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My last day with Bruno...😢 It's a magical world Bruno ol' buddy. ...Go Exploring!

Jamie Florio
Jul 21, 2019
7 min read

This year is my wife and I's 20th anniversary! So we are planning something special - a diving trip in the Caribbean. We have also planned to spend a week with friends, which we will have to fly to. So, as I released Bruno from his winter storage, I realized that he would not be doing much before he went back in next fall. Sure, I would take him to work once or twice a week, and maybe a random Friday night movies or overnight somewhere. But, for the most part, no trips planned. There are two things that will kill an old VW - driving it too much, and letting it sit…

My wife and I have done a bunch of driving trips, and we probably will again. But there seemed to be pressure to always have driving vacations with Bruno. Also, while I love Bruno, and working on the old VW, I didn’t want to hold on to a "thing" just for sentiment, or as a status symbol (look how cool I am driving in the coolest car in the world!).

The last straw was Bruno's storage conditions. 12 years ago when I first bought him, I immediately got a 12x20 Shelter Logic portable garage. Bruno doesn't get rained on like a normal car! But the portable garage was not winter worthy, and didn’t keep the critters out during those long cold months. So, he also gets put in a climate controlled unit for 6 months (yes, that's how long winter is here in NH!). The Shelter Logic was coming to the end of its lifespan. One of the doors was ripped off and on the other the zippers no longer worked. So, I had to begin making decisions about Bruno's storage.

Do I get another Shelter Logic just the same? The spot needed some work as well, as Bruno's back tires tended to sit in 2-3 inches of water when it rained hard.
Do I concrete the spot, or truck in several yards of gravel?
Do I upgrade the vinyl and size so I can park my wife car in there as well? I would still need some site work for this too.

I ended up pricing out a new double size garage and gravel work - about $4500. And - I probably still needed to store Bruno in a climate controlled unit for the winter.

So, in a rash of "reasonableness" - I created a few discreet posts on The Samba and Facebook:

1970 Camper "Bruno": Time for a new home.

It seems lately that I don’t use Bruno enough. He goes in and out of storage, and on a couple of trips. But maybe someone else could put him to better use. Please contact me if you are interested.

It was a passive move at best. I didn’t expect much, as the price was set high enough. I got a few inquiries in the first couple weeks: a low-ball offer, a couple of nice middle age women looking to relive their hippie days. One woman planned on driving cross country, which I thought was great!! But, she has almost no mechanical experience and asked me "It is reliable??". I did not sugar coat it - I told her straight up "Bruno is a 50 year old vehicle. There will always be something broken, or about to break. Bruno is a labor of love". She decided it was not for her. I decision I agreed with whole heatedly.

But I wasn't worried - I would be just as happy to keep Bruno!

Three weeks in, I considered taking down the ads. But I got a call from a nice woman who wanted to take a look. She showed up with her teenage daughter, and we went for a test drive. They seemed enamored - so I hit them hard. "No power breaks. No power steering. He needs a steering box in the next year or so and the gear shiftier is getting a little loose for me. You must change the oil yourself and adjust the values every time. You can't make the interior into a tacky 50's diner or tiki theme atrocity. Oh - and his name stays Bruno."

But…two days later, they call back. This time she would bring her husband. …this seemed serious. Oh no!

I gave him the same rundown. But they would not be deterred. The girls had read this entire site and were in love with Bruno! How could they not be, he is hot! They told me their plans: a few small trips this year, including Niagara Falls. And next year - cross country! Through southern Canada and back across the US! As he looked over the mechanics and body, he remarked - "We started to look for a VW camper, and expected to find them out west. But this is excellent, and right here, 20 miles away!! How does this machine exist in Rochester NH??"

Now it was getting serious for me - this could be real. I might actually *cough* sell Bruno!

I tried not to panic. I just waited. It was their move to call me and make an offer…and I hoped they didn’t. But he did. The offer was serious, but not enough for me to make the move. I told him so. He countered that he knew he could probably get a better deal on a good VW camper elsewhere, but it would involve travel - and they were not just buying a car. They were buying the story - they wanted to buy Bruno and his story. We settled on a good price in the middle.

And that was that. Bruno was going to be sold. In my head I made a reasonable decision - now the emotional side took over. A little depression actually set in. A couple days later, I couldn't sleep - so I went and spend the night out in Bruno. I cried. Then another day, couldn't get out of bed to face the day and called in sick.

The plan was to do the final oil change and valve adjustment with the new owner (Bill). He is a mechanical guy, but not familiar with the VW air cooled engine. I prepped the night before by getting Bruno situated in the portable garage for easy access. I laid out tarps so that we wouldn't have to work in the dirt. And since it was going to rain, I set up an additional tarp over the end to the portable garage so there would be more room to work and explain all the nuances of Bruno's mechanicals.

I fretted about oil. My local Napa used to carry a 30w Amsoil Synthetic Metric that I liked using, as it was single weight 30W, and had a couple dollops of the stuff to keep air cooled engines cooler. But they didn’t carry it anymore! So, now I had to pick something else. As a side point… I stress over the oil I use, so this was not an easy decision! I chose an all synthetic, Castrol 10-30W. I'm not sure why I fret so much, most any oil you can buy now is a better quality then than anything from 1970. But oil is the lifeblood of the VW air cooled engine and even if Bruno was someone else's, I wanted him to continue running for a long time.

Sunday June 16th - Sunday afternoon, Bill arrived and we spend a couple hours, changing the oil, setting the valves and going over everything. I let them know all that I could.

Then he drove away…But STOP!!! There's oil dripping! A LOT! The valve cover gasket wasn’t seated well. Easy fix…

Then, for real…they drove away….

My last entries in my log notebook read:

6/16/19 - *sigh*(there was actually a tear stain that ran the ink here)

This is the day to say goodbye to a good friend.

Take care of my friend Bruno.

Go on Adventures!

Explore!

Every town has something to offer that's cool and interesting.

Get use to the rumbles and rattles - then be aware of the changes! This is a feeling of "all good" or "something to look into". Be sympathetic and empathetic to Bruno as you are to others.

Always be good and do good.

6/16/19 - 74,541 - My last oil change and valve adjustment.

jamieflorio@gmail.com

Shannon's Last letter to Bruno:

My Dear Bruno,

Today we say farewell my friend. You are journeying onto a new home with Bill and Amy and it's a trip you'll take without us.

We've been together for almost 12 years now. We found you in poor shape on the side of the road in desperate need of care and attention and we gave you all we could. You gave us wonderful memories in return. Dairy Queen trips while singing Puff the magic dragon with "Grammy and Grampy", refinishing your fiberglass top in the barn with our lost friend Scott, making you beautiful new curtians with "Lita and Papa", giving you a new bamboo floor with our buddy Mitch. The beach days, camping trips, lobster and ice cream in York and drinks in the yard by the bonfire. Thank you Bruno for all of them.

We know that being a VW bus owner is about taking journeys and while we didn't make world traveling trips with you, Bruno, you were our journey.

We gave you all we could give to make you healthy and beautiful. Now we let you continue on your path. We hope, now that you're strong, you get to go on many, many more epic adventures and share the love of the road less traveled with so many more people. We hope they treat you well and see your value and appreciate your character.

Re-homing you is one of the hardest things we will ever do. Be well Bruno. Know that you are loved.

We will look for you on the road for the rest of our lives and you'll stay in our hearts forever.

Your VW adopted Mom,

Shannon

A New Home