the mood took me, to just head out onto the open road and stop for the night at an unplanned and possibly unknown location. I would imagine driving a camper van across the United States, around Europe, or along the Australian coast. As day-dreams go, it was a good one.
That was the dream, and here I am now with a map of Australia open before me and the keys to a camper-van in my pocket. Only, it’s not a split screen VW kombi from the days of the Beach Boys. Instead it’s a 1989 Toyota Tarago, a relic from the big haired era of BonJovi.
Sadly the opportunities to acquire a decent VW kombi in Melbourne were scarce, and the price for such style would have taken a ravenous bite out of my budget. I could have waited for a lucky deal, but the truth is my Tarago was a bargain, and while it lacks the romance of the old VW, it would at last give me the freedom to experience life on the road in a camper-van.
Unlike the iconic VW Kombi, my Tarago wasn’t originally a camper-van when it rolled off the Toyota assembly line as Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” crackled over a radio somewhere.
It made the switch from humble people carrier to camper-van in more recent years like some late-in-life gender reassignment surgery. The result didn’t bring forth an undiscovered charm or long hidden beauty, but then the Toyota Tarago was never pretty. In motoring terms this was an ugly duckling that matured into an ugly duck.
Originally a rejected design for a 1980’s Japanese shopping mall, the Tarago was not a vehicle that stirred feelings of desire or envy. The drive feels like a long conversation with an accountant, at an accountancy seminar, in Dudley, when it’s raining. But, like all Toyotas, it was more about the function than the form, more focused on longevity than lust. And so it is that long after people have stopped listening to the likes of Milli Vanilli and Richard Marx, the trusty old Tarago is still going.
However, longevity and reliability aside, my ‘post op’ Tarago doesn’t offer much in the way of refinements or creature comforts. The air conditioning no longer works and the stereo mutes for the duration of any right hand turn.
Where there were once an abundance of seats there is now a large bed set upon a hinged wooden board. Underneath that there’s space for luggage and essentials, and in the back there are two large plastic boxes packed with gear for life on the road. There’s also a table and two chairs, two sleeping bags, a large water container, and a single gas burner for cooking.
By no stretch of the imagination could my Tarago be called luxurious, though it is surprisingly comfortable, and since its reassignment operation it’s become a well travelled little camper-van. It’s been driven to far off places by French people, some Germans, a couple of girls from Finland, and now me.
It’s not the dream, but really when you consider everything, it’s actually not a bad reality either.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 9:38 am
Haha, “post op.”
Loving the photos!
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 12:30 pm
You’re better off with your “post op” Toyota any day of the week my friend. As sweet as the veedub would have been, they’re horrendous to drive because they’re so noisy and temperamental.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Great post Bro – made even funnier if I swap your voice for Jeremy Clarkson’s in my head.
And man that’s a severe hair cut! ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 9:24 pm
“Originally a rejected design for a 1980’s Japanese shopping mall” sounds like something they would say on Top Gear. :)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 11:11 pm
VW showed a new ‘microbus’ at the Geneva roadshow this year. It’s called a Bulli, which is what the Germans called the famous campervan. I remember seeing it and thinking they had missed the mark. You should check it out though.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 8, 2011 at 11:56 pm
@ Scott – I was actually told to avoid the VW’s by a couple of other people who had owned them. They also said that the Toyota Hiace was the way to go. Unfortunately, a Hiace wasn’t really with my budget either.
@ Peter – It’s really not that much of a radical haircut. I think maybe it just looks that way in the pic. But hey, I don’t get free haircuts anymore dude, so I have to make them last nowadays!
@ Dave – I actually saw that horrible Bulli van thing. They claim it harks back to their famous microbus, but I can’t see how. It just looks like an ugly people carrier with more in common with a Tarago than a Kombi!
Way back in 2001 they showed off another prototype Kombi and it was, I thought, much more in keeping with the heritage of that vehicle. But they canned its development in 2005 for financial reasons to do with the American market, which is where they wanted to target it.
My favorite was the 2008 unofficial Microbus concept by Canadian designer Alexandre Verdier. (See the YouTube demo)
I think the 2011 concept, which I believe is going to go into production, looks like a vanilla mpv that has the charisma of an earthworm. It shares more in common with their current mpv the extraordinarily boring ‘Multivan.’ Heck, even the 2011 Tarago has more style, and that that doesn’t say much at all.
I doubt the surfers and the hippies will like it, even if they could afford it.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 9, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Simon, you’re a rubber tramp now dude! I think your road trip sounds awesome, and your van looks sweet.
I love the VW buses myself and have wanted one for a while now. As soon as I get one I am off on a roadtrip some place!
Hey check this out too. https://www.busmovie.com/
Wrote the following comment on Jul 10, 2011 at 12:13 am
I am indeed a ‘rubber tramp’ now :-) Thanks for the movie link too. I’ll check it out.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 11, 2011 at 3:34 am
Funny how tooling around Wales and the Lake District required a top down MG, but exploring the wilds of Australia now takes you to a camper van! I like the addition to your “cars I’ve owned”.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 11, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Ah yes Anne, but the thing is I wasn’t able to sleep in the MG. Heck, I was barely able to sit comfortably in the MG!
Sadly, the Toyota doesn’t go around roundabouts quite as gracefully as the MG, and I know how you used to enjoy that. ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 12, 2011 at 2:06 am
And I thought you got the van because you were dreaming of the sweet ride we have in California. I mean really what could be better than a trip to the coast with 4 kids in a mini van? ;)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 12, 2011 at 3:13 am
@ Paula – You know what Paula, I have remembered that trip a few times while I’ve been driving my van. I’ve been remembering it and thinking that way back in 1989 and beyond that van was probably someones family wagon, carting the kids and all the kids stuff around from place to place.
The funny thing is, guess what your minivan is called here in Aus… A Tagaro! The Toyota Tarago was sold in the USA under the brands Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler and called a Minivan. So you see, we’re fellow Tarago owners now :-)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 12, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Love the On The Road montage of photos…
Wrote the following comment on Jul 18, 2011 at 4:23 am
The 2011 Bulli reminds me of a Honda Element
Wrote the following comment on Jul 19, 2011 at 1:33 pm
@ Erin – The 2011 Bulli is a souless kid carrier that will be driven by women who work out in front of DVD’s trying to fight off the inevitable expansion of their asses. All the people who were excited about the 2001 kombi, or the original will see no soul or reason to waste their money on the Bulli.