Decades before the crew-cab pickup was a staple of suburban cul-de-sacs, there was the Volkswagen Doppelkabine, or DoKa, based on the Type 2 Bus (Transporter, Kombi, Microbus, etc.). Just as the Microbus variant can be credited as being the first minivan, the DoKa was among the first four-door pickups. Designed for work, they had a passenger cabin—or more accurately, two cabins put together—that could seat up to six people, as well as a bed with folding sides that allowed them to haul a variety of materials. It was frugal, practical, reliable, and its rear-engine/rear-drive layout pushed it through terrain where others bogged down. Nevertheless, VW engineers were also toying around with various four-wheel-drive systems to add greater utility to what was already a capable package. With the help of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, who also helped develop the Mercedes G-Wagen, the first production four-wheel-drive Type 2s rolled off near the end of 1985. Branded Syncro (though not to be confused with the earlier Audi Quattro-based Quantum/Passat Syncro), they transformed the Transporter (and soon after, the MK 2 Golf) into a rugged adventure vehicle. A Syncro today is quite sought after and commands significantly higher prices over its two-wheel-drive counterpart. This is a 1986 Transporter Doppelkabine Syncro with solid underpinnings that has undergone some perfectly acceptable modifications, including a recent Bostig Zetec conversion that increases the stock 2.1 litre motor’s horsepower and torques by over 40% without compromising balance. It also has a GoWesty lift kit with elegant Carat wheels shod with new All-Terrain TAs. With mechanics complete and a solid body, the interior, while perfectly acceptable, is a canvas that can be tailored to the next owner’s own tastes (GTI seats, custom AV, that sort of thing) and still be well under what an unmolested low-mileage example goes for. Find it here on Craigslist in La Mesa CA for a very reasonable $22,000.
